Environments


 * For a list of all pages pertaining to environments, see Category:Biomes.

The World of Terraria consists of many different types of environments, also known as biomes. These environments are characterized by unique enemy spawns, block formation, and oftentimes a background.

Forest
Forests are composed mainly of Dirt Blocks and Trees, and occupy most of the surface. Enemies that spawn in the Forest are relatively weak, making the biome a good starting point for most players.

Caves leading to The Underground are usually scattered throughout the forest. Vines grow below grass-covered dirt. Small or large pools of Water are also quite common.

Desert


Deserts are large areas consisting of Sand Blocks that are always generated in a new world. Two types of plants exist in the Desert: Cactus and Waterleaf, both of which are used in alchemy. The Desert is useful if you want to craft a large amount of Glass or the Sandgun.

After the Wall of Flesh in the Underworld is defeated, Ebonsand and/or Pearlsand will gradually take over the area, resulting in a corrupt or hallowed desert

Ocean


Oceans are large bodies of Water that spawn on both ends of the map. Oceans typically have many chests, which usually contain water-related items, such as the Trident, Flippers, and the Breathing Reed. They are also the only place you can find Coral.

Underground
The Underground consists of four layers: The dirt layer, the rocky dirt layer, the stone layer and The Underworld layer. While The Underworld is considered its own environment, it is still technically an underground layer.

Dirt Layer
This area, despite being underground, is still considered to be above sea level. Therefore, the music will remain the same as the biome that's above it, and any monsters found within the dirt layer are also found on the surface, including Green, Blue, and Purple Slimes, Zombies and Demon Eyes (if it's nighttime), or, if there is Corruption within the area, Eaters of Souls and Devourers. You can also place blocks onto the background without needing to connect them to other blocks.

Rocky Dirt Layer
This layer is located just below sea level. You can tell when you've reached this layer when the background changes to a mix between dirt and stone, and when the music changes to the underground theme.

Stone Layer
The stone layer comprises most of the Underground. After moving below a certain depth underground, lava starts to appear in place of water. In this area you can find the Glowing Mushroom Biome.

The Corruption
The Corruption forms during the creation of a map at a random position. In most cases there are 2 to 4 Corruptions per map. The Corruption spawns higher-level monsters regardless of time and thus should initially be avoided by low-level players. Shadow Orbs can be found here in deep caves called chasms. These chasms can reach all the way to the stone layer. If you happen to have Corrupt Seeds, you can create your own Corruption. Odd thorn-like bushes will grow here. Avoid these, as they will do damage.

While Corruption is initially restricted to spreading through grassy Dirt Blocks, once the Wall of Flesh is defeated, the Corruption will begin to spread through Stone, Sand, and Mud Blocks at an advanced rate. Corruption that spreads to Mud turns the blocks into Dirt.

Underground Corruption
The Underground Corruption occurs when the Corruption spreads through the underground layer. Souls of Night are a resource unique to this biome. This is a Hardmode-Only Biome.

Corrupted Desert


The Corruption transforms sand blocks into Ebonsand Blocks.

The Hallow


Hallowed ground will generate after the Wall of Flesh is defeated in the Underworld. It is the opposite of the Corruption. Like the Corruption, the Hallow can spread across dirt, stone, and sand, though unlike the Corruption, it cannot spread through mud.

Underground Hallow
The Underground Hallow forms when the Hallow spreads through the underground layer. Crystal Shards and Souls of Light are resources unique to this biome.

Hallowed Desert
This biome is formed naturally when the Hallow transforms sand blocks into Pearlsand Blocks.

Meteorite


Meteorites have a 50% chance to spawn when you break a Shadow Orb during the night, and can also spawn randomly during the night. Meteorites are composed of Meteorite Ore, which deals damage to the player unless an Obsidian Skull, Obsidian Shield, or Obsidian Horseshoe is equipped. Meteorite Ore can be used to make Meteorite Bars, which can be used to make: Meteor Armor, Meteor Hamaxe, Meteor Shots, Phaseblades, Space Guns and Star Cannons. Meteor Heads also spawn around here.

The Jungle
The Jungle is a biome that exists both above ground and underground. It is usually located far away from the spawn point, at the opposite end from the Dungeon.

Surface Jungle


The Surface Jungle is a tree-filled biome containing decorative vines. The trees here grow without the need to plant Acorns, as long as there is Jungle Grass present. The Surface Jungle typically directly connects to the Underground Jungle. This Biome was added in the 1.0.4 update. Like the Corruption, the Surface Jungle has its own music. The Jungle is certainly less dangerous than the Underground Jungle, and yields Chest(s). However you can still die easily without a weapon

Underground Jungle


The Underground Jungle is a very remote area of the World. It is often found beneath the jungle. Like Dungeons, these areas have few dead ends; however unlike Dungeons they are covered in plants. Special items that are unique to the Underground Jungle are found in Jungle Shrines which are small buildings made of Gold Bricks that are spawned at random locations. You can often find a higher concentration of Ores like Gold, Silver, Iron, and Copper in the Underground Jungle.

Dungeons


The dungeon is an enormous building found close to the edge of a generated World, spanning many layers deep. It is filled with chests that contain unique items.

There is only one Dungeon in each World, although a player may create new Worlds and plunder the Dungeons to gain additional items. Rarely, the Dungeon can get cut off by the ocean and only have the Old Man. Digging down through the sand can most often reveal the buried Dungeon.

The Dungeon's upper level is home to an Old Man, which will turn into Skeletron should the player talk to him at night, or summon a Dungeon Guardian if the player attempts to enter the dungeon without killing him first.

Floating Islands


Floating Islands are masses of land that appear in the sky. Just like forests, you can find trees and grass growing over dirt blocks, with some stone and Ores in the ground. Each Floating Island also has a building made of Copper Brick, Silver Brick, or Gold Brick which contains a locked Gold Chest that requires a Golden Key to unlock. In the chest will be a Shiny Red Balloon, Lucky Horseshoe, or a Starfury along with other various items. Harpies, as well as the Wyvern are unique to Floating Islands. Floating Islands are more difficult to find on a large map without the use of a Sky Bridge or Gravitation Potion, but it is considerably easier on a Small map. If there is Gold in the surface, there is usually a sky island above it, since Gold is usually only found underground. If you have Guns, you can use Meteor Shot, (crafted from Meteorite Bar(s), which bounce off of blocks), to find a floating island as well. The Water Bolt spell could also be useful, if you are patient enough for it to bounce back. There is also a lot of gold and silver in the islands. Meteors have been known to occasionally hit these.

Floating Islands are also known as Sky Islands or Skylands Floating Islands near the edges of the world can have a Goblin Scout spawn on them.

The Underworld


The Underworld, also known as Hell,Hades Land, or the home of the lava is a hellish realm (about 3500 Feet below on Large maps and 1700 on Small ones) that can be reached by digging past the stone layer. It is very easily identified by its background of stone with veins of Lava. It is primarily made of Hellstone ore deposits surrounded by Ash Blocks, with extensive pools of Lava. Chests with unique loot can be found here. The chests in the underworld are Shadow Chests and require a Shadow Key to open. Hellstone can be used to make molten tools and armor.

The Wall of Flesh is a boss that can be summoned by tossing a Guide Voodoo Doll (From a voodoo demon you killed) into one of the many pools of lava within the Underworld. Defeating it will activate Hard Mode for your world. After killing the WoF, it is possible to have the underworld become Corrupted or Hallowed- The background color change indicates this. The wall of flesh must be beaten for any hardmode to occur, unless you cheat from another world that is hardmode.

Snow Biome
The Snow Biome is, as the name suggests, a biome covered in Snow Blocks. It contains no unique enemies; only monsters from the forest biome spawn in the Snow Biome. The Snow biome only covers the surface, and has regular underground underneath it.

Glowing Mushroom Biome
You find this biome in the stone layer of the world and the items found are glowing mushrooms. Dart Traps seem to be more common here, with the usually being one or more per biome. Breaking the glowing mushrooms or the giant glowing mushrooms may yield some mushroom grass seeds. The planted grass doesn't seem to grow above sea level and neither does glowing mushrooms grow on it.