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"title": "Caves & Cliffs",
"images": [
"Java Edition 1.17.jpg",
"Bedrock Edition 1.17.0.jpg",
"Caves&Cliffs2Java.jpg",
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"rows": [
{
"field": "June 8, 2021 <small>(Part I)</small><br>November 30, 2021 <small>(Part II)</small>",
"label": "Release date"
},
{
"field": "(link to Java Edition 1.17 article, displayed as Java Edition 1.17) <small>(Part I)</small><br>(link to Bedrock Edition 1.17.0 article, displayed as Bedrock Edition 1.17.0) <small>(Part I)</small><br>(link to Java Edition 1.18 article, displayed as Java Edition 1.18) <small>(Part II)</small><br>(link to Bedrock Edition 1.18.0 article, displayed as Bedrock Edition 1.18.0) <small>(Part II)</small>",
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"field": "\n*Underground Update",
"label": "Placeholder<br>name(s)"
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"footer": "<div style=\"display:inline-block\">\n<div style=\"display:inline-block;padding:0 .4em\"><span style=\"margin-right:-0.35em\">◄</span>◄ [[Nether Update]]</div>\n\n</div><div style=\"display:inline-block\">\n\n<div style=\"display:inline-block;padding:0 .4em\">[[The Wild Update]] <span style=\"margin-right:-0.35em\">►</span>►</div>\n</div>"
}
Caves & Cliffs logo.
Caves & Cliffs , also known as the Cave Update ,[ 2] is the name of two major themed updates for Java and Bedrock editions. The first part was released as Java Edition 1.17 and Bedrock Edition 1.17.0 on June 8, 2021,[ 3] [ 4] which focused on blocks and mobs . The second part was released as Java Edition 1.18 and Bedrock Edition 1.18.0 [ 5] on November 30, 2021,[ 6] and brought major changes to Overworld generation, including new caves and mountains .
Caves & Cliffs was announced in Minecraft Live 2020 ,[ 7] and on April 14, 2021, Mojang Studios announced that the update would be split into two portions due to the amount and complexity of content, as well as team health.[ 8] It was later announced in Minecraft Live 2021 that the Deep Dark portion, as well as certain items, of the Caves & Cliffs update would be delayed until The Wild Update to improve quality.
On Java Edition , Part I started development with snapshot 20w45a , which was released on November 4, 2020. The first pre-release for Caves & Cliffs: Part I was released on May 27, 2021, and the first release candidate on June 4, 2021. Part II started development with 1.18 Experimental Snapshot 1 , which was released on July 13, 2021, followed by the first pre-release on November 11, 2021, and the first release candidate on November 25, 2021.
On Bedrock Edition , Part I started development with beta 1.16.200.52 , which was released on October 28, 2020. Most of the Part I features were behind experimental gameplay toggle until the Part I release and were not included in the full 1.16.200 , 1.16.210 , and 1.16.220 release.[ 9] [ 10] In Part II, development continued with beta 1.17.30.23 , which was released on August 25, 2021. In 1.17.10 , released on July 13, 2021, non-beta users were able to test out most of early Part II features behind experimental gameplay.[ 11]
Both Java and Bedrock editions received Caves & Cliffs: Part I on June 8, 2021,[ 3] and Caves & Cliffs: Part II on November 30, 2021.[ 6]
Additionally, features from Caves & Cliffs: Part I, were released for Minecraft Education in 1.17.30 on November 2, 2021. Part II features were released in 1.18.32 on August 9, 2022.
For China Edition , Caves & Cliffs: Part I was released on January 21, 2022, and Part II on August 27, 2022.
Additions
Blocks
Azalea & Flowering Azalea
Azalea Leaves and Flowering Azalea Leaves
Calcite
Candle
Cave Vines
Big Dripleaf
Found in lush caves .
Can be used as a temporary platform.
The longer a player, mob, or entity stands on it, the leaf droops down and drops them before returning to its untilted state.
If powered , they don't droop down.
Small Dripleaf
Found in lush caves .
Using bone meal turns it to a big dripleaf.
Dripstone Block
Hanging Roots
Lightning Rod
Crafted using three copper ingots .
Used to redirect lightning strikes within a 128 block radius.
Can also be hit with a trident with Channeling during a thunderstorm.
Moss Block
Moss Carpet
Crafted using two moss blocks adjacent to each other.
Pointed Dripstone
Found in dripstone caves .
Forms a stalactite when placed on the bottom of a block.
Forms a stalagmite when placed on the top of a block.
Forms a pillar when a stalactite and stalagmite meet.
Powder Snow
Found in groves and snowy slopes .
Can also be farmed using a cauldron when snowing.
Causes players and mobs to fall through and move at a slow speed.
Staying too long in powder snow causes freeze damage.
Rabbits and players or mobs wearing leather boots don't fall through the powdered snow.
Rooted Dirt
Sculk Sensor
Not available outside of commands.
Smooth Basalt
Spore Blossom
Found in lush caves .
Produces green particles from above.
Tinted Glass
Crafted using a glass block surrounded by four amethyst shards .
Allows the ability to see through the block but blocks out light from within.
Tuff
Found in blobs sizes underground from y-levels of -63 to 0.
Can also be found in iron ore veins.
New amethyst blocks, all from amethyst geodes :
New copper blocks:
New deepslate blocks:
New raw mineral blocks:
Items
Amethyst Shard
Bucket of Axolotl
Obtained by using a water bucket on an axolotl .
Can be used to transport the axolotl to a new location.
Copper Ingot
Glow Berries
Grows on cave vines found natrually in lush caves .
Restores 2 ( ) hunger and gives 0.4 hunger saturation.
Glow Ink Sac
Powder Snow Bucket
Obtained from using a bucket on powder snow or a cauldron that is filled with powder snow.
Used to place powder snow, which does not have an item form.
Spyglass
Crafted using a amethyst shard on top of two copper ingots.
Used to zoom in from afar.
New raw mineral obtained from mining their respective ores:
New music disc :
Spawn eggs :
Axolotl Spawn Egg
Glow Squid Spawn Egg
Goat Spawn Egg
Mobs
Axolotl
Spawns in lush caves .
Can assist the player in aquatic combat, and grant Regeneration .
Will play dead in order to recover health.
Comes in five different colors: Leucistic, Wild, Gold, Cyan, and Blue
Blue axolotl are rare and only obtainable through breeding axolotl that have a blue mutation.
Can be bred with buckets of tropical fish .
Attacks most aquatic mobs.
Glow Squid
Spawns in dark, underwater areas.
They appear to glow, but does not produce any light.
Drops glow ink sacs when killed.
Goat
Spawns in mountain biomes .
Will try to ram into a stationary entity, including the player.
If successful, the entity takes 1HP to 3HP damage and is dealt 9 blocks of knockback.
Can come in both a normal variant and a screaming variant.
Can be bred with wheat .
Baby goats don’t have horns.
Non-mob entites
Glow Item Frame
Crafted using an glow ink sac and item frame .
Acts similarly to standard item frames, but items and maps are visible in the dark.
Marker [Java Edition only ]
A technical entity meant for custom use cases like map making and data packs.
Only exists on the server side, is never sent to clients.
Does not do any updates of their own.
Has a [NBT Compound / JSON Object] data compound field that can contain any data.
New world generation
Ore distribution changes
Major overhaul of terrain and cave generation, with a new expanded world height from top to bottom.
Biomes can now be generated in 3D, with different biomes depending now on y-level.
Caves are now composed of two layers depending on depth.
A stone layer, found in y-levels above 0.
A deepslate layer, found in y-levels below 8.
Aquifers , or bodies of water, generate deep underground, independent of sea level at Y=63.
Caves now come in three noise generations: "cheese", "spaghetti", and "noodle".
Cheese caves are large sprawling caves with stone pillars from top to bottom, and allows for elytra flight.
Spaghetti caves are long, thin caves with smaller aquifers.
Noodle caves are thinner, and smaller compared to spaghetti caves.
Ore generation has changed.
Coal ore now tries to generate twice, evenly between Y=136 and Y=256; and as a spread between Y=0 to Y=192 with a peak at Y=96.
Copper ore generates as a spread between Y=-16 and Y=112 with a peak at Y=48.
Iron ore now tries to generate three times, as a spread above Y=80 with a peak at Y=256; another spread between Y=-24 to Y=57 with a peak at Y=16; and a small even distribution between Y=-64 and Y=-32.
Gold ore now generates between Y=-64 and Y=32 with a peak at Y=-16. Extra gold can also generate below Y=-48.
In badlands , gold now generates from Y=79 to Y=256 with an increase number of blobs.
Lapis lazuli ore now tries to generate twice, as a spread between Y=-32 and Y=32 with a peak at Y=0; and unexposed evenly between Y=-64 and Y=64.
Redstone ore now tries to generate twice, evenly between Y=16 and Y=-64; and as a spread below Y=-32 with a peak at Y=-64
Diamond ore now generates as a spread, generating below Y=16 and peaking at Y=-64.
Emerald ore generates above Y=-16 and peaks at Y=256, decreasing in quantity as the altitude decreases.
Upgrading worlds before this update now blend chunk boundaries from old chunks to new chunks seemlessly.
The bedrock layer for older worlds is converted to deepslate.
Biomes
Cave biomes:
Dripstone Caves
Lush Caves
Found underground in areas with high humidity, such as jungles .
Axolotls can only be found here.
Generates with azalea , moss block , moss carpet , grass , tall grass , vines , water , clay , small and big dripleaf , spore blossoms , and glow berries .
Mountain biomes:
Generated features
Amethyst geode
Azalea tree
Soundtrack
Changes
Ores received a texture change in their ore shape to better made them distinct for colorblind players.
Diamond ore kept the classic shape with only some minor tweaks with colorization.
Iron ore and gold ore no longer drops itself when mined with a non-Silk Touch pickaxe; instead giving their raw mineral form.
This permits both blocks to be affected with Fortune for the first time for increased drops.
Mineshafts now generate with oak logs as pillars, and oak fences with chains as a means for support.
Axe can now used to scrape off copper oxidization and de-waxing.
Further revisions
Java Edition
1.17
1.17.1 made changes to some game mechanics and fixes bugs.
1.18
Bedrock Edition
1.17
1.17.1 was released exclusively on Nintendo Switch to fix a bug in which players weren't able to connect to any server.
1.17.2 was released to fix bugs related to world generation.
1.17.10 added candles , brought additional parity with Java Edition , experimental features for 1.18.0 , and fixed bugs.
1.17.11 was released to fix some critical bugs.
1.17.30 was released to bring additional parity with Java Edition , new features behind the experimental toggle, and fixed bugs.
1.17.32 was released to fix some critical bugs after the release of 1.17.30.
1.17.33 was released exclusively on Fire tablets to fix a bug in which players weren't able to launch the game.
1.17.34 was released to fix a bug in which owned content did not appear in the inventory after redeeming a retail code.
1.17.40 was released to fix bugs and add more features behind the experimental toggle.
1.17.41 was released to fix some critical bugs after the release of 1.17.40.
1.18
1.18.1 and 1.18.2 were released to fix some critical bugs after the release of 1.18.0.
1.18.10 was released to bring more parity with Java Edition and fix bugs.
1.18.11 was released exclusively on Nintendo Switch to fix bugs.
1.18.12 was released to fix bugs.
1.18.30 was released to add new Create New World UI, more parity with Java Edition such as 64-bit seeds, hunger changes, and fixes bugs.
1.18.31 was released to add the Spectator mode experimental toggle and fix bugs.
1.18.32 was released exclusively on Android, Fire OS, and Nintendo Switch to improve game performance.
1.18.33 was released exclusively on Nintendo Switch to fix bugs.
Videos
Trailer
A trailer for Part I was released on June 8, 2021.
A trailer for Part II was released on November 30, 2021.
Showcases
Videos made by slicedlime :
Java Edition
1.17
1.18
Other
Soundtrack
Quotes
“
Go underwater to team up with the axolotl and meet the glow squid. Tread carefully on higher ground because the goats might ram you!
„
“
Explore bigger mountains, caves, and biomes along with an increased world height and updated terrain generation in the Caves & Cliffs Update.
„
Trivia
Mojang Studios employees explored real caves to research for the update. This helped give inspiration and ideas for the update, including for the noodle caves (previously called mesh caves).[ 12] [ 13]
The art style of the concept art for Caves & Cliffs was inspired by the concept art of the Adventure Time episode Diamonds and Lemons , which was a crossover with Minecraft .[ 15]
Archaeology , bundles , the deep dark biome, sculk blocks, the warden , and goat horns were originally planned to be added in this update, but were delayed to a later version when the update was split. Sculk, the deep dark, the warden, and goat horns were added in The Wild Update , archaeology was added in the Trails & Tales update, and bundles were added in the Bundles of Bravery drop.[ 16]
Trailer trivia
Gallery
Caves & Cliffs release logo
Caves & Cliffs: Part I artwork
Caves & Cliffs: Part I artwork without logo
Caves & Cliffs: Part II artwork
Caves & Cliffs: Part II artwork without logo
The reveal of the Caves & Cliffs: Part II artwork
The logo used at
Minecraft Live 2020 , which uses the former "Minecraft" logo.
Screenshots of the Caves & Cliffs update from Minecraft Live 2020 and other sources:
A view of the lush caves.
Big dripleaves.
A player boating inside of a spaghetti cave, showcasing a subterranean water feature.
A path of glow lichen in a cave.
A large underground lake in a cheese cave.
One of the only pictures of a mesh cave.
In an image from a developer, a likely prototype for
calcite strips can be seen as well as tuff strips that never ended up being implemented.
Ditto but the full image.
A view of the dripstone caves.
Multiple goats, showcasing jump height.
Inside of an amethyst geode.
A copper roof house with weathered copper.
Lightning striking a
lightning rod .
A few
axolotls in a lush cave.
An axolotl army attacking an elder guardian.
A leaked screenshot showing "waterlogged-rail" in the title.
Several Caves & Cliffs features around a cozy cabin.
Concept artwork
Lush caves and its vegetation.
Lush caves.
Lush caves at night.
Dripstone caves and pointed dripstone.
Lake caves.
Flooded caves.
Axolotl and the warden.
"Cutie in a Bucket" - concept art of axolotl.
School of axolotls.
"Scale of Cuteness". Concept art of the axolotl, goat, and the warden.
Concept art of underground crystals, which was later reiterated into the amethyst geode.
Ditto.
Artwork
Comparison artwork
New cave generation
Changes to ore distribution and introduction of
ore veins
Aquifers providing local water levels
Changes to world height from Y=-64 up to Y=320
3D biome distribution
Biomes now adapting to any type of terrain generations
World blending between old and new chunks
Mob spawning changes
References
↑ https://youtu.be/2cxUNoWNy50?t=2049
↑ "I've been at Mojang for a year now. This year has been absolutely bizarre, but I couldn't be happier to be working on the game of my dreams. I can't believe I get to work on the Cave Update." – @kingbdogz on X (formerly Twitter), January 7, 2021
↑ a b "Caves & Cliffs: Part I Out Today on Bedrock" by Matt Gartzke – Minecraft.net , June 8, 2021.
↑ "Grab your nearest calendar and start circling with a vengeance: Caves & Cliffs: Part I arrives June 8th on both Java and Bedrock!" – @Minecraft (Minecraft) on X (formerly Twitter), May 31, 2021
↑ "Minecraft: Caves & Cliffs Update FAQ" .
↑ a b "Caves & Cliffs Update Part II is coming" by Sofia Dankis – Minecraft.net , November 17, 2021.
↑ "Minecraft Live: The Recap" – Minecraft.net , October 3, 2020.
↑ "A Caves & Cliffs Announcement" – Minecraft on YouTube, April 14, 2021
↑ "My understanding is that Experimental Features only exist in Beta releases." – @MattGartzke on X (formerly Twitter), December 2, 2020
↑ "Goats are still in the latest beta, they just can't be accessed from a full version, only betas." – @MattGartzke on X (formerly Twitter), December 2, 2020
↑ "New world generation in Bedrock available for testing" – Minecraft.net , July 13, 2021.
↑ "Yes, and yes. Was hoping to do a larger field trip to different countries with interesting caves, but covid got in the way so we had stay more local." – @henrikkniberg on X (formerly Twitter), October 23, 2020
↑ "Mesh caves were inspired by this field trip." – @henrikkniberg on X (formerly Twitter), October 21, 2020
↑ "I used to travel a lot in the past though (before becoming aware of climate change), and I like visiting caves, so I dug up memories from fascinating cave visits in Spain, South Africa, New Zealand, and British Virgin Isles and some other places." – @henrikkniberg on X (formerly Twitter), October 23, 2020
↑ "Definitely one of my biggest inspirations! My favorite show + favorite game - it shaped a lot how I approached concepts for Minecraft artstyle" – @cookiecat_9 on X (formerly Twitter), October 4, 2020
↑ "A Caves & Cliffs Announcement" – Minecraft on YouTube, April 14, 2021
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