The latest Minecraft Snapshot for the upcoming Caves and Cliffs update adds a very exciting new biome: Lush Caves. These will eventually be discovered while mining, although in this current Snapshot state they can only be explored by creating a custom world.
Lush Caves will transform what it’s like to go mining, and they’re a crucial part of the Caves update arriving this summer. Here’s a bit more information about this Snapshot.
A brand new snapshot is now on its way out! This time around we're introducing the Lush Caves biome. On top of that, we're now also using OpenGL Core 3.2 for rendering. More changes and additions in the article. Enjoy! https://t.co/AX9Pixamhs
— Adrian Östergård (@adrian_ivl) March 10, 2021
First of all, a closer look at the Lush Cave biome. It includes a lot of new vegetation unique to this biome that will make caves feel more alive.
Moss grows over all the floors and ceilings, and Spore Blossoms grow from the ceiling and drip particles. These blossoms also cause a particle effect.
The Lush Caves will also be a handy new place to discover clay due to the introduction of Clay Pools, which have dripleaf plants growing out of them, often surrounded by azalea bushes and flowering azaleas.
Azaleas are closely linked with the Lush Cave biome. If you spot an azalea tree above ground you might well be standing right above one of the new biomes, as azaleas’s roots often go all the way down into a Lush Cave.
Lush Caves also feature a new light source with the cave vines sprouting glow berries. This definitely adds to the atmosphere and is one of the most exciting parts of the new Cave update.
Some new blocks have also been added, such as the Cracked Deepslate Bricks and Cracked Deepslate Tiles, as well as an Infested variant of Deepslate found deep underground. New versions of emerald, coal, and copper for Deepslate have also been added to creative mode in this snapshot.
In other news, there have been some changes to ore distribution as part of ongoing balance changes being made by the team. There will now be more emeralds in mountain biomes, more lapis overall, and less copper, gold, and Redstone.
Lastly, other exciting news comes with the announcement that Minecraft Java is moving over to the OpenGL 3.2 core profile. This essentially means shaders have become a fixed part of the game.
If you were previously running Minecraft Java you might want to check the updated minimum system requirements. The game obviously is a bit harder to run now with the new shaders supported.
