Deep Dark biome in Minecraft 1.19 update: Everything you need to know

The Minecraft 1.19 update finally came out on June 7, ending months of speculation about The Wild Update and its content. The update brought many changes to the game, some in the form of new mobs like the Allay, frogs, and tadpoles, while others in the form of new blocks and areas to explore.

Among the two new biomes that came to Minecraft were the mangrove swamp and the deep dark biome. The Mangrove swamp is an extension of the swamp biome that is already in the game, while the Deep Dark is an entirely new experience with new blocks, new ways to play, and the most terrifying mob in the game: the Warden.

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How does the inclusion of the Deep Dark affect Minecraft?

The Deep Dark is a new biome that can only be found at the deeper levels of the overworld cave system in Minecraft. It can be identified in a variety of ways, such as the absence of mobs, and the presence of sculk blocks and various other sculk-based blocks like sculk catalysts, sculk sensors, and sculk shriekers.

Another indication that players are near or inside a deep dark biome is that the overall light level goes down, and natural sources of light like glow lichen are absent. Glow lichens can be found on blocks inside regular caves, providing natural light and stopping hostile mobs from spawning.

A third indication is the sound of the player’s activities (footsteps and block breaking) triggering sounds from the sculk sensors located in the Deep Dark biome.

Let us now look at each aspect of the Deep Dark individually.

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1) Sculk blocks

Sculk blocks have a dark blue texture with glowing dots. However, they do not shed light on their surroundings. The blocks are naturally generated in patches within the biome, and can also be generated due to the death of a mob within eight blocks of a sculk catalyst. Players can mine sculk with any tool, but doing so with a hoe is the quickest.

When mined, each sculk block drops one XP.

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2) Sculk veins

Sculk veins (Image via Minecraft)

Sculk veins are thin blocks that generate in the deep dark biome as part of the “blooming” progress that is carried out by a sculk catalyst. Whenever a mob dies within its range, sculk starts to take over or spread.

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3) Sculk sensors

Sculk sensors (Image via Minecraft)

Sculk sensors are blocks that can detect vibrations around them, Found only in the deep dark, this block emits a pulse-like sound when it detects any vibration in its vicinity. Vibrations are then passed on to another block known as the sculk shrieker.

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4) Sculk shriekers

Sculk shriekers (Image via Minecraft)

The sculk shrieker is a block similar to the sculk sensor, in that it detects sounds from its vicinity. It emits a shrieking sound up to three times when it detects a vibration or sound, after which a warden appears.

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5) The Warden

A warden (Image via Minecraft)

The warden is by far the most terrifying feature of the Minecraft 1.19 update. The defensive powerhouse is statistically the strongest mob in the game. It has a variety of attacks, including a powerful melee attack that can kill a player with full netherite armor in two hits and a sonic blast that can damage players through multiple surfaces.

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6) Darkness

The darkness status effect is a temporary status effect that causes a player’s vision to decrease drastically. The effect comes into play when a player is in the “detection radius” of a warden, of when a sculk shrieker is activated. The player experiences intense, impenetrable darkness, along with the thumping sounds of the souls trapped inside the warden’s chest.

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7) Ancient City

Ancient cities are large, fortress-like structures that generate in the deepest parts of the overworld. They are usually found at Y level -52 and contain items that are not available anywhere else in the game, like the reinforced deepslate block, unique loot chests, and a naturally generated skeleton skull.

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The Deep Dark biome has received a ton of changes since its introduction to the world during Minecraft Live 2020. The biome used to consist of narrow caves with empty halls and loot rooms. However, with the inclusion of ancient city structures and the sub-structures that come with them, it has evolved into a terrifying yet exciting biome to explore.