River

River

Features	Disk
Blocks	Water Grass Block Dirt Clay Sand Gravel Sugar cane Seagrass Bush Firefly Bush
Climate
Temperature	0.5
Downfall	0.5
Precipitation	Yes
Colors
Grass color	#8EB971
Foliage color	#71A74D
Water color	#3F76E4‌  #0084FF‌

{
    "title": "River",
    "rows": [
        {
            "field": "<span class=\"nowrap\"><span class=\"sprite-file\" style=\"\">(link to File:EnvSprite disk.png article, displayed as 16x16px|link=Disk|alt=|class=pixel-image|)</span>(link to Disk article, displayed as <span class=\"sprite-text\">Disk</span>)</span>",
            "label": "(link to Features article, displayed as Features)"
        },
        {
            "field": "(values exceeds 1000 characters...)",
            "label": "Blocks"
        },
        {
            "field": "",
            "label": "Climate"
        },
        {
            "field": "0.5",
            "label": "(link to Biome#Temperature article, displayed as Temperature)"
        },
        {
            "field": "0.5",
            "label": "(link to Biome#Downfall article, displayed as Downfall)"
        },
        {
            "field": "Yes",
            "label": "(link to Biome#Precipitation article, displayed as Precipitation)"
        },
        {
            "field": "",
            "label": "Colors"
        },
        {
            "field": "<span style=\"display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap;\"><span style=\"display: inline-block; background-color: #8EB971; border: 1px solid #888; border-radius: 0.3em; width: 1em; height: 1em; vertical-align: -0.36em; margin-right: -0.1em\"><br></span> #8EB971</span>",
            "label": "Grass color"
        },
        {
            "field": "<span style=\"display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap;\"><span style=\"display: inline-block; background-color: #71A74D; border: 1px solid #888; border-radius: 0.3em; width: 1em; height: 1em; vertical-align: -0.36em; margin-right: -0.1em\"><br></span> #71A74D</span>",
            "label": "Foliage color"
        },
        {
            "field": "<span style=\"display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap;\"><span style=\"display: inline-block; background-color: #3F76E4; border: 1px solid #888; border-radius: 0.3em; width: 1em; height: 1em; vertical-align: -0.36em; margin-right: -0.1em\"><br></span> #3F76E4</span>‌<sup class=\"noprint nowrap Inline-Template \" title=\"\">[<i><span title=\"This statement only applies to Java Edition\">(link to Java Edition article, displayed as JE)  only</span></i>]</sup><br><span style=\"display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap;\"><span style=\"display: inline-block; background-color: #0084FF; border: 1px solid #888; border-radius: 0.3em; width: 1em; height: 1em; vertical-align: -0.36em; margin-right: -0.1em\"><br></span> #0084FF</span>‌<sup class=\"noprint nowrap Inline-Template \" title=\"\">[<i><span title=\"This statement only applies to Bedrock Edition\">(link to Bedrock Edition article, displayed as BE)  only</span></i>]</sup>",
            "label": "Water color"
        }
    ],
    "invimages": [],
    "images": [
        "River.png"
    ]
}

A river is a common biome. Rivers can serve as borders between various other biomes, and usually lead to oceans, although they can also form loops.

Description

Rivers are thin, lengthy biomes that frequently generate across the Overworld, making up about 6.2% of the Overworld's area. They typically serve as a division between two different biomes, but can also split a single biome in two. They are filled with water up to sea level, though rivers may run dry in certain areas due to higher than usual elevation. Saddle valleys in mountains can generate rivers, but often too high so that there's not any water. Rivers can vary a lot in width and depth, in generally flat areas rivers are usually around 10 blocks deep but in mountainous regions rivers can reach over 30 blocks in depth which is comparable to deep oceans. Sometimes rivers can also generate as lakes with small islands. Rivers often make giant loops as well, due to a quirk in the terrain generator.

Salmon and squid may spawn here. Along the riverbanks, occasional bushes and firefly bushes can be found, and sugar cane grows adjacent to water. Exposed grass takes on a bluish-green hue, similar to the meadow and birch forest biomes, and oak trees can rarely generate where there is available space. Riverbeds consist of dirt, sand, gravel, and clay, and are one of the few places where clay generates, alongside lakes, swamp marshes, ocean hilltops, and lush caves. Atop the riverbed, seagrass commonly grows.

Neither passive nor hostile‌ mobs (except drowned) spawn within river biomes themselves, but frequently wander into them from the surrounding biomes if they can spawn there. Drowned can spawn underwater, as can salmon and squid.

Mobs

The following mobs are naturally spawned here：

In Java Edition

Mob	Spawn weight	Group size
Monster category
Creeper	100⁄615	4
Drowned	100⁄615	1
Skeleton	100⁄615	4
Slime	100⁄615	4
Spider	100⁄615	4
Zombie	95⁄615	4
Enderman	10⁄615	1–4
Witch	5⁄615	1
Zombie Villager	5⁄615	1
Underground water creature category
Glow Squid	1	4–6
Water creature category
Squid	1	1–4
Water ambient category
Salmon	1	1–5
Ambient category
Bat	1	8

{ "hasNotes": true, "notes": { "Slime": "Spawn attempt succeeds only in slime chunks." }, "1": { "totalWeight": 615, "mobs": [ { "size": "4", "mob": "Creeper", "weight": 100 }, { "size": "1", "mob": "Drowned", "weight": 100 }, { "size": "4", "mob": "Skeleton", "weight": 100 }, { "note": "Spawn attempt succeeds only in slime chunks.", "mob": "Slime", "weight": 100, "notename": "Slime", "size": "4" }, { "size": "4", "mob": "Spider", "weight": 100 }, { "size": "4", "mob": "Zombie", "weight": 95 }, { "size": "1-4", "mob": "Enderman", "weight": 10 }, { "size": "1", "mob": "Witch", "weight": 5 }, { "size": "1", "mob": "Zombie Villager", "weight": 5 } ], "category": "monster" }, "2": { "totalWeight": 10, "mobs": [ { "size": "4-6", "mob": "Glow Squid", "weight": 10 } ], "category": "underground" }, "3": { "totalWeight": 2, "mobs": [ { "size": "1-4", "mob": "Squid", "weight": 2 } ], "category": "watercreature" }, "4": { "totalWeight": 5, "mobs": [ { "size": "1-5", "mob": "Salmon", "weight": 5 } ], "category": "waterambient" }, "5": { "totalWeight": 10, "mobs": [ { "size": "8", "mob": "Bat", "weight": 10 } ], "category": "ambient" } }

In Bedrock Edition

Mob	Spawn weight	Group size
Monster category
Creeper	100⁄615	1
Drowned	100⁄615	2–4
Skeleton	100⁄615	2
Slime	100⁄615	1
Spider	100⁄615	1
Zombie	95⁄615	4
Enderman	10⁄615	2–3
Witch	5⁄615	1
Zombie Villager	5⁄615	2–4
Creature category
Glow Squid	10⁄18	2–4
Squid	8⁄18	2
Water creature category
Salmon	1	3–5

{ "hasNotes": true, "notes": { "Slime": "Spawn attempt succeeds only in slime chunks." }, "1": { "totalWeight": 615, "mobs": [ { "size": "1", "mob": "Creeper", "weight": 100 }, { "size": "2-4", "mob": "Drowned", "weight": 100 }, { "size": "2", "mob": "Skeleton", "weight": 100 }, { "note": "Spawn attempt succeeds only in slime chunks.", "mob": "Slime", "weight": 100, "notename": "Slime", "size": "1" }, { "size": "1", "mob": "Spider", "weight": 100 }, { "size": "4", "mob": "Zombie", "weight": 95 }, { "size": "2-3", "mob": "Enderman", "weight": 10 }, { "size": "1", "mob": "Witch", "weight": 5 }, { "size": "2-4", "mob": "Zombie Villager", "weight": 5 } ], "category": "monster" }, "2": { "totalWeight": 18, "mobs": [ { "size": "2-4", "mob": "Glow Squid", "weight": 10 }, { "size": "2", "mob": "Squid", "weight": 8 } ], "category": "creature" }, "3": { "totalWeight": 16, "mobs": [ { "size": "3-5", "mob": "Salmon", "weight": 16 } ], "category": "watercreature" } }

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	[hide]Translation key
River	river	biome.minecraft.river

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	[hide]Numeric ID
[No displayed name]	river	7

History

[hide]Java Edition Beta
August 18, 2011							Notch tweeted a screenshot of a revamped river biome.
1.8			Pre-release				Added rivers as a separate biome. Previously, were generated as part of the terrain generation algorithm.
[hide]Java Edition
1.7.2			13w36a				River is now required for the new "Adventuring Time" achievement.
1.13			18w08b				Added salmon, which spawn in rivers.
			18w11a				Added drowned, which spawn in rivers.
			18w14a				Seagrass now generates in rivers.
1.13.1			18w31a				Squid now spawn only in oceans and rivers, making them slightly more common in rivers, as there are fewer places elsewhere for them to spawn.
1.18			experimental snapshot 4				River biomes are less likely to form a steep, dry river gorge in mountainous terrain. Instead, they either carve a fjord through it, or they raise the terrain to form a valley.
							Rivers that go through swamps tend to be more shallow.
			experimental snapshot 5				Rivers are less likely to be super deep or get choked off in flat areas.
							Rivers tend to get shallow and merge with swamps instead of carving through them.
1.21.5			25w05a				Added bushes and firefly bushes, which can generate in rivers.
[hide]Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.1.0							Added biomes, including rivers.
[hide]Bedrock Edition
1.2.13			beta 1.2.13.8				Added drowned, which spawn in river biomes.
1.4.0			beta 1.2.14.2				Added salmon, which spawn in rivers.
							Rivers now generate with seagrass.
1.13.0			beta 1.13.0.9				Squid can now spawn in rivers.
1.21.70 Experiment Drop 1 2025			Preview 1.21.70.20				Added bushes and firefly bushes, which can generate in rivers.

• 

  The first image of a river released by Notch.

Data history

[hide]Java Edition
1.13			17w47a				If numeric IDs for biomes were ever deprecated, it was most likely in this version.

Issues

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

Trivia

• Rivers override ravines at or close to the surface level, causing the ravine to be abruptly cut off by a wall of stone. However, if the ravine is long enough, it may continue on the other side of the river.
  • Ravines can generate underground in river biomes without being cut off.

Gallery

Screenshots

• 

  A river biome before The Update that Changed the World.

• 

  A river near two forests.

• 

  A narrow river.

• 

  A river separating a desert and a forest.

• 

  Rivers splitting and cutting through a taiga.

• 

  A river running through a desert.

• 

  A river running between a forest and windswept hills, with a sunset in the background.

• 

  A river in Java Edition 1.18 Experimental Snapshot 1.

• 

  A river that failed to generate properly due to a nearby mountain.

• 

  A circular river surrounding a small plains biome.

• 

  A river running through a swamp.

• 

  A big river.

• 

  A river single biome world before 1.18.

• 

  A river connected to a large lake in a jungle.

• 

  A big river flowing past a village.

• 

  A big river flowing past a village.

• 

  A river next to a cherry grove.

• 

  Traveling by boat through a river.

• 

  A river flowing through a dark forest.

• 

  A weird "river" in the middle of a mesa.

• 

  Ditto, but with f3 screen for proof.

• 

  The Winding River seed template thumbnail.

In other media

• 

  A snifflet approaching a river.

See also

• Frozen River
• Swamp
• Beach
• Ocean

External links

• "Around the Block: River" by Duncan Geere – Minecraft.net, October 22, 2020.