Desert

See also: Underground Desert

The heat distortion effect added in 1.3.3.

The Desert is a sandy biome. Each map will generally contain at least one Desert area. The main Desert, present in every world, will be larger and will house the Underground Desert biome beneath. Pyramids can rarely appear in Desert biomes. Pools of water may rarely appear in the desert, (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) which take on a turquoise color.

On the  Desktop version,  Console version, and  Mobile version, the Oasis mini biome can be found inside the Desert, which includes Palm trees and a big pool of water in the middle. The main desert has a 1/2 (50%) chance of containing some kind of entrance to the Underground Desert below. These entrances come in four varieties: Chambers, Anthill, Larva Hole, and Pit. If spawning this way, some of the Anthills or Larva Holes may just contain Antlion Eggs and not lead to the Underground Desert.

An area is considered a Desert biome if there at least 1500(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) / 1000(Old-gen console and 3DS versions) Sand Blocks, Hardened Sand Blocks or Sandstone Blocks., causing the water and background to change, but Desert plants and enemies can spawn on even a single block of sand. Deserts are overridden by most other biomes, including the Ocean. Rain will occur in Deserts just as in any other surface biome. On the  Desktop version,  Console version, and  Mobile version, Sandstorms may also occur when wind speed is over 30 mph, which cause special enemies to spawn as well as pushing the player according to the direction of the wind.

The Desert can be infected by the Corruption/Crimson, or Hallow. Corruption/Crimson Deserts may spawn upon world creation. All infected Desert variations will be similar to their main biomes (The Corruption, the Crimson, or the Hallow): the enemies from both biomes can spawn (except for Mummy variants and Sandstorm enemies), have the same music and slightly different backgrounds. Sand Blocks will be replaced by Ebonsand, Crimsand, or Pearlsand Blocks respectively. Although their color will change, cacti still drop Cactus when cut, and Waterleaf are also able to grow in a Hallowed Desert.

• 

  Corrupted Desert
• 

  Crimson Desert
• 

  Hallowed Desert
• 

  Oasis Desert

Contents

See Underground Desert(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions), Sandstorm(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions), Pyramid, and Oasis(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) for additional content related to the Desert.

Characters

Pre-Hardmode:

• Vulture
• Antlion
• Albino Antlion(Old-gen console and 3DS versions)

Hardmode:

• Mummy
• Light Mummy(Hallowed)
• Dark Mummy(Corrupted, (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) Crimson)
• Blood Mummy(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)(Crimson)
• Shadow Mummy(Old-gen console and 3DS versions)(Corrupted)
• Spectral Mummy(Old-gen console and 3DS versions)(Hallowed)

Critters:

• Scorpion
• Black Scorpion

Unique Drops

From any enemy in Hardmode:

• Desert Key(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)(1/2500 (0.04%) chance)

From Normal, Dark, Blood, and Light Mummies:

• Mummy set(rare)

From normal Mummies:

• Fast Clock(rare)

From Blood and Dark Mummies:

• Dark Shard
• Megaphone(rare)
• Blindfold(rare)

From Light and Spectral Mummies(Old-gen console and 3DS versions):

• Light Shard
• Trifold Map(rare)

From Shadow Mummies(Old-gen console and 3DS versions):

• Dark Shard

From Antlions and Albino Antlions(Old-gen console and 3DS versions):

• Antlion Mandible

From Antlions:

• Banana Split(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)(rare)

From Terrain:

• Sand Block
• Ebonsand Block
• Crimsand Block
• Pearlsand Block
• Hardened Sand Block(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
• Hardened Ebonsand Block(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
• Hardened Crimsand Block(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
• Hardened Pearlsand Block(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)

From Vegetation:

• Cactus
• Waterleaf
• Pink Prickly Pear

For Sale

From the Painter:

• Secret of the Sands

Any Happy NPC Shop:

• Desert Pylon(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)

Music

• Desert
• Desert (Otherworldly)(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)

Entrances to the Underground Desert

  

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

On the  Desktop version,  Console version, and  Mobile version, there is a 1/2 (50%) chance that the main desert will generate with one of four types of structures that lead towards the Underground Desert. They are referred to as: Chamber, Pit, Anthill, and Larva Hole.

• The Chambers consist of of a zigzagging downward tunnel with one or two small rooms connected to the corners.
• Pits are large funnels generated at the center of the desert.
• Anthills are upward cones with narrow downward holes in the center. For this entrance type, 2-3 Anthills will generate across the surface of the main desert.
• Larva Holes are downward funnels with narrow holes in the center. For this entrance type, 2-3 Larva Holes will generate across the surface of the main desert.

• 

  Surface Desert types. From left-to-right, top-to-bottom: Oasis; Pit; Larva Holes; Anthills; Oasis and Larva; Oasis and Anthills; Chambers; a featureless Desert; and two connected Deserts (one with an Oasis. Seemingly faulty desert generation).

• 

  The Chambers-type entrance to the Underground Desert.

• 

  An individual Larva Hole (left) and Anthill (right).

• 

  A Pit, as of 1.4.0.1.

• 

  A world view of an Underground Desert from 1.3.0.1 with a Pyramid. Notice the large Pit on top.

NPC Happiness (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)

	Desert
Loved by	n/a
Liked by	Arms Dealer Steampunker Dye Trader(Desktop, Console, Old-gen console and Mobile versions)
Disliked by	Merchant Dryad Angler Zoologist(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
Hated by	Santa Claus

For more information, see NPC happiness.

Trivia

• (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) The Desert is the least popular biome for housing (discounting invalid housing biomes like the Corruption and the Crimson). A total of 5 NPCs either hate or dislike living in it, more than any other biome.
• The Desert, along with the Glowing Mushroom biome are the only surface biomes to not have a biome exclusive Boss.
• (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) The Desert is the only biome not to contain any special fishing catches.
• According to the Bestiary entry for the Sand Shark, a saltwater river ran through the Desert in ancient times.

Gallery

Backgrounds

This content is transcluded from Biome backgrounds § Desert.

• 

  Classic sand dunes

• 

  Sand dunes with animal skeletons

• 

  (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) Sand dunes with rocks and buttes

• 

  (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) Sand dunes with cacti and a few ruins

• 

  (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) Dry flat desert over a cliff, with a few dead trees and bones

History

 Desktop version

• Desktop 1.4.0.1:
  • Added three new backgrounds.
  • Added Otherworldly Desert track.
  • Added Blood Mummy.
  • Oasis biome now generates in deserts.
  • Added Vulture as the ambience in the Desert background.
  • Now generate less commonly and larger with more natural dunes.
  • Banana Split now drops from Antlions, Antlion Chargers and Antlion Swarmers.
  • Desert Pylon is now sold by any Happy NPC's Shop.
  • Coconuts and Bananas now drop from Shaking Palm Trees.
  • Enemies now have chance to drop Desert Key.

• Desktop 1.3.3:
  • Added Sandstorm event.
  • Added a heat distortion visual effect.

• Desktop 1.3.0.1: Added Underground Desert, including new enemies and blocks.

• Desktop 1.2.3: Fixed a bug where Crimson Deserts were not making the water show up red.

• Desktop 1.2:
  • Water in Deserts is now yellow.
  • Now has its specific music.

• Desktop 1.1:
  • Cacti no longer damage the player.
  • Now has own specific background.

• Desktop 1.0.6:
  • Cacti no longer cause knockback when damaging players and no longer destroy blocks above when growing.
  • Deserts spawn slightly farther away from the initial spawn point.

• Desktop 1.0.5: Cactus, Waterleaf, Antlion, and Vulture added to Desert biomes.

• Desktop 1.0.2: Sand no longer spawns within a certain distance of the spawn location. This removes the chance of spawning in a Desert with no wood to use.

• Desktop-Release: Introduced.

 Console version

• Console 1.4.0.5.4.1: Added all features and changes from Desktop 1.3.3 to 1.4.0.1.

• Console-Release: Introduced.

 Nintendo Switch version

• Switch 1.4.0.5.5: Added all features and changes from Desktop 1.3.3 to 1.4.0.1.

• Switch 1.0.711.6: Introduced.

 Mobile version

• Mobile 1.4.0.5.0: Added all features and changes from Desktop 1.3.3 to 1.4.0.1.

• Mobile-Release: Introduced.

Nintendo 3DS version

• 3DS-Release: Introduced.