Ocean

The ocean is an aquatic biome consisting of water. They are deep bodies of water with the surface at an altitude of Y=63, which is counted as the “sea level” of the world.

Generation

Oceans generate when the continentalness reaches lower values. Here, the terrain is mostly flat at a depth of roughly Y=45, below the sea level, although some underwater hills and cliffs may generate. Rarely, these are tall enough to peak above the sea level and form islands.

They border coastal biomes like beaches, stony shores, and rivers near landmasses, but can also directly border land biomes. Near mountains, this often results in tall oceanic cliffs, sometimes more than 100 blocks tall.

Ocean biomes are separated into temperature variants and deep variants. The regular, shallow ocean generates at medium temperature zones bordering lukewarm oceans and cold oceans, as well as the regular deep ocean.

Description

Oceans are vast expanses of water that start at the sea level and end at the ocean floor, which is mostly covered by a one-block layer of gravel, though some clay, dirt, and sand patches may generate near shallow areas. Islands in ocean biomes are covered with grass blocks and the default, sparse vegetation.

The seafloor is often covered with seagrass and kelp, with “forests” of kelp frequently reaching close to or even touching the water's surface. Fish, squid, and dolphins frequently spawn within oceans. Shipwrecks and ocean ruins generate here, but ocean monuments cannot as they can only generate in deep oceans.

Mobs

The following mobs naturally spawn here:

In **Java Edition**
Mob	Spawn weight	Group size
Monster category
Creeper	¹⁰⁰⁄₅₂₀	4
Skeleton	¹⁰⁰⁄₅₂₀	4
Slime^{[note 1]}	¹⁰⁰⁄₅₂₀	4
Spider	¹⁰⁰⁄₅₂₀	4
Zombie	⁹⁵⁄₅₂₀	4
Enderman	¹⁰⁄₅₂₀	1–4
Drowned^{[note 2]}	⁵⁄₅₂₀	1
Witch	⁵⁄₅₂₀	1
Zombie Villager	⁵⁄₅₂₀	1
Underground water creature category
Glow Squid	1	4–6
Water creature category
Dolphin	¹⁄₃	1–2
Nautilus	¹⁄₃	1–3
Squid	¹⁄₃	1–4
Water ambient category
Cod	1	3–6
Ambient category
Bat	1	8

↑ Spawn attempt succeeds only in slime chunks.
↑ Adult drowned wielding a trident have a 50% chance of spawning mounted on a zombie nautilus.

In **Bedrock Edition**
Mob	Spawn weight	Group size
Monster category
Creeper	100	1
Drowned	100	2–4
Slime^{[note 1]}	100	1
Spider	100	1
Zombie	95	2–4
Skeleton	80	1–2
Enderman	10	1–2
Witch	5	1
Zombie Villager	5	2–4
Creature category
Glow Squid	10	2–4
Nautilus	8	1–3
Squid	8	2–4
Dolphin	7	3–5
Water creature category
Cod	75	4–7
Salmon	26	3–5

↑ Spawn attempt succeeds only in slime chunks.

Sounds

Music

These music tracks when the player is underwater in an ocean:

Title	Preview	Java Edition		Bedrock Edition
Title	Preview	Weight	Probability	Weight	Probability
Axolotl		1	33.33%	1	33.33%
Dragon Fish		1	33.33%	1	33.33%
Shuniji		1	33.33%	1	33.33%

These music tracks play while the player is not underwater in an ocean:

Title	Preview	Java Edition		Bedrock Edition
Title	Preview	Weight	Probability	Weight	Probability
A Familiar Room		1	2.70%	—	—
Below and Above		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Broken Clocks		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Clark		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Comforting Memories		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Danny		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Dry Hands		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Ebb		2	5.41%	2	5.56%
Featherfall		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Fireflies		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Floating Dream		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Haggstrom		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Home		2	5.41%	2	5.56%
Key		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
komorebi		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Left to Bloom		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Lilypad		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Living Mice		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Memories		2	5.41%	2	5.56%
Mice on Venus		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Minecraft		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Nightly		2	5.41%	2	5.56%
One More Day		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
O's Piano		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Oxygène		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Puzzlebox		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Shores		2	5.41%	2	5.56%
Subwoofer Lullaby		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Sweden		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Watcher		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
Wet Hands		1	2.70%	1	2.78%
yakusoku		1	2.70%	1	2.78%

In Creative mode, the following tracks can play:

Title	Preview	Java Edition		Bedrock Edition
Title	Preview	Weight	Probability	Weight	Probability
Aria Math		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Biome Fest		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Blind Spots		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Dreiton		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Haunt Muskie		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Taswell		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Key		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Subwoofer Lullaby		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Living Mice		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Haggstrom		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Minecraft		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Oxygène		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Mice on Venus		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Dry Hands		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Wet Hands		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Clark		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Sweden		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Danny		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Left to Bloom		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
One More Day		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Floating Dream		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Comforting Memories		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
A Familiar Room		1	3.03%	—	—
Featherfall		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Watcher		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Puzzlebox		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
komorebi		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
yakusoku		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Lilypad		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Below and Above		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
O's Piano		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Broken Clocks		1	3.03%	1	3.13%
Fireflies		1	3.03%	1	3.13%

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Translation key
Ocean	`ocean`	`biome.minecraft.ocean`

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID
[No displayed name]	`ocean`	`42`

Achievements


Icon		Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Gamerscore earned	Trophy type (PS)
PS4	Other	Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Gamerscore earned	Trophy type (PS)
		Adventuring Time	Discover 17 biomes.	Visit any 17 biomes. Does not have to be in a single world.	40	Silver
		Sail the 7 Seas	Visit all ocean biomes	Visit all ocean biomes except the deep warm ocean/legacy frozen ocean (as they are unused).	40	Gold

Advancements

Icon	Advancement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)
	Adventuring Time	Discover every biome	Visit all of these 55^{[until: Third Drop 2026]}/56^[upcoming] biomes: Badlands Bamboo Jungle Beach Birch Forest Cherry Grove Cold Ocean Dappled Forest Dark Forest Deep Cold Ocean Deep Dark Deep Frozen Ocean Deep Lukewarm Ocean Deep Ocean Desert Dripstone Caves Eroded Badlands Flower Forest Forest Frozen Ocean Frozen Peaks Frozen River Grove Ice Spikes Jagged Peaks Jungle Lukewarm Ocean Lush Caves Mangrove Swamp Meadow Mushroom Fields Ocean Old Growth Birch Forest Old Growth Pine Taiga Old Growth Spruce Taiga Pale Garden Plains River Savanna Savanna Plateau Snowy Beach Snowy Plains Snowy Slopes Snowy Taiga Sparse Jungle Stony Peaks Stony Shore Sunflower Plains Sulfur Caves Swamp Taiga Warm Ocean Windswept Forest Windswept Gravelly Hills Windswept Hills Windswept Savanna Wooded Badlands The advancement is only for Overworld biomes. Other biomes may also be visited, but are ignored for this advancement.

Videos

History

Java Edition

Java Edition Classic
0.0.12a		An infinite ocean now surrounds the map.
Java Edition Infdev
20100227-1414		Added infinite worlds. Oceans generate as random parts of the terrain, similarly to mountains.
Java Edition Beta
1.8	Pre-release	As part of a terrain generation overhaul, oceans have been made into their own proper biome. Previously, oceans were not considered their own biome.
		The ocean level has been decreased by one block (64 to 63).
		Oceans have been made much larger and take up most of the map and their floors were made of a mix of clay, dirt and sand.
Java Edition
1.7.2	13w36a	Oceans have been made much smaller. In addition, oceans now only have gravel as the ocean floor. In contrast, old oceans had their floors made out of dirt, sand and clay.
1.7.2	13w36a	Ocean is now required for the new "Adventuring Time" achievement.
1.8	14w25a	Added ocean monuments, which generate in oceans.
1.13	18w09a	Added underwater ruin structures, which generate in oceans.
	18w10a	Ocean is no longer required for the "Adventuring Time" advancement.
	18w11a	Added shipwrecks, which generate in oceans.
1.16	20w06a	Underwater ruins and shipwrecks are now rarer.
1.17	21w06a	Ocean biomes generate with a stone floor below Y=50 instead of a gravel floor.^[1]
1.17	21w15a	Oceans generate with a gravel floor once again.
1.18	21w44a	Ocean is once again required for the "Adventuring Time" advancement.

Bedrock Edition

Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.1.0		Oceans generate as random parts of the terrain, similarly to mountains. In snowy biomes, ice generates on the surface.
v0.9.0	build 1	Ported all the biomes from Java Edition 1.7.2 and overhauled the terrain generation. As part of this, oceans have been made into their own proper biome.
v0.16.0	build 1	Added ocean monuments with guardians and elder guardians.
Bedrock Edition
1.4.0	beta 1.2.14.2	Added shipwrecks.
1.4.0	beta 1.2.20.1	Added underwater ruins.
1.17.0 Experiment Caves and Cliffs	beta 1.16.230.56	Oceans generate with a stone floor below Y=51 instead of a gravel floor behind the Caves & Cliffs experimental gameplay toggle.^[2] This does not occur in the Old world type.
1.17.30 Experiment Caves and Cliffs	beta 1.17.30.23	Oceans generate with a gravel floor once again.
1.21.60	Preview 1.21.60.23	Kelp now generates more frequently and in denser patches, except for in frozen ocean biomes.

Legacy Console Edition

Legacy Console Edition
Xbox 360	Xbox One	PS3	PS4	PS Vita	Wii U	Switch
TU5	CU1	1.00	1.00	1.00	Patch 1	1.0.1	As part of a terrain generation overhaul, oceans have been made into their own proper biome.
TU31	CU19	1.22	1.22	1.22	Patch 3	1.0.1	Added ocean monuments.
TU69		1.76	1.76	1.76	Patch 38		Added shipwrecks, and underwater ruins.

New Nintendo 3DS Edition

New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0							Added oceans.

Data history

Java Edition
1.18			21w37a				Prior to the removal of numerical biome IDs, this biome's numerical ID was 0.

Issues

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

Gallery

Screenshots

Extremely small ocean biome, being surrounded by plains and looking like a deep lake
The Survival Island seed template thumbnail, a plains island in an ocean
An ocean single biome world

Historical screenshots

An ocean biome before The Update that Changed the World.
The view across an ocean with the maximum render distance.
An example of an ocean before Aquatic Update.
In older versions, chunk errors like this were common.
An ocean single biome world before 1.18.
The old Survival Island seed template thumbnail, a forest island surrounded by a large ocean.
An ocean with ray tracing.
A shipwreck and ravine at the bottom of an ocean.
Sea pickles generating in an underground ravine.
A ravine, shipwreck, ruin, and dolphins beneath the surface of an ocean.

Mojang screenshots

A very small island
A ring of small islands in the ocean
A view of kelp-filled oceans from the shore.
Ocean ruins and a small island visible at sunset.
A small island in the ocean.
A chunk border in the ocean.
An ocean's edge is messed up by world blending in development.

In other media

An ocean as seen in Minecraft Legends.

References

↑ MC-214783 – Oceans generate with stone floors – resolved as "Fixed".
↑ MCPE-125235 – Ocean floors are generated with stone floors

[Slime-1] Spawn attempt succeeds only in slime chunks.

[Drowned-2] Adult drowned wielding a trident have a 50% chance of spawning mounted on a zombie nautilus.

[Slime-3] Spawn attempt succeeds only in slime chunks.

[4] MC-214783 – Oceans generate with stone floors – resolved as "Fixed".

[5] MCPE-125235 – Ocean floors are generated with stone floors