World

The term world refers to Terraria's virtual world system which all of the gameplay takes place in. The world holds all of the game content, such as items, enemies, objects, and so on. Terraria worlds are 2D and navigated in a platform game-like manner. World appearance is subject to some settings.

The term map is partly synonymous with world but also refers to the in-game map system, not to be confused with the big map that takes up the whole screen. The Minimap is a small map that usually covers the top right part of the screen. This map can be toggled on and off. The Minimap can be used for finding out where you have and haven’t explored without having to stop what you are doing to go to the big map to see where you are. Because of this map, you can easily make hellevators, and mining a whole lot easier because you can see what is above, underneath, and next to you.

Creation and access
Worlds are created in the game's main menu through the Single Player option. After selecting a character, the player is provided the options of selecting (for playing) already created worlds if they have made any, creating new worlds, favoriting worlds, integrating worlds with their Steam Cloud in order to easily access them on different computers, and deleting them.

World creation takes the player through the following steps:

Beyond this the creation is an automated process which generates a random world (if world seed is not used). This seeks to ensure that no two worlds are identical, allowing each new world to be a somewhat new experience. The perhaps largest difference between worlds is some of them having the Corruption whereas others have the Crimson. Each of these evil biomes offer a player unique materials, enemies and drops.

Only one world can be accessed at a given time (in similar fashion to how the player may only control one character at a time), but the player is free to create as many worlds as they can store on their device or computer. Characters are not locked to worlds, so it is, for example, possible to start playing in a new world with a powerful character from another world (be aware that entering a new world with a powerful character could unlock requirements for the random spawning of the Eye of Cthulhu). Since the contents of a character's inventory, Piggy Bank, Safe, and are stored with the character, the character has access to these no matter which world they visit.

A given world can be used both for single-player and multiplayer. In case of the latter the world is used to make a server (see Guide:Setting up a server).

When entering a new world, the character will appear at the World Spawn Point, usually on the surface close to the horizontal mid-point of the map. A character's individual spawn point can be altered using a bed. If the player dies, or teleports using a Recall Potion or Magic Mirror/, they will return to their spawn point.

World exit is typically done through the settings option that appears when the inventory is opened (see game controls), though this depends on game platform.

Structure and content
Worlds are structured into layers and biomes in order to provide various content depending on the player's location. World content is also provided through a range of time-based events like invasions, nighttime, boss battles, etc. The world states of pre-Hardmode or Hardmode also determine what content is available. The world's biomes and layers, time-based events, and Hardmode are designed to gradually become accessible as the player becomes more skilled and the character stronger. This progression gameplay can pose a unique challenge in multiplayer, as one player could progress more quickly than the others, only to find themselves with a weak team during difficult battles.

World content is also dependent on game platform. and have exclusive content not found on other platforms, and vice-versa.