Structure

Structures (also known as a "generated structure" or "structure feature") are naturally-generated formations that can be located using /locate structure and will not spawn in the world when the "Generate Structures" option is disabled during world creation.‌^{[JE only]} Players can generate structures using /place. Certain features, such as monster rooms or desert wells, still generate when this option is disabled and are listed under § Structure-like features due to their resemblance to other defined structures.

Overworld

The Overworld contains numerous structures, at a wide variety of scales.

Underground structures

These structures can generate only underground in any default Overworld.

Structure	Biome(s)	Description
Ancient City	Deep Dark	Long corridors made of deepslate and wool, connecting to a central building with a frame like structure made of reinforced deepslate. The central structure resembles a warden. Small ruins can be found scattered around the ancient city containing loot chests inside. Since this structure generates in the deep dark biome, it contains many sculk sensors, shriekers, and catalysts.
Buried Treasure	Beach Snowy Beach Stony Shore‌^{[BE only]} Mushroom Field Shore‌^{[BE only]}	A hidden chest containing valuable loot that spawn in coastal biomes. They are found using treasure maps located in shipwrecks and occasionally ocean ruins. The most notable item in buried chests are the heart of the sea, which is guaranteed to be found. Other common loot that can be found are diamonds, iron and gold ingots, emeralds, TNT, and potions.
Mineshaft	Any Overworld biome except Deep Dark	A maze of corridors supported by oak fences, with incomplete rail systems on which minecarts with chests can generate. Cave spider spawners may generate here heavily surrounded by cobwebs. In badlands biomes, they use dark oak planks instead of oak planks, and may generate close to the surface.
Stronghold	Any Overworld biome	Strongholds in Minecraft are generated with maze-like underground structures composed of various specialized rooms, including the essential End portal room, libraries, prison cells, and storage areas. The End portal in the stronghold is the only way to access the End dimension, and it requires eyes of ender to activate. Eyes of ender are also used to locate the stronghold.
Trail Ruins	Jungle Old Growth Birch Forest Old Growth Pine Taiga Old Growth Spruce Taiga Snowy Taiga Taiga	A group of ruined buildings meant to resemble small, ancient settlements. The entire structure is buried underground except for the tip of the tower, which is exposed to the surface. The structure can contain suspicious gravel with various archaeology items.
Trial Chambers	Any Overworld biome except Deep Dark	A large underground structure made of copper and tuff-related blocks, featuring trial spawners and vaults in challenging combat rooms. It is the only place where the breeze is found, as well as the heavy core in vault loot.

Above ground structures

These structures generate only aboveground.

Structure	Biome(s)	Description
Desert Pyramid	Desert Desert Hills‌^{[BE only]}	Large sandstone buildings containing four chests with loot in an underground room hidden beneath terracotta. The chests are trapped with TNT that detonates when a stone pressure plate in the center is stepped on, destroying the chests and their contents. There is also a buried side room with suspicious sand.
Igloo	Snowy Plains Snowy Taiga Snowy Slopes	Snow buildings that may have a basement hidden under a white carpet. The igloo itself contains little of value, but the basement has a villager and a zombie villager held captive behind iron bars. Acting as a tutorial, the basement contains all ingredients to cure the zombie villager, including a splash potion of Weakness on a brewing stand and golden apple in a chest.
Jungle Pyramid	Jungle Bamboo Jungle‌^{[JE only]} Jungle Hills‌^{[BE only]}	Overgrown cobblestone structures containing two loot chests, with one trapped with two dispensers firing arrows by redstone and the other hidden behind a lever puzzle. Setting the correct combination for the lever puzzle moves a block on the main floor, revealing a hidden cavity and the chest.
Pillager Outpost	Plains Desert Savanna Taiga Snowy Plains Grove Meadow Cherry Grove Mountain peak biomes Snowy Slopes Snowy Taiga‌^{[BE only]} Sunflower Plains‌^{[BE only]} Taiga Hills‌^{[BE only]} Snowy Taiga Hills‌^{[BE only]}	An assortment of structures spawning pillagers. The main feature of interest is the watchtower: a tall structure built with wood and cobblestone that generates a loot chest in the top floor. Located around the watchtower are up to four small structures, including tents, target scarecrows, and wooden cages sometimes containing an iron golem or a group of up to 3 allays.
Swamp Hut	Swamp Swamp Hills‌^{[BE only]}	Swamp huts are small wooden buildings on top of log stilts containing a cauldron with a random potion‌^{[BE only]} and crafting table. Upon their generation, one black cat and one witch occupy the structure's area and the mobs do not despawn naturally. The huts can be used to create a witch farm, as replacement witches spawn automatically.
Village	Plains Meadow Desert Savanna Taiga Snowy Plains Snowy Taiga‌^{[BE only]} Sunflower Plains‌^{[BE only]} Taiga Hills‌^{[BE only]} Snowy Taiga Hills‌^{[BE only]}	A town full of houses and job sites inhabited by villagers with random professions and up to two iron golems defending the village. They are constructed with a wide variety of materials and different architecture, depending on the biome that they generate in. Villages also contain farms with animals and crops, and cats spawn commonly around the houses. Villages can rarely generate as abandoned villages where zombie villagers spawn instead of villagers. Houses no longer have torches, some blocks are broken and replaced with cobwebs or mossy cobblestone, and no iron golems spawn.
Woodland Mansion	Dark Forest Pale Garden Dripstone Caves‌^{[BE only]} Lush Caves‌^{[BE only]} Sulfur Caves‌^{[BE only]} Dark Forest Hills‌^{[BE only]}	Massive, systematically-generated buildings constructed with dark oak and a cobblestone foundation. They contain many rooms (some hidden) and loot chests scattered across their three floors, and are inhabited by vindicators and evokers that do not naturally despawn or respawn when defeated. Allays can sometimes be found in prison cells.
Abandoned Camp^{[upcoming: Third Drop 2026]}	Meadow Swamp Savanna Most woodland biomes: Cherry Grove Forest Birch Forest Old Growth Birch Forest Flower Forest Windswept Forest Dappled Forest Taiga Snowy Taiga Old Growth Spruce Taiga Old Growth Pine Taiga Sparse Jungle Bamboo Jungle Wooded Badlands Pale Garden	A small tent full of items, from oxidized copper golem statues to utility blocks, such as the crafting table, cauldron, and barrels. Abandoned camps are usually built out of wool stairs and fences, and have different appearances for each biome.

Aboveground and underground structures

These structures generate both aboveground and underground.

Structure	Biome(s)	Description	Screenshot
Ruined Portal	Any Overworld biome except Deep Dark	An incomplete Nether portal constructed with various types of stone materials. They can generate in varying sizes and positions, on the surface, underwater, and in caves. A netherrack platform generates underneath, as well as a loot chest and a few gold blocks.

Underwater structures

These structures generate below the sea level i.e. y=64 and in the Ocean biomes.

Note that ocean ruins and shipwrecks sometimes generate above water on shores, and icebergs are partially above and below water.

Structure	Biome(s)	Description
Ocean Monument	Deep Ocean Deep Frozen Ocean Deep Cold Ocean Deep Lukewarm Ocean Deep Warm Ocean‌^{[BE only]}	Massive prismarine temples inhabited by guardians, as well as three elder guardians in fixed positions. Wet sponges, along with eight blocks of gold as treasure, also generate naturally here. The interior structure is randomly generated, resembling a maze of sorts.
Ocean Ruins	Deep Ocean Deep Frozen Ocean Deep Cold Ocean Deep Lukewarm Ocean Ocean Frozen Ocean Cold Ocean Warm Ocean Lukewarm Ocean Deep Warm Ocean‌^{[BE only]}	A collection of small structures made of stone bricks or sandstone depending on the ocean temperature. Drowned may spawn naturally here. Along with loot chests, they contain suspicious sand or suspicious gravel. Suspicious sand in warm ocean ruins is the only way to get the sniffer egg.
Shipwreck	Deep Ocean Deep Frozen Ocean Deep Cold Ocean Deep Lukewarm Ocean Ocean Frozen Ocean Cold Ocean Warm Ocean Lukewarm Ocean Beach Snowy Beach Mushroom Field Shore‌^{[BE only]}	Wooden structures resembling sunken ships in varying states of deterioration, containing up to three loot chests. Sometimes they can generate on land.

The Nether

The Nether, though equally vast, contains far fewer structures than the Overworld.

Structure	Biome(s)	Description
Bastion Remnant	Nether Wastes Crimson Forest Warped Forest Soul Sand Valley	Enormous, castle-like blackstone structures housing piglins and piglin brutes. They can generate in various forms (bridges, housing units, hoglin stables, and treasure rooms) and chest loot varies from one form to the next. Large quantities of gold blocks generate within the structure and this is the only place where netherite upgrades can be found.
Nether Fortress	All Nether biomes	Towering castles made of Nether bricks that contain blaze monster spawners and Nether wart farms. They are divided into open-air ramparts and winding interior corridors, some of which contain loot chests. Wither skeletons and blazes exclusively spawn here.
Nether Fossil	Soul Sand Valley	Fossil variants that are more incomplete and purely composed of bone blocks. Dried ghasts may sometimes generate near Nether fossils. In Bedrock Edition, this is technically a feature rather than a structure-like feature.
Ruined Portal	All Nether biomes	Similar to the Overworld ruined portal, this is an incomplete Nether portal constructed with blackstone materials instead of stone. They can generate in varying sizes and positions, with a loot chest and a few gold blocks.

The End

The End is the final and most barren dimension. After defeating the ender dragon, gateways to the outer islands are created.

Structure	Biome(s)	Description	Screenshot
End City	The End‌^{[BE only]} End Midlands‌^{[JE only]} End Highlands‌^{[JE only]}	Sprawling, well-connected towers built from purpur blocks, End stone bricks, and magenta stained glass. They are inhabited by shulkers that guard valuable loot chests, and may generate an End ship holding a elytra.

Structure-like features

These world generation features share similarities with structures but are generated in the same manner as trees and ores. They will generate even when the "Generate Structures" option‌^{[JE only]} is disabled. These cannot be located using the /locate command.

Features	Biome(s)	Description
Amethyst Geode	All Overworld biomes	Large, hollow spherical rocks composed of outer layers of smooth basalt and calcite with an inner layer of amethyst blocks. This is the only place where budding amethyst, amethyst buds, amethyst clusters and amethyst blocks can be found. They come in many sizes, including open geodes and entirely encased geodes.
Bonus Chest	Any near the world spawn	A chest with beginner loot, that spawns near the world spawn if the feature was toggled on when creating the world.
Desert Well	Desert Desert Hills‌^{[BE only]} Desert Lakes‌^{[BE only]}	Small sandstone feature holding water in their center cavity with suspicious sand below.
End Gateway	End Midlands‌^{[JE only]} End Highlands‌^{[JE only]} The End	A 1-block portal that activates after the ender dragon is defeated. Using an ender pearl, the player can teleport to the outer regions of the End. They generate infinetely throughout the world as gateways back to the main island.
End Platform	The End	An obsidian platform that repairs itself when any entity enters the End.
End Spike	The End	Tall obsidian pillars that hold the End crystals. Some of them also have iron bars.
Exit portal	The End	A feature that looks like a fountain. It becomes the only portal to the Overworld and a dragon egg spawns on it after the player defeats the ender dragon.
Fossil	Mangrove Swamp Desert Swamp Swamp Hills‌^{[BE only]} Desert Hills‌^{[BE only]} Desert Lakes‌^{[BE only]}	Usually buried feature made of bone blocks and coal or diamond ore depending on the altitude.
Monster Room	All Overworld biomes	A small cobblestone room containing a monster spawner, which spawns zombies, skeletons, or spiders, as well as up to two loot chests. They are typically connected to underground caves but may generate above ground or intersected with true structures such as mineshafts or strongholds.
Void start platform	The Void‌^{[JE only]} Plains‌^{[BE only]}	A platform made of stone with a cobblestone block in the center. They can spawn only in superflat worlds with "The Void" preset selected.

Removed structures

These are structures that have been removed or exist only in older versions of Minecraft.

Structure	Biome(s)	Description
Brick Pyramid	Anywhere, since biomes did not exist at the time.	A giant pyramid that had no interior and was made solely out of bricks. It was made to test structure generation. The official name for this structure is unknown. Was removed in Java Edition Infdev 20100327.
Glass Pillar	Any Overworld biome.	A tall, 1×1 glass pillar that stretched from the End portal room in the stronghold all the way to the build limit. According to Jeb, it was a debug feature that he forgot to remove. It was removed in the version Java Edition Beta 1.9 Prerelease 4.
Starting House	Anywhere on the Java Edition Indev world.	Used to serve as the spawn location for the player during the Indev phase. The first edition of this house was made of mossy cobblestone, but later it was changed to wooden planks. It also originally included chests with various items, which were later removed.
Monolith	Anywhere during Infdev.	Chunk-sized patches of terrain that would generate up to the height limit. They were never intended to be in the game as they were just a "glitch". Monoliths were patched in the version Alpha v1.2.0 Preview.
Nether Reactor‌^{[BE only]}	Anywhere, as it's built by the player.	A player-built structure that would turn into the "Nether Spire", and would give the player access to unobtainable items. The reason for its addition is because the Nether did not exist in Pocket Edition back then. It was then removed after the addition of the Nether in Pocket Edition.
Nether Spire‌^{[BE only]}	Anywhere where the Nether reactor was built.	A tall and round structure that spawned over the Nether reactor. It was made out of obsidian, which was later changed to netherrack. It would spawn various zombie pigmen and items from the Nether. Its purpose was to enable the players on Pocket Edition to obtain certain items, since the Nether was not implemented yet.
Obsidian Wall	Anywhere, since it stretched toward every direction.	A 2 block tall obsidian wall that was present during some versions of the Infdev phase. It started in the middle of the world, and stretched toward north, south, west and east. This structure doesn't have an official name.

Generation

Structures are generated for a given chunk after the terrain has been formed. The chunk format includes a tag called TerrainPopulated that indicates whether structures whose "point of origin" is in that chunk have been generated. If it is false or missing, it generates again. Structure generation is based on what is already in the chunk, so (for example) flagging a chunk that has already been populated for repopulation approximately doubles the amount of ore in it. When structures are generated, they can spill over into neighboring chunks that have been previously generated.

Data values

ID

The following table lists configured structure features' IDs in Java Edition and structure features' IDs in Bedrock Edition. These IDs can be used in /locate command.

Structure name	Java Edition	Bedrock Edition	Dimension
Ancient City	`ancient_city`	`ancientcity` `ancient_city`	Overworld
Bastion Remnant	`bastion_remnant`	`bastionremnant` `bastion_remnant`	The Nether
Buried Treasure	`buried_treasure`	`buriedtreasure` `buried_treasure`	Overworld
End City	`end_city`	`endcity` `end_city`	The End
Nether Fortress	`fortress`	`fortress`	The Nether
Woodland Mansion	`mansion`	`mansion`	Overworld
Mineshaft	`mineshaft` `mineshaft_mesa`	`mineshaft`	Overworld
Ocean Monument	`monument`	`monument`	Overworld
Nether Fossil	`nether_fossil`	Not a Structure	The Nether
Ocean Ruins	`ocean_ruin_cold` `ocean_ruin_warm`	`ruins`	Overworld
Pillager Outpost	`pillager_outpost`	`pillageroutpost` `pillager_outpost`	Overworld
Ruined Portal	`ruined_portal` `ruined_portal_desert` `ruined_portal_jungle` `ruined_portal_mountain` `ruined_portal_nether` `ruined_portal_ocean` `ruined_portal_swamp`	`ruinedportal` `ruined_portal`	Overworld, The Nether
Shipwreck	`shipwreck` `shipwreck_beached`	`shipwreck`	Overworld
Stronghold	`stronghold`	`stronghold`	Overworld
Desert Pyramid	`desert_pyramid`	`temple`	Overworld
Igloo	`igloo`
Jungle Pyramid	`jungle_pyramid`
Swamp Hut	`swamp_hut`
Trail Ruins	`trail_ruins`	`trail_ruins`	Overworld
Trial Chambers	`trial_chambers`	`trial_chambers`	Overworld
Village	`village_desert` `village_plains` `village_savanna` `village_snowy` `village_taiga`	`village`	Overworld

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)
		Atlantis?	Find an underwater ruin	—	20	Silver
		Ahoy!	Find a shipwreck	—	20	Silver
		Echolocation	Feed a dolphin fish to have it lead you to treasure	Feed a dolphin cod or salmon and have it lure you to treasure.	20	Silver
		Me Gold!	Dig up a buried treasure	Open a buried treasure chest.	30	Silver

Advancements

Advancement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)
Eye Spy	Follow an Eye of Ender	Enter a stronghold.
Those Were the Days	Enter a Bastion Remnant	—
A Terrible Fortress	Break your way into a Nether Fortress	Enter a nether fortress.
The City at the End of the Game	Go on in, what could happen?	Enter an End city.
Minecraft: Trial(s) Edition	Step foot in a Trial Chamber	—

History

Java Edition

Java Edition Infdev
20100625-1917		Added dungeons.
Java Edition Beta
1.8	Pre-release	Added mineshafts.
		Added plains villages.
		Added strongholds.
Java Edition
1.0.0	Beta 1.9 Prerelease	Added Nether fortresses.
1.2.1	12w04a	Added desert wells.
1.3.1	12w21a	Added desert villages and desert pyramids.
1.3.1	12w22a	Added jungle pyramids.
1.4.2	12w40a	Added swamp huts.
1.8	14w25a	Added ocean monuments.
1.8.1	pre1	Swamp huts can now spawn witches at levels 64 to 71, enabling three spawning floors for witches.
1.9	15w31a	Added End cities.
1.9	15w43a	Added igloos.
1.10	16w20a	Added fossils, badlands mineshafts, savanna villages, taiga villages and abandoned villages.
	16w21a	Blacksmith job sites in villages now generate with cobblestone in all biomes, rather than acacia logs in savannas and sandstone in deserts.
	pre1	Zombie villagers generated in zombie villages no longer despawn.
		Wooden fences are now substituted with the biome’s corresponding wood type.
		Paths no longer replace most blocks, preventing them from generating in treetops or bridging ravines.
1.11	16w39a	Added woodland mansions.
	16w39a	Added the `/locate` command that shows the coordinates of the nearest structures.
	16w42a	Witches that spawn upon the generation of witch huts no longer despawn.
1.13	17w43a	Structures using structure files can now be modified, with the addition of data packs.
	17w47a	Flower pots in swamp huts now contain mushrooms; they were previously empty.
	18w09a	Added ocean ruins.
	18w10a	Added buried treasure chests.
	18w11a	Added shipwrecks.
1.14	18w47a	Added pillager outposts.
	18w48a	Overhauled plains villages.
	18w49a	Overhauled savanna villages and added snowy tundra villages.
	18w50a	Overhauled desert and taiga villages.
	19w04a	Re-added desert and taiga abandoned villages.
	19w07a	Re-added plains and savanna abandoned villages and added snowy tundra abandoned villages.
1.16	20w06a	Added Nether fossils.
1.16	20w16a	Added bastion remnants and ruined portals.
1.17	20w45a	Added amethyst geodes.
1.19	Deep Dark Experimental Snapshot 1	Added ancient cities.
	22w11a	Removed ancient cities.
	22w13a	Re-added ancient cities.
1.20	23w12a	Added trail ruins.
1.20.3 Experiment Update 1.21	23w45a	Added trial chambers.
Upcoming Java Edition
26.3	snap1	Added abandoned camps.

Bedrock Edition

Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.9.0	build 1	Added villages, abandoned mineshafts, strongholds, dungeons, and desert wells.
v0.9.0	build 2	Added desert villages.
v0.10.0	build 1	Abandoned mineshafts now generate on ground level in badlands biomes.
v0.11.0	build 1	Added desert wells.
v0.12.1	build 1	Added the Nether along with Nether fortresses.
v0.13.0	build 1	Added desert pyramids.
v0.14.0	build 1	Added swamp huts.
v0.14.0	build 1	Cauldrons in swamp huts are filled with a random potion.
v0.15.0	build 1	Added jungle pyramids, savanna villages, taiga villages, snowy taiga villages and abandoned villages.
v0.16.0	build 1	Added ocean monuments.
Pocket Edition
1.0.0	alpha 0.17.0.1	Added the End and along with End cities.
1.0.0	alpha 0.17.0.1	Added igloos.
1.1.0	alpha 1.1.0.0	Added woodland mansions.
1.1.3	alpha 1.1.3.0	Added fossils.
Bedrock Edition
1.4.0	beta 1.2.14.2	Added shipwrecks.
	beta 1.2.14.2	Added buried treasure chests.
	beta 1.2.20.1	Added ocean ruins.
1.10.0	beta 1.10.0.3	Added pillager outposts.
		Overhauled villages.
		Removed abandoned villages.
1.13.0	beta 1.13.0.9	Re-added abandoned villages.
1.16.0	beta 1.16.0.57	Added Nether fossils, bastion remnants, and ruined portals.
1.17.0	beta 1.17.0.50	Added amethyst geodes.
1.18.30	beta 1.18.30.32	Added ancient cities.
1.19.80 Experiment Next Major Update	Preview 1.19.80.22	Added trail ruins.
1.20.60 Experiment Update 1.21	Preview 1.20.60.20	Added trial chambers.
Upcoming Bedrock Edition
26.40 Experiment Drop 3 of 2026	Preview 26.40.27	Added abandoned camps.

Legacy Console Edition

Legacy Console Edition
Xbox 360	Xbox One	PS3	PS4	PS Vita	Wii U	Switch
TU1	CU1	1.00	1.00	1.00	Patch 1	1.0.1	Added dungeons.
TU5							Added villages, abandoned mineshafts, and strongholds.
TU12							Added desert wells.
TU14		1.04					Added jungle and desert pyramids.
TU19	CU7	1.12	1.12	1.12			Added swamp huts.
TU31	CU19	1.22	1.22	1.22	Patch 3		Added ocean monuments.
TU43	CU33	1.36	1.36	1.36	Patch 13		Added fossils and igloos.
TU46	CU36	1.38	1.38	1.38	Patch 15		Added End cities.
TU54	CU44	1.52	1.52	1.52	Patch 24	1.0.4	Added woodland mansions.
TU69		1.76	1.76	1.76	Patch 38		Added shipwrecks, ocean ruins, icebergs, and buried treasure chests.
			1.91				Added pillager outposts, and plains, desert, savanna, taiga, snowy tundra, and snowy taiga villages.

Issues

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

External links

Rare Structures in Minecraft – Minecraft Help Center

Tag	Structure(s)
`#cats_spawn_as_black` `#cats_spawn_in`	Swamp hut
`#dolphin_located`	Shipwreck Ocean ruins
`#eye_of_ender_located`	Stronghold
`#mineshaft`	Mineshaft
`#ocean_ruin`	Ocean ruins
`#on_ocean_explorer_maps`	Ocean monument
`#on_treasure_maps`	Buried treasure
`#on_trial_explorer_maps`	Trial chambers
`#on_woodland_explorer_maps`	Woodland mansion
`#ruined_portal`	Ruined portal
`#shipwreck`	Shipwreck
`#village`	Village