Minecraft - the Caves and Cliffs Updates

Who would have thought that a sandbox computer game, which in principle only consists of blocks, would become a hit? But that is exactly the case with Minecraft. The game has been purchased more than 200 million times and around 110 million active players crawl and mine every month.

Of caves and axolotels

With the Caves and Cliffs update, Minecraft has primarily gained height and depth in the game. The world now goes from -64 (on the Y-axis) to a maximum of 320, which means that the caves get deeper and the mountains higher. In addition, there are two new biomes in the caves, the Dripstone Caves and the Lush Caves. In addition, there are completely new cave landscapes, which may first make some people think of food. The Cheese Caves, the Spaghetti Caves and the Noodle Caves. The names are, who would have thought it, derived from the shape of the caves. While the Cheese Caves are large and wide and "holey", the Noodle Caves are small, winding and almost claustrophobically narrow.

In the caves themselves, for example, the water can now flow over different levels. The Lush Caves are beautifully designed with lots of greenery: there you will find lianas hanging from the ceiling and drip leaves. Only the Axolotel, which were already added in the 1.17 update in June, can now be spawned in these caves. The Lush Caves are to be displayed on the surface of Azalea trees.

Ore distribution changed

So that it doesn't get boring, the developers have also changed the distribution of the ores in the course of the update. They are now distributed at different heights, and to make things really interesting, some of them are above and some are below ground.

Upgrade - no problem

If you want to upgrade your old world to the latest version, that's no problem. The new areas are generated quite easily. The edges are also softened now.

There's news in the Overworld too

Of course, the Minecraft developers have not only taken a look at the caves. There are also some new things to discover in the Overworld. There are a total of six new sub-biomes. The Frozen Peaks, the Jagged Peaks, Grove and Meadow, the Stony Peaks and the Snowy Slopes.

Stoney Peaks

The Stoney Peaks are, as the name suggests, mountain peaks where nothing grows. They are located near a warm biome. There are scavenger outposts here, ores if you're lucky, but no animals.

Frozen Peaks

Goats spawn on the snow-covered Frozen Peaks, which can be found in a mountain peak. You can farm ice there, for example. On the Jagged Peaks, which feel a bit higher than other biomes, you will also find goats. You can also farm lots of iron there.

Snowy Slopes

In the Snowy Slopes, which are mainly found on the slopes of a mountain, powdery snow can be generated - as can igloos. You can bag into the powdery snow, but you can also get out of it relatively easily. In addition to the goats, rabbits also spawn there. The Snowy Slopes, however, only generate next to Plains or Snowy Tundra.

Grove Biom

You can also find the Grove Biom on the side of mountains. This is actually the equivalent of the Snowy Slopes. With the small exception that trees grow there. Besides rabbits, wolves, foxes, pigs, sheep, chickens and chickens can spawn there. In the new Meadow Biom you will find different types of flowers. There can be raider outposts and villages. Trees are rare there, but if you do find one in the middle, it is 100% likely to have a bees' nest on it.