Ancient City

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This article is about the generated structure. For the novel, see Minecraft: Journey to the Ancient City.
Ancient City
Ancient City SE.png: Infobox image for Ancient City the structure in Minecraft
Biomes

Deep Dark

Y-level

-51

Mobs

Warden (from sculk shrieker)

Consists of

An ancient city is a palatial structure found in deep dark biomes at layer -51, harboring chests containing some items that cannot be found anywhere else. It is also the largest structure in the game.

Generation[edit | edit source]

Ancient cities cannot generate overlapping each other, however they can generate directly adjacent to each other[1].

Because they can only generate in the deep dark, they will often be found under mountains and are more likeplaces with low erosion.

Structure[edit | edit source]

For the technical details behind ancient city structures, see Ancient City/Structure. For the blueprints of ancient city structures, see Ancient City/Structure/Blueprints.

Environment aesthetics[edit | edit source]

An ancient city features a very large palace with a footprint of around 220 blocks on each horizontal axis, stretching throughout a deep dark biome. The floor of the city always generates at the Y level of -51. The palace is made up of long corridors with 2-block-deep layers of gray wool on the floor, and some rugs made of blue, light blue and cyan wool or carpet floors to prevent vibrations, as well as some smaller ruins off to the side of the main corridors, which contain either one or two loot chests. The city has statues and the center features a frame resembling a warden's head, where there are reinforced deepslate blocks, which is an unobtainable material in Survival mode. Other unique blocks such as soul lanterns and candles as well as different forms of deepslate and sculk can be found here. Sculk shriekers generate much more frequently in ancient cities than in the normal deep dark biome. The city generates always at the same places in chunks (for example, the blocks that make up the center structure made of reinforced deepslate in the middle are always on the western edge of a chunk).

Some structures resemble elements of the game. The city center bears a resemblance to early iterations of the warden's design, and other structures resemble pillager outposts, woodland mansion rooms, and mineshafts.

Overall view[edit | edit source]

The following three renders are the same instance of ancient cities.

Redstone circuits[edit | edit source]

Underneath the frame at the city center lies a series of hidden basements with naturally generating redstone circuitry.

The secret entrance is located at the base of the structure, underneath the wooden bridge between the city center and the wall. There is a piston door that is controlled by a sculk sensor in the redstone circuits in the basement.

For city_center_1, there is a chiseled deepslate block in front of the frame. Making a vibration around it can activate the sculk sensor and then open the piston door. There is also a pulse extender between the sculk sensor and piston door, which makes the piston door close 180 game ticks after the sculk sensor is deactivated.

The circuit in city_center_2 is similar to the former, but with a signal strength filter. Only vibrations with a frequency equal to 8 (eating or drinking) can activate the piston door. Creating these vibrations on the path in the front of the frame in the city center activates the door.

For city_center_3, making a vibration on the path in front of the frame on the city center can activate the sculk sensor. Additionally, there's a T flip-flop between the sculk sensor and piston door. After the sculk sensor is activated, the piston door remains open until the sculk sensor is activated again.

There are three basic redstone circuits in the basement:

File structure[edit | edit source]

All ancient city structures found below are located in the folder client.jar/data/minecraft/structures/ancient_city[JE only], data/structures/ancient_city[BE only].

Components[edit | edit source]

Entrance[edit | edit source]

Center[edit | edit source]

Ruins[edit | edit source]

Walls[edit | edit source]

Blocks[edit | edit source]

Main components
Blocks unique to some structures

Loot[edit | edit source]

See also: Chest loot

The loot in the chests includes several useful items for exploring the ancient city, such as snowballs and the Swift Sneak enchantment, as well as items that can't be found anywhere else, such as echo shards and two exclusive armor trims. Ancient city chests also have the second highest chance of any loot table to contain an enchanted golden appleominous vaults have a 22.5% chance.

Normal[edit | edit source]

In Java Edition and Bedrock Edition, each ancient city chest contains items drawn from 2 pools, with the following distribution:

Item Stack Size [A] Weight [B] Chance [C] Avg.
per chest
[D]
[hide] Avg. # chests
to search
[E]
5–10× 5–10×
BlockSprite air.png: Sprite image for air in MinecraftNothing[F] 1758093.8%0.9381.1
Coal 6–1578646.5%6.4102.1
Bone 1–1558635.9%3.4882.8
Soul Torch 1–1558635.9%3.4882.8
Book 3–1058635.9%2.8342.8
Potion of Regeneration 1–358635.9%0.8722.8
Enchanted Book[G] 158635.9%0.4362.8
Disc Fragment (5) 1–348629.8%0.6983.4
Echo Shard 1–348629.8%0.6983.4
Amethyst Shard 1–1538623.2%2.0934.3
Glow Berries 1–1538623.2%2.0934.3
Sculk 4–1038623.2%1.8314.3
Candle 1–438623.2%0.6544.3
Bottle o' Enchanting 1–338623.2%0.5234.3
Sculk Sensor 1–338623.2%0.5234.3
Enchanted Book[H] 138623.2%0.2624.3
Enchanted Iron Leggings[I] 138623.2%0.2624.3
Sculk Catalyst 1–228616.1%0.2626.2
Compass 128616.1%0.1746.2
Music Disc (13) 128616.1%0.1746.2
Music Disc (cat) 128616.1%0.1746.2
Lead 128616.1%0.1746.2
Name Tag 128616.1%0.1746.2
Saddle 128616.1%0.1746.2
Damaged Enchanted Diamond Hoe[J][K] 128616.1%0.1746.2
Diamond Horse Armor 128616.1%0.1746.2
Enchanted Diamond Leggings[J] 128616.1%0.1746.2
Enchanted Golden Apple 1–21868.4%0.13111.9
Music Disc (otherside) 11868.4%0.08711.9
Ward Armor Trim Smithing Template 14805.0%0.05020.0
Silence Armor Trim Smithing Template 11801.2%0.01380.0

In Java Edition 1.21.5, each ancient city chest contains items drawn from 2 pools, with the following distribution:

Item Stack Size [A] Weight [B] Chance [C] Avg.
per chest
[D]
[hide] Avg. # chests
to search
[E]
5–10× 5–10×
BlockSprite air.png: Sprite image for air in MinecraftNothing[F] 1718088.8%0.8871.1
Coal 6–1578646.5%6.4102.1
Bone 1–1558635.9%3.4882.8
Soul Torch 1–1558635.9%3.4882.8
Book 3–1058635.9%2.8342.8
Potion of Regeneration 1–358635.9%0.8722.8
Enchanted Book[G] 158635.9%0.4362.8
Disc Fragment (5) 1–348629.8%0.6983.4
Echo Shard 1–348629.8%0.6983.4
Amethyst Shard 1–1538623.2%2.0934.3
Glow Berries 1–1538623.2%2.0934.3
Sculk 4–1038623.2%1.8314.3
Candle 1–438623.2%0.6544.3
Bottle o' Enchanting 1–338623.2%0.5234.3
Sculk Sensor 1–338623.2%0.5234.3
Enchanted Book[H] 138623.2%0.2624.3
Enchanted Iron Leggings[I] 138623.2%0.2624.3
Sculk Catalyst 1–228616.1%0.2626.2
Compass 128616.1%0.1746.2
Music Disc (13) 128616.1%0.1746.2
Music Disc (cat) 128616.1%0.1746.2
Lead 128616.1%0.1746.2
Name Tag 128616.1%0.1746.2
Saddle 128616.1%0.1746.2
Damaged Enchanted Diamond Hoe[J][K] 128616.1%0.1746.2
Diamond Horse Armor 128616.1%0.1746.2
Enchanted Diamond Leggings[J] 128616.1%0.1746.2
Enchanted Golden Apple 1–21868.4%0.13111.9
Music Disc (otherside) 11868.4%0.08711.9
Enchanted Book[L] 14805.0%0.05020.0
Ward Armor Trim Smithing Template 14805.0%0.05020.0
Silence Armor Trim Smithing Template 11801.2%0.01380.0
  1. Jump up to: a b The size of stacks (or for unstackable items, number) of this item on any given roll.
  2. Jump up to: a b The weight of this item relative to other items in the pool.
  3. Jump up to: a b The odds of finding any of this item in a single chest.
  4. Jump up to: a b The number of items expected per chest, averaged over a large number of chests.
  5. Jump up to: a b The average number of chests the player should expect to search to find any of this item.
  6. Jump up to: a b 'Nothing' does not refer to the chance of an empty chest. Instead, it refers to the chance that the random loot generator does not add any loot on a single roll.
  7. Jump up to: a b All enchantments are equally probable, including treasure enchantments (except Soul Speed, Swift Sneak, and Wind Burst), and any level of the enchantment is equally probable.
  8. Jump up to: a b Enchanted with a random level of Swift Sneak.
  9. Jump up to: a b Enchantment probabilities are the same as a level-20 to level-39 enchantment would be on an enchantment table that had no cap at level 30, and that was able to apply treasure enchantments (except Soul Speed, Swift Sneak, and Wind Burst), and where the chance of multiple enchantments is not reduced.
  10. Jump up to: a b c d Enchantment probabilities are the same as a level-30 to level-50 enchantment would be on an enchantment table that had no cap at level 30, and that was able to apply treasure enchantments (except Soul Speed, Swift Sneak, and Wind Burst), and where the chance of multiple enchantments is not reduced.
  11. Jump up to: a b The item has between 80% and 100% of its total durability.
  12. Enchanted with Mending.

Ice boxes[edit | edit source]

In Java Edition and Bedrock Edition, each ancient city ice box chest contains 4–10 item stacks, with the following distribution:

Item Stack Size [A] Weight [B] Chance [C] Avg.
per chest
[D]
[hide] Avg. # chests
to search
[E]
Snowball 2–64997.0%12.4441.0
Packed Ice 2–62980.5%6.2221.2
Baked Potato 1–101954.9%4.2781.8
Golden Carrot 1–101954.9%4.2781.8
Suspicious Stew[F] 2–61954.9%3.1111.8
  1. The size of stacks (or for unstackable items, number) of this item on any given roll.
  2. The weight of this item relative to other items in the pool.
  3. The odds of finding any of this item in a single chest.
  4. The number of items expected per chest, averaged over a large number of chests.
  5. The average number of chests the player should expect to search to find any of this item.
  6. The stew grants one of the following effects: 5-7 seconds of Blindness, or 7-10 seconds of Night Vision.

Data values[edit | edit source]

ID[edit | edit source]

Java Edition:

Structure type[hide]Identifier
BlockSprite jigsaw.png: Sprite image for jigsaw in Minecraft Jigsawjigsaw
Structure[hide]Identifier
EnvSprite ancient-city.png: Sprite image for ancient-city in Minecraft Ancient Cityancient_city

Bedrock Edition:

StructureIdentifierAlias ID [hide]Translation key
EnvSprite ancient-city.png: Sprite image for ancient-city in Minecraft Ancient Cityancient_cityancientcityfeature.ancient_city

History[edit | edit source]

October 16, 2021Ancient cities are revealed at Minecraft Live 2021.
[hide]Java Edition
1.19Deep Dark Experimental Snapshot 1Added ancient cities.
22w11aAncient cities are not added yet in this non-experimental snapshot.
22w13aRe-added ancient cities and revamped with new structures, improvements to already existing structures and an updated loot table.
22w14aUpdated the loot table once again with echo shards, and replaced the golden carrot in city_center_2 with a golden apple.
Removed the following structures (and variants thereof) as they were duplicates of other structures:
  • small_portal_statue
  • intact_horizontal_wall_stairs_upward
  • top_piece
  • bottom_piece
1.19.4
Experiment
Update 1.20
23w04aWard armor trims are now found in ancient city chests.
23w05aIncreased the chance of ward armor trims from 4.7% to 5%.
1.2023w12aSilence armor trims are now found in ancient city chests.
1.20.2
Experiment
Villager Trade Rebalance
1.20.2 Pre-release 1Mending enchanted books now have a higher chance of generating in ancient city chest loot.
[hide]Bedrock Edition
1.18.30
Experiment
Wild Update
Preview 1.18.30.33Added ancient cities behind the "Wild Update" experimental toggle. Currently, it has outdated structure types and loots.
1.19.0Preview 1.19.0.21Ancient cities are now available without enabling experimental gameplay.
Preview 1.19.0.27Ancient cities were revamped with new structures, improvements to already existing structures and an updated loot table to match Java Edition.
1.19.80
Experiment
Next Major Update
Preview 1.19.80.21Ward armor trims are now found in ancient city chests.
Preview 1.19.80.22Silence armor trims are now found in ancient city chests.
1.20.40
Experiment
Villager Trade Rebalancing
Preview 1.20.40.20Mending enchanted books now have a higher chance of generating in ancient city chest loot.

Issues[edit | edit source]

Issues relating to "Ancient City" are maintained on the bug tracker. Issues should be reported and viewed there.

Trivia[edit | edit source]

  • The ancient cities were inspired by Mayan temples and Roman ruins.
  • In some concept art, it was revealed that the loot in ancient cities was originally going to be stored within jar-shaped pots, "screaming" vases, and stone chests.[2]
  • The intention of the ancient cities was to capture a feeling of something that feels like it was once bustling with life, but is now vacant and lifeless.[3]

Gallery[edit | edit source]

Screenshots[edit | edit source]

Development images[edit | edit source]

Concept artwork[edit | edit source]

In other media[edit | edit source]

See also[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. MC-250776 — Ancient cities can generate directly adjacent to each other — resolved as "Works As Intended".
  2. "The Secrets of Minecraft's Deep Dark @ 1:07" – Minecraft on YouTube, June 24, 2022
  3. "The Secrets of Minecraft's Deep Dark @ 1:21" – Minecraft on YouTube, June 24, 2022
  4. https://youtu.be/chuRE9nxLT4
  5. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/e1AJo7jU5MI

Navigation[edit | edit source]