The Overworld
The Overworld is where you start in Minecraft, and probably where you will spend most of your time.
The Overworld is millions of times larger than the Earth, and has many different types of terrain, known as biomes.
Biomes
Biomes are the different types of environment you will find. Some plants and animals can only be found in particular biomes. Here are a few examples: you can read more about biomes here.
Forest
The forest contains lots of oak and birch trees, as well as tall grass, mushrooms and flowers. It’s one of the places where you can find wolves.
Plains
The plains have a lot of tall grass, and you will often find lots of animals. NPC villages can be found.
Desert
The desert has lots of sand, but also you will see lots of lakes and ponds, often with sugar cane growing next to them. In the desert you will find cacti, NPC villages, and sometimes wells and temples built by mysterious strangers. There are no trees in the desert.
Jungle
In the jungle you will find tall jungle trees with cocoa beans growing on them. There is also bushy undergrowth, making it hard to get around. As in the desert there are ancient temples to explore. There are spotted wild cats called Ocelots that can be tamed.
Swampland
Swampland is flat, with lots of water and oak trees covered with vines. In the water you can find clay, and Slimes will spawn at night. In addition to mushrooms and sugar cane, you will find lily pads on the surface of the water. If you see a hut, beware, it’s where a witch lives!
Mushroom Island
Mushroom islands are the strangest part of the overworld. They are home to cow-like animals called Mooshrooms. Instead of dirt and grass they have blocks of mycelium, a dirt-like substance on which mushrooms grow to giant size.
Ocean
We all know what an Ocean is! In the Deep Ocean biomes, you might find a mysterious structure called an Ocean Monument.
Plants and Animals
The Overworld is inhabited by plants, animals and other creatures. Animals and monsters are collectively known as “Mobs” - this is a common video game wrod and is short for “mobile”.
Trees
Some of the most useful plants in the game are trees; after all, the first thing you will want to do when you start playing is get some wood!
There are different types of trees in different biomes.
Other Plants
Tall grass is where you get seeds from when you want to grow some wheat.
Other plants are useful too: Sugar cane, Cactus and more are described on the Plants page.
Animals
There are all sorts of animals in the world of Minecraft. Some are familiar farm animals: - sheep, cows, pigs, chickens and the like. These can be killed for meat, wool etc, but it is better to capture them and farm them.
Other mobs are wild animals that can be tamed: horses, wolves and ocelots.
Finally, there are the mobs that you can’t interact with as much: squids and bats.
Monsters
The other type of Mob you will meet is Hostile Mobs; these are the monsters who come out in the dark and will attack you.
Villages
Sometimes you may find villages consisting of a few buildings, some crops and a well. Read more about them here!
Temples and Pyramids
These ancient buildings, hidden away in deserts and jungles, are full of treasures and surprises.
Ocean Monuments
This is another ancient building that can be found in the Deep Ocean.