Canyon

Not to be confused with Eroded Badlands.

For the Minecraft Dungeons mission, see Dungeons: Radiant Ravine.

For the sub dungeons in Minecraft Dungeons, see MCD:Fossil Canyon, MCD:Ravine Ruins, and MCD:Hydrothermal Vent.

Canyon

Biomes	Overworld Nether
Generates in existing chunks	Yes

Canyons (formerly and commonly known as ravines) are deep and long cracks breaching the underground layers of the Overworld. Occasionally, they may breach the surface, potentially exposing caves that would not normally be visible otherwise.

Structure

Canyons are around 85 to 127 blocks in length and typically less than 15 blocks wide. Water-filled canyons can also be found in any ocean biome. Canyons are up to 62 blocks in depth and can start at levels 10 to 72. Canyons in amplified worlds and in Bedrock Edition may go all the way down to the bedrock layer, causing canyons spawning in mountainous biomes to appear deeper. A canyon extending down to bedrock causes lava sources to generate at the bottom. Obsidian often forms at the bottom as water springs flow down into the lava.

Canyons may have small ledges along the top. Deep canyons sometimes spawn slimes or expose a diamond ore vein. Canyons may also be floored by the lava lakes at level -55 or even deeper.

Canyons can connect to caves, amethyst geodes, monster rooms, mineshafts, strongholds, or any other generated structures. Due to the large surface area of their walls, canyons often have water and lava flowing down them from springs in the walls, aquifers or openings to a lake or an ocean biome. A canyon that intersects a river, a frozen river, or a swamp is filled with stone under the body of water.

Lava lakes

Similarly to how lakes replace all air blocks below a certain altitude on the surface, when deep enough in a canyon, all blocks that would generate as air instead generate as lava lakes.

Generation

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Configured carver	Identifier
[No displayed name]	canyon

Bedrock Edition:

Feature	Identifier
[No displayed name]	[No ID]

History

Java Edition

Bedrock Edition

Legacy Console Edition

Historical screenshots

• 
  Canyons were included unused in a developer fork of 1.2_02
• 
  The first image of a ravine
• 
  An image from Notch of a ravine cutting through a stronghold
• 
  Darkened version also posted by Notch

Issues

Issues relating to "Canyon" or "Ravine" are maintained on the bug tracker. Issues should be reported and viewed there.

Trivia

• In Bedrock Edition the seed 1669320484 generates a huge canyon extending endlessly from southwest to northeast at coordinate X=−1269, Z=0, shaped by countless identical connected north-south canyons. There are other lines of canyons parallel to this one, but few of them are visible aboveground or have the canyons connected. This seed also generates parallel lines of endless monster rooms underground. As of 1.18, nearly all endless canyons are underground.
• It is relatively common to find multiple intersecting canyons, often running perpendicular to the parent canyon, on different Y levels. Before the introduction of large noise caves in 1.18, this phenomenon led to some of the largest possible caves in the game.
• An early version of canyons exist in an unreleased build of Beta 1.2_02, generating above and underground, and being noticeably shorter in height.

• 
  Wide-angle view of endless canyon in Bedrock Edition seed 1669320484
• 
  View toward horizon along endless canyon
• 
  Village generated on the rim of the endless canyon

Gallery

• 
  Two canyons joined together underground
• 
  Two canyons open to the sky that generated next to each other, with a river biome between them
• 
  An underwater canyon
• 
  A canyon that exposed a mineshaft
• 
  A deep cliff reaching bedrock levels
• 
  A canyon generated under another canyon
• 
  A small canyon viewed from the sky
• 
  A canyon viewed from inside
• 
  A canyon that has been cut through by an ocean
• 
  A hole in the ground through which a canyon is visible
• 
  Iron and lapis ores exposed to sunlight in deep canyon
• 
  Water flowing into the canyon from nearby river
• 
  Canyon generation may not always update nearby water
• 
  A tree that generated in a canyon, next to the lava and mineshaft
• 
  Water generated in midair over a large connected canyon
• 
  A jungle pyramid, stronghold, and mineshaft generated together in one canyon
• 
  A triple canyon with a mineshaft at the bottom
• 
  Naturally generated diamond ore, redstone ore, and lapis lazuli ore found in a canyon. Check the image for seed and coordinates
• 
  Two underwater canyons merged together
• 
  A 120 block deep canyon in Bedrock Edition
• 
  Relatively slim and shallow canyon in plains biome
• 
  Slim, but rather deep canyon generated in plains biome
• 
  Double canyon with many mineshaft bridges in it
• 
  A canyon that generated underwater
• 
  Canyon with multiple ores, water and lava falls, and stronghold bridge over it
• 
  Badlands mineshaft bridge generated over a canyon
• 
  A ruined portal generated on top of a canyon
• 
  A canyon in Bedrock Edition
• 
  A canyon in Bedrock Edition
• 
  A canyon in Bedrock Edition
• 
  A canyon in the Nether
• 
  A canyon with lava in an undeleted world
• 
  An X-Ray view of a canyon
• 
  A tree in the canyon
• 
  A large dripstone canyon reaches the bedrock layer
• 
  A canyon is generated underwater
• 
  A fossil in a canyon
• 
  Ditto, but different angle
• 
  Ditto, but different angle
• 
  A canyon filled with water near a river
• 
  A slim canyon near a river
• 
  Canyon taken from Vibrant Visuals
• 
  A reef in a underwater canyon
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  A Mineshaft bridge in a deep canyon
• 
  A fossil in an underwater canyon
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  A canyon that is flooded
• 
  A canyon that is near fossil and the ocean ruins