The Minecraft 1.18 Update it’s finally here. The second part of Caves & Cliffs brings the rest of the changes that Mojang originally planned when he announced the main update in 2020. As expected, there are new biomes based on mountains and caves along with new blocks and items. Version 1.17 already added many of the mobs and plants that inhabit the new biomes, but now they will all spawn naturally in your homes.
As of this year’s Minecraft Live show, we sadly discovered that the large and terrifying Wardens and their Deep Dark biome have been delayed in this version. They now come in the 1.19 Wild update, which Mojang has announced is coming in 2022.
With update 1.18 now available, here’s everything you need to know about what Minecraft Caves & Cliffs part 2 has brought to the game.
When is the release time for Minecraft 1.18?
minecraft 1.18 released on November 30, 2021. With Caves and Cliffs part 2 now available, you should see version 1.18 recommended as the latest version in your Minecraft Launcher.
Always remember to backup your old save files before loading them into the latest version of the game. With the new world generation changes, Mojang says that the new fragments generated in the worlds you push forward to 1.18 should blend better with the existing terrain in your save file. Goodbye to the big flat edges of the old worlds!
How to update
How to Update Minecraft Bedrock Edition on PC
If you’ve been playing Minecraft on PC for a while, you probably have the Java Edition, which should update automatically through the launcher. bedrock edition should It also updates automatically, but in case it doesn’t, here’s what to do using the Xbox app or the Microsoft Store.
xbox app
Look for the “My Collection” tile in the top left corner of the app, just below the Xbox logo. Click this, then click the ‘Manage Installations’ button at the top right. Give it a few seconds to complete and you should see Minecraft listed. Click the update arrow, let it install, and you’re ready to play.
Microsoft Store
Locate the ‘Library’ tile near the bottom of the menu on the left. Click here to see the updates available for your applications; Minecraft should be there. Click update, let it finish, and you should be good to go.
new biomes
Minecraft 1.18: new and updated cave biomes
Caves, in general, have received a complete overhaul, giving them more room to spawn and adapt to the new individual biomes. Many caves will contain aquifers or bodies of water independent of sea level, and deep shale will replace stone from Y=0 to Y=-7. In addition, three new types of noise caves have been introduced:
- Cheese caves: Huge caves containing aquifers and minerals.
- Spaghetti Caves: These are long and thin and may have small aquifers.
- Noodle Caves: Similar to the Spaghetti Caves but much smaller.
lush caves
Caves aren’t new to Minecraft, but they are often fraught with danger, especially if you happen upon an old mine. The Lush Caves biome changes all that. While there are still likely to be dangers to watch out for, this new biome gives Minecraft’s underground world a much cozier feel, adding a plethora of plant life to an otherwise barren environment.
Lush Caves is where you are most likely to find minecraft axolotls—currently only found in groundwater sources— and cave vines, glowing berries, and drip leaves should also grow in abundance here. You will be able to detect the location of Lush Caves by the azalea trees that grow above them in the overworld terrain.
stalactite cave
The second new biome is filled with spiky stalactites and stalactite blocks. These will form stalagmites and stalactites to give some variation to the usual blocky terrain. The pointed stalactite creates the pointed interior of these caves. It acts much like vines, breaking off completely if a section is destroyed.
You should also be aware of the potential dangers this environment can hold: falling into a pit of stalagmites will hurt.
Mountain sub-biomes
Caves aren’t the only things that have been revamped in the Minecraft 1.18 update; after all, it is called ‘Caves and Cliffs’. There are six new ‘sub-biomes’ introduced in the mountainous regions:
- mountain meadow: low mountain regions. Various flowers and sweet berry bushes can be found here.
- Mountain Grove: This area is the first mountainous area covered with snow. You should see a lot of rabbits and fir trees here.
- snowy slopes: Higher still, Snowy Slopes is home to goats, snow and ice.
- High peaks: These snow covered peaks will only spawn if the mountain is tall enough and the surrounding biomes are warm.
- Snowy peaks: This biome will only spawn if the surrounding biomes are too cold for Lofty Peaks. You can find blocks of snow and packed ice here.
- Stony peaks: This biome is a high/snowy peaks version that features stone and gravel instead of snow and ice, and is used to avoid temperature shocks, like a snowy peak in the middle of a jungle.
Other blocks and elements
Blocks and items that come in Minecraft 1.18
The first half of the Caves & Cliffs update came with a lot of new blocks and items, but the 1.18 update is much more focused on those big biomes and world spawn changes. On the block and item side, ore veins are the main new change.
ore veins
Iron and copper ore veins are snake-shaped ore formations that should produce a lot of valuable ore when found. At Y=0 and above, ore veins contain copper ore and granite. Below Y=0, the ore vein will give you iron ore and tuff.
More music by Lena Raine
More Lena Raine music is coming to Minecraft. Five new songs associated with new biomes will be added to Survival Mode. A music disk called “Another Side” can now be found in strongholds and dungeons.
Minecraft 1.18 Seed Parity
During the Minecraft Live 2021 show, Mojang announced another great detail for Minecraft 1.18. Starting in the second half of Caves & Cliffs, the two main versions of Minecraft, Java and Bedrock, will share nearly identical world seeds.
Minecraft world seeds allow you to create a specific world by entering a number in the new world menu when creating it. Any save file that is started using a particular world seed will be identical to any other that uses the same seed. However, that only works if you’re using the same version of Minecraft. You can see from our list of the best Minecraft seeds that Java and Bedrock currently have different world seeds.
For version 1.18, the Java and Bedrock versions of Minecraft have almost identical worlds spawned by the same seed. Mojang says of full seed parity that “we’re not 100% yet, but we’re close. It’s very similar. Details will be different.” You can see how close your worlds will be to Java and Bedrock in one of the examples Mojang shared. Can you see the differences?
Guardian (delayed)
Warden’s mob has been delayed.
The Warden was originally announced as part of the Caves & Cliffs update, scheduled for version 1.18. As of this year’s Minecraft Live, Mojang announced that the Warden and Deep Dark biome it comes from will be pushed back to the 1.19 Wild update.
Because they are so deep underground, the Guardians are blind and respond to vibrations and movement rather than light. If you get close to one, the area will go dark, regardless of the light source used. You’ll know if one is aware of your presence, as the “horns” on its head will glow and rattle.
they are pretty scary, have tons of health and deal massive damage. They are also large, taller than an Iron Golem. They will also chase you if you don’t duck to sneak away. Luckily, they can be tricked by throwing objects like eggs or snowballs at them.