Environments

The world of Terraria consists of ten officially mentioned environment types, also known as biomes.

If you had a hard time finding theses biomes such as the Floating Islands, you can use these tools to locate them.

Forests


Forests are the only biome that can spawn small and large trees, which can be replanted using the acorns that are dropped by chopping them down. Natural caves may be found in this environment, although most are not more than 100 feet deep.

Monsters:


 * Zombie (Night)
 * Demon Eye (Night)
 * Slime (Day)
 * Pinky (Day)

Deserts


Large sandy areas that are occasionally generated. Nothing, however, is particularly special about them, as they are completely barren. They have the same monsters as forests.

Ocean
The least complex and interesting area of Terraria. Both edges of every map have a sandy beach followed by an enormous body of water. The water goes deeper as the player goes further out. Exploration without a means to swim will likely result in drowning, and there isn't much to see anyway. The bottom of the ocean floor frequently has one or more chests containing a Breathing Reed or Flippers.

Contrary to likely expectation, the ocean does not contain an infinite amount of water, and can in fact be drained completely.

Underground


The underground consists of three layers: the dirt layer, the rocky dirt layer and the stone layer. Ores, pots, and chests can be found throughout. Water is a common sight anywhere underground and demon altars can be found within these layers, however it is a very rare occurrence. Lava becomes common near the bottom of the stone layer. Giant mushrooms have been seen as well. This is also the place to look for extra heart crystals.

Monsters:


 * Giant Worm
 * Skeleton (stone layer)
 * Most Slimes, excluding Green Slimes
 * Mother Slime (stone layer)
 * Dead Miner
 * Tim

Chests may contain:


 * Bomb
 * Bottles
 * Dynamite
 * Flippers
 * Lucky Horseshoe
 * Breathing Reed
 * Enchanted Boomerang
 * Hermes Boots
 * Cloud in a Bottle
 * Magic Mirror
 * Band of Regeneration2011-06-02_00001.jpg
 * Angel Statue
 * Gold, Silver, and Copper Coins
 * Gold, Silver, and Copper Bars

Pots may contain:


 * Bombs
 * Torches
 * Arrows
 * Hooks
 * Silver and Copper Coins
 * Lesser Healing Potions (Rare)
 * Whoopie Cushion (Very Rare)
 * Mushroom Grass Seeds (Very Rare)

Floating Islands


Floating Islands are masses of land that appear in the sky. Just like in forests, you can find trees and grass growing over dirt blocks, with some stones and ores in the ground. They usually have a building made of ore bricks and a chest inside. The monsters that spawn here are the same as the ones from the forest.

The islands can be found at different levels of height, based on the size of the map selected. Use a Depth Meter to determine your height.

If you don't have a depth meter, you can build your way to the top of the map, and then count tiles as you descend. On a small map, a skybridge built about 80 tiles below the top of the world is optimal for finding the islands.

Floating islands are found at the following heights above sea level (depending on world size):


 * In small worlds, the islands are located around 250 to 500 feet above sea level, and in some circumstances are very close to large hills.


 * In medium worlds,they are generally found around 400 to 600 feet. The easiest way to find one is to move horizontally at about 480 feet.


 * In large worlds, they are located between 650-1200 feet. It is very difficult to find islands on large maps, due to the broad height range; the best option is to get a map viewer, so it's easier to spot them.

An alternate way to find floating islands is to craft meteorite bullets and shoot them into the air while traveling. Since meteorite bullets richochet, you will be able to tell when there is an island above you, since the bullets will bounce off the islands and fall back down towards you. Link to a video demonstrating this technique can be seen here.



Another way is to shoot a fire arrow up in the air and if it comes down not on fire you have an object above you. This happens because when a fire arrow hits a solid surface it will become a normal arrow again.

One of the best ways to find a Floating Island is to look for places on the ground where dirt looks ripped off and the dirt background is left in place. Stack blocks up where you found the ripped ground and it is possible to find an Island.

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In Patch 1.0.3 one can select a new fullscreen resolution, meaning you see more of the world in the window. This means Floaing islands are much easier to spot on larger resolutions, as evidenced by the screenshot to the right.

Mining the floating islands is also a good idea. On one island with a silver house, I've found 61x Gold Ore and 98x Silver Ore. I'm not 100% sure if this is 'normal' on all islands.

Chests may contain:


 * Lucky Horseshoe
 * Rocket Boots (very rare)
 * Shiny Red Balloon
 * Starfury
 * Staff of Regrowth

The Corruption
The Corruption forms during the creation of a map at a random position. In most cases there are at least 2-3 Corruptions per map. The Corruption spawns higher-level monsters regardless of time and should be avoided initially. One may remove the dark violet coating of The Corruption on grass by hitting it with purification powder, or weapons. It can only spread on dirt and grass. The spreading can be stopped by placing a block other than dirt or by planting a Sunflower. Sunflowers can be found randomly around the world or bought from a Dryad. Materials gathered from corrupted mobs can be combined with other materials to create Worm Food, which can summon the Eater of Worlds, a giant worm boss. Players can obtain Corrupt Seeds to create their own Corruption. If the player removes most of The Corruption in a Corrupted area the sky may start turning back to its normal color.

The purplish stone found in The Corruption is Ebonstone.

Many chasms appear in The Corruption, often with a Demon Altar and sometimes a chest at the bottom and below that a Shadow Orb, which drops a random item and sometimes calls a meteor down when destroyed. You can destroy it with a dynamite explosion or any kind of hammer.

Note: Every third Shadow Orb destroyed spawns an Eater of Worlds!

The Corruption also spawns thorns which damage the player upon contact.

If you explore The Corruption it's often rewarding. However without a means of destroying the Ebonstone there it could be difficult to reach treasures from things like Shadow Orbs. The chasms in The Corruption are usually very deep so it's wise to consider how you are going to get back up before entering. Also seeing as The Corruption spawns many monsters it's important you consider the risks of entering these chasms without proper equipment. A good way of getting out of a chasm is either by grappling hook, ivy whip , or magic mirror which can be found in chests.



Enemies found in The Corruption are:


 * Eater of Souls
 * Eater of Worlds
 * Devourer

Meteorite
Main article: Meteorite

After smashing a Shadow Orb, a Meteorite will crash into the planet. This may also occasionally occur without a shadow orb being destroyed. It is a small area, but should be avoided by lower-level players. The Meteorite itself is made of Meteorite Ore, a high-level material that harms the player on contact unless they have an Obsidian Skull equipped.

While you are in the vicinity meteor heads will spawn until less than approximately 50 of the meteorite ore remain.

It may take some time for the meteorite to spawn after the initial shattering of the Shadow Orb. Also, occasionally only one meteor zone will spawn at a time.

Recommended to be at a mid-game level, wearing at least iron armor, to access this environment. Be warned that touching meteorite is a moderate but quick damage dealer to unarmored players and Meteor Heads will often bombard and push the player into the meteorite ore.

Monsters:


 * Meteor Head

Underground Jungle
The Underground Jungle is a very remote area of the world, residing deep underground. Like Dungeons, these areas have few dead ends; unlike Dungeons, however, they are covered in plants. They have special items that are found in Jungle Shrines, small buildings made of gold blocks that are spawned at random locations in the Underground Jungle.

The Underground Jungle, a biome found underground (see the name), usually makes its home from about 5% to 10% of the entire underground (might vary by map size). Much like dungeons, they stretch across the top of their horizontal location to the bottom of the map, stopping a bit above the Underworld biome. Other monsters common in the overworld and in the dirt-rock and rock-dirt layers can be found, but it has two unique monsters: the Hornet and the Man Eater.

Underground Jungles are located on the opposite side of the map from the Dungeon, and digging at the halfway point between the original spawn and the ocean will often place you into the Underground Jungle. They are also often found under or next to the corruption. The buffer between the Underground and the Underground Jungle is spottable by a random mixture of mud and stone/dirt.

The Underground Jungle is a late-game environment, due to enemies being able to deal 30-40+ damage and its tricky navigation.

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On very rare occasions you may find a floating shrine



On a small map you can usally find the jungle at about 600-1300 feet below.

It is occasionally possible to see the top of an Underground Jungle at the surface of your level, amongst the Forest Biome as seen in this video.

Use a Depth Meter to see how deep you are.

Plants and Items
Underground Jungles also contain several unique plants, such as the Jungle Rose and Nature's Gift. The jungle roses are used in tier 2 to 3 crafting, necessary in weapons such as the Thorn Chakrum and Blade of Grass. And they are also necessary to make the tool Ivy Whip.

The Underground Jungle can also be helpful for making obsidian if there is a lava pool because of the fact that there are many water deposits.

Underground Jungles are made almost entirely of mud, and this can sometimes reach to the surface, leaving large areas of almost entirely mud at the surface, which can be used to locate the Underground Jungle. Another way to help locate the underground jungle is to dig down to about 700-1200 depth and go horizontally.

The jungle grass spreads faster if it has a two block high or wide path to grow on.



Monsters:


 * Man Eater
 * Hornet
 * Stone Layer enemies such as skeletons in the deeper areas of the jungle near areas with stone walls.
 * If the jungle is close to the underworld, you may also encounter fire imps.Underground_jungle_on_the_surface.JPG

Jungle Shrines May Contain:


 * Nature's Gift
 * Feral Claws
 * Staff of Regrowth
 * Anklet of the Wind

It is rare, but possible, to have two underground jungles.

Dungeons
Dungeons are enormous buildings found close to the edge of a generated world, spanning many layers deep. They're filled with treasure chests and unique items (water candles, books, chain lanterns, etc.), all of which are spread evenly, and all of which have the same chance of containing the exclusive dungeon loot.

On Small or Medium worlds, the bottom of the Dungeon will sometimes cut into the Underworld, providing a viable way to easily access the Underworld.

To gain access, you must first defeat Skeletron, the guardian boss transformed from the Old Man near the entrance of the dungeon. If you talk to the Old Man in the day, he'll tell you to wait until night to talk to him.

Recommended to be at an mid-end-game level to access the Dungeon, as enemies in the Dungeon will deal up to 20+ damage even with armor, and efficient navigation requires a grappling hook or movement enhancing accessories.

Some may attempt to make run throughs of the dungeon. This method works best, because enemies will constantly respawn anywhere, thus taking too long in a particular spot will result in less loot being found.

Monsters:


 * Skeletron Head (Only if one enters the dungeon without defeating Skeletron first)
 * Angry Bones
 * Burning SkullDungeon.png
 * Dark Caster
 * Skeletron (Guardian Boss)

Chests may contain:


 * Aqua Scepter
 * Muramasa
 * Rocket Boots
 * Magic Missile
 * Angel Statue
 * Magic Mirror
 * Handgun
 * Blue Moon
 * Cobalt Shield
 * Band of Regeneration
 * Cloud in a Bottle
 * Hermes Boots
 * Feral Claws
 * Water Bolt (Also obtainable by breaking the pale blue book on a shelf. It does not have a regular coloration like the other books.)

The Underworld
The Underworld is a hellish realm (about 3500 Feet below) reachable by digging past the stone layer and is very easily identified by its background of stone with veins of lava. It introduces two new enemies: the Bone Serpent and the Fire Imp. The Underworld contains large deposits of Hellstone, Ash, and many pools of lava. The Underworld is currently the deepest layer. Digging straight downward eventually results in an invisible floor similar to the invisible boundaries on the right and left ends of the map. The blocks beneath the boundary can be destroyed using explosives, however the player is still blocked from going any deeper. The chests that are found within the underworld have an increased chance to contain a rarer item within them compared to the other chests found throughout the world. It is not recomended to go into the Underworld without some sort of fire proof armor/accessories (i.e. an Obsidian Skull), this is due to the large amount of fire blocks like Hellstone. There are ruined structures made of Hellstone bricks in the underworld containing pots and hellforge furnaces.

A quick way to get to The Underworld is by the 'Hellevator'. thumb|350px|left