For other uses, see River (disambiguation).
River
| Blocks |  Grass Block Seagrass Bush
|
|---|---|
|
Climate | |
| Temperature | 0.5 |
| Downfall | 0.5 |
| Precipitation | Yes |
|
Colors | |
| Grass color | #8EB971 |
| Foliage color | #71A74D |
| Dry foliage color | #A17448 |
| Water color | #3F76E4[JE only] #0084FF[BE only] |
|
Vibrant Visuals | |
| Atmospherics | Default |
| Lighting | Default |
| Volumetric fog | Default |
| Color grading | Default |
A river is a common aquatic biome that cuts through most land biomes. Rivers can serve as borders between various other biomes, and usually lead to oceans, although they are also able to form loops or lakes.
Generation
Rivers generate in the deepest part of valleys when PV values are at their lowest. Rivers can cut through any type of land, but are replaced by frozen rivers at very low temperatures.
Inland regions with low erosion can cause rivers to abruptly end. Despite this, rivers can frequently form deep fjords with tall cliffs between elevated terrain and mountains. Rivers also end in swamps or mangrove swamps, with their water bodies often connected.
Rivers often divide higher landmasses, serving as a division between two distinct biomes. They may also form loops or lakes, or meander through flatland terrain. In flatland terrain near the coast, rivers are often wide, while at high erosion farther inland they may fall completely dry.
Description
A river biome on its own does not have many distinct features; most of its characteristics are created by the terrain generation or surrounding biomes. They are filled with still water up to the sea level, and the terrain below consists of default lakebed blocks, covered with seagrass. Specifically, it is separated into patches of dirt, clay, sand, and gravel.
When a river generates land, it is just covered by grass blocks with some patches of bushes. However, features from bordering biomes often leak into the river biome. This happens most notably with wooded badlands, where the grass allows many oak trees and leaf litter to generate. Due to the extended coastlines, firefly bushes and sugar cane are often found near rivers, although they are no more common than in other biomes.
No fully-passive mobs spawn within river biomes themselves, but they frequently wander into them from the surrounding biomes if they can spawn there. Drowned can spawn underwater, as can salmon and squid. In Bedrock Edition, no hostile mobs spawn above water.
Mobs
The following mobs naturally spawn here:
| Mob | Spawn weight | Group size |
|---|---|---|
| Monster category | ||
 Creeper | 100⁄615 | 4 |
 Drowned | 100⁄615 | 1 |
 Skeleton | 100⁄615 | 4 |
 Slime[note 1] | 100⁄615 | 4 |
 Spider | 100⁄615 | 4 |
 Zombie | 95⁄615 | 4 |
 Enderman | 10⁄615 | 1–4 |
 Witch | 5⁄615 | 1 |
 Zombie Villager | 5⁄615 | 1 |
| Underground water creature category | ||
 Glow Squid | 1 | 4–6 |
| Water creature category | ||
 Squid | 1 | 1–4 |
| Water ambient category | ||
 Salmon | 1 | 1–5 |
| Ambient category | ||
 Bat | 1 | 8 |
- ↑ Spawn attempt succeeds only in slime chunks.
{ "hasNotes": true, "notes": { "Slime": "Spawn attempt succeeds only in slime chunks." }, "1": { "totalWeight": 615, "mobs": [ { "size": "4", "mob": "Creeper", "weight": 100 }, { "size": "1", "mob": "Drowned", "weight": 100 }, { "size": "4", "mob": "Skeleton", "weight": 100 }, { "note": "Spawn attempt succeeds only in slime chunks.", "mob": "Slime", "weight": 100, "notename": "Slime", "size": "4" }, { "size": "4", "mob": "Spider", "weight": 100 }, { "size": "4", "mob": "Zombie", "weight": 95 }, { "size": "1-4", "mob": "Enderman", "weight": 10 }, { "size": "1", "mob": "Witch", "weight": 5 }, { "size": "1", "mob": "Zombie Villager", "weight": 5 } ], "category": "monster" }, "2": { "totalWeight": 10, "mobs": [ { "size": "4-6", "mob": "Glow Squid", "weight": 10 } ], "category": "underground" }, "3": { "totalWeight": 2, "mobs": [ { "size": "1-4", "mob": "Squid", "weight": 2 } ], "category": "watercreature" }, "4": { "totalWeight": 5, "mobs": [ { "size": "1-5", "mob": "Salmon", "weight": 5 } ], "category": "waterambient" }, "5": { "totalWeight": 10, "mobs": [ { "size": "8", "mob": "Bat", "weight": 10 } ], "category": "ambient" } }
| Mob | Spawn weight | Group size |
|---|---|---|
| Monster category | ||
| Drowned | 100 | 1 |
| Slime[note 1] | 100 | 1 |
| Creature category | ||
| Glow Squid | 10 | 2–4 |
| Squid | 8 | 2 |
| Water creature category | ||
| Salmon | 1 | 3–5 |
| Ambient category | ||
| Bat | 1 | 2 |
- ↑ Spawn attempt succeeds only in slime chunks.
{ "hasNotes": true, "notes": { "Slime": "Spawn attempt succeeds only in slime chunks." }, "1": { "totalWeight": 200, "mobs": [ { "size": "1", "mob": "Drowned", "weight": 100 }, { "note": "Spawn attempt succeeds only in slime chunks.", "mob": "Slime", "weight": 100, "notename": "Slime", "size": "1" } ], "category": "monster" }, "2": { "totalWeight": 18, "mobs": [ { "size": "2-4", "mob": "Glow Squid", "weight": 10 }, { "size": "2", "mob": "Squid", "weight": 8 } ], "category": "creature" }, "3": { "totalWeight": 16, "mobs": [ { "size": "3-5", "mob": "Salmon", "weight": 16 } ], "category": "watercreature" }, "4": { "totalWeight": 10, "mobs": [ { "size": "2", "mob": "Bat", "weight": 10 } ], "category": "ambient" } }
Sounds
Music
These music tracks when the player is underwater in a river:
| Title | Preview | Java Edition | Bedrock Edition | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight | Probability | Weight | Probability | ||
| Axolotl | 1 | 33.33% | 1 | 33.33% | |
| Dragon Fish | 1 | 33.33% | 1 | 33.33% | |
| Shuniji | 1 | 33.33% | 1 | 33.33% | |
These music tracks play while the player is not underwater in a river:
| Title | Preview | Java Edition | Bedrock Edition | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight | Probability | Weight | Probability | ||
| A Familiar Room | 1 | 2.70% | — | — | |
| Below and Above | 1 | 2.70% | 1 | 2.78% | |
| Broken Clocks | 1 | 2.70% | 1 | 2.78% | |
| Clark | 1 | 2.70% | 1 | 2.78% | |
| Comforting Memories | 1 | 2.70% | 1 | 2.78% | |
| Danny | 1 | 2.70% | 1 | 2.78% | |
| Dry Hands | 1 | 2.70% | 1 | 2.78% | |
| Ebb | 2 | 5.41% | 2 | 5.56% | |
| Featherfall | 1 | 2.70% | 1 | 2.78% | |
| Fireflies | 1 | 2.70% | 1 | 2.78% | |
| Floating Dream | 1 | 2.70% | 1 | 2.78% | |
| Haggstrom | 1 | 2.70% | 1 | 2.78% | |
| Home | 2 | 5.41% | 2 | 5.56% | |
| Key | 1 | 2.70% | 1 | 2.78% | |
| komorebi | 1 | 2.70% | 1 | 2.78% | |
| Left to Bloom | 1 | 2.70% | 1 | 2.78% | |
| Lilypad | 1 | 2.70% | 1 | 2.78% | |
| Living Mice | 1 | 2.70% | 1 | 2.78% | |
| Memories | 2 | 5.41% | 2 | 5.56% | |
| Mice on Venus | 1 | 2.70% | 1 | 2.78% | |
| Minecraft | 1 | 2.70% | 1 | 2.78% | |
| Nightly | 2 | 5.41% | 2 | 5.56% | |
| One More Day | 1 | 2.70% | 1 | 2.78% | |
| O's Piano | 1 | 2.70% | 1 | 2.78% | |
| Oxygène | 1 | 2.70% | 1 | 2.78% | |
| Puzzlebox | 1 | 2.70% | 1 | 2.78% | |
| Shores | 2 | 5.41% | 2 | 5.56% | |
| Subwoofer Lullaby | 1 | 2.70% | 1 | 2.78% | |
| Sweden | 1 | 2.70% | 1 | 2.78% | |
| Watcher | 1 | 2.70% | 1 | 2.78% | |
| Wet Hands | 1 | 2.70% | 1 | 2.78% | |
| yakusoku | 1 | 2.70% | 1 | 2.78% | |
In Creative mode, the following tracks can play:
| Title | Preview | Java Edition | Bedrock Edition | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight | Probability | Weight | Probability | ||
| Aria Math | 1 | 3.03% | 1 | 3.13% | |
| Biome Fest | 1 | 3.03% | 1 | 3.13% | |
| Blind Spots | 1 | 3.03% | 1 | 3.13% | |
| Dreiton | 1 | 3.03% | 1 | 3.13% | |
| Haunt Muskie | 1 | 3.03% | 1 | 3.13% | |
| Taswell | 1 | 3.03% | 1 | 3.13% | |
| Key | 1 | 3.03% | 1 | 3.13% | |
| Subwoofer Lullaby | 1 | 3.03% | 1 | 3.13% | |
| Living Mice | 1 | 3.03% | 1 | 3.13% | |
| Haggstrom | 1 | 3.03% | 1 | 3.13% | |
| Minecraft | 1 | 3.03% | 1 | 3.13% | |
| Oxygène | 1 | 3.03% | 1 | 3.13% | |
| Mice on Venus | 1 | 3.03% | 1 | 3.13% | |
| Dry Hands | 1 | 3.03% | 1 | 3.13% | |
| Wet Hands | 1 | 3.03% | 1 | 3.13% | |
| Clark | 1 | 3.03% | 1 | 3.13% | |
| Sweden | 1 | 3.03% | 1 | 3.13% | |
| Danny | 1 | 3.03% | 1 | 3.13% | |
| Left to Bloom | 1 | 3.03% | 1 | 3.13% | |
| One More Day | 1 | 3.03% | 1 | 3.13% | |
| Floating Dream | 1 | 3.03% | 1 | 3.13% | |
| Comforting Memories | 1 | 3.03% | 1 | 3.13% | |
| A Familiar Room | 1 | 3.03% | — | — | |
| Featherfall | 1 | 3.03% | 1 | 3.13% | |
| Watcher | 1 | 3.03% | 1 | 3.13% | |
| Puzzlebox | 1 | 3.03% | 1 | 3.13% | |
| komorebi | 1 | 3.03% | 1 | 3.13% | |
| yakusoku | 1 | 3.03% | 1 | 3.13% | |
| Lilypad | 1 | 3.03% | 1 | 3.13% | |
| Below and Above | 1 | 3.03% | 1 | 3.13% | |
| O's Piano | 1 | 3.03% | 1 | 3.13% | |
| Broken Clocks | 1 | 3.03% | 1 | 3.13% | |
| Fireflies | 1 | 3.03% | 1 | 3.13% | |
Data values
ID
| Name | Identifier | Translation key |
|---|---|---|
 River | river |
biome |
| Name | Identifier | Numeric ID |
|---|---|---|
| [No displayed name] | river | 7 |
Biome definition
Press "show" to display json contents
{
"attributes": {
"minecraft:audio/background_music": {
"creative": {
"max_delay": 24000,
"min_delay": 12000,
"sound": "minecraft:music.creative"
},
"default": {
"max_delay": 24000,
"min_delay": 12000,
"sound": "minecraft:music.game"
},
"underwater": {
"max_delay": 24000,
"min_delay": 12000,
"sound": "minecraft:music.under_water"
}
},
"minecraft:gameplay/natural_mob_spawns": {
"argument": {
"spawn_costs": {},
"spawns_by_category": {
"ambient": [
{
"type": "minecraft:bat",
"count": 8,
"weight": 10
}
],
"monster": [
{
"type": "minecraft:spider",
"count": 4,
"weight": 100
},
{
"type": "minecraft:zombie",
"count": 4,
"weight": 95
},
{
"type": "minecraft:zombie_villager",
"count": 1,
"weight": 5
},
{
"type": "minecraft:skeleton",
"count": 4,
"weight": 100
},
{
"type": "minecraft:creeper",
"count": 4,
"weight": 100
},
{
"type": "minecraft:slime",
"count": 4,
"weight": 100
},
{
"type": "minecraft:enderman",
"count": {
"type": "minecraft:uniform",
"max_inclusive": 4,
"min_inclusive": 1
},
"weight": 10
},
{
"type": "minecraft:witch",
"count": 1,
"weight": 5
},
{
"type": "minecraft:drowned",
"count": 1,
"weight": 100
}
],
"underground_water_creature": [
{
"type": "minecraft:glow_squid",
"count": {
"type": "minecraft:uniform",
"max_inclusive": 6,
"min_inclusive": 4
},
"weight": 10
}
],
"water_ambient": [
{
"type": "minecraft:salmon",
"count": {
"type": "minecraft:uniform",
"max_inclusive": 5,
"min_inclusive": 1
},
"weight": 5
}
],
"water_creature": [
{
"type": "minecraft:squid",
"count": {
"type": "minecraft:uniform",
"max_inclusive": 4,
"min_inclusive": 1
},
"weight": 2
}
]
}
},
"modifier": "overlay"
},
"minecraft:visual/sky_color": "#7ba4ff"
},
"carvers": [
"minecraft:cave",
"minecraft:cave_extra_underground",
"minecraft:canyon"
],
"downfall": 0.5,
"effects": {
"water_color": "#3f76e4"
},
"features": [
[],
[
"minecraft:lake_lava_underground",
"minecraft:lake_lava_surface"
],
[
"minecraft:amethyst_geode"
],
[
"minecraft:monster_room",
"minecraft:monster_room_deep"
],
[],
[],
[
"minecraft:ore_dirt",
"minecraft:ore_gravel",
"minecraft:ore_granite_upper",
"minecraft:ore_granite_lower",
"minecraft:ore_diorite_upper",
"minecraft:ore_diorite_lower",
"minecraft:ore_andesite_upper",
"minecraft:ore_andesite_lower",
"minecraft:ore_tuff",
"minecraft:ore_coal_upper",
"minecraft:ore_coal_lower",
"minecraft:ore_iron_upper",
"minecraft:ore_iron_middle",
"minecraft:ore_iron_small",
"minecraft:ore_gold",
"minecraft:ore_gold_lower",
"minecraft:ore_redstone",
"minecraft:ore_redstone_lower",
"minecraft:ore_diamond",
"minecraft:ore_diamond_medium",
"minecraft:ore_diamond_large",
"minecraft:ore_diamond_buried",
"minecraft:ore_lapis",
"minecraft:ore_lapis_buried",
"minecraft:ore_copper",
"minecraft:underwater_magma",
"minecraft:disk_sand",
"minecraft:disk_clay",
"minecraft:disk_gravel"
],
[],
[
"minecraft:spring_water",
"minecraft:spring_lava"
],
[
"minecraft:glow_lichen",
"minecraft:trees_water",
"minecraft:patch_bush",
"minecraft:flower_default",
"minecraft:patch_grass_badlands",
"minecraft:brown_mushroom_normal",
"minecraft:red_mushroom_normal",
"minecraft:patch_pumpkin",
"minecraft:patch_sugar_cane",
"minecraft:patch_firefly_bush_near_water",
"minecraft:seagrass_river"
],
[
"minecraft:freeze_top_layer"
]
],
"has_precipitation": true,
"temperature": 0.5
}
Achievements
| Icon | Achievement | In-game description | Actual requirements (if different) | Gamerscore earned | Trophy type (PS) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PS4 | Other | |||||
 |  | Adventuring Time | Discover 17 biomes. | Visit any 17 biomes. Does not have to be in a single world. | 40 | Silver |
Advancements
| Icon | Advancement | In-game description | Actual requirements (if different) |
|---|---|---|---|
  | Adventuring Time | Discover every biome |
|
History
Development
| August 18, 2011 | Notch tweeted a screenshot of a river biome. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Java Edition
| Java Edition Beta | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.8 | Pre-release | Added rivers as a separate biome. Previously, river-like water bodies could generate as part of the terrain generation algorithm. | |||||
| Java Edition | |||||||
| 1.7.2 | 13w36a | River is now required for the new "Adventuring Time" achievement. | |||||
| 1.13 | 18w08b | Added salmon, which spawn in rivers. | |||||
| 18w11a | Added drowned, which spawn in rivers. | ||||||
| 18w14a | Seagrass now generates in rivers. | ||||||
| 1.13.1 | 18w31a | Squid now spawn only in oceans and rivers, making them slightly more common in rivers, as there are fewer places elsewhere for them to spawn. | |||||
| 1.18 | experimental snapshot 4 | River biomes are less likely to form a steep, dry river gorge in mountainous terrain. Instead, they either carve a fjord through it, or they raise the terrain to form a valley. | |||||
| Rivers that go through swamps tend to be more shallow. | |||||||
| experimental snapshot 5 | Rivers are less likely to be super deep or get choked off in flat areas. | ||||||
| Rivers tend to get shallow and merge with swamps instead of carving through them. | |||||||
| 21w37a | Prior to the removal of numerical biome IDs, this biome's numerical ID was 7. | ||||||
| 1.21.5 | 25w05a | Added bushes and firefly bushes, which can generate in rivers. | |||||
Bedrock Edition
| Pocket Edition Alpha | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| v0.1.0 | Added biomes, including rivers. | ||||||
| Bedrock Edition | |||||||
| 1.2.13 | beta 1.2.13.8 | Added drowned, which spawn in river biomes. | |||||
| 1.4.0 | beta 1.2.14.2 | Added salmon, which spawn in rivers. | |||||
| Rivers now generate with seagrass. | |||||||
| 1.13.0 | beta 1.13.0.9 | Squid can now spawn in rivers. | |||||
| 1.21.70 Experiment | Preview 1.21.70.20 | Added bushes and firefly bushes, which can generate in rivers. | |||||
| 26.50 | Preview 26.50.22 | Bats now spawn in rivers. | |||||
Legacy Console Edition
| Legacy Console Edition | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xbox 360 | Xbox One | PS3 | PS4 | PS Vita | Wii U | Switch | |
| TU5 | CU1 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | Patch 1 | 1.0.1 | Added river biome. |
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
| New Nintendo 3DS Edition | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1.0 | Added river biome. | ||||||
-
The first image of a river released by Notch
Issues
Issues relating to "River" are maintained on the bug tracker. Issues should be reported and viewed there.
Trivia
- Rivers override canyons at or close to the surface level, causing the canyon to be abruptly cut off by a wall of stone. However, if the canyon is long enough, it may continue on the other side of the river.
- Canyons can generate underground in river biomes without being cut off.
Gallery
Screenshots
-
A circular river surrounding a small plains biome -
A big river -
A weird "river" in the middle of badlands -
Rivers separate biomes with positive and negative weirdness. -
The Winding River seed template thumbnail -
A river single biome world
Historical screenshots
-
A river biome before The Update that Changed the World -
A typical river before 1.18 -
A narrow river -
-
Rivers splitting and cutting through a taiga -
A river that failed to generate properly due to a nearby mountain -
A river running through a swamp -
A river single biome world before 1.18 -
A river connected to a large lake in a jungle -
A river with ray tracing -
The Winding River seed preset (discontinued) in Pocket Edition
Mojang screenshots
-
A river in Java Edition 1.18 Experimental Snapshot 1 -
A big river flowing past a village -
A big river flowing past a village -
A river flowing through a dark forest -
Traveling by boat through a river -
A river next to a cherry grove -
In other media
-
A snifflet approaching a river
See also
External links
- "Around the Block: River" by Duncan Geere – Minecraft.net, October 22, 2020.
