Soul Sand Valley

For the secret mission in Minecraft Dungeons, see MCD:Soul Sand Valley.

Soul Sand Valley

Structures	Nether Fortress Nether Fossil Bastion Remnant
Features	Basalt pillar Glowstone blob Lava sea
Blocks	Standard Nether blocks plus: Gravel Soul Sand Soul Soil Basalt Bone Block Crimson Roots Soul Fire Dried Ghast
Climate
Temperature	2.0
Downfall	0.0
Precipitation	No
Colors
Fog color	#1B4745
Grass color	#BFB755
Foliage color	#AEA42A
Dry foliage color	#A38046
Water color	#3F76E4‌[JE only]  #905957‌[BE only]
Water fog distance	15‌[BE only]
Vibrant Visuals
Atmospherics	Soulsand Valley
Lighting	Nether
Volumetric fog	Default
Color grading	Default

A soul sand valley is a dry biome located in the Nether. It is formed of large caverns with Nether fossils and different blocks, mainly including soul sand and soul soil.

Description

The soul sand valley makes up around 17% of the Nether by volume, making it the third most common biome in the dimension. It can generate next to any other Nether biome except for the warped forest.

The soul sand valley is mostly composed of soul sand and soul soil, with gravel found on its coastlines. Soul fire is scattered throughout the biome and Nether fossils poke out of the terrain. Near these fossils are dried ghasts. It lacks a diverse set of plants, with the only native vegetation being crimson roots and mushrooms, although crimson fungi and huge fungi may spawn where the biome borders a crimson forest. Its fog is cyan and the air particles are gray as the sounds of winds and the voices of ghosts fill the air. Giant columns of basalt called basalt pillars can be found stretching from the floor to the ceiling. Caverns, Nether fortresses and even bastion remnants can also be found in the soul sand valley.

Glowstone blobs can be found in this biome, although they are significantly rarer than in other Nether biomes,^[1] since the ceiling of this biome is made of soul sand or soul soil below which glowstone blobs cannot generate; they can still occasionally generate in caves and canyons in this biome,^[2] because the ceiling is made of netherrack.

Mobs

The following mobs naturally spawn here:

In Java Edition

Mob	Spawn weight	Group size	Charge[note 1]	Budget[note 1]
Monster category
Skeleton	20⁄71	4	0.7	0.15
Ghast[note 2]	50⁄71	4 (max 1)	0.7	0.15
Enderman	1⁄71	1–4	0.7	0.15
Creature category
Strider[note 3]	1	2–4	0.7	0.15

{ "hasSpawnCost": true, "notes": { "Ghast": "Only 5% of spawn attempts succeed. Additionally, Ghast pack spawn is hard capped at 1.", "Strider": "Adult striders have a 3.3% chance to spawn being ridden by a zombified piglin holding a warped fungus on a stick." }, "hasNotes": true, "1": { "totalWeight": 71, "mobs": [ { "charge": "0.7", "mob": "Skeleton", "weight": 20, "budget": "0.15", "size": "4" }, { "charge": "0.7", "mob": "Ghast", "weight": 50, "budget": "0.15", "notename": "Ghast", "note": "Only 5% of spawn attempts succeed. Additionally, Ghast pack spawn is hard capped at 1.", "size": "4 (max 1)" }, { "charge": "0.7", "mob": "Enderman", "weight": 1, "budget": "0.15", "size": "1-4" } ], "category": "monster" }, "2": { "totalWeight": 60, "mobs": [ { "charge": "0.7", "mob": "Strider", "weight": 60, "budget": "0.15", "notename": "Strider", "note": "Adult striders have a 3.3% chance to spawn being ridden by a zombified piglin holding a warped fungus on a stick.", "size": "2-4" } ], "category": "creature" } }

In Bedrock Edition

Mob	Spawn weight	Group size
Monster category
Skeleton	80	1–2
Ghast	40	1
Enderman	6	1
Creature category
Strider[note 1]	1	2–4

{ "hasNotes": true, "notes": { "Strider": "Adult striders have a 3.3% chance to spawn with a saddle. They are supposed to spawn with a zombified piglin with a warped fungus on a stick but they don’t due to <span class=\"bug plainlinks\" data-id=\"MCPE-236161\">[[Mojira:MCPE-236161|MCPE-236161]]</span>." }, "1": { "totalWeight": 126, "mobs": [ { "size": "1-2", "mob": "Skeleton", "weight": 80 }, { "size": "1", "mob": "Ghast", "weight": 40 }, { "size": "1", "mob": "Enderman", "weight": 6 } ], "category": "monster" }, "2": { "totalWeight": 20, "mobs": [ { "note": "Adult striders have a 3.3% chance to spawn with a saddle. They are supposed to spawn with a zombified piglin with a warped fungus on a stick but they don’t due to <span class=\"bug plainlinks\" data-id=\"MCPE-236161\">[[Mojira:MCPE-236161|MCPE-236161]]</span>.", "mob": "Strider", "weight": 20, "notename": "Strider", "size": "2-4" } ], "category": "creature" } }

Sounds

Music

These music tracks play while the player is in the soul sand valley:

Ambience

Nether ambience plays while the player is in the Nether.

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID	Translation key
Soul Sand Valley	soul_sand_valley	170	biome.minecraft.soul_sand_valley

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID
Soul Sand Valley	soulsand_valley	178

Biome definition

{
  "attributes": {
    "minecraft:audio/ambient_sounds": {
      "additions": {
        "sound": "minecraft:ambient.soul_sand_valley.additions",
        "tick_chance": 0.0111
      },
      "loop": "minecraft:ambient.soul_sand_valley.loop",
      "mood": {
        "block_search_extent": 8,
        "offset": 2.0,
        "sound": "minecraft:ambient.soul_sand_valley.mood",
        "tick_delay": 6000
      }
    },
    "minecraft:audio/background_music": {
      "default": {
        "max_delay": 24000,
        "min_delay": 12000,
        "sound": "minecraft:music.nether.soul_sand_valley"
      }
    },
    "minecraft:gameplay/natural_mob_spawns": {
      "argument": {
        "spawn_costs": {
          "minecraft:enderman": {
            "charge": 0.7,
            "energy_budget": 0.15
          },
          "minecraft:ghast": {
            "charge": 0.7,
            "energy_budget": 0.15
          },
          "minecraft:skeleton": {
            "charge": 0.7,
            "energy_budget": 0.15
          },
          "minecraft:strider": {
            "charge": 0.7,
            "energy_budget": 0.15
          }
        },
        "spawns_by_category": {
          "creature": [
            {
              "type": "minecraft:strider",
              "count": {
                "type": "minecraft:uniform",
                "max_inclusive": 2,
                "min_inclusive": 1
              },
              "weight": 60
            }
          ],
          "monster": [
            {
              "type": "minecraft:skeleton",
              "count": 5,
              "weight": 20
            },
            {
              "type": "minecraft:ghast",
              "count": 4,
              "weight": 50
            },
            {
              "type": "minecraft:enderman",
              "count": 4,
              "weight": 1
            }
          ]
        }
      },
      "modifier": "overlay"
    },
    "minecraft:visual/ambient_particles": {
      "argument": [
        {
          "particle": {
            "type": "minecraft:ash"
          },
          "probability": 0.00625
        }
      ],
      "modifier": "append"
    },
    "minecraft:visual/fog_color": "#1b4745"
  },
  "carvers": "minecraft:nether_cave",
  "downfall": 0.0,
  "effects": {
    "water_color": "#3f76e4"
  },
  "features": [
    [],
    [],
    [
      "minecraft:basalt_pillar"
    ],
    [],
    [],
    [],
    [],
    [
      "minecraft:spring_open",
      "minecraft:patch_fire",
      "minecraft:patch_soul_fire",
      "minecraft:glowstone_extra",
      "minecraft:glowstone",
      "minecraft:patch_crimson_roots",
      "minecraft:ore_magma",
      "minecraft:spring_closed",
      "minecraft:ore_soul_sand",
      "minecraft:ore_gravel_nether",
      "minecraft:ore_blackstone",
      "minecraft:ore_gold_nether",
      "minecraft:ore_quartz_nether",
      "minecraft:ore_ancient_debris_large",
      "minecraft:ore_debris_small"
    ],
    [],
    [
      "minecraft:spring_lava"
    ]
  ],
  "has_precipitation": false,
  "temperature": 2.0
}

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
		Hot tourist destination	Visit all Nether biomes	Note: Can be completed if the player visits the biomes in different worlds.	30	Silver

Advancements

Icon	Advancement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)
	Hot Tourist Destinations	Explore all Nether biomes	Visit all of the 5 following biomes: Basalt Deltas Crimson Forest Nether Wastes Soul Sand Valley Warped Forest The advancement is only for Nether biomes. Other biomes may also be visited, but are ignored for this advancement.

History

Announcement

Java Edition

Bedrock Edition

Data history

Issues

Issues relating to "Soul Sand Valley" are maintained on the bug tracker. Issues should be reported and viewed there.

Trivia

• Despite its name, the soul sand valley isn’t actually a valley due to its cave-like generation.
• In the official artwork of the Nether Update, a wither skeleton can be seen in the soul sand valley instead of normal skeletons, despite wither skeletons not naturally spawning there.

Gallery

Screenshots

• 
  Nether fossils in a soul sand valley
• 
  A huge ruined portal in a soul sand valley
• 
  A higher area in a soul sand valley
• 
  Nether fortress in a soul sand valley
• 
  A ghast in a soul sand valley
• 
  A hoglin stables bastion remnant which generated in a soul sand valley
• 
  Mushrooms in the soul sand valley
• 
  A short basalt pillar
• 
  A soul sand valley single biome world in the Overworld

Historical screenshots

• 
  A soul sand valley single biome world before 1.18

Mojang screenshots

• 
  A soul sand valley in very early development.
• 
  A soul sand valley next to a warped forest. This is no longer possible as the two biomes do not generate next to each other.
• 
  A soul sand valley seen during MINECON Live 2019.
• 
  A soul sand valley seen during MINECON Live 2019. Notice that Overworld fossils are used as a placeholder for Nether fossils.
• 
  Kingbdogz in a soul sand valley.
• 
  Ghasts in a soul sand valley.

In other media

• 
  The Soul Sand Valley as it appears in Minecraft Dungeons.

References

External links

• Around the Block: Soul Sand Valley – Minecraft.net on July 23, 2020

See also

• Nether Wastes