Superflat

Superflat‌ or Flat world‌ is a world type or a vanilla world preset that replaces the normal varied terrain of the Overworld with a completely flat surface composed of multiple layers and set to a single biome.

A superflat world can be customized using presets, which change its layers and biome. In Java Edition, presets can also change the features and structures found in a superflat world, and an in-game menu allows players to fully customize the layers and the biome.

In Java Edition, superflat can also refer to a dimension's generator type, with which the completely flat terrain can be generated in a specific dimension. See also Custom dimension and Custom world preset.

Structure

In the default superflat world, the terrain consists of one layer of bedrock, two layers of dirt, and one layer of grass blocks, with the biome set to plains. In Java Edition, villages generate relatively frequently, and strongholds can also be found; in Bedrock Edition, no features or structures generate in flat worlds.

In the default superflat world, the surface of the world is completely flat and at Y=-60, except for villages and other structures if they are enabled. Mobs still spawn normally. Because of the low altitude of the world, slimes spawn frequently.

Superflat worlds allow the player to access the Nether and the End in the usual ways, which generate as normal.^[1]

Customization

When creating a new world, the superflat generator can be changed to various presets or fully customized depending on the edition.

Java Edition

In Java Edition, upon selecting "Superflat" in the "World Type" button, the "Customize" button on its right becomes clickable. In the "Superflat Customization" menu, there are two buttons available to customize superflat worlds: the "Remove Layer" button, used for removing unwanted types of layers, and the "Presets" button, used for accessing the preset code string or selecting one of the nine default presets. Data packs can be used to customize the default presets or add new ones, see Custom world preset#Superflat Level Generation Preset for more information.

If the player can understand the preset code syntax, they can create presets of their own by entering valid information into the preset code box. The preset code can be highlighted and copied, allowing it to be shared with other players. Similar to how new worlds are shared through seeds, a preset code can be entered into this box to use it.

The preset code currently cannot fully describe a superflat level generation preset. Settings related to features and structures are inaccessible in the preset code. Using a preset code to recreate a world can only ensure that the blocks on each layer are the same, as well as the same biome, but cannot guarantee the same settings for features or structures. When using a preset code, the settings for features and structures are based on what default preset is currently selected on the list. For example, if no preset is selected, only villages and strongholds are generated; if the "Classic Flat" preset is selected, only villages are generated; if the "Overworld" preset is selected, features in the plains biome (except monster rooms) and pillager outpost, village, stronghold, mineshaft, and ruined portal structures are generated. Note that for structures to be generated, there is a separate setting "Generate structures" available at world creation screen which must be set to ON (it is by default).

Bedrock Edition

In Bedrock Edition, upon enabling "Flat world" in the "Advanced" settings tab, an additional setting allows the player to select a preset and view its block layers. Presets only affect the layers and the biome; terrain features and structures never generate in any of the presets. All presets from Java Edition are available except for "The Void".‌

There is no interface for further customization. However, custom flat worlds are possible internally, and can be generated by modifying FlatWorldLayers in the world's level.dat file using an external editor. This was used for converting custom superflat worlds from Legacy Console Edition to Bedrock Edition.

Default presets

Preset	Layers	Biome	Structures‌	Generating features‌	Forced to generate lava lakes‌	Notes
Classic Flat	Grass Block x1 Dirt x2 Bedrock x1	Plains	Village	No	No	This is different from the default superflat world, as the default superflat (used when no preset is selected on the list) can generate strongholds, while the "Classic Flat" preset has no strongholds.
Tunnelers' Dream	Grass Block x1 Dirt x5 Stone x230 Bedrock x1	Windswept Hills	Stronghold Mineshaft Monster Room	Yes	No
Water World	Water x90 Gravel x5 Dirt x5 Stone x5 Deepslate x64 Bedrock x1	Deep Ocean	Ocean Monument Ocean Ruins Shipwreck	No	No
Overworld	Grass Block x1 Dirt x3 Stone x59 Bedrock x1	Plains	Pillager Outpost Village Stronghold Mineshaft Monster Room Ruined Portal	Yes	Yes	Mimics the height of default world generation before Caves & Cliffs. Ores can also be found.
Snowy Kingdom	Snow x1 Grass Block x1 Dirt x3 Stone x59 Bedrock x1	Snowy Plains	Village Igloo	No	No
Bottomless Pit	Grass Block x1 Dirt x3 Cobblestone x2	Plains	Village	No	No	Allows easy Survival access to the Void, due to the replacement of bedrock with cobblestone.
Desert	Sand x8 Sandstone x52 Stone x3 Bedrock x1	Desert	Village Desert Pyramid Stronghold Mineshaft Monster Room	Yes	No	Sandstone and stone layer amounts are reversed from Default worlds.
Redstone Ready	Sandstone x116 Stone x3 Bedrock x1	Desert	None	No	No
The Void‌	Air x1	The Void‌Plains‌	None	Yes	No	Spawns the player on a stone platform with a single cobblestone block at the center of the platform.

Preset code format

This feature is exclusive to Java Edition.

The preset code is a string of numbers, semicolons(;), colons(:), commas(,), and asterisks(*). Each code has three main parts, divided by semicolons. They are:

a list of one or more block IDs;
- The block list is a comma-separated list of block IDs, ordered from layer -64 up; if the entry for a given block has an "*", the number before the "*" is the number of layers to be generated, and the string after is the block ID.
- A block can also be repeated over multiple layers simply by repeating the block's ID, e.g. minecraft:glass,minecraft:glass,minecraft:glass,minecraft:glass would give the same result as 4*minecraft:glass.
a valid biome ID;
(optional, not after 1.16) a list of feature generation options.
- Feature generation options (described below) may have additional parameters, for example village(size=0 distance=9) (in 1.13+ they have no effect). Multiple parameters are separated by spaces, rather than commas or semicolons.

Feature generation options

This section describes content that has been removed from the game.

This feature was present in earlier versions of Java Edition, but has since been removed.

Feature generation options

Feature generation option	Parameters	Description	Biome
village	size distance	Generates villages, provided they exist in that biome type. Extremely large size values and low distance values generate many villages tightly grouped together size determines the size of the village (default is 1, normal worlds have this set to 0, maximum is 65535). distance is the maximum distance between villages (minimum is 9, default is 32).	Plains, Desert, Savanna, Taiga, Snowy Tundra, Snowy Taiga
mineshaft	chance	Generates mineshafts. They generate in midair if no terrain is present to cover them. chance determines how common mineshafts are (from 0.0 to 1.0, default is 0.01). Higher number, more common.	All
stronghold	distance count spread	Generates strongholds. distance determines how far strongholds are from the spawn and other strongholds (minimum is 1.0, default is 32.0). count is the number of strongholds that exist per world (default is 3). spread determines how concentrated strongholds are around the spawn (minimum is 1, default is 3). Lower number, lower concentration.	All
biome_1	distance	Generates biome-specific features. This enables igloos, jungle pyramids, desert pyramids, or witch huts. distance for the maximum distance between features (minimum is 9, default is 32). NOTE: desert pyramids (and potentially other structures) are not generated solely by biome_1, and "desert_pyramid" must be added to the syntax. Both "biome_1" AND "desert_pyramid" must be added to the syntax for pyramids to generate. Putting "desert_pyramid" in your syntax without "biome_1" causes issues, and attempting to /locate a desert pyramid without biome_1 enabled effectively breaks your world. This applies to 1.14+ and potentially earlier game versions. This option may also be necessary with igloos, jungle pyramids, ocean monuments or witch huts, requires testing.	varies
dungeon	None	Monster rooms are generated, if possible.	All
decoration	None	Causes plants, ores, and similar features to be generated according to the biome type. Stone, dirt, grass, sand, or mycelium are required for most features.	All
desert_pyramid	None	Generates desert pyramids.	Desert (Hills)
lake	None	Generates water lakes, sometimes with sand and sugar cane depending on biome.	All
lava_lake	None	Generates lava lakes, with stone surrounding them. If all stone layers are removed in a preset that enables lava lakes, ores can generate in the stone around lava lakes, given the proper altitude.	All
fortress	None	Generates nether fortresses.	Nether
mansion	distance	Generates woodland mansions.	Dark Forest, Dark Forest Hills
oceanmonument	spacing separation	Generates ocean monuments in the water. spacing determines the size of the grid, in chunks, on which monuments are generated (minimum is 1, default is 32). separation determines the minimum distance, in chunks, between monuments. (minimum is 1, default is 5). WARNING: spacing must be greater than separation, otherwise the game crashes.	Deep Ocean, Deep Warm Ocean, Deep Lukewarm Ocean, Deep Cold Ocean, Deep Frozen Ocean
endcity	distance	Generates end cities.	End Highlands
pillager_outpost	None	Generates pillager outposts.	Plains Desert, Savanna, Taiga, Snowy Taiga, Snowy Tundra
ruined_portal	None	Generates ruined portals.	All
bastion_remnant	None	Generates bastion remnants.	Nether Wastes, Crimson Forest, Warped Forest, Soul Sand Valley

Several criteria must be satisfied before some features can appear:

The biome ID must be correct. For example, at present villages can appear only in biome IDs plains, desert, taiga, savanna, snowy_taiga, and snowy_tundra.
Structures must be turned on when creating new world. (This does not affect normal features such as trees, flowers, mushrooms, and giant mushrooms.)
There must be suitable terrain for the structure to appear on or in. This applies to most features except for mineshafts and strongholds.
- Villages are a partial exception; they do not form in mid-air, but can form provided there is at least one solid block layer.
  - Villages always spawn at least 2 blocks above the void.

For example, to have an 'End' superflat world with end spikes, the biome ID must be the_end, and the top surface block must be end stone. In this particular case 'Structures' does not need to be turned on in the world options.

Attempting to use an incorrectly formatted preset code causes the game to default to the Classic preset.

Preset code example

Consider the following preset code:

minecraft:mossy_cobblestone,250*minecraft:air,minecraft:obsidian,minecraft:snow;minecraft:plains

It consists of the following elements:

minecraft:mossy_cobblestone,250*minecraft:air,minecraft:obsidian,minecraft:snow — comma-separated list of block IDs.
- minecraft:mossy_cobblestone — one layer of mossy cobblestone on layer -64.
- 250*minecraft:air — 250 layers of air, from layer -63 to layer 186.
- minecraft:obsidian — one layer of obsidian, on layer 187.
- minecraft:snow — one layer of snow, on layer 188.
minecraft:plains — biome ID, in this case Plains.

Multiplayer

In Java Edition, in order to create a Superflat world in a multiplayer server, the level-type flag in server.properties must be flat, instead of default. To alter the layers, biome and structures define generator-settings, which is a string of a JSON object:

[NBT Compound / JSON Object]: The root object.
- Flat generation settings see Template:Nbt inherit/flat generator settings/template

Example generation settings that recreate the "Classic Flat" preset:

{"biome":"minecraft:plains","layers":[{"block":"minecraft:bedrock","height":1},{"block":"minecraft:dirt","height":2},{"block":"minecraft:grass_block","height":1}]}

In Bedrock Edition, level-type in server.properties must be "FLAT" to generate a flat world.

History

Java Edition pre-Classic
rd-132211							The level generation was changed from the original messy and random generator (as shown in the Cave Game "Tech Test video"), to be completely flat. This was later removed in favor of variable terrain.
Java Edition Classic
0.0.13a							A development build for this version contains flat terrain, which is different from the officially released build.
0.0.13a							The version labelled "0.0.13a" in the launcher is believed to be said development build due to its inclusion of flat terrain.
Java Edition
1.1			January 4, 2012				Jens Bergensten announces a "super-flat world type option" and shares a first screenshot.
1.1			12w01a				Added Superflat world type.
1.3.1			12w18a				Prior to this version, there was no consistent spawn point unless the player had slept in a bed; the player could respawn far from the previous spawning location without anything in sight. This may have been due to the lack of ground at the usual height of about 64.
			12w18a				Changes to server.properties are no longer looked at in multiplayer after the world is created. Equivalently, any data in the level.dat file overrides the values in server.properties. This means that single player worlds can now be trivially moved to multiplayer.
			12w25a				Slime spawning in Superflat is reduced.
1.4.2			12w36a				By going into the level.dat and editing the generatorOptions line, the player can create custom Superflat worlds.
			September 10, 2012				Dinnerbone mentions that he is adding presets to go with the new customization feature.
			12w37a				Added Superflat Customization GUI.
							Comes with 7 presets: Classic Flat, Tunnelers' Dream, Water World, Overworld, Snowy Kingdom, Bottomless Pit (broken in this version), and Desert.
							In this version, the Add and Edit Layer features were not fully implemented, leaving their respective buttons grayed out.
			12w39b				The "Bottomless Pit" preset is fixed.
			October 2, 2012				Dinnerbone tweets an image of trees naturally generating in superflat worlds.
			12w40a				Generated structures (trees, ores, strongholds, etc.) can now be generated in this mode. The preset code version number is changed to "2" to reflect this.
							Added a new preset called "Redstone Ready", with 52 layers of sandstone, three stone, then one layer of bedrock, and has no generated features or structures.
							The "Add Layer" and the "Edit Layer" buttons were removed.
1.7.2			13w36a				Strongholds are no longer generated in the air.
1.8			14w08a				Now uses named block IDs to input layers instead of numeric block IDs.^[2]
							Block ID/number of layers format changed from `NumberxID` to `Number*ID`.
							Preset code version number changed to "3".
1.9			15w37a				Added a new preset called "The Void", where terrain is nonexistent except for a stone platform at the spawn.
1.13			17w47a				Support for version numbers in preset codes was dropped.^[3]
1.13			pre5				Biomes are now written as named namespaced IDs in preset codes instead of numerical IDs.
1.16			20w21a				Generated structures can no longer be specified in the preset code. The structure generation can still be modified via Custom world type or custom world generation in data packs.
1.17			21w06a				Superflat worlds now generate at Y=-64 due to the new height limit changes.
1.17			21w15a				Superflat worlds now generate at Y=4 again due to the height limit changes being reverted.
1.18			21w37a				Superflat worlds now generate at Y=-64 again due to the height limit changes being reintroduced.
1.18.2			22w05a				Changed the number of sandstone layers of preset "Redstone Ready" from 52 to 116, to fix the issue of slimes being generated in worlds using this preset.^[4]
			22w06a				Changed the "Water World" preset, by replacing sand with gravel, and adding additional 64 layers of deepslate above the bedrock layer, in order to fix the ocean monument generation issue in worlds using this preset.^[5]
			22w07a				Strongholds can now generate in the default superflat, though still not in the "Classic Flat" preset.
1.19			22w11a				Added "superflat level generation preset" in the data pack, which can customize the presets displayed on the presets screen.
Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.9.0			build 1				Added flat world type.
v0.9.0			build 5				By going into options.txt and editing the game_flatworldlayers line, the player can create custom flat worlds.^[6]
v0.10.0			build 1				Flat worlds are no longer customizable via `options.txt`.
Bedrock Edition
1.2.0			beta 1.2.0.2				By going into `level.dat` and editing the [String] FlatWorldLayers field, the player can create custom flat worlds.
1.17.40			beta 1.17.40.21				Flat worlds behind the Caves & Cliffs Experimental Gameplay toggle now generate at Y=-64 due to the new height limit changes.
1.18.0			beta 1.18.0.20				All newly created flat worlds now generate at Y=-64. Existing flat worlds still generate at Y=0.
1.21.80			Preview 1.21.80.22				It's now possible to select a flat world preset in the advanced tab of the create new world screen when flat world mode has been enabled.
Upcoming Bedrock Edition
1.21.100			Preview 1.21.100.23				Added "The Void" flat world preset.
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 superflat world type. Unlike in other editions, the Nether is also flat in this world type.
TU25	CU14	1.17	1.17	1.17	Patch 1		Added superflat customization UI.
TU31	CU19	1.22	1.22	1.22	Patch 3		Added all logs and end portal frames to the custom superflat block selection screen.
							Removed frozen ocean from the biome selection screen.
							Removed sponges from the custom superflat block selection screen.
TU36	CU25	1.28	1.28	1.28	Patch 7		Added options to generate caves and ravines in the custom superflat properties screen.
TU46	CU36	1.38	1.38	1.38	Patch 15		Removed end portal frames from the custom superflat block selection screen.
TU56	CU47	1.55	1.55	1.55	Patch 26	1.0.6	Changed the minimum and maximum values for structure spacing from 512m-864m to 256m-1600m.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0							Added flat world type.

Issues

Issues relating to "Superflat" or "Flat worlds" are maintained on the bug tracker. Issues should be reported and viewed there.

Trivia

Superflat was first conceived at the first MINECON and was intended for Creative builds.^[7]

Gallery

Screenshots

Classic Flat preset.
A village generated in the classic flat preset.
Tunnelers' Dream preset.
A map of a superflat world.
2 villages close to each other on superflat world.
A part of the usual world that was not properly deleted staying in a superflat world.
Deep ores exposed on the surface in a superflat world.
Overview of the old superflat world options.
Two villages viewable directly from spawn in a superflat world.
A mid-air mineshaft in a superflat world.
One of many things possible with the superflat generator options.
A grassland village naturally generated in a 1-block-deep bedrock superflat world.
A desert village under similar conditions.
A superflat world with the biome changed to nether wastes.
A superflat world with the biome set as the End.

Thumbnails

The thumbnail for the "Classic Flat" and "Bottomless Pit" presets in Bedrock Edition.
The thumbnail for the "Desert" and "Redstone Ready" presets in Bedrock Edition.
The thumbnail for the "Overworld" preset in Bedrock Edition.
The thumbnail for the "Snowy Kingdom" preset in Bedrock Edition.
The thumbnail for the "Tunnelers' Dream" preset in Bedrock Edition.
The thumbnail for the "Water World" preset in Bedrock Edition.
The thumbnail for "The Void" preset in Bedrock Edition.