Biomes

Biomes refer to the different types of areas that a Terraria world can contain. Biomes can each contain their own characteristic terrain blocks, collectible items, backdrops, walls, enemies, theme music, and other traits.

The most common biomes are Forests, located on the surface. Going farther left or right will eventually lead to the Corruption or the Crimson, Deserts, Snow, Jungle, the Dungeon, and at the far right and left of the world, the two Oceans.

Underground biomes include the Mushroom Biome, the Underground Jungle, and Underground Snow. The sky contains Floating Islands.

The world is also divided into Layers that describe world characteristics depending on depth. The Surface, Underground, and Cavern layers can each contain several different biomes. In contrast, Space, the layer appearing at the very top of the world, and The Underworld, the layer covering the very bottom of the map, additionally sport their own biome characteristics across the entire map horizontally, rather than containing multiple biomes.

After defeating the Wall of Flesh in The Underworld, the world converts to Hardmode, and new points of Corruption and Crimson will form, as well as a new environment, The Hallow, in addition to underground versions of those.

Surface
Surface biomes appear above 0 feet and are exposed to the sky. Day and night cycles are readily apparent. Surface biomes roughly in order of appearance are:



Forest
Forests are the most common surface biome, and are where the player spawns upin starting a new world. Green Grass grows across the dirt, which can spawn mushrooms, Daybloom, and Trees.



Snow
Snow biomes are winter-themed and predominately made of Snow and Ice blocks. Snow falls constantly, though this is only an aesthetic effect. The Snow Biome is always located opposite to the Jungle and thus on the same side of the map as the Dungeon.



Desert
Deserts are large expanses of Sand. They are quite common between Forests, and spawn Vultures and Antlions, which new players should be wary of. Because sand is affected by gravity, it's very easy to mine by simply digging a few feet down and working in a horizontal line. Don't stand next to the sand column while doing this, as falling sand deals damage when it lands on top of a player. Cacti also grow here.



Jungle
The Jungle is one of the surface biomes, composed primarily of Grass, Vines, Mud and Jungle Trees. The sky turns a vibrant green within the jungle. The jungle contains Piranha, Jungle Bats, Snatchers and other creatures. The Jungle Trees can not be grown intentionally, but instead randomly grow without the use of acorns. The Jungle will always be located on the opposite side of the map from the Snow and Dungeon.



The Crimson and The Corruption
A world will always generate with either Crimson or Corruption, but never both. Each are hazardous biomes that offer access to important loot, crafting materials, and bosses, along with Crimson Hearts/Shadow Orbss and Altars. The Corruption sports a disease theme, and The Crimson a gory theme.



Mushroom
The surface version of the Mushroom biome does not occur naturally, but can be cultivated by players, using Mushroom Grass Seeds in surface-level Mud. Regardless of the time of day it will always appear as night time.



Ocean
At each end of every map stands a deep body of water, where dangerous swimming enemies are found, and Water Chests contain water-themed loot.

Underground
Underground biomes appear below 0 feet and have a background wall. Daylight does not shine here so it's best to bring a light source at all times. The underground has three principal depths:

Underground Snow
The Cavern layer equivalent to the Snow biome. Many ledges and bodies of water will have a thin layer of ice over them, and while they can support the player's weight they can break if you land on them with high enough speed. Ice Chests contain ice-themed equipment. It contains more dangerous enemies than its surface counterpart.



Underground Mushroom
This biome features glowing mushrooms on top of mud, and if there is enough height in the cavern giant mushrooms can grow as well. The background is unique to the biome and can, extremely rarely, replace a good portion of the Jungle but still generate some jungle, hives, and shrines.



Underground Jungle
The Underground Jungle is a difficult biome found at Cavern depth under the surface Jungle. It is a dense catacomb of compartments contain several hazards and dense vegetation and important loot and crafting materials. In Hardmode, valuable Chlorophyte Ore can be mined here. After the Mechanical Bosses have been defeated, the Plantera's Bulbs spawn, allowing the player to summon Plantera, an important boss. The Jungle Temple is also found here, where the Golem boss can be summoned after Plantera is defeated.



The Underworld
The Underworld is a difficult area located along the entire bottom of the world. Lava pools cover much of its terrain and dangerous enemies spawn often. Hellstone can be mined here, Ruined Houses offer valuable loot (some within their Shadow Chests), and unique furniture, and the Wall of Flesh boss can be summoned here in order to activate Hardmode.



Space
Space is a layer appearing at the top of the world: ~950 feet and above, for large worlds. The sky is dark and stars are visible, even when the Sun is still up, and gravity affects players less. Nothing much happens in Space, though an exclusive background and music will be present.

Hardmode
Hardmode biomes spawn or convert as a result of the game transitioning to hardmode.



The Hallow
The Hallow is the "anti-corruption" biome, which is automatically created once the player activates Hardmode by defeating the Wall of Flesh. The biome has pastel-colored imagery but is nevertheless highly difficult.



Underground Hallow
The Underground Hallow is located beneath surface Hallow, starting at the Cavern layer. It has a different soundtrack from the overworld Hallow, and contains even more difficult enemies as well as valuable items.



Underground Corruption
The Underground Corruption is created in the Cavern layer upon defeating the Wall of Flesh. It shares the same feel as the overworld Corruption, but has different enemies, a different soundtrack (a mix of the regular Underground and Corruption soundtrack), and it's the only place to find Souls of Night and Cursed Flames. All enemies from the overworld version are present, as well as World Feeders, Clingers, and Cursed Hammers.



Underground Crimson
The alternative to the Underground Corruption, which functions and is spawned in mostly the same way. The Underground Crimson, like the Corruption variety will have enemies occasionally drop Souls of Night, but Cursed Flames are not to be found. Instead, Enemies known as Ichor Stickers will drop Ichor. Also found in this biome are Floaty Gross, Crimson Axe and Pigron monsters.



Corrupted/Crimson Deserts & Hallowed Deserts
When the world enters Hardmode, several deserts of the world will become either corrupted, crimsoned, or hallowed. These have their own backgrounds, and spawn unique versions of the Mummy. Sand is replaced by Ebonsand, Crimsand, or Pearlsand.

Mini or Event Biomes
Biomes in this category tend to be small in number and size or created by an event. They have unique characteristics and monster spawns.



Rain
The most common event biome is Rain. Rain can occur in any biome, and when it occurs the music changes, the background and lighting dims, and Goldfish jump or walk on their fins and some new monsters may spawn, like Umbrella Slime and Flying Fish. Also, Zombies sometimes spawn with Rain Coats and Rain Hats at night. Rain will spawn Rainbow Slimes in Hallow biomes as well, albeit rarely. Once the rain has completed the effect fades away and the affected biome returns to normal. Rain in the snow biome becomes a blizzard.



Dungeon
The Dungeon is a difficult labyrinth leading from the Surface down to near-Underworld depths. If you go into the Dungeon before Skeletron is defeated, Dungeon Guardians will spawn and kill you (if you travel below 0 depth). The items found here are rare and valuable.



Meteorite
Whenever a Shadow Orb or a Crimson Heart is destroyed, there is a chance that within the next day the game will spawn a meteor and display the message "A meteorite has landed!". The meteor will crash land and turn a large portion of the surrounding tiles into Meteorite. Meteorite will burn the player if they do not have an Obsidian Skull or derivative accessory, or and Obsidian Skin Potion. Meteorite also requires a Tungsten Pickaxe, Gold Pickaxe, Platinum Pickaxe, or better, in order to mine. Meteor Heads are the only enemies that spawn.



Floating Islands
Floating Islands are independent masses of land in the sky. Once located, and when the player obtains the tools to reach them, they have access to their unique furniture and some powerful loot. Harpies (and Wyvern in Hardmode) attack at their height.



Living Tree
Living Trees are huge, thick trees that can be generated. Cutting the tree yields regular Wood. Some of those trees can be hollow and lead deep underground. There may be rooms containing Living Wood Chests with related loot inside, as well as Living Wood Doors, Living Wood Chairs, Living Wood Tables, Living Loom and other Living Wood furniture.



Spider Nest
Spider Nests are rare mini-biomes that can be located underground, noted by the black background wall and the numerous webs filling the area. This biome will spawn Wall Creepers when entered. The Cobwebs filling this area rapidly grow back, which is a unique feature of the biome. Spider Nests are the only location where one can find Web Covered Chests and all unique treasures discovered therein. Also the Stylist NPC is found in this biome.



Bee Hive
The Bee Hive occurs in the Underground Jungle. Bee Hives are made from Hive blocks and contain Honey and often a Larva. If you destroy the larva, it will summon the Queen Bee boss.



Jungle Temple
A large structure found in the Underground Jungle, the Jungle Temple is an end-game biome that can be accessed with a key dropped by Plantera. It is densely packed with unique enemies and Traps, and its final chamber allows the player to summon the Golem boss.

Treasure Rooms
Treasure rooms are spawned with world creation and appear as if they were man-made structures. They generally contain loot and furniture.



Underground Cabin
Underground cabins are typically wooden buildings full of dusty, broken furniture as well as chests, vases, and occasionally usable furniture and decorations. They are found in the underground in the cavern, glowing mushroom and snow biomes.



Jungle Shrine
Jungle Shrines are small brick buildings and typically contain only a single chest and a light source. They are found in the underground jungle and several can appear in one biome.



Ruined House
Ruined houses are generated at World creation in The Underworld in the middle third of the Underworld (laterally). They are towers with multiple levels, constructed with missing parts for a "ruined" look, from Obsidian Brick or Hellstone Brick. They are sometimes partially submerged in lava and often contain deposits of hellstone just outside their walls.



Gemstone Cave
A Gemstone Cave is filled with concentrated gem deposits of one or more varieties and features a unique background (a gemstone wall) that is speckled with gems of the same color found in the Gemstone Cave.



Pyramid
Pyramids are rarely generated in the Desert at world creation. They are made of Sandstone Brick and contain a narrow passage. The treasure room is filled with coins, vases and a gold chest that can contain unique loot.

Environment/de