The Aether

  

Desktop/Console/Mobile-Only Content: This information applies only to the Desktop, Console, and Mobile versions of Terraria.

The Aether is a mini-biome that can be found in the outer fifth of the world in the Underground or Cavern layers. It is generated once upon world creation and is always located on the same side of the world as the Jungle biome. The biome features a large pool of Shimmer in its center that is surrounded by a few Gem Trees. Faelings occasionally fly above the pool.

Players can also create artificial Aether biomes by placing Shimmer in the Underground or Cavern layers. An Aether biome requires at least 300 tiles of Shimmer.

While in the Aether, a unique background effect that resembles the star-filled sky of Space will appear. This effect will also display over tiles that are in complete darkness.

Contents

Characters

Enemies:

• Shimmer Slime(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)(from most slimes entering Shimmer)

Critters:

• Faeling(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)

Music

• Aether(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
• Snow (Otherworldly)(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)

Generation

Small world zones where the Aether can generate. The game will first try to generate in the green zone, then the yellow zone if that fails.
This world was generated in 1.4.4.8.1 with the seed "1.1.2.436095035".

Medium world zones where the Aether can generate. The game will first try to generate in the green zone, then the yellow zone if that fails.
This world was generated in 1.4.4.8.1 with the seed "2.1.1.748851262".

Large world zones where the Aether can generate. The game will first try to generate in the green zone, then the yellow zone if that fails.
This world was generated in 1.4.4.8.1 with the seed "3.1.1.870771933".

The Aether always generates on the same side of the world as the Jungle.

The game will generate the Aether by randomly selecting a tile in a zone (see below for technical info about this zone's size and the number of generation attempts in the zone); then check a 211×211 to 249×249 (size is determined randomly) rectangular area centered on the chosen tile for the following:

• The borders of the area must be at least 50 tiles away from the world borders.
• The area must have no Ebonstone or Crimstone Blocks (unless in a Don't dig up / Get fixed boi world).

If the area passes the check, then the tile is considered valid, and the Aether biome will be generated centered on the tile. Otherwise, continue the process of selecting and checking random tiles. Internally, the Aether biome will be considered a 200×200 rectangular area centered on the valid tile (the bottom-right tile of the four center tiles is the center), and no other structures will overlap with it.

Zones

To better describe the size of the zone, we first set a coordinate system to describe tile location in a world: (all values below are in tiles)

• The coordinates of the top-left tile in the world is (0,0), while the coordinates of the bottom-right tile is (mX,mY), where mX is the world width and mY is the world height (i.e. the positive direction of X and Y axis is "left to right" and "top to bottom", respectively).
• The height of the border between Surface and Underground layers is S (Y = S).
• Similarly, the height of the border between Underground and Cavern layers is C (Y = C).
• When selecting a random tile (X,Y), the respective coordinate will be a random number between these values: X = [X1, X2); Y = [Y1, Y2)

The size of the first zone is determined as following:

Zone A

• Y axis:
  • Minimum depth is Y1 = (S + C) ÷ 2 + 50, and the maximum depth is Y2 = [(mY - 250) × 2 + C] ÷ 3.
  • If Y2 is more than mY - 460, then Y2 is set to mY - 460.
  • If Y2 ≤ Y1, then Y2 is set to Y1 + 50.
• X axis:
  • The range is X1 = 200, X2 = mX × 0.11; or X1 = mX × 0.89, X2 = mX - 200, depending on the side of the world.
    • This effectively makes the selected tile in the outer 11% of the world, and at least 200 tiles away from the world borders.

Then, randomly select a tile inside Zone A. If it failed to pass the check mentioned above, then the game will try 20000 times to find a valid tile inside another zone (Zone B):

Zone B

• Y axis:
  • Y1 is set to (S + C) ÷ 2 + 20. Y2 is unchanged.
• X axis:
  • X1 and X2 are unchanged.

If those attempts all failed, then the game will continue to select random tiles in another zone (Zone C), until a valid tile is found:

Zone C

• Y axis:
  • Y1 is set to S + 120. Y2 is unchanged.
• X axis:
  • Range is set to X1 = 200, X2 = mX × 0.2; or X1 = mX × 0.8, X2 = mX - 200, depending on the side of the world.

Celebrationmk10 Zones

In Celebrationmk10 worlds, the first scanning zone is different from other worlds. Also, in addition to the Aether biome, most water pools in this zone are replaced with Shimmer pools.

The size of the first zone (Zone A) in a Celebrationmk10 world is determined as following:

• Y axis:
  • Minimum depth is Y1 = S + 150, and the maximum depth is Y2 = (C + S + 200) ÷ 2.
  • If Y2 ≤ Y1, then Y2 is set to Y1 + 50.
• X axis:
  • Same as the range of Zone A in other worlds.

Process generation

After determining the zones, the game will first try 10000 times in Zone A.

If no valid tile is found, then try another 10000 times in Zone B.

If still no valid tile found, then continue to select random tiles in Zone C.

Notes

• Since Terraria's world is not dynamically updated, worlds generated pre-1.4.4 will always lack an Aether biome.
• Before defeating the Moon Lord, the Aether is the only source of Shimmer. This means it is finite and cannot be replenished.
  • However once defeated, the Bottomless Shimmer Bucket becomes available and can be used to create unlimited Shimmer.

Tips

• The Guide's name can be used to find the Aether's horizontal location upon world creation.
  • Note that this method may not always work, as it only calculates the position of the first generation zone (Zone A). Since the Aether cannot overlap with Ebonstone or Crimstone Blocks in regular worlds, if it fails to generate in Zone A, it will generate in another zone, rendering this method invalid.
  • If the original Guide has died, a world with the same World Seed can be created to find the original Guide's name.
  • First, find the number (n) corresponding to the Guide's name in the table below.

Guide name	n
Joe	0.000
Connor	0.0278
Tanner	0.0566
Wyatt	0.0833
Cody	0.1111
Levi	0.1389
Luke	0.1667
Jack	0.1944
Scott	0.2222
Logan	0.2500
Cole	0.2778
Asher	0.3056
Bradley	0.3333
Jacob	0.3611
Garrett	0.3889
Dylan	0.4167
Maxwell	0.4444
Steve	0.4722
Brett	0.5000
Andrew	0.5278
Harley	0.5556
Kyle	0.5833
Jake	0.6111
Ryan	0.6389
Jeffrey	0.6667
Seth	0.6944
Marty	0.7222
Brandon	0.7500
Zach	0.7778
Jeff	0.8056
Daniel	0.8333
Trent	0.8611
Kevin	0.8889
Brian	0.9167
Colin	0.9444
Jan	0.9722

• Then, substitute n into the equation in the table below to calculate the horizontal location of the Aether biome shown on the Compass (in feet, 1 tile = 2 feet). Note that the Aether is always on the same side of the world as the Jungle.

	Small	Medium	Large
Jungle on the left side of the world	3800-524×n	6000-1008×n	8000-1448×n
Jungle on the right side of the world	3276+524×n	4992+1008×n	6552+1448×n

Trivia

• In Greek mythology, Aether is the personification of the bright upper sky.
• The Aether's name uses the archaic spelling of the word æther, with the Latin letter æ separated. In modern English, aether is normally spelled ether.

History

 Desktop version

• Desktop 1.4.4.4: Fixed it being possible for the Aether to spawn too high up in worldgen to properly form its visual effects.

• Desktop 1.4.4: Introduced.

 Console version

• Console 1.4.4: Introduced.

 Nintendo Switch version

• Switch 1.4.4: Introduced.

 Mobile version

• Mobile 1.4.4: Introduced.