Caves And Cliffs Part 2 Release Time

Minecraft i.18 update: Everything new in Caves & Cliffs role 2

Minecraft Caves & Cliffs part 2 concept art of Steve using a pickaxe to mine amethysts in a lush cave while Alex explores above.

(Image credit: Mojang)

The Minecraft 1.xviii update is finally hither. Caves & Cliffs part two brings the residue of the changes that Mojang originally planned when announcing the major update back in 2020. As you might expect, in that location are new mountain and cave-based biomes along with new blocks and items. Version ane.17 already added many of the mobs and plants that inhabit the new biomes, but at present they'll all naturally generate in their proper homes.

Equally of this year's Minecraft Alive show, we have unfortunately establish out that the big, scary Wardens and their Deep Dark biome have been delayed from this version. They're now coming in the 1.xix Wild Update, which Mojang has announced will be coming in 2022.

With update 1.18 now out, here's everything you should know about what Minecraft Caves & Cliffs part ii has brought to the game.

When is the Minecraft one.eighteen release time?

Minecraft one.eighteen launched on November 30, 2021. With Caves and Cliffs office two now out, yous should run across version one.xviii recommended as the latest version in your Minecraft Launcher.

E'er remember to back upward your old save files before loading them into the newest version of the game. With the new changes to world generation, Mojang say that new chunks generated in worlds you bring forward to i.18 should better alloy with the existing terrain in your save file. And so long to big flat clamper borders in old worlds!

How to update

How to update Minecraft Bedrock Edition on PC

If you've been playing Minecraft on PC for a while, it's probable you've got the Java Edition, which should update automatically through the launcher. Boulder Edition should besides automatically update, but on the off-risk it doesn't, here's what you lot need to practice using either the Xbox App or the Microsoft Shop.

Xbox App
Expect for the 'My Drove' tile in the top left corner of the app, just beneath the Xbox logo. Click on this, then click the 'Manage Installs' button in the top right. Give it a few seconds to populate and y'all should encounter Minecraft in the list. Click on the update arrow, permit it install, and you're ready to play.

Microsoft Store
Locate the 'Library' tile near the bottom of the menu on the left. Click on this to see whatever updates that are bachelor for your apps—Minecraft should be there. Click on update, let it cease, and you should be good to go.

New biomes

Minecraft 1.18: New and updated cavern biomes

Caves, in general, have gotten a complete overhaul, giving them more room to generate and fit in with the new individual biomes. Many caves will comprise aquifers or bodies of h2o independent of sea level, and deepslate will replace rock from Y=0 to Y=-7. Additionally, three new types of racket caves have been introduced:

Cheese caves: Huge caves containing aquifers and ore.
Spaghetti caves: These are long and thin and may have small aquifers.
Noodle caves: Like to Spaghetti caves just much smaller.

Lush Caves

Caves aren't new to Minecraft, but they're usually fraught with danger, especially if you stumble on an old mine. The Lush Caves biome changes all that. While there are likely still dangers to look out for, this new biome gives the underground world of Minecraft a much more welcoming feel, adding an affluence of found life to an otherwise sterile environment.

Lush Caves are where you lot're most probable to find Minecraft axolotls—currently only found in underground water sources—and cave vines, glow berries, and drip leaves should too abound in affluence hither. Yous'll be able to spot the location of Lush Caves by the Azalea trees that grow above them in the overworld terrain.

Dripstone Cave

The second new biome is total of pointed dripstone and dripstone blocks. These will form stalagmites and stalactites to give some variance to the usual blocky terrain. Pointed dripstone creates the spikey interior of these caves. It acts much like vines, breaking completely if one department is destroyed.

You should too exist aware of the potential dangers that this environment tin can have—falling into a pit of stalagmites will injure.

Mountain sub-biomes

Caves aren't the merely things that take gotten a makeover in the Minecraft i.18 update—it is called 'Caves & Cliffs' after all. In that location are six new 'sub-biomes' introduced to the mountainous regions:

Mountain Meadow: Low mount regions. Various flowers and sweet drupe bushes can be found here.
Mountain Grove: This area is the first snow-covered mountainous area. You should run into plenty of rabbits and spruce trees here.
Snowy Slopes: College still, Snowy Slopes are domicile to goats, snow, and ice.
Lofty Peaks: These snowfall-covered peaks will only generate if the mountain is high enough and the surrounding biomes are warm.
Snow Capped Peaks: This biome will merely generate if the surrounding biomes are too cold for Lofty Peaks. Yous can notice snowfall blocks and packed ice here.
Stony Peaks: This biome is a version of lofty/snowcapped peaks that features stone and gravel instead of snow and ice, and is used to avoid temperature clashes such every bit a snowcapped height in the center of a jungle.

Other blocks and items

Blocks and items coming in Minecraft ane.18

The commencement half of the Caves & Cliffs update came with lots of new blocks and items, but update 1.18 is much more focused on those big biome and globe generation changes. On the cake and items side, Ore Veins are the headline new alter.

Ore veins

Iron and copper ore veins are ophidian-like ore formations that should yield a lot of valuable ore when constitute. At Y=0 and higher up, ore veins contain copper ore and granite. Below Y=0, the ore vein volition give you iron ore and tuff.

More Lena Raine music

More of Lena Raine's music is coming to Minecraft. Five new songs associated with new biomes are being added to survival mode. A music disc chosen "otherside" is tin can at present exist found in strongholds and dungeons.

Minecraft ane.18 Seed Parity

Minecraft Life 2021 screenshot - an example of a Java world and Bedrock world generated with the same seed. Both showing a snowy biome with a frozen lake that look nearly identical. — (Image credit: Mojang)

During the Minecraft Live 2021 show, Mojang appear another large detail for Minecraft 1.18. Every bit of the second one-half of Caves & Cliffs, Minecraft's two main versions—Java and Bedrock—will share almost identical world seeds.

Minecraft earth seeds allow yous to create a specific earth past entering a number in the new world menu when creating information technology. Any save file started by using a particular world seed will exist identical to whatsoever other using the same seed. That only works if you're using the aforementioned version of Minecraft though. You tin can see on our list of best Minecraft seeds that Coffee and Boulder currently take different world seeds.

For version 1.18, Java and Bedrock versions of Minecraft accept almost identical worlds generated by the same seed. Mojang says of complete seed parity that "We're not 100% at that place yet, merely close. Information technology's very similar. Details will be different." You can run across just how close your Java and Bedrock worlds will be in one of the examples upwardly there that Mojang shared. Can you spot the differences?

Warden (Delayed)

A Warden in a cave in the Minecraft 1.18 update — (Image credit: Mojang)

The Warden mob has been delayed

The Warden was originally announced as part of the Caves & Cliffs update, planned to come up in the 1.xviii version. As of this year's Minecraft live, Mojang announced that the Warden and the Deep Dark biome it hails from are both beingness pushed dorsum to the ane.xix Wild Update.

As they are constitute and so deep underground, Wardens are blind, responding to vibrations and movement instead of calorie-free. If you get most one, the surface area will dim, regardless of any lite source used. You'll know if 1 is aware of your presence as the 'horns' on its head will glow and rattle.

They're pretty scary, having tons of health and dealing massive harm. They're big, besides, standing taller than an Atomic number 26 Golem. They'll likewise chase after yous if you don't crouch to sneak past them. Luckily they can be tricked by throwing objects like eggs or snowballs.

Sarah's earliest gaming memories involve playing Jet Gear up Willy on the ZX Spectrum at a friend's house. These days, and when not writing guides, most of her spare time goes into MMOs—though she's quite partial to JRPGs besides. She has spent much of the last decade playing the likes of Star Wars: The Quondam Democracy, TERA, Final Fantasy 14, and Earth of Warcraft. Sarah has been writing most games for several years and, before joining PC Gamer, freelanced for the likes of TechRadar, GamingBible, and Rock Paper Shotgun. One of her fondest hopes is to one day play through the ending of Final Fantasy X without breaking down into a sobbing heap. She probably has more wolves in Valheim than y'all.