An Introduction to the Minecraft Biomes

Minecraft biomes are regions within the world of Minecraft. Each biome has its own features and colour schemes to represent different environments and ecosystems.

Although each type of biome shares similar traits (for example, flora, fauna and temperature) they can all differ from each other in terms of terrain, design and the items available for players to find.

Minecraft biomes also determine the weather within the environment. There are over sixty biomes in total, however they all fall into five main categories. Here, we discuss what these Minecraft biome categories are in further detail, what their defining characteristics are and what Minecraft users should be aware of for each one.

Dry / Warm Biomes

Includes: Plains, Savannah, The Nether, Desert, Mesa.

These biomes are a lot warmer than other biomes and therefore water is scarce in these areas. Bear this in mind when travelling and ensure you have a store of water with you. It NEVER rains in these biomes or snows, no matter how high you build. Dry biomes are characterised by light blue waters and land which is mostly sand, dirt or terracotta. Despite the terrain some plants do grow here, such as cacti and acacia trees.

Some Minecraft biomes such as the desert are very inhospitable places due to the lack of food and shade. Although hostile mobs spawn here, the vast space of the desert and plains makes them easy to spot. However, beware of Husks roaming around the desert villages.

The Nether Biome falls under this category as it never rains. It does however, have very different characteristics to the rest of the Minecraft biomes in this category. Also known as hell, The Nether has no sky and is lit solely by fire, lava and glowstone. Water cannot be placed in this Minecraft biome, although enemies such as ghasts and zombie pigmen can also be found here.

Snowy Biomes

Includes: Frozen River, Snowy Tundra, Ice Plains, Ice Plains Spikes, Cold Taiga.

Within these biomes, snow can fall at any level and they usually have huge quantities of snow and ice which is rare among the rest of the game. They contain mostly spruce trees and the grass can be characterized by its dark green colour, whereas the water is a shade of purple often containing salmon.

Ice plain spikes are incredible to look at as they are covered in enormous spikes of ice, some of which can reach amazing heights.

Few mobs are able to spawn within Snowy biomes apart from the occasional wolf, polar bear and rabbit. You can also find Strays here which are a variety of skeleton and will spawn in the dark. Once they spawn at night, they will not be able to cope with sunlight and will burst into flames when the sun rises.

Cold Biomes

Includes: Extreme Hills, Taiga, Stone Beach, The End.

Cold Biomes, as the name suggests, have cold temperatures but remain warmer than snowy biomes with snow only falling from heights of 90 blocks or more. Snow is mostly only found on tops of mountains. The grass and water are similar colours to those of the snowy biomes but are less vivid.

Like snowy biomes, spruce trees can be found, however so can mushrooms and ferns among other species. Zombies, skeletons and creepers can also be found in these areas which players need to be aware of.

An Extreme Hills biome gives you a high vantage point which can be beneficial yet dangerous if you fall. You can mine here to produce emeralds which are a great item to trade with villagers. Llamas also spawn on the hillsides and Silverfish are the biome’s own hostile mob.

Lush Biomes

Includes: Jungle, beach, river, mushroom islands.

Lush biomes are the most common type found in Minecraft and are home to all the common flora and fauna. Areas that fall under the Lush biome category include most forests, swamps, jungles and plains so although they all fall under the Lush biome, they differ significantly.

Although the colour of the grass can vary the water in Lush biomes is always a deep shade of blue.

Horses and Donkeys can be found in the Plains, parrots and ocelots in the jungle, and turtles and drowned in rivers and beaches. However, swamps are home to slimes and witches.

Oak and Birch trees are the most commonly found apart from in the jungle biomes where more exotic trees will be found.

Jungles are worth exploring as they are home to items not found anywhere else, such as cocoa beans that are only found in jungle trees. They are a good place to escape creepers as they can’t spawn here. You can also tame ocelots to become your pet cat within a Jungle biome. Creepers do not like cats, so they are a great companion to have following you around.

Beach biomes appear next to aquatic biomes to join them to a land-based biome such as a jungle. They are mainly created from sand or sometimes gravel. You can fish here or look for sugar cane.

Another type of lush biome are mushroom islands. As you can guess, giant mushrooms grow in this rare biome. They have a hilly, grey surface and are found in the ocean rather than being attached to another land-based biome. Although they are rare, mushroom islands make a great home as they are safe. No mobs naturally spawn there and no mines appear beneath them.

Aquatic Biomes

Made up of mostly ocean, Aquatic Biomes can vary in temperature, as can the items and creatures found within them. But they all fall under the same umbrella. Most of the same mobs can be found in all aquatic biomes though.

You can easily identify the temperature of the water as warm oceans tend to have sand covered ocean floor and the water has a pale green tinge. Coral reefs, sea-grass, tropical fish and shipwrecks can be discovered here.

Cold oceans, in comparison, have much darker blue tones in the water and the ocean floor is gravel as opposed to sand. Guardians can appear and spawn in both warm and cold oceans. You can sometimes find small islands of land in these areas. Only hostile mobs will spawn on these areas of land.

Frozen oceans have extremely dark purple/black waters and also contain icebergs and pieces of floating ice. On these areas of packed ice, polar bears can spawn. The only fish you will find in these waters are squid and salmon, due to the water temperatures being too cold for anything else to spawn.

Why Do Minecraft Biomes Matter?

Why do Minecraft biomes matter? It is always useful to know about the various Minecraft biomes so that you know what to expect, especially when you are in survival mode. You need to know what items and mobs can be found in each so that you can plan and prepare accordingly. For example, some Minecraft biomes will not have many trees, meaning building structures and shelters will be a challenge. If you know you are heading to this type of biome then you know to take building materials with you. To discover what biome you are in press F3. This will bring up a display that shows the biome you are in on the left.

There is ultimately no best Minecraft biome, as they all have certain advantages and disadvantages to the player. Each Minecraft biome offers something different and allows the player to plan in advance whilst also keeping the game fresh, exciting and fun!