Gallifrey

File:Minecraft 2.jpg

An example of a random world

The Overworld is the starting dimension in Minecraft. It is the only dimension that has existed throughout the development of Minecraft; The Nether was the second dimension to be added, in Alpha 1.2.0, and The End is another dimension that appeared for the first time in Beta 1.9pre4.

The Overworld is the entire three dimensional space in which in-game construction can occur, encompassing the span from the level ceiling down to bedrock and extending in every direction on the horizontal plane. It is generated through a secret process which creates multiple Noise maps to create differing elevations, general chunk shapes, and complex mountain and cave systems.

All but four of the mobs in the game can appear in the Overworld: Wolves, Pigs, Sheep, Cows, Mooshrooms, Chickens, Squid, Zombies, Skeletons, Spiders, Spider Jockeys, Endermen, Creepers and Slimes all spawn normally, and Pigs can, very rarely, be hit by lightning, which turns them into Zombie Pigmen. Also if Creepers get hit by lightning, they can turn in to Charged Creepers, though this happens very rarely. Ghasts, Blazes and Magma Cubes can only spawn in the Nether, and the Enderdragon can only spawn in The End.

Seeds

Main article: Seed

Worlds in Minecraft are generated through a procedural formula that takes a random number as a starting point - a seed, and it will be used to generate all the terrain of the overworld (and the Nether).

As of Beta 1.3 the option was added for the player to specify the world seed. Using a specific seed generates exactly the same world each time, and thus interesting Minecraft worlds could be shared between players. The spawn is not on exactly the same spot, though, so it is wise to give co-ordinates instead of directions. The seed input is converted into an integer, so, for instance, the word 'Glacier' corresponds to a value of 1772835215, which generates exactly the same world when entered as a seed value.

Many seeds are chosen simply because they spawn the player near desirable resources, a stronghold or some certain special structure, such as a dungeon.

As of Beta 1.8, players could find the current map seed by tapping F3.

(a mettre en français)

Sizes

In Classic and Indev, maps can be generated in "small" (128×128×64), "normal" (256×256×64), and "huge" (512×512×64) sizes.

In Infdev, Alpha and Beta maps are somewhat infinitely big - They are made up of chunks; this means that as the player explores the map distant chunks are generated automatically, leading to theoretically infinite maps. In practice, technical reasons (the limits of 32-bit integers) force the maximum map size to be around 8 times the surface area of the Earth [1], which comes out to about 4,080,576,000 km². Whilst the horizontal planes of the maps are vast in size, the vertical plane remains at a fixed 128-block height [2].

While the map is infinite, the number of blocks the player may walk on is limited. The map, counting air as a block, and not counting blocks beyond and at where block physics fail (32,000,000 from the center) from top to bottom, and all in between, is essentially always 1.31071992 × 10¹⁷ blocks big. In multiplayer, chunks will also stop generating after the world reaches a certain file size. Template:Cn

Since Snapshot 12w07a, new maps may have a height of 256 if the "Anvil" world type is selected. But older maps must be converted. This is a video showing the height of maps rendered in 12w07a.

Generation

Generated Blocks

Entries marked with a ^D require additional data to fully define the block in a Beta world. Entries marked with an ^I have a different ID as an inventory item. Entries marked with a ^B require additional inventory data to fully define the inventory item. Entries marked with a ^T have tile entities associated with them to store additional data. Items with IDs in red cannot be legitimately obtained in the player's inventory in the game; they can only be obtained by "hacking" (such as the use of Inventory editors) or, in multiplayer using the /give server command. Items available only in Creative mode are in blue.

Naturally Generated

Naturally Generated includes blocks that are created through the world seed.

Icon	Dec	Hex	Block type
	00	00	Air
File:Stone.png	01	01	Stone
File:Grass.png	02	02	Grass
File:Dirt.png	03	03	Dirt
File:Bedrock.png	07	07	Bedrock
File:Water.png	09	09	Water (Stationary) D
File:Lava.png	11	0B	Lava (Stationary) D
File:Sand.png	12	0C	Sand
File:Gravel.png	13	0D	Gravel
File:Gold (Ore).png	14	0E	Gold Ore
File:Iron (Ore).png	15	0F	Iron Ore
File:Coal (Ore).png	16	10	Coal Ore
File:Wood.png	17	11	Wood D B
File:Leaves.png	18	12	Leaves D B
File:Lapis Lazuli (Ore).png	21	15	Lapis Lazuli Ore
File:Sandstone.png	24	18	Sandstone
File:Tall Grass.png	31	1F	Tall Grass D B
File:Grid Dead Bush.png	32	20	Dead Bush

Icon	Dec	Hex	Block type
File:Dandelion.png	37	25	Dandelion
File:Rose.png	38	26	Rose
File:Brown Mushroom.png	39	27	Brown Mushroom
File:Red Mushroom.png	40	28	Red Mushroom
File:Diamond (Ore).png	56	38	Diamond Ore
File:Redstone (Ore).png	73	49	Redstone Ore
File:Snow.png	78	4E	Snow
File:Ice.png	79	4F	Ice
File:Cactus.png	81	51	Cactus D
File:Clay (Block).png	82	52	Clay Block
File:Sugar Cane.png	83	53	Sugar Cane D I
File:Pumpkin.png	86	56	Pumpkin D
File:BrownMushroomCap.png	99	63	Huge Brown Mushroom D
File:RedMushroomCap.png	100	64	Huge Red Mushroom D
File:Vine.png	106	6A	Vines D
File:Mycelium.png	110	6E	Mycelium
File:Lily Pad.png	111	6F	Lily Pad

Naturally Created

Naturally Created means a combination of events that cause a new block to be placed by natural causes, not the player.

Icon	Dec	Hex	Block type
	00	00	Air
File:Grass.png	02	02	Grass
File:Dirt.png	03	03	Dirt
File:Cobblestone.png	04	04	Cobblestone
File:Water.png	08	08	Water (Flowing) D
File:Lava.png	10	0A	Lava (Flowing) D
File:Tall Grass.png	31	1F	Tall Grass D B
File:Brown Mushroom.png	39	27	Brown Mushroom
File:Red Mushroom.png	40	28	Red Mushroom

Icon	Dec	Hex	Block type
File:Obsidian.png	49	31	Obsidian
File:Fire.png	51	33	Fire D
File:Snow.png	78	4E	Snow
File:Ice.png	79	4F	Ice
File:Cactus.png	81	51	Cactus D
File:Sugar Cane.png	83	53	Sugar Cane D I
File:Vine.png	106	6A	Vines D
File:Mycelium.png	110	6E	Mycelium

Structures

Same as Naturally Generated, but these blocks are only created with the "Generate Structures" option enabled.

Icon	Dec	Hex	Block type
File:Wooden Plank.png	05	05	Wooden Plank
File:Water.png	09	09	Stationary Water D
File:Lava.png	11	0B	Stationary Lava D
File:Gravel.png	13	0D	Gravel
File:Wood.png	17	11	Wood D B
File:WebBlock.png	30	1E	Cobweb
File:Grid Black Wool.png	35	23	Wool (Black) D B
File:Stone Slab.png	44	2C	Slabs D B
File:Bookshelf.png	47	2F	Bookshelf
File:Torch.png	50	32	Torch D
File:Monster Spawner.png	52	34	Monster Spawner T
File:Wooden Stairs.png	53	35	Wooden Stairs D
File:Chest.png	54	36	Chest D T
File:Crafting Table.png	58	3A	Crafting Table

Icon	Dec	Hex	Block type
File:Crops.png	59	3B	Seeds D
File:Farmland.png	60	3C	Farmland D
File:Furnace.png	61	3D	Furnace D T
File:Wooden Door.png	64	40	Wooden Door D I
File:Ladders.png	65	41	Ladders D
File:Rails.png	66	42	Rails D
File:Cobblestone Stairs.png	67	43	Stone Stairs
File:Iron Door.png	71	47	Iron Door D I
File:Wooden Pressure Plate.png	72	48	Wooden Pressure Plate D
File:Stone Button.png	77	4D	Button D
File:Fence.png	85	55	Fence
File:Stone.png	97	61	Hidden Silverfish D
File:Stone Brick.png	98	62	Stone Bricks D B (2)
File:Iron Bars.png	101	65	Iron Bars
File:Glass Pane.png	102	66	Glass Pane

File:Chunk borders visible in snow.JPG

Chunk borders outlined in snow

Chunks

Main article: Chunks

Chunks are the method used by Notch to divide maps into manageable pieces. They are 16 blocks wide, 16 blocks long, and 128 blocks deep, and encompass 32,768 blocks. By adjusting the render distance, differing numbers of chunks will be loaded into memory, with "far" rendering the maximum of 81 chunks. Only chunks which have been loaded may experience activity such as spawning, despawning, growth, liquid movement, or player interaction. Upon reaching the required distance away from a chunk, it will be unloaded from the memory, however not deleted. Thus, upon re-entering that area, whatever has been changed will remain changed.

Biomes

Main article: Biomes

Another subdivision of The Overworld is into Biomes. Biomes may have varying sizes, and each has its own features. For example, a forest biome will have large quantities of trees, where as a snow biome will have snow and ice.

Natural Structures

Main article: Natural Structures

The Overworld is able to seamlessly create new areas by using patterns found in the surrounding chunks and extend those into the newly created chunk. These patterns, while unique to each world, can be categorized easily by comparing them to a real-world equivalent, such as cliffs or oceans. While Minecraft is based on landforms found on earth, impossible formations, such as floating islands, can be found throughout the Overworld.

Navigating The Overworld

Main article: Tutorials/Navigation

The Overworld can be navigated by use of the position of the sun and the moon, the movement of the clouds, and the movement of the stars. Assuming that the sun and moon rise in the east and go west, the clouds can be observed moving north and stars east (not since 1.0.0, see below.)

Tools used for Navigating The Overworld include the Compass and Map. The Compass points to the original spawn point (sleeping in a bed does not change the compass operation), and the Map displays a fixed area around where it was made, and shows you the area very generically. In the Nether, the Compass needle will spin wildly, and is thus useless. Since Beta 1.9 (Pre-Release 4), the Compass needle and the Clock will spin randomly within The End, similar to the Nether.

Since Alpha 1.2.3, the F3 key toggles a debug console which shows the player their absolute coordinates, where the X and Z coordinates show longitude and latitude, and the Y coordinate shows height, where Y=64 corresponds to sea level. In addition, in Beta 1.7 an 'f' value was added, which indicates the direction the player is facing, 0 being the direction in which the sun sets, and it goes counter clockwise from there: 1 being the direction in which the clouds move, 2 and 3 are opposite to 0 and 1 respectively.

Since the sun changed position relative to the clouds (they now move in the same direction) in 1.0.0, if you want to assume that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, the 'f' values are: 1=west, 2=north, 3=east, and 0=south.

Day and night

Main article: Day/night cycle

The overworld is the only dimension with a day/night cycle. During the daytime, the sun acts as a light source. This light is strong enough to kill Zombies, and Skeletons, make Endermen disappear and also makes Spiders neutral. The only mobs that survive and stay hostile in the daylight are creepers, slimes and cave spiders. At night time the moon is the only natural light source however it provides only a little light, allowing hostile mobs to spawn.

Far Lands

Main article: Far Lands

The Far Lands used to be an area that formed the "edge" of the "infinite" map, but was later removed accidentally from a patch on 1.8 due to the change in the terrain generation code. When players made it to the Far Lands, they experienced an excessive amount of lag and the map was severely distorted.

According to Notch, this distortion could be fixed, but since no one was likely to make it to the Far Lands without some form of cheating, he says that he was likely not going to fix it since he liked the idea of a mysterious world beyond a certain distance. When the Beta 1.8 update was released, the newly re-written biome code did in fact remove the Far Lands and will just generate as an extremely large ocean. The far lands may be brought back in a later patch, though it is unlikely.

Trivia

• World seeds can be extracted from the level.dat file by various mods or tools, such as http://seedscope.net. Alternatively, it can be found in-game on the performance screen accessed by pressing F3.
• There is a bug that sometimes causes the files for deleted worlds to not be deleted from your hard drive. If a new world is created with the same name, this can cause the game to reuse the old files, and thus, parts of the old map, rather than generate an entirely new map.

See also

• The Nether
• The End
• Sky Dimension
• The Void
• Far Lands