Minecraft Rarest Biomes: The 10 Smallest Biomes Ranked
The rarest biomes in Minecraft are Windswept Gravelly Hills (about 0.098% of the Overworld surface), Stony Peaks (0.106%) and Mushroom Fields (0.140%), followed by Pale Garden, Jagged Peaks and Frozen Peaks. These figures are for Java Edition and come from the Minecraft Wiki’s biome distribution table, which measures how much of the map each biome covers.
What are the rarest biomes in Minecraft?
Ranked by surface area, these are the ten smallest biomes in the current Overworld. Mojang doesn’t publish official percentages, so we use the Minecraft Wiki biome page, where the community measured coverage across generated worlds.
| Rank | Biome | Share of Overworld surface | Where it generates |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Windswept Gravelly Hills | 0.098% | Highlands, mostly gravel |
| 2 | Stony Peaks | 0.106% | Mountain tops in warm regions |
| 3 | Mushroom Fields | 0.140% | Islands next to deep ocean |
| 4 | Pale Garden | 0.157% | Higher ground inside dark forest areas |
| 5 | Jagged Peaks | 0.163% | Tallest, pointiest mountain tops |
| 6 | Frozen Peaks | 0.163% | Smoother snowy mountain tops |
| 7 | Windswept Forest | 0.196% | Windswept hills next to forests |
| 8 | Windswept Savanna | 0.218% | Savanna with extreme terrain |
| 9 | Ice Spikes | 0.226% | Inside snowy plains |
| 10 | Windswept Hills | 0.277% | Highlands |
Just outside the top ten sit Cherry Grove (0.282%) and Eroded Badlands (0.311%). For comparison, Forest covers about 12% of the surface and Plains about 10%, so the rarest biome on this list is roughly 120 times smaller than a forest.
Why do older Minecraft rarest biome lists look different?
Because they’re out of date. What changed? Caves and Cliffs Part II (Java 1.18, released November 30, 2021) rebuilt world generation from scratch, and many old “rare” biomes stopped existing on Java.
Modified Jungle, Modified Badlands Plateau, Bamboo Jungle Hills and Giant Tree Taiga, all staples of pre-2021 top tens, were merged into their base biomes or renamed (Giant Tree Taiga is now Old Growth Spruce Taiga, at 0.677%). Bedrock still keeps some of the old IDs, but in practice you won’t find them in a fresh Java world. If a list still ranks Modified Jungle first, it was written before 2021.
Which of the rarest Minecraft biomes are worth finding?
Not every tiny biome is exciting.
Windswept Gravelly Hills is rare, sure, but it’s mostly gravel. Here are the ones that actually reward the trip, roughly in the order we would go looking for them on a new survival world with friends.
Mushroom Fields
The most useful rare biome by far. The wiki notes that no hostile mobs spawn naturally there, and that rule also covers caves and mineshafts under the island, although spawners and wandering traders still work. Mooshrooms live there too. It’s always next to deep ocean, so bring a boat.
Pale Garden
Added in late 2024 with The Garden Awakens, Pale Garden is a rarer, gray version of the dark forest. No music plays inside it. Some pale oak trees hide a creaking heart that spawns a creaking at night, and woodland mansions can generate here. Want an eerie build site? This is it.
Ice Spikes
Spikes of packed ice usually stand 10 to 20 blocks tall, though thin ones can pass 50. Honestly, it’s one of the best screenshot spots in the game, and a good packed ice source for ice roads.
Windswept Savanna
Chaotic terrain: coarse dirt mountains, overhangs, floating chunks and big waterfalls. The cliffs can jut out at 90-degree angles and sometimes rise above the clouds (great views, terrible for horses).
Cherry Grove and Eroded Badlands
Two near misses that most players care about more than the top ten. Cherry Grove covers its plateaus with pink petals and cherry trees, and Eroded Badlands builds narrow terracotta spires that the wiki compares to Utah’s Bryce Canyon. Badlands variants also have more gold ore and mineshafts near the surface.
How do you find the rarest biomes in Minecraft?
The fastest way is the locate command.
In a world with cheats on, type /locate biome minecraft:mushroom_fields on Java (or /locate biome mushroom_fields on Bedrock) and the game gives you coordinates for the nearest one.
- Open the chat and run the locate command with the biome ID, for example
ice_spikesorpale_garden. - Click the coordinates on Java to teleport, or travel there yourself.
- No cheats? Enter your seed into a seed map tool such as the Chunkbase Biome Finder and pick the matching version.
Without either of those, it’s luck plus distance. Look, a rare biome covering 0.1% of the surface can be thousands of blocks away. Mushroom Fields are easier to hunt by sailing deep ocean, and Ice Spikes only show up inside snowy plains, so following the right climate saves hours.
That’s the whole list. More from us on Minecraft, and on other games we play in the other games section and the main AgataSmurf blog. If you just want one of the Minecraft rarest biomes this weekend, start with Mushroom Fields: it’s small, but the safest base spot in the game.
FAQ
What is the rarest biome in Minecraft?
By surface area on Java Edition, Windswept Gravelly Hills is the rarest at about 0.098% of the Overworld, followed by Stony Peaks at 0.106% and Mushroom Fields at 0.140%.
Is Mushroom Fields the rarest biome?
It is the third rarest by surface area, at about 0.140%. It is often called the rarest because it only generates as islands next to deep ocean.
Do hostile mobs spawn in Mushroom Fields?
No. Hostile mobs do not spawn naturally in Mushroom Fields, including caves and mineshafts below the surface. Spawners and other special sources still work.
Is Pale Garden rare?
Yes. Pale Garden covers about 0.157% of the Overworld surface, which makes it the fourth rarest biome on Java Edition.
How do I find a specific biome?
With cheats on, use /locate biome followed by the biome ID, such as minecraft:ice_spikes. Without cheats, enter your seed into a biome finder map.
What happened to Modified Jungle?
Modified Jungle and several other variants were removed from Java Edition in the 1.18 update in 2021 and merged into their base biomes.
