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. All of these are enabled by default.

Name	Blocks	Supported mapgens	Setting	Default?	Description	Images
Cobblestone dungeon	Cobblestone, Mossy Cobblestone, Cobblestone Stair, Air	v5, v6, v7, valleys, flat, fractal	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 dungeon	Desert Stone, Sandstone Brick, Air	v5, v6, v7, valleys, flat, fractal	mg_flags=dungeons	Yes	Desert dungeons are similar to cobblestone dungeons, but they have larger rooms and longer stairways. They are either made out of desert stone or sandstone brick. Desert dungeons made out of desert stone appear inside desert stone and dungeons made out of sandstone bricks appear inside sandstone. In Minetest Game, desert dungeons can thus be found in deserts and sandstone deserts. In v6, only desert stone dungeons can be generated because of the lack of sandstone.	Desert dungeon with desert stone, as of 0.4.13 Desert dungeon with sandstone brick, as of 0.4.13
Decorations	(depends)	v5, v6, v7, valleys, flat, fractal	mg_flags=decorations	Yes	Decorations are additional structures placed on top of the surface. Decorations can be small plants such as grass, flowers, cacti, or they can even be entire trees or buildings. In all mapgens except v6, the decorations are defined by the mods. In v6, decorations are predefined. Disabling decorations in v6 does not affect trees and jungle grass.
Caves	Air	v5, v6, v7, valleys, flat, fractal	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	v5, v6, v7, valleys, flat, fractal	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	v5, v7, valleys, flat, fractal	mg_flags=caves	Yes	Like lava lakes, these lakes are caverns flooded with water and can appear at any height. Lava lakes are a subset of caves and only appear when caves are used. They don't appear in v6.	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	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.	Floatlands in 0.4.15

v6

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

Name	Flags	Default?	Description	Images
Trees	trees	Yes	Enables trees, apple trees, jungle trees and jungle grass in jungles and pine trees in snow 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

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