Superflat

Superflat is a world type replacing the normal varied terrain of the Overworld with a thin flat layer of dirt.

On a classic superflat world, the terrain consists of one layer of bedrock, two layers of dirt, and one layer of grass; the surface of the world is completely flat and at height y = 4, with the exception of Villages and terrain features, if they are enabled. Since the height limit (256) is unchanged, there is then slightly less than one-third more vertical height available to build above-ground structures as compared to a normal world. Mobs spawn as normal, including Slimes; however, there is no "Void Fog" as would ordinarily be caused by being close to the bottom, even for areas that are completely shielded from sunlight, whether in Survival or Creative mode.

The Nether and the End both generate normally. In order to create a Superflat world in SMP, the level-type flag in server.properties must be "FLAT", instead of "DEFAULT".

Customization

Superflat is a world type that has customization options in the world creation screen. Upon selecting "Superflat" in the World Type box, a new button appears underneath labeled "Customize". The customize menu starts out with the "Classic Flat" preset of one layer of grass, two dirt layers, and then bedrock underneath. There are two buttons available to customize Superflats, which include the "Remove Layer" button, used for removing unwanted types of layers, and the "Presets" button, used for selecting any of eight currently available presets. The preset code syntax you can create presets of your own by entering the correct block IDs into the 'preset code box', where these changes can be previewed and applied. In addition, superflat worlds can have certain terrain features, such as villages, long grass, lakes, and strongholds, which can additionally be customized using the same code box for block layers.

Presets

Preset	Layers		Biome	Structures	Notes	Preset code
Classic Flat	1x 2x 1x	Grass Block Dirt Bedrock	Plains	Villages	Default	2;7,2x3,2;1;village
Tunnelers' Dream	1x 5x 230x 1x	Grass Block Dirt Stone Bedrock	Extreme Hills	Strongholds Dungeons Abandoned Mineshafts		2;7,230x1,5x3,2;3;stronghold,biome_1, decoration,dungeon,mineshaft
Water World	90x 5x 5x 5x 1x	Water Sand Dirt Stone Bedrock	Plains	Underwater Villages		2;7,5x1,5x3,5x12,90x9;1;biome_1,village
Overworld	1x 3x 59x 1x	Grass Block Dirt Stone Bedrock	Plains	Strongholds Villages Dungeons Abandoned Mineshafts	Mimics the height of default world generation.	2;7,59x1,3x3,2;1;stronghold,biome_1,village, decoration,dungeon,lake,mineshaft,lava_lake
Snowy Kingdom	1x 1x 3x 59x 1x	Snow Grass Block Dirt Stone Bedrock	Ice Plains	Villages		2;7,59x1,3x3,2,78;12;biome_1,village
Bottomless Pit	1x 3x 2x	Grass Block Dirt Cobblestone	Plains	Villages		2;2x4,3x3,2;1;biome_1,village
Desert	8x 52x 3x 1x	Sand Sandstone Stone Bedrock	Desert	Strongholds Desert Villages Desert Temples Dungeons Abandoned Mineshafts		2;7,3x1,52x24,8x12;2;stronghold,biome_1, village,decoration,dungeon,mineshaft
Redstone Ready	52x 3x 1x	Sandstone Stone Bedrock	Desert	Desert villages		2;7,3x1,52x24;2

Presets are shareable. As a preset is selected, a box on top of the screen has a code you are able to highlight and copy. Similar to how new worlds are shared through seeds, presets can be entered into this box to recreate someone else's preset.

Preset code format

To create a custom preset, you must type in a correctly-formatted preset code.

The code is a string of numbers, semicolons, colons, commas, and lowercase "x"s. Each code has four main parts, divided by semicolons. These are:

• a version number (used to allow preset codes to be shared even if the code format changes),
• a list of one or more block IDs,
• a biome ID
• a list of structure generation options (may be completely empty)

The block list is a comma-separated list of block IDs, ordered from layer 0 up; if the entry for a given block has an "x", the number before the "x" is the number of layers to be generated, and the number after is the block ID. A block ID can be followed by a colon to specify a damage value.

Structure generation options (described below) may have additional parameters, for example "village(size=0 distance=9)".

Structure generation option	Parameters	Description	Biome
village	size distance	Means villages may be generated, provided they exist in that biome type. size determines the size of the village (default is 1, normal worlds have this set to 0). distance is the maximum distance between villages (minimum is 9, default is 32).	Plains, Desert
mineshaft	chance	Means mineshafts can be generated, even in midair. 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	Means strongholds can appear. 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	Means biome-specific features can be generated. This enables desert temples, jungle temples, or witch huts. distance for the maximum distance between features (minimum is 9, default is 32).	Desert (Hills), Jungle (Hills), Swampland
dungeon	None	Dungeons will be 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
lake	None	Means water lakes can be generated, sometimes with sand and sugar cane depending on biome.	All
lava_lake	None	Means lava lakes can be generated.	All

Preset code example

Consider the following preset code: 2;48,250x0,49,78:2;3;stronghold(count=7),village(size=0 distance=9),decoration,dungeon,mineshaft

It consists of the following elements:

• 2 — version number.
• 48,250x0,49,78:2 — comma-separated list of block IDs.
  • 48 — one layer of Moss Stone on layer 0.
  • 250x0 — 250 layers of air, from layer 1 to layer 250.
  • 49 — one layer of obsidian, on layer 251.
  • 78:2 — one layer of thicker-than-usual snow, on layer 252.
• 3 — biome ID, in this case Extreme Hills.
• stronghold(count=7),village(size=0 distance=9),decoration,dungeon,mineshaft — a comma-separated list of structures.
  • stronghold(count=7) — this will populate the world with seven strongholds at the default distance and spread. In this preset, these will appear in mid-air.
  • village(size=0 distance=9) — since Extreme Hills is an invalid biome for villages, this will do nothing.
  • decoration — biome-specific decoration.
  • dungeon — activates dungeons.
  • mineshaft — activates mineshafts at the default placement frequency. These will appear in mid-air as the preset contains 250 layers of air.

A block can also be repeated over multiple layers simply by repeating the block's ID, e.g. 20,20,20,20 would give the same result as 4x20.

The Player will spawn on the topmost solid layer, and will spawn under water or lava if there are layers of those above the topmost solid layer.

Note that there are several criteria that must be satisfied before some features can appear:

• The biome number must be correct. For example, at present villages can only appear in biome numbers 1 and 2, plains and desert.
• The correct structure code ('village', 'dungeon' etc.) must be present in the superflat string.
• Structures must be turned on in the world settings. (This does not affect 'natural' objects such as trees, flowers, mushrooms, giant mushrooms. Obsidian pillars in the End also count as 'natural'.)
• 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 will not form in mid-air, but will form provided there is at least one solid block layer.

For example, to have an 'End' superflat world with obsidian pillars, the biome number must be 9, the superflat string must contain 'decoration', 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.