Around the Block

Don’t marvel too long at the treasures of the End highlands, because the biome is packed with dangers. As well as the End’s omnipresent endermen (who’ll tear you block from block in an instant if you so much as look at them funny) you’ll also be assailed by shulkers, a more subtle but not less dangerous foe.

It’s in this silence, this absence, that our curiosity meets its limits. The void is a reminder of the uncharted, the unknown that lies beyond the edges of every map, which watches, waits, and welcomes us with open arms.

It’s an Overworld biome that generates far underground, below areas that have a low erosion value like mountain peaks and plateaus. There’s some light in there, but less than you’d find in most other underground biomes – limited to sculk catalysts, lava, soul fire, and soul lanterns.

It’s rare for two reasons. First because the chances of it forming are pretty low. But also because it usually generates as a single island totally surrounded by ocean – and most players don’t spend a lot of time in the ocean, so they don’t come across it very often.

It’s easy to tell the different Nether biomes apart. The deltas are filled with ash and basalt, soul sand valleys burn with blue soul fire, warped forests are filled with cyan mushrooms, while crimson forests are – well – crimson in hue.