Minecraft 1.18 'Caves and Cliffs Update' Part Two is officially available on all platforms

What you need to know

• Minecraft continually evolves over time with brand-new updates and releases, all powered by community feedback and Mojang Studios' commitments.
• On Tuesday, 1.18 'Caves and Cliffs Update' Part Two began rolling out to all Minecraft players with a huge number of changes and new features.
• The massive release is the second half of the highly ambitious 'Caves and Cliffs Update,' and focuses on updating world generation.
• Players can expect greatly altered caves and mountains, tweaked biomes, updated world generation and terrain, and an increased world depth and height.

Many Minecraft players have been closely following the development of the Caves and Cliffs Update since its initial reveal during Minecraft Live 2020. The gargantuan and ambitious release was originally intended to be one update, but Mojang Studios made the decision to split the Caves and Cliffs Update into two halves and delay the second half. On Tuesday, 1.18 Caves and Cliffs Update Part Two officially began rolling out to Minecraft players everywhere.

This content update is the second half of the Caves and Cliffs Update, which began with the release of 1.17 Caves and Cliffs Update Part One earlier this year. While Part One included many of the new blocks and mobs of the Caves and Cliffs Update, the 1.18 release is arguably a much bigger deal. Here are some of the highlights of 1.18 Caves and Cliffs Update Part Two:

• Brand-new cave biomes. One of the biggest single additions to Minecraft with this release is the addition of brand-new cave biomes like the Lush Caves and Dripstone Caves. Most of the blocks and mobs that can be found in these caves were introduced in Part One released earlier, but now can be discovered as a more natural addition to the world.
• Overhauled world generation. 1.18 Caves and Cliffs Update Part Two completely changes the world in Minecraft, to a degree not seen since the earliest days of this creative survival sandbox. The way the world is generated is now significantly more diverse and visually interesting. While most of the more noticeable alterations are for mountains and caves, these changes touched practically every inch of Minecraft's worlds.
• Minecraft seed parity. For the first time ever, there is seed parity between different versions of Minecraft. This means a generated world on Minecraft: Java Edition will be nearly identical to the generated world on Minecraft: Bedrock Edition, which was absolutely not present before. While there are still some differences if you look hard enough, it's an impressive milestone in the journey to reaching parity between Minecraft versions.
• Increased world size. To incorporate the sweeping changes made to caves and mountains and allow for more variations in world generation, both the world height and world depth have been increased in this Minecraft update. There's approximately 50% more vertical space overall, a significant addition that means Minecraft's worlds are bigger all around. Major performance enhancements were also introduced to ensure the increased world size wouldn't detract from the experience.
• And much more! If you want to see every change included in this feature update, be sure to check out the full changelogs for Minecraft 1.18 Caves and Cliffs Update Part Two.

Some members of the Minecraft community have lamented the lack of flashy new features like additional blocks and mobs in this release, but the 1.18 update is one of two halves. When combined with the 1.17 update that predates it, the Caves and Cliffs Update is among the most technically impressive and mechanically ambitious updates ever for Minecraft. Minecraft worlds will also never look the same, especially with a newly implemented feature that seamlessly blends old worlds with the new world generation.

Minecraft is one of the greatest games ever made, and the release of 1.18 Caves and Cliffs Update Part Two cements Mojang Studios' legendary title as one of the best Xbox games you can play. The humungous content update is now releasing to Minecraft players on every platform throughout today, including Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, Nintendo Switch, and PC. Minecraft is also available through Xbox Game Pass on both PC and Xbox consoles, including Minecraft: Java Edition.

In case you missed it, Mojang Studios revealed what's coming after 1.18 Caves and Cliffs Update Part Two during Minecraft Live 2021. The Wild Update is a more modest release that aims to evolve the survival experience and Minecraft's Overworld, including adding features like The Deep Dark and The Warden boss-like mob. The Wild Update is slated for release sometime in 2022, and we'll constantly be monitoring the situation for new information.