Map generator features

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This article shows the various special features which map generators have and explains how to use them.

Shared features

These map generator features are shared by multiple map generators: v5, v6, v7, valleys, flat and fractal. All of these are enabled by default.

Name	Blocks	Setting	Default?	Description	Images
Cobblestone dungeon	Cobblestone, Mossy Cobblestone, Cobblestone Stair, Air	mg_flags=dungeons	Yes	Dungeons are hollow underground structures made of a mixture of cobblestone and mossy cobblestone. Many pathways and cobblestone stairs connect a complex system of rooms.	Cobblestone dungeon, as of 0.4.7
Desert stone dungeon	Desert Stone, Desert Stone Stair, Air	mg_flags=dungeons	Yes	Desert stone dungeons are similar to cobblestone dungeons, but they have larger rooms and longer stairways which also may go diagonally. They are made out of desert stone and their stairways made from desert stone stairs. These dungeons appear inside desert stone. In Minetest Game, desert dungeons can thus be found in deserts.	Desert stone dungeon, as of 0.4.13
Sandstone dungeon	Sandstone Brick, Sandstone Block Stair, Air	mg_flags=dungeons	No	Sandstone dungeons are identical to desert stone dungeons in shape. They are made out of sandstone bricks and may have stairways made out of sandstone block stairs. These dungeons appear inside sandstone. In Minetest Game, sandstone dungeons can thus be found in sandstone deserts. In the v6 map generator, no sandstone dungeons are generated because of the lack of sandstone.	Sandstone dungeon, as of 0.4.13
Decorations	(depends)	mg_flags=decorations	Yes	Decorations are additional structures placed by mods on top of the surface. Decorations can be small plants such as grass, flowers, cacti, or they can even be entire trees or buildings. The v6 mapgen is an exception here, because regular trees, apple trees, jungle trees and pine trees and jungle grass are generated the map generator itself and are not considered decorations and are thus not affected by this setting. But mods can still add additional decorations on top of that. See also: Biomes#v6
Caves	Air	mg_flags=caves	Yes	Caves are air pockets found underground at any height. Caves can be very small hollow places or can be very complex interconnected tunnel systems. Cave entrances can commonly found on the surface. The cave style greatly varies between the different map generators.
Underground lava lakes	Lava, Ores, Air	mg_flags=caves	Yes	These lakes are caverns flooded with lava. Ores are very common around these lakes (see screenshot). However, often these caverns are not linked to, and it is very difficult to reach them. Lava lakes are a subset of caves and only appear when caves are used. Lava appears at the height Y=-273 and below for all map generators except v6. In v6, lava can already be found at Y=-32 or lower.	A lava lake in v6, as of Minetest 0.4.7
Underground water lakes	Water, Air	mg_flags=caves	Yes	Like lava lakes, these lakes are caverns flooded with water and can appear at any height. Water lakes are a subset of caves and only appear when caves are used.	A water lake in v7, as of Minetest 0.4.15

v7

Name	Setting	Default?	Description	Images
Mountains	mgv7_spflags=mountains	Yes	Enables mountains.
Ridges	mgv7_spflags=ridges	Yes	Enables rivers which aggressively cut through the terrain and create canyon-like structures. Since these rivers can make the terrain quite difficult to navigate, it may make sense to disable them.
Floatlands (experimental)	mgv7_spflags=floatlands	No	With this setting, large chunks of land will be created in the sky at a height at Y=1280 or above. The terrain is a bit different than on the surface, but the biomes are more or less the same. This setting is experimental and subject to change.	Experimental floatlands in 5.0.0
Caverns	mgv7_spflags=caverns	Yes	This enables the creation of caves with very large rooms, also called caverns. There's typically no lava or water in or near them.

v6

V6 features are configured via map generator flags with the setting mgv6_spflags.

Name	Flags	Default?	Description	Images
Trees	trees	Yes	Enables regular trees, apple trees, jungle trees and jungle grass in jungles and pine trees in taiga biomes.	A forest of regular trees in 0.4.9
Snow biomes	snowbiomes	Yes	Enables snowy biomes and ice sheets.	Pine trees in a snowy region, as of 0.4.13
Jungle biomes	trees,jungles or trees,snowbiomes	Yes	Adds the jungle biome which includes jungle trees and jungle grass	Jungle biome as of 0.4.7
Biome blending	biomeblend	Yes	Enables a smooth transition between biomes.	Biome blending in action between plains and a desert
Mud flow	mudflow	Yes	The “mudflow” parameter adds soil erosion. It moves dirt that sits on the edge of vertical drops and moves it to the base of that drop.
Flat	flat	No	Will generate a flat world in the v6 style with lakes, trees and caves. Note that this is a bit different than the “flat” map generator

flat

This mapgen has support for lakes and hills which are disabled by default.

Name	Setting	Default?	Description	Images
Hills	mgflat_spflags=hills	No	Increases the terrain height at some points to form hills. These hills become quite big sometimes.	Hill in the flat mapgen
Lakes	mgflat_spflags=lakes	No	Lowers the terrain at some points to form lakes. These lakes can become quite large sometimes.	Small lake in the flat mapgen