Fancier Biomes

FANCIER BIOMES 42 custom Overworld biomes for Minecraft Java 1.21.6+. California coast, Sierra Nevada, Sedona red-rock, tropical shores, and volcanic islands. Vanilla blocks only: no custom blocks, no structures, no client mod. Works on vanilla, Paper, and with Tectonic(/datapacks/tectonic).

Tectonic is strongly recommended!

HIGHLIGHTS

• 42 biomes via Overworld multi-noise: trees, ores, palms, geodes, arches, tide pools; no added villages or ruins
• Coasts: flowery meadows, foggy beaches, cypress bluffs, swamp shores; flat shorelines (no vertical chunk walls)
• Sedona and canyons: red-rock highlands, pine canyons, badlands, rare Grand Mesa-style mining canyon
• Mountains: Sierra ranges, copper hills, amethyst highlands (goats, allays by day, vexes at night)
• Tropics and volcanic: palm jungles, reef coasts, basalt beaches, steam vents
• Optional extras: fruit drops, thornwood damage, hot-spring regen (config toggle)
• Find biomes: /locate biome #fancier_biomes:locate or /function fancier_biomes:locate/help

INSTALLATION

1. Download fancier_biomes_datapack.zip (pack.mcmeta is at the zip root; do not use a nested folder).
2. Place the zip in your world's datapacks folder, or enable under Edit World > Data Packs.
3. Move Fancier Biomes to the top of the datapack list (loads last).
4. Use a new world or explore new chunks; old terrain does not change.
5. Run /datapack list to confirm the pack is enabled.

FINDING BIOMES

• Any custom biome: /locate biome #fancier_biomes:locate
• Full clickable list: /function fancier_biomes:locate/help
• One biome example: /locate biome fancier_biomes:high_cypress_coast (swap the id)

Coasts appear near oceans. Tropics and basalt favor warm humid areas. Sedona and Grand Mesa appear inland in dry canyon climates. Amethyst highlands appear on tall cold mountains.

COMPATIBILITY

• Versions: Java 1.21.6 (pack format 101), tested on Paper 26.1.x
• Tectonic: works with or without. If you use both, load Fancier Biomes above Tectonic and add both before world generation. Only one pack can own the Overworld level stem; the top pack wins.
• Other datapacks: avoid another pack that replaces the same Overworld level stem unless you merge biome lists manually.

OPTIONAL EXTRAS (ON BY DEFAULT) Edit data/fancier_biomes/config/extra_features.json inside the installed pack and set "disable_extra_features": true to turn off fruit drops, thornwood damage, and hot-spring regeneration. Then run /function fancier_biomes:config/reload, or use config/disable_extras and config/enable_extras.

BIOME CATALOG (42)

Coasts and shores

• swampy_beach - Swamp coast, marsh, murky green water
• swampy_river - Murky river beside swamp coast
• flowery_coast - Coastal wildflower meadow
• cloudy_beach - Foggy cool beach
• normal_high_coast - Grass and gravel sea cliffs
• high_cypress_coast - Cypress bluffs
• flowering_savanna_coast - Warm savanna shore

Temperate and foothills

• cypress_flowerwood - Cypress woodland with flowers
• barley_valley - Agricultural river valley
• quiet_meadow - Wildflower meadow, few hostiles
• copper_hills - Copper-rich foothills
• rustwood_forest - Mineral forest
• thornwood - Bramble forest
• oathscar_plains - Scarred plains

Sierra and mountains

• cloud_pine_range - Sierra-style pine range
• sierra_foothills - Western foothills
• dry_sierra_slope - Dry east-side slope
• granite_river_valley - Alpine river valley
• snowcap_range - Snowy peaks
• amethyst_highlands - Amethyst and calcite peaks
• splitstone_gorge - Rift gorge

Sedona and canyon

• sedona_redrock_highlands - Red-rock buttes and strata
• sedona_bushlands - Scrub and red shelves
• sedona_pine_canyons - Lush canyon, riparian trees, arches
• red_canyon_badlands - Canyon badlands
• grand_mesa_canyon - RARE - canyon walls with surface ores

Drylands

• white_dune_sea - Pale dunes
• singing_dunes - Rare tall dunes
• mirror_flats - Salt flats

Tropical and volcanic (palms)

• coral_tropics - Reef coast jungle
• mango_jungle - Fruit jungle
• steam_coast - Geothermal coast
• basalt_beach - Volcanic beach
• basalt_tropic_border - Jungle-basalt edge
• basalt_rainforest - Volcanic rainforest
• ember_orchard - Warm volcanic orchard
• ashflower_fields - Ash fields with flowers
• frostfire_fields - Frozen volcanic fields

Wetlands

• glasswet_marsh - Clear shallow marsh
• blackwater_swamp - Dark swamp
• pale_fen - Birch fen
• sunken_orchard - Flooded orchard

GAMEPLAY NOTES

• Themed mob spawns per region (not farm-animal spam on every biome).
• Grand Mesa Canyon has extra surface ore; other biomes stay near vanilla balance.
• Palms use vanilla jungle logs and acacia leaves.
• No custom structures; vanilla exploration only.

LIMITATIONS

• Overrides the Overworld level stem (conflicts with packs that do the same).
• Uses a curated subset of vanilla biomes plus all 42 custom biomes.
• Old chunks keep old terrain.
• No custom block types.

SERVER OWNERS Use a new world or pregenerate with Chunky (/plugins/chunky). Keep this pack on top. Load after Tectonic if both are used. Disable extras via JSON for worldgen-only servers.

LICENSE Free to use and modify; attribution appreciated.