Windswept Hills

Windswept Hills

Features	Spruce‌[JE only] Oak‌[JE only]
Blocks	Grass Block Snow Stone Emerald Ore Coal Ore Iron Ore Infested Stone Bush
Climate
Temperature	0.2
Downfall	0.3
Precipitation	Yes
Snow accumulation‌[BE only]	0.0-0.25
Colors
Grass color	#8AB689
Foliage color	#6DA36B
Dry foliage color	#977752
Water color	#3F76E4‌[JE only]  #007BF7‌[BE only]
Vibrant Visuals
Atmospherics	Default
Lighting	Cold
Volumetric fog	Default
Color grading	Coolish

Windswept hills or extreme hills are cold mountainous biomes with shattered terrain covered by grass blocks and stone. Windswept hills generate in areas with high erosion close to swamps, often bordering their wooded and gravelly variants.

Generation

Windswept hills generate as mountains in high PV and continentalness, but at far higher erosion. Because of this, the terrain is usually elevated but flat, sometimes hilly and shattered. They generally peak at Y-level 140. Despite windswept hill biomes being highland biomes, deep dark doesn't generate under windswept hills biomes.

Windswept hills generate at medium to the lowest temperature zones at medium humidity. They commonly border windswept forests and windswept gravelly hills as well as windswept savannas at higher temperatures. Large ranges of windswept hills often surround swamps with flatland biomes on the other side, including plains, most forests, taigas, and snowy plains.

Description

In windswept hills, the grass and leaves are an aqua color. These are the only biomes, besides mountain biomes, where emerald ore is found. Like mountains, infested blocks with silverfish can be generated underground below the sea level.

The ground consists of many exposed stone blocks and ores, with some patches of grass blocks in between. Above Y=120±8, rainfall changes to snowfall, and the hills becomes snow-capped, along with water freezing into ice.

In Java Edition, oak and spruce trees generate occasionally, while these are exclusive to the windswept forest in Bedrock Edition. Bushes generate on the sparse grasslands, and llamas can spawn here together with cold animal variants.

With Vibrant Visuals, windswept hills use default environmental settings with a coolish color grading, making the biome appear colder blue. They use cold sunlight, which appears slightly brighter at dusk and dawn.

Mobs

The following mobs naturally spawn here:

In Java Edition

Mob	Spawn weight	Group size
Monster category
Creeper	100⁄515	4
Skeleton	100⁄515	4
Slime[note 1]	100⁄515	4
Spider	100⁄515	4
Zombie	95⁄515	4
Enderman	10⁄515	1–4
Witch	5⁄515	1
Zombie Villager	5⁄515	1
Creature category
Sheep	12⁄45	4
Cold Chicken	10⁄45	4
Cold Pig	10⁄45	4
Cold Cow	8⁄45	4
Llama	5⁄45	4–6
Underground water creature category
Glow Squid	1	4–6
Ambient category
Bat	1	8

{ "hasNotes": true, "notes": { "Slime": "Spawn attempt succeeds only in slime chunks." }, "1": { "totalWeight": 515, "mobs": [ { "size": "4", "mob": "Creeper", "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": 45, "mobs": [ { "size": "4", "mob": "Sheep", "weight": 12 }, { "size": "4", "mob": "Cold Chicken", "weight": 10 }, { "size": "4", "mob": "Cold Pig", "weight": 10 }, { "size": "4", "mob": "Cold Cow", "weight": 8 }, { "size": "4-6", "mob": "Llama", "weight": 5 } ], "category": "creature" }, "3": { "totalWeight": 10, "mobs": [ { "size": "4-6", "mob": "Glow Squid", "weight": 10 } ], "category": "underground" }, "4": { "totalWeight": 10, "mobs": [ { "size": "8", "mob": "Bat", "weight": 10 } ], "category": "ambient" } }

In Bedrock Edition

Mob	Spawn weight	Group size
Monster category
Creeper	100	1
Slime[note 1]	100	1
Spider	100	1
Zombie	95	2–4
Skeleton	80	1–2
Enderman	10	1–2
Witch	5	1
Zombie Villager	5	2–4
Creature category
Sheep	12	2–3
Cold Chicken	10	2–4
Glow Squid	10	2–4
Cold Pig	10	1–3
Cold Cow	8	2–3
Llama	5	4–6
Ambient category
Bat	1	2

{ "hasNotes": true, "notes": { "Slime": "Spawn attempt succeeds only in slime chunks." }, "1": { "totalWeight": 495, "mobs": [ { "size": "1", "mob": "Creeper", "weight": 100 }, { "note": "Spawn attempt succeeds only in slime chunks.", "mob": "Slime", "weight": 100, "notename": "Slime", "size": "1" }, { "size": "1", "mob": "Spider", "weight": 100 }, { "size": "2-4", "mob": "Zombie", "weight": 95 }, { "size": "1-2", "mob": "Skeleton", "weight": 80 }, { "size": "1-2", "mob": "Enderman", "weight": 10 }, { "size": "1", "mob": "Witch", "weight": 5 }, { "size": "2-4", "mob": "Zombie Villager", "weight": 5 } ], "category": "monster" }, "2": { "totalWeight": 55, "mobs": [ { "size": "2-3", "mob": "Sheep", "weight": 12 }, { "size": "2-4", "mob": "Cold Chicken", "weight": 10 }, { "size": "2-4", "mob": "Glow Squid", "weight": 10 }, { "size": "1-3", "mob": "Cold Pig", "weight": 10 }, { "size": "2-3", "mob": "Cold Cow", "weight": 8 }, { "size": "4-6", "mob": "Llama", "weight": 5 } ], "category": "creature" }, "3": { "totalWeight": 10, "mobs": [ { "size": "2", "mob": "Bat", "weight": 10 } ], "category": "ambient" } }

Sounds

Music

These music tracks play while the player is in windswept hills:

In Creative mode, the following tracks can play:

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Translation key
Windswept Hills	windswept_hills	biome.minecraft.windswept_hills

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID
[No displayed name]	extreme_hills	3

Biome definition

{
  "attributes": {
    "minecraft:gameplay/natural_mob_spawns": {
      "argument": {
        "spawn_costs": {},
        "spawns_by_category": {
          "ambient": [
            {
              "type": "minecraft:bat",
              "count": 8,
              "weight": 10
            }
          ],
          "creature": [
            {
              "type": "minecraft:sheep",
              "count": 4,
              "weight": 12
            },
            {
              "type": "minecraft:pig",
              "count": 4,
              "weight": 10
            },
            {
              "type": "minecraft:chicken",
              "count": 4,
              "weight": 10
            },
            {
              "type": "minecraft:cow",
              "count": 4,
              "weight": 8
            },
            {
              "type": "minecraft:llama",
              "count": {
                "type": "minecraft:uniform",
                "max_inclusive": 6,
                "min_inclusive": 4
              },
              "weight": 5
            }
          ],
          "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
            }
          ],
          "underground_water_creature": [
            {
              "type": "minecraft:glow_squid",
              "count": {
                "type": "minecraft:uniform",
                "max_inclusive": 6,
                "min_inclusive": 4
              },
              "weight": 10
            }
          ]
        }
      },
      "modifier": "overlay"
    },
    "minecraft:visual/sky_color": "#7da2ff"
  },
  "carvers": [
    "minecraft:cave",
    "minecraft:cave_extra_underground",
    "minecraft:canyon"
  ],
  "downfall": 0.3,
  "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:ore_emerald"
    ],
    [
      "minecraft:ore_infested"
    ],
    [
      "minecraft:spring_water",
      "minecraft:spring_lava"
    ],
    [
      "minecraft:glow_lichen",
      "minecraft:trees_windswept_hills",
      "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:freeze_top_layer"
    ]
  ],
  "has_precipitation": true,
  "temperature": 0.2
}

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	Visit all of these 56​[until: Fourth Drop 2026]/57​[upcoming] biomes: Badlands Bamboo Jungle Beach Birch Forest Cherry Grove Cold Ocean Dappled Forest Dark Forest Deep Cold Ocean Deep Dark Deep Frozen Ocean Deep Lukewarm Ocean Deep Ocean Desert Dripstone Caves Eroded Badlands Flower Forest Forest Frozen Ocean Frozen Peaks Frozen River Grove Ice Caves Ice Spikes Jagged Peaks Jungle Lukewarm Ocean Lush Caves Mangrove Swamp Meadow Mushroom Fields Ocean Old Growth Birch Forest Old Growth Pine Taiga Old Growth Spruce Taiga Pale Garden Plains River Savanna Savanna Plateau Snowy Beach Snowy Plains Snowy Slopes Snowy Taiga Sparse Jungle Stony Peaks Stony Shore Sunflower Plains Sulfur Caves Swamp Taiga Warm Ocean Windswept Forest Windswept Gravelly Hills Windswept Hills Windswept Savanna Wooded Badlands The advancement is only for Overworld biomes. Other biomes may also be visited, but are ignored for this advancement.

History

Announcement

Java Edition

Bedrock Edition

Legacy Console Edition

New Nintendo 3DS Edition

Issues

Issues relating to "Windswept Hills" or "Extreme Hills" are maintained on the bug tracker. Issues should be reported and viewed there.

Gallery

Screenshots

• 
  Windswept hills
• 
  A windswept hills single biome world

Historical screenshots

• 
  An extremely narrow windswept hills biome in early Caves & Cliffs development
• 
  Mountains with ray tracing
• 
  Another view of a mountains biome before Caves & Cliffs
• 
  An example of an overhang generated within mountains
• 
  A stacked mountains biome
• 
  Mountains and a wooded mountains shown side by side
• 
  Huge cliffside generated in mountains biome
• 
  A tree which generated under a cliff in a mountains biome
• 
  Heart-shaped hole in a mountains cliff
• 
  The Epic Cliffs (seed preset) discountinued in Pocket Edition.
• 
  Large chunk of floating mountains creating some sort of skybridge
• 
  A ruined portal in a mountains biome
• 
  Mountains next to a lake
• 
  A mountains single biome world before 1.18
• 
  An extreme hills biome before The Update that Changed the World

Development images

• 
  The old look of the extreme hills biome
• 
  Yet another example
• 
  First screenshot of spruce trees generating in the biome

See also

• Windswept Forest
• Windswept Gravelly Hills
• Taiga
• Mountain Edge
• Gravelly Mountains+

External links

• "Around the Block: Windswept Hills" by Duncan Geere – Minecraft.net, December 9, 2021.