Biomes

Biomes

Complete reference of all biomes implemented in ZigCraft's world generation system.

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Overview

ZigCraft features 21 biomes organized into categories based on climate and terrain. Biomes are selected using a Voronoi diagram in temperature/humidity space with structural constraints.

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Biome Categories

Ocean Biomes

Biome	Temperature	Humidity	Surface	Description
deep_ocean	Any	Any	Gravel	Deep water (30+ blocks)
ocean	Any	Any	Sand/Gravel	Shallow to medium water

Coastal Biomes

Biome	Temperature	Humidity	Surface	Description
beach	Warm	Any	Sand	Sandy beaches at coastlines
coastal_plains	Mild	Medium	Grass	Transitional coastal grassland

Cold Biomes

Biome	Temperature	Humidity	Surface	Description
snow_tundra	Cold	Low	Snow	Flat frozen plains
taiga	Cold	Medium	Grass	Snowy conifer forests
snowy_mountains	Cold	Any	Snow/Stone	High-altitude frozen peaks

Temperate Biomes

Biome	Temperature	Humidity	Surface	Description
plains	Mild	Low-Medium	Grass	Flat grasslands
forest	Mild	Medium-High	Grass	Oak and birch forests
mountains	Any	Any	Stone	High-altitude rocky terrain

Warm/Wet Biomes

Biome	Temperature	Humidity	Surface	Description
swamp	Warm	High	Grass	Murky wetlands with oak trees
mangrove_swamp	Hot	Very High	Mud	Coastal mangrove trees
jungle	Hot	Very High	Grass	Dense tropical rainforest

Hot/Dry Biomes

Biome	Temperature	Humidity	Surface	Description
desert	Hot	Very Low	Sand	Sandy dunes with cacti
savanna	Hot	Low	Grass	Sparse acacia trees
badlands	Hot	Very Low	Red Sand	Terracotta mesas

Special Biomes

Biome	Temperature	Humidity	Surface	Description
mushroom_fields	Mild	High	Mycelium	Giant mushroom biome
river	Any	N/A	Sand	River channels

Transition Biomes

Biome	Transitions Between	Surface	Description
foothills	Mountains ↔ Plains/Forest	Grass	Hilly terrain buffer
marsh	Swamp ↔ Forest/Plains	Grass	Wet grassland
dry_plains	Desert ↔ Forest/Plains	Grass	Semi-arid grassland

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Biome Selection

Climate Parameters

Parameter	Description	Range
temperature	Heat level	-1.0 to 1.0
humidity	Moisture level	-1.0 to 1.0
elevation	Height above sea level	0-256
continentalness	Distance from ocean	0.0 to 1.0
ruggedness	Terrain roughness	0.0 to 1.0

Voronoi Selection Algorithm

1. Calculate temperature and humidity at world position
2. For each biome point in heat/humidity space:
   a. Check structural constraints (height, slope, continentalness)
   b. Calculate weighted Euclidean distance
   c. Track closest match
3. Return closest biome that passes constraints

Structural Constraints

Constraint	Description
min_height	Minimum Y level required
max_height	Maximum Y level allowed
min_slope	Minimum terrain slope
max_slope	Maximum terrain slope
min_continentalness	Minimum distance from ocean

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Transition Biome Injection

Edge detection samples biomes at 4/8/12 block radii. If incompatible biomes are found, a transition biome is injected.

Transition Rules

Source Biome	Adjacent Biome	Injected Transition
Desert	Forest, Plains	dry_plains
Snow Tundra	Plains, Forest	taiga
Swamp	Forest, Plains	marsh
Mountains	Plains, Forest	foothills

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Biome Properties

Surface Blocks

Each biome defines:

• Top block: Surface layer (1 block)
• Filler block: Subsurface (3-4 blocks)

Biome	Top Block	Filler Block
Plains/Forest	Grass	Dirt
Desert	Sand	Sand
Snow Tundra	Snow Block	Dirt
Mountains	Stone	Stone
Swamp	Grass	Dirt
Mangrove Swamp	Mud	Mud
Jungle	Grass	Dirt
Beach	Sand	Sand
Badlands	Red Sand	Terracotta
Mushroom Fields	Mycelium	Dirt

Vegetation Density

Category	Density	Example Biomes
Sparse	0.1x	Desert, Badlands
Low	0.5x	Plains, Savanna
Normal	1.0x	Forest, Taiga
Dense	1.5x	Jungle, Swamp

Trees by Biome

Biome	Primary Tree	Secondary Trees
Forest	Oak	Birch
Taiga	Spruce	—
Jungle	Jungle	Bamboo
Savanna	Acacia	—
Swamp	Swamp Oak	—
Mangrove Swamp	Mangrove	—

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Climate Zones

The world is divided into macro climate zones based on noise:

Temperature Zones

Zone	Temperature Range	Description
Frozen	< -0.5	Snow and ice
Cold	-0.5 to 0.0	Taiga and tundra
Temperate	0.0 to 0.5	Plains and forests
Warm	0.5 to 0.8	Savanna and swamp
Hot	> 0.8	Desert and jungle

Humidity Zones

Zone	Humidity Range	Description
Arid	< -0.5	Desert, badlands
Dry	-0.5 to 0.0	Plains, savanna
Normal	0.0 to 0.5	Forest, plains
Humid	0.5 to 0.8	Swamp, jungle
Wet	> 0.8	Mangrove, deep jungle

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Biome Colors (Minimap)

Biome	Color	Hex
Deep Ocean	Dark Blue	#1a3d5c
Ocean	Blue	#3366cc
Beach	Tan	#e6d999
Desert	Sandy Yellow	#d4b896
Plains	Light Green	#7cb342
Forest	Dark Green	#2e7d32
Jungle	Tropical Green	#1b5e20
Mountains	Gray	#757575
Snow Tundra	White	#f5f5f5
Swamp	Murky Green	#4a5d23

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See Also

• World Generation - How biomes are generated
• Block Types - Blocks found in biomes

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_{Source: src/world/worldgen/biome.zig | Last updated: January 2026}