Windswept Gravelly Hills

The windswept gravelly hills or extreme hills mutated biome is a more desolate variant of the windswept hills covered with gravel. It is a relatively rare biome in the Overworld.

Generation

This variant rarely generates in lower humidity values and colder temperature ranges than regular windswept hills and windswept forests. Because of this, windswept gravelly hills often appear next to plains, snowy plains, ice spikes, snowy taigas, and uncommonly forests, sunflower plains, and flower forests. As the biome is a variant of the windswept hills, additional requirements for locating the biome are high PV and high erosion values. On top of that, all windswept hills biomes are more likely to generate in higher continentalness.

Description

True to its name, windswept gravelly hills contain large amounts of gravel that replace multiple layers stone, grass blocks, and dirt across its landscape.

Due to the gravel replacing most of the grass, vegetation like bushes and trees‌^{[JE only]} is sparser, making this variant relatively barren. In Bedrock Edition, no trees generate here at all as the unused gravelly mountains+ biome serves this purpose, and almost 100% of the biome is covered with gravel, with only a few 1-block wide strips of grass blocks generating inside, allowing far fewer bushes to generate. Underwater, the terrain is similar with only the strips containing the regular lakebed blocks (sand and dirt).

In other aspects, however, windswept gravelly hills resemble their regular counterpart: the terrain is still elevated and full of falling hazards, and generates hilly and shattered in some areas, often resulting in floating islands. Above Y=120±8, rainfall converts to snowfall, and snow begins to cover the ground. Water also begins to freeze into ice starting at that height.

Windswept gravelly hills share their foliage, grass and water color with windswept hills and windswept forests. Emerald ore generates here, but this and other ores are rarely exposed due to the gravel. Underground, occasional infested stone with silverfish can be encountered.

Farm animals spawn their cold variants in this biome when possible, and llamas spawn in herds around the biome.

With Vibrant Visuals, windswept gravelly hills use default environmental settings with a coolish color grading, making the biome appear colder blue. They use cold sunlight, which is slightly brighter at dusk and dawn.

Mobs

The following mobs naturally spawn here:

In **Java Edition**
Mob	Spawn weight	Group size
Monster category
Creeper	¹⁰⁰⁄₅₁₅	4
Skeleton	¹⁰⁰⁄₅₁₅	4
Slime^{[note 1]}	¹⁰⁰⁄₅₁₅	4
Spider	¹⁰⁰⁄₅₁₅	4
Zombie	⁹⁵⁄₅₁₅	4
Enderman	¹⁰⁄₅₁₅	1–4
Witch	⁵⁄₅₁₅	1
Zombie Villager	⁵⁄₅₁₅	1
Creature category
Sheep	¹²⁄₄₅	4
Cold Chicken	¹⁰⁄₄₅	4
Cold Pig	¹⁰⁄₄₅	4
Cold Cow	⁸⁄₄₅	4
Llama	⁵⁄₄₅	4–6
Underground water creature category
Glow Squid	1	4–6
Ambient category
Bat	1	8

↑ Spawn attempt succeeds only in slime chunks.

In **Bedrock Edition**
Mob	Spawn weight	Group size
Monster category
Creeper	100	1
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
Sheep	12	2–3
Cold Chicken	10	2–4
Glow Squid	10	2–4
Cold Pig	10	1–3
Cold Cow	8	2–3
Llama	5	4–6
Ambient category
Bat	1	2

↑ Spawn attempt succeeds only in slime chunks.

Sounds

Music

These music tracks play while the player is in the windswept gravelly hills:

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
Windswept Gravelly Hills	`windswept_gravelly_hills`	`biome.minecraft.windswept_gravelly_hills`

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID
[No displayed name]	`extreme_hills_mutated`	`131`

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

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.

History

Java Edition

Java Edition
1.7.2	13w36a	Added the Extreme Hills M, along with many other biomes.
1.13	18w16a	"Extreme Hills M" has been renamed to "Mutated Extreme Hills".
	18w19a	"Mutated Extreme Hills" has been renamed to "Gravelly Mountains".
	pre5	Changed the ID `mutated_extreme_hills` to `gravelly_mountains`.
1.18	experimental snapshot 2	"Gravelly Mountains" have been renamed into "Gravelly Hills".
	experimental snapshot 2	Changed the ID `gravelly_mountains` to `gravelly_hills`.
	21w37a	Renamed "Gravelly Hills" back to "Gravelly Mountains".
		Changed the ID `gravelly_hills` back to `gravelly_mountains`.
		Prior to the removal of numerical biome IDs, this biome's numerical ID was 131.
	21w40a	"Gravelly Mountains" has been renamed to "Windswept Gravelly Hills".
	21w40a	Changed the ID `gravelly_mountains` to `windswept_gravelly_hills`.
	21w44a	Windswept gravelly hills are now required for the "Adventuring Time" advancement.
1.20	23w17a	"A Familiar Room" can now be played in windswept gravelly hills.
1.21.5	25w02a	Pigs that spawn in windswept gravelly hills are now the cold variant.
	25w05a	Added bushes, which can generate in windswept gravelly hills.
	25w05a	Cows that spawn in windswept gravelly hills are now the cold variant.
	25w06a	Chickens that spawn in windswept gravelly hills are now the cold variant.

Bedrock Edition

Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.11.0	build 1	Added the Extreme Hills M biome variant.
v0.11.0	build 10	The amount of gravel in Exreme Hills M biomes has been increased.
Bedrock Edition
1.17.40 Experiment Caves and Cliffs	beta 1.17.40.20	Gravelly Mountains now generate less often.
1.18.0	?	Snowfall now occurs above Y=120±8 instead of 90±8. This change causes most snow to melt in old terrain.
1.21.60 Experiment Drop 1 2025	Preview 1.21.60.25	Pigs that spawn in windswept gravelly hills are now the cold variant.
1.21.70 Experiment Drop 1 2025	Preview 1.21.70.20	Added bushes, which can generate in windswept gravelly hills.
	Preview 1.21.70.20	Cows that spawn in windswept gravelly hills are now the cold variant.
	Preview 1.21.70.22	Chickens that spawn in windswept gravelly hills are now the cold variant.
1.21.90	Preview 1.21.90.26	Added coolish color grading and cold lighting to windswept gravelly hills with Vibrant Visuals.

Legacy Console Edition

Legacy Console Edition
Xbox 360	Xbox One	PS3	PS4	PS Vita	Wii U	Switch
TU31	CU19	1.22	1.22	1.22	Patch 3	1.0.1	Added Extreme Hills variant biomes.

New Nintendo 3DS Edition

New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0							Added extreme hills M.

Issues

Issues relating to "Windswept Gravelly Hills", "Gravelly Mountains", or "Extreme Hills M" are maintained on the bug tracker. Issues should be reported and viewed there.

Gallery

Screenshots

Windswept gravelly hills cliffside
A windswept gravelly hills single biome world

Historical screenshots

View of the old gravelly mountains
Gravelly mountains near an ocean
Gravelly mountains
A gravelly mountains single biome world before 1.18.
Gravelly mountains in Bedrock Edition before 1.18. Trees did not generate here.
Gravelly mountains with ray tracing