Desert

Deserts are hot seas of sand with cacti, dead bushes and almost no water. They also hold some of the best early loot in the game, inside desert pyramids. This desert biome finder shows the closest sand for your seed. The map above flies to the nearest desert and marks it with a biome icon, while the list shows every other desert nearby.

Where deserts generate

Deserts form in the hottest climate band with very low humidity. It never rains here, because the biome has no precipitation. Deserts cover about 2.4% of the Overworld, so you usually need to travel a bit.

Typical neighbours are badlands, savannas, windswept savannas and mangrove swamps. Cooler edges blend into jungles, forests and plains. Deserts often meet warm oceans directly, without a beach. Lush and dripstone caves are common underneath.

Inside a desert, the terrain rolls in low dunes. Sandstone usually sits a few blocks under the sand, which stops it from collapsing into caves. Water is rare, so lakes and rivers stand out from far away.

What you find in a desert

The surface is sand with sandstone below. Cacti grow everywhere, some with cactus flowers on top. Dead bushes and short and tall dry grass dot the dunes, and sugar cane grows near water.

• Structures: desert pyramids, desert villages, pillager outposts and desert wells.
• Underground: fossils made of bone blocks.
• Animals: rabbits and camels only.
• Hostile mobs: husks replace most zombies, and parched replace some skeletons. Neither burns in sunlight.

How to find a desert biome in your seed

Type your seed into the map and pick Java or Bedrock. The map zooms to the nearest desert and outlines it. Next, scroll the list on the left for more deserts, and click any one to centre it. Copy the coordinates and use /tp @s X 100 Z to go there.

In game, the F3 screen shows minecraft:desert. From a hill, you can spot deserts by their pale yellow colour. Also, a desert pyramid sticking out of the sand is a sure sign you have arrived.

Desert survival tips

Desert pyramids are worth the trip. They hide four chests under a blue terracotta tile. However, a pressure plate there sets off TNT, so break it before you step down. You can also brush suspicious sand in the pyramid for pottery sherds.

Food and wood are hard to find, so bring both. A desert village helps, because it has crops and beds. Cacti hurt on contact, but they make green dye when smelted.

At night, husks are the main threat. They inflict hunger, and they do not burn at sunrise. So stay alert even after dawn.

Desert wells, fossils and villages

Desert wells are small sandstone structures, sometimes with water inside. Since Java 1.20, they also contain suspicious sand. Brush it carefully to find pottery sherds and other items.

Fossils are another hidden feature. They are skeletons made of bone blocks buried under the sand. Shallow fossils can include coal ore. Deeper fossils below Y=0 use deepslate and can include diamond ore instead. So keep an eye out while you strip mine.

Desert villages are made of sandstone, terracotta and smooth sandstone. They often have farms around the houses. In addition, villagers there wear desert outfits. Because deserts have so little food and wood, a village is a lifesaver here. Trade for bread or grow wheat in its farms.

Desert version history

Deserts are among the oldest biomes. Java 1.18 made them larger and less likely to appear as tiny patches. Java 1.21.5 added short and tall dry grass, cactus flowers and ambient sounds. It also let camels spawn in the wild. Java 1.21.11 added parched as a desert skeleton variant.

Desert FAQ