Latitude
Latitude overhauls world generation so biomes follow realistic latitude bands—from equatorial jungles to polar tundras.
!A landscape image of a Minecraft mod banner with the title LATITUDE written in large, stylized orange and yellow letters across the top center. Below the title, the tagline reads Real latitude-based world generation in white text. A HUD element at the top center shows an icon with 35°N Meadow. The background displays a grassy valley stepping up to a blocky, snow-capped mountain ridge against a warm sunset sky.
A planet-scale world with real geography and climate bands.
Latitude brings new life to Minecraft world generation by distributing biomes according to latitude. Thick jungles and sprawling savanna stretch out from the equator and gradually give way to cooler climates heading north or south towards the poles, where snow blankets the landscape and water freezes. I built Latitude to make Minecraft worlds feel finite and real, and to make travel feel purposeful, grounded, and exciting.
⚠️ Latitude overhauls world generation and takes effect in new worlds. Existing Latitude worlds keep the generation they were created with.
🗺️ Real geography
Five climate bands radiate outward from the equator at the center of the world to the poles at its edges:
| Zone | Character | Typical Biomes |
|---|---|---|
| 🌴 Tropical | Hot, humid, lush | Jungle, Bamboo Jungle, Mangrove Swamp, Sprawling savanna |
| ☀️ Subtropical | Warm and varied, drier toward the edges | Savanna, Desert, Badlands, Plains |
| 🌿 Temperate | Mild, forested, familiar | Forest, Birch Forest, Meadow |
| 🌨️ Subpolar | Cold, stark, increasingly sparse | Taiga, Snowy Plains, Grove |
| ❄️ Polar | Frozen and forbidding | Snowy Plains, Ice Spikes, Frozen Ocean |
Zones blend gradually, avoiding harsh climate seams and allowing travel across the latitude bands to feel smooth and natural.
⛰️ Snow-capped mountains with tree lines
Mountains get a sense of scale, with forests thinning out at the tree line, where only grass and sparse foliage survive. Only barren rock and snow blanket the highest peaks.
🥾 A sense of adventure
A planet-shaped map makes the frontier a real place, with real stakes:
- Approaching the poles present a real freeze-hazard.
- At the edges of the world, you'll encounter gradually thickening fog that disguises the vanilla borders.
- Climate band and hemisphere titles announce your crossings.
🌐 Finite by design
Pick a world size! By design, Latitude worlds are finite. This size limit helps worlds feel more natural and purposeful.
| Size | Diameter | Feel |
|---|---|---|
| Itty Bitty | 7,500 × 7,500 | Equator to pole in an afternoon |
| Tiny | 10,000 × 10,000 | Tiny and cute |
| Small | 15,000 × 15,000 | Compact and varied |
| Regular | 20,000 × 20,000 | Balanced |
| Large | 30,000 × 30,000 | Long-haul survival |
| Ginormous | 40,000 × 40,000 | Continental-scale trek |
Everything scales with the size you pick — band widths, border behavior, latitude math. A smaller world doesn't cut off a bigger one; it compresses the whole climate system proportionally. That said, with custom biome packs installed, smaller worlds may have reduced biome representation.
Choose your spawn zone: prefer hot climates? Spawn into a lush, tropical adventure! Prefer the cold? Drop into a snowy wonderland!
🧭 Navigate with ease
Latitude ships a built-in navigation HUD, fully customizable:
- Compass — digital (cardinal, 8-way, or degrees) or analog with different color themes.
- Latitude readout — your live position in the world
- Biome & zone detail — see where you are, or not!
- Customizable — size, color, opacity, position
HUD Studio: press F9 in-game (rebindable) to open a live editing screen — drag the title, compass, and location readout wherever you want, snap-to-grid or free. A quick keybind toggles the compass on and off.
For server operators, release builds include a small /latitude command set (here, explainHere, probe, tpLat, tpBand) for inspecting and navigating the climate map.
🧩 Compatibility
Latitude works through Minecraft's biome-tag system. Pairs nicely with terrain-shaping mods like Tectonic, Geophilic, and William Wyther's Overhauled Overworld. Custom biome support places biomes into the right climate bands automatically. Currently supported packs include Biomes O' Plenty, Terralith, and CliffTree, with more to come.
ℹ️ A note on big biome-pack stacks: each climate band draws from a finite pool, so the more packs you stack, the smaller each biome's share becomes — you won't necessarily see every biome from every pack. The mix stays coherent and climate-appropriate. Vanilla biomes are given preference.
🔭 What's next — Latitude 2.0 🌏
Latitude 2.0 is in production. The larger overhaul being showcased publicly — with its more elaborate mechanics — is a separate line and still in development: expanded biome support, broader worlds, and more earthlike generation shaped by continents, oceans, climate, and exploration. And all the cats you could ever want!!! 🐈⬛🐈
1.5 is the final polish release of the 1.x line, and the best version of this idea to date.
!A Minecraft screenshot showcasing a sprawling landscape generated by the Latitude mod. A wide, blue river winds through a rolling green and dirt valley, stretching toward steep cliffs with scattered trees under a bright, clear sky. In the immediate foreground, a grassy hillside is unexpectedly populated by over a dozen cats of various breeds (black, tuxedo, and tabby). At the top center of the screen, the mod's custom HUD element displays the location readout: "54°S, 82% Subpolar". The player's hotbar is visible at the bottom of the frame, showing a compass and an item slot.
💛 About & Support + AI Disclaimer
If you've ever thought vanilla biome placement felt random and disconnected — this fixes that. Latitude is built for long-term survival worlds, exploration-focused playthroughs, and modpacks that want a world that feels like a real place without piling on new content.
🧭 Latitude is a solo passion project and my first mod. Thank you for playing -- I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! :D
👾 Latitude contains AI-generated code (I am still learning to code with Java!), but the project is designed, directed, planned, and tested by me. I use AI to help me realize my dream, not to churn out slop. If you see any wonky code that could use improvement, please feel free to open a pull request! :)
🐛 Found a bug, or want to follow development? → GitHub
⭐ Enjoying Latitude? Leave a ❤️ on Modrinth — it genuinely helps a solo dev!
➢ Follow my mod development: https://www.youtube.com/@peetsamods
🌍 A development journal for Latitude
Curious about the bigger idea behind the project? Read the Latitude Field Guide for a look behind the scenes at real-time development. Updated by Codex, designed and overseen by me (totally human, promise!).
