Java Edition guides/Caves & Cliffs - minecraft.fandom.com

This guide is a simplified overview of all changes in the Caves & Cliffs updates (Java Edition 1.17.x and Java Edition 1.18.x releases), which assumes at least some familiarity with the Nether Update (Java Edition 1.16.x releases).

Mobs[]

New[]

Name	Image	Habitat	Drops	Note
Axolotl		Lush Caves	None	Comes in 5 variants. Can be picked up in buckets. Attacks all fish, squids, guardians, and drowned. Gives Regeneration I and removes Mining Fatigue I when the player helps an axolotl kill a mob. Bred with a bucket of tropical fish. "Plays dead" to regenerate health.
Glow Squid		Underground water	Glow Ink Sac (1–3) 1–3 (when killed by a player or tamed wolf)	Glows in the dark, similar to spider and enderman eyes. Temporarily loses glow when attacked.
Goat		Mountains (Snowy Slopes, Jagged Peaks, and Frozen Peaks)	1–3 (when killed by a player or tamed wolf)	Jumps higher than other mobs. May attack other mobs by ramming them. Rarely spawns as a screaming goat, which has a unique set of sounds and a more hostile behavior. Bred with wheat. Can be milked. Runs on its own.

Changed[]

Name	Image	Changed
Shulker		If a shulker is hit by another shulker's projectile, it now has a chance of spawning a new shulker.
Drowned		Drops copper ingots instead of gold ingots.
Stray		Skeletons now convert to strays when freezing in powder snow.

Blocks[]

New[]

Name	Image	Obtaining	Tool Required	Uses
Amethyst Buds and Cluster		Grows on the sides of budding amethyst.	Can drop loot with hand, but the proper tool is the pickaxe.	Used for gathering amethyst shards.
Block of Amethyst		Ingredients Crafting recipe Amethyst Shard Generates inside of amethyst geodes.	Pickaxe (Iron or better)	Used for decoration.
Budding Amethyst		Generates inside of amethyst geodes. Cannot be obtained.	Pickaxe (drops nothing)	Used to grow Amethyst Clusters. Breaks when pushed by pistons.
Calcite		Generates in the middle layer of amethyst geodes. Generates in strips in stony peaks biomes.	Pickaxe	Used for decoration.
Smooth Basalt		Generates on the outer layer of amethyst geodes. Ingredients Smelting recipe Basalt + Any fuel 0.1	Pickaxe	Used for decoration.
Tuff		Generates in patches below Y=0. Generates as filler rock in iron ore veins.	Pickaxe	Used for decoration.
Tinted Glass		Ingredients Crafting recipe Amethyst Shard + Glass 2	Any	Glass that doesn't allow light to pass through.
Copper Ore		Found in the Overworld from Y=0 to Y=96; most common at Y=47-48.	Pickaxe (Stone or better)	Drops raw copper.
Copper Block		Ingredients Crafting recipe Copper Ingot	Pickaxe (Stone or better)	Used for decoration. Advances to the next stage of Weathering every 50-82 in-game days. Can crafted or used with Honeycomb to become waxed, which stops it from weathering. Weathering can be reduced with an axe or by a lightning strike.
Cut Copper		Ingredients Crafting recipe Copper Block 4	Pickaxe (Stone or better)	Used for decoration. Advances to the next stage of Weathering every 50-82 In game days. Can crafted or used with Honeycomb to become waxed, which stops it from weathering. Weathering can be reduced by an axe or a lightning strike.
Cut Copper Slabs and Stairs		Ingredients Crafting recipe Cut Copper 4 Ingredients Crafting recipe Cut Copper 4	Pickaxe (Stone or better)	Used for decoration. Advances to the next stage of Weathering every 50-82 in-game days. Can crafted or used with Honeycomb to become waxed, which stops it from weathering. Weathering can be reduced by an axe or a lightning strike.
Lightning Rod		Ingredients Crafting recipe Copper Ingot	Pickaxe (Stone or better)	Used to redirect lightning, possibly to avoid fires or for use in farms.
Candle		Ingredients Crafting recipe String + Honeycomb	Any	Can be used as a light source but it needs to be lit with flint and steel, fire charges, or flaming arrows. Extinguish candles using water or by simply right-clicking. Can be dyed. Can be placed in groups of four. Can be placed on top of a cake to make a cake with candle.
Powder Snow		Obtained from cauldrons laid out under snowy weather. Generates in groves and snowy slopes.	Bucket	Picked up with a bucket. Mobs and players can sink and walk through powder snow, taking freezing damage. Leather armor provides immunity to freezing. Leather boots prevent sinking. Skeletons buried in powder snow transform into strays. Can be placed by dispensers containing powder snow buckets. Puts out flames on burning mobs, at the cost of the powder snow block being destroyed. Fire mobs (blazes, magma cubes, striders) take more damage from freezing; ice mobs (strays, polar bears, snow golems) and the Wither are immune to freezing.
Dripstone Block		Ingredients Crafting recipe Pointed Dripstone Generates in dripstone cave biomes. Generates in dripstone clusters.	Pickaxe	Used for growing pointed dripstone if a water source is above the block.
Pointed Dripstone		Generates in dripstone caves. Generates in dripstone clusters. Grown from dripping stalactites. Sold by wandering traders.	Any	Stalagmites deal damage to any entity that falls or jumps on top of it. Stalactites fall when the block above it is broken, dealing damage to any entity it hits. Stalactites can drip water, or lava if there is lava above the stalactite. These drops can be picked up by cauldrons, and also allows for renewable lava. Can be broken with tridents.
Sculk Sensor		Obtainable only using commands.	Hoe	Detects vibrations made from nearby entities or blocks and emits a redstone signal. Redstone comparators can measure vibration frequencies from sculk sensors and convert them into redstone signals of different strengths. Detects only certain things, such as entities walking, flapping wings, or blocks being placed or broken. Cannot detect vibrations made behind a block of wool.
Glow Lichen		Generates in caves.	Shears	Produces light. Can be spread with bone meal.
Azalea		Generates in lush caves. Grows from moss blocks fertilized with bone meal. Drops from azalea leaves.	Any	Used for decoration. Comes in normal and flowering variants. Can be grown into azalea trees.
Azalea Leaves		Generates on azalea trees.	Shears	Used for decoration. Comes in normal and flowering variants.
Cave Vines		Generates in lush caves.	Any	Grows glow berries. Vines with berries on them produce light.
Big Dripleaf		Generates in lush caves. Grows when small dripleaves are bone mealed.	Axe	Can be stood upon. Tilts if an entity stands on it for longer than 1 second, causing the entity to fall through. Immediately tilts if hit by a projectile. A redstone signal prevents it from tilting.
Small Dripleaf		Generates in lush caves. Sold by wandering traders.	Shears	Grows into big dripleafs. Can be planted only on clay blocks, moss blocks, or while submerged in water.
Hanging Roots		Generates beneath azalea trees. Grows from rooted dirt fertilized with bone meal.	Shears	Used for decoration.
Rooted Dirt		Generates beneath azalea trees. Sold by wandering traders.	Any	Shearing rooted dirt drops hanging roots and converts it into regular dirt. Hanging roots can be grown by applying bone meal.
Moss Block		Generates in lush caves. Grows from moss blocks fertilized with bone meal. Can be found in shipwreck chests. Sold by wandering traders.	Axe	Applying bone meal creates grass, moss carpets, azaleas, and flowering azaleas. Applying bone meal converts adjacent stone and sediment-based blocks into moss blocks. Prevents saplings placed on it from growing into trees.
Moss Carpet		Generates in lush caves. Grows from moss blocks fertilized with bone meal.	Any	Used for decoration.
Spore Blossom		Generates in lush caves.	Any	Produces spore particles.
Deepslate		Generates below Y=8.	Pickaxe	Used for decoration.
Infested Deepslate		Generates when a silverfish infests deepslate.	Pickaxe	Spawns a silverfish when broken.
Cobbled Deepslate		Drops from deepslate.	Pickaxe	Used to craft stone tools, furnaces, and brewing stands.
Polished Deepslate		Ingredients Crafting recipe Cobbled Deepslate 4	Pickaxe	Used for decoration.
Deepslate Bricks and Cracked Deepslate Bricks		Ingredients Crafting recipe Polished Deepslate 4 Ingredients Smelting recipe Deepslate Bricks + Any fuel 0.1	Pickaxe	Used for decoration.
Deepslate Tiles and Cracked Deepslate Tiles		Ingredients Crafting recipe Deepslate Bricks 4 Ingredients Smelting recipe Deepslate Tiles + Any fuel 0.1	Pickaxe	Used for decoration.
Chiseled Deepslate		Ingredients Crafting recipe Cobbled Deepslate Slab	Pickaxe	Used for decoration.
Cobbled Deepslate, Polished Deepslate, Deepslate Brick and Deepslate Tile Slab, Stairs and Wall		Ingredients Crafting recipe Cobbled Deepslate or Polished Deepslate or Deepslate Bricks or Deepslate Tiles 6666 Ingredients Crafting recipe Cobbled Deepslate or Polished Deepslate or Deepslate Bricks or Deepslate Tiles 4444 Ingredients Crafting recipe Cobbled Deepslate or Polished Deepslate or Deepslate Bricks or Deepslate Tiles 6666	Pickaxe	Used for decoration.
Deepslate Ores		Generates wherever deepslate and tuff generate.	Pickaxe	Function the same as their stone equivalents, but take twice as long to mine.
Blocks of Raw Iron, Copper and Gold		Ingredients Crafting recipe Raw Iron or Raw Copper or Raw Gold	Pickaxe	Used for storage of raw metals.
Light		Obtainable through commands.	N/A	An invisible, non-solid, waterloggable light source. Shows particles indicating its location when held in hand, like the barrier.

Changed[]

Name	Image	Changed
Cake		Can now have candles placed on them.
Cauldron		Now used to collect dripping liquids from pointed dripstone. Can now be filled with lava and powder snow.
Dirt Path		Can now be created from dirt, coarse dirt, podzol, and mycelium. Renamed from Grass Path
All Rails		Can now be waterlogged.
All Signs		Have been given new textures. Sign text can now be made to glow using glow ink sacs. A normal ink sac can be used to remove the glowing effect.
Coal, Diamond, Emerald, Gold, Iron, Lapis Lazuli and Redstone Ore		Have been given new textures for accessibility. Iron ore and gold ore now drop raw iron and raw gold respectively instead of themselves.
Blackstone, Polished Blackstone Bricks and Cracked Polished Blackstone Bricks		Have been given new textures.
Mossy Cobblestone and Mossy Stone Bricks		Can now be crafted using moss blocks.

Items[]

New[]

Name	Image	Obtaining	Uses
Amethyst Shard		Obtained by breaking fully-grown amethyst clusters.	Can be used to craft amethyst blocks, spyglasses, and tinted glass.
Copper Ingot		Ingredients Smelting recipe Copper Ore or Deepslate Copper Ore or Raw Copper + Any fuel 0.7 Has a chance to be dropped by drowned.	Can be used to craft copper blocks, lightning rods, and spyglass.
Spyglass		Ingredients Crafting recipe Amethyst Shard + Copper Ingot	When used, the player's view zooms in, allowing them to see distant objects close up.
Powder Snow Bucket		Obtained by using a bucket on a snow cauldron or block of powder snow.	Can be used to place powder snow.
Bucket of Axolotl		Obtained by using a water bucket on an axolotl.	Can be used to spawn an axolotl.
Glow Ink Sac		Drops from glow squids.	Can be used to make sign text glow. Can be used to craft glow item frames.
Glow Berries		Grows on cave vines. Can be found in mineshaft chests.	Produces light while on the vine. Can be eaten to restore 2 () and 0.4 saturation. Can be used to plant cave vines. Can be fed to foxes.
Raw Iron, Copper and Gold		Ingredients Crafting recipe Block of Raw Iron or Block of Raw Copper or Block of Raw Gold 999 Drop from their respective ores.	Can be smelted into ingots. Can be crafted into compacted blocks. Allows iron ore, gold ore, and copper ore to be compatible with the Fortune enchantment.
Music Disc ("otherside")		"otherside" music discs can be found in chests in strongholds and dungeons.	Plays the track "otherside" from the Caves & Cliffs soundtrack.
Spawn Eggs for all new mobs		Obtained from the creative inventory.	Can be used to spawn the corresponding mob.

Changed[]

Name	Image	Changed
Clock		Has been given a new texture.
Compass and Lodestone Compass		Have been given new textures.
Doors (excluding crimson and warped)		Have been given new item textures.
Signs		Have been given new item textures.
Sugar Cane		Has been given a new texture.

Non-Mob Entities[]

New[]

Name	Image	Creation	Drops	Note
Glow Item Frame		Ingredients Crafting recipe Item Frame + Glow Ink Sac	Glow Item Frame (any item inside)	An item frame that glows.

Structures[]

New[]

Name	Image	Generates	Chests	Mobs	Description
Amethyst geode		Underground	No	No	A round chamber consisting of an amethyst and budding amethyst inner wall, a smooth basalt outer wall, and a layer of calcite in between. Comes in many different sizes.
Dripstone Cluster		Dripstone Caves	No	No	A large vertical cluster of dripstone blocks.
Azalea Tree		Above Lush Caves Grown from azalea and flowering azalea.	No	No	Indicates the location of a lush caves biome. Lots of rooted dirt generate below natural azalea trees. A tree currently made of azalea leaves and oak logs.
Ore vein		Underground	No	No	A large cluster of long strips of stones and ores. Granite and copper ore veins generate above Y level 0. Tuff and iron ore veins generate below Y level 0.

Changed[]

Name	Image	Changed
Mineshaft		Mineshaft pieces no longer generate if they would be fully floating in the air. Corridors now generate with oak log or dark oak log pillars or chains for support if needed. Cobwebs no longer generate if they would not be connected to solid blocks.
Stronghold		Now generate encased in stone, preventing nearby caves from intersecting them.
Fossil		Generates with deepslate diamond ore instead of coal ore when below Y=0.

Biomes[]

New[]

Name	Image	Description	Structures
Dripstone Caves		Contains lots of dripstone blocks and pointed dripstone on the floor and ceiling. There are large columns made of dripstone blocks extending from the ceiling to the floor of the cave. Contains many small pools of water. Contains larger deposits of copper ore.	Amethyst geodes Dungeons Mineshafts Strongholds
Lush Caves		An azalea tree generates on the surface to indicate the biome's location. Terrain is covered with lots of moss and clay. Many kinds of plants grow in this biome, including grass, vines, dripleaves, azalea, cave vines, and spore blossoms. Contains many pools and terraces made of clay and water.	Amethyst geodes Dungeons Mineshafts Strongholds
Meadow		A new mountain sub-biome that often generates at the base of mountains. Resembles a plains biome with blueish grass and numerous flowers.	Birch Trees Villages
Grove		A new mountain sub-biome that generates on the slopes of mountains. Resembles a snowy taiga biome with a surface made of snow blocks and powder snow.	Spruce Trees
Snowy Slopes		A new mountain sub-biome that generates on the slopes of mountains. Consists of several layers of snow and powder snow blocks on top of stone.
Stony Peaks		A mountain sub-biome that generates on the peaks of mountains. Usually generates when the surrounding base biomes are too hot for jagged or frozen peaks. Has a surface made of stone and strips of calcite.
Jagged Peaks		A mountain sub-biome that generates on the peaks of mountains. More likely to generate as sharp peaks compared to the other peak biomes. Has a surface made of stone and snow.
Frozen Peaks		A mountain sub-biome that generates on the peaks of mountains. Tends to generate rounded peaks. Has a surface made of snow and packed ice.

Changed[]

Name	Image	Changed
All Biomes		Terrain, cave, and biome generation has been completely overhauled. The height limit and depth limit have both been increased by 64 blocks. There is now natural variation in terrain shape and elevation independently from biomes. New mountain biomes and cave biomes have been added. Cave biomes generate naturally underground and inside mountains. Cave generation has been overhauled to include new types of caves, such as cheese, spaghetti, and noodle caves. Local water levels and lava levels in caves can create underground water and lava lakes at different elevations. Ore distribution has been overhauled, with each ore now peaking in frequency at a different elevation. Large underground ore veins have been added. Clouds have been raised to Y level 192. There is now much more variation in beach size.