Floating Island
Floating Islands and Floating Lakes are floating structures located generally well above the world's main land mass and can be found all the way up to Space. Their location makes them susceptible to Harpies in pre-Hardmode and Wyverns and Arch Wyverns in Hardmode. Being at such high altitude, players have reduced gravity when navigating them. Both are similar in size and placement, and both rest atop Cloud and Rain Cloud blocks with background Cloud Walls.
Floating Island
A Floating Island contains a mass of isolated Forest land and a house-like structure. Each world will contain at least one Floating Island, up to a possible nine maximum in large worlds.
A Floating Island will usually contain a structure constructed from Sunplate Block, Disc Wall, and Glass Wall. It will always contain exactly one Skyware Chest along with other random Skyware furniture. It will either have three or five background walls in between each window. Each Skyware Chest contains one of 4 / 3 unique items (Shiny Red Balloon, Starfury, Lucky Horseshoe and Celestial Magnet), has a 33.33*1/3 (33.33%) chance of containing a Sky Mill and a 2.5*1/40 (2.5%) chance of containing the Fledgling Wings, and contains other typical Surface Chest loot. It also contains one of the six unique paintings.
All 4 / 3 unique items must be spawned at least once before truly random unique items spawn on any remaining Islands with the spawning order being Shiny Red Balloon, Starfury, Lucky Horseshoe, then the Celestial Magnet.[1]
| Map Size | Max Islands | Approximate Height |
|---|---|---|
| Small | 3 | 250 - 600 ft. (125 - 300 tiles) |
| Medium | 5 | 450 - 800 ft (225 - 400 tiles) |
| Large | 6 | 650 - 1200 ft. (325 - 600 tiles) |
Contents
Floating Lake
Floating Lakes consist of nothing more than a large body of water, suitable for fishing. There will be relatively few of these in a world. Unlike Floating Islands, they have neither Sunplate Block structures nor any of their contents. Several exclusive catches can be found there, like the Damselfish, Sky Crates/Azure Crates and some quest fish including the sky-exclusive Cloudfish.
Floating Lakes can rarely contain Water Chests.
| Map Size | Max Lakes | Approximate Height |
|---|---|---|
| Small | 1 | 250 - 600 ft. (125 - 300 tiles) |
| Medium | 2 | 450 - 800 ft (225 - 400 tiles) |
| Large | 3 | 650 - 1200 ft. (325 - 600 tiles) |
Notes
- Floating Islands are randomly generated somewhere in the upper sixth of the map.
- Upon entering Hardmode, Floating Islands can become Corrupted, Crimsoned, or Hallowed if they fall within the path of the initial transformation.
- The structures found on some Floating Islands can usually become valid houses for NPCs once a light source is added.
- Meteors may sometimes impact Floating Islands.
- Floating Lakes are not counted against the spawn limit for Floating Islands, e.g. there can be 5 Floating Islands on a medium-sized world and still more than one Floating Lake in addition.
- However, Floating Lakes can only spawn if every Floating Island has spawned, so if at least one Floating Lake exists in a world, then there are 3/5/6 Floating Island in this Small/Medium/Large world.
- In uncommon occasions, a Floating Island does not contain a house-room, and therefore no chest. Sometimes, a house-room exists but there is no chest present.
- It is possible for Floating Lakes to spawn too low to count for sky fishing, and instead only provide surface fishing catches. This is more likely in Large worlds.
- There is an extremely low chance that a world's spawn point may be located on a floating island.
Achievements
Tips
- To protect any Floating Islands or Floating Lakes from meteors, place any chest 25 blocks from either edge of the island.
- Floating Islands can be easy ways to have a biome without threat of spreading uncontrollably.
- There are numerous methods to locate Floating Islands:
- Gravitation Potions (or the Gravity Globe) facilitate unrestrained movement in the air, without requiring access to flying accessories.
- Using a Teleportation Potion on a floating island significantly increases the chance of being teleported to a nearby floating island.
- This method is most useful for locating subsequent floating islands, once the player has already found one.
- Using a Depth Meter, build a staircase or rope line up to the height where Floating Islands usually spawn. Build a sky bridge to either side until finding an Island. Common blocks like Dirt, Stone, or Hay can be used for the sky bridge.
- Use a long-range weapon with a ricocheting projectile, such as a gun with Meteor Shots. The projectile's return will signify a landmass above.
- Floating Islands will catch Fallen Stars. Areas on the surface in which Fallen Stars rarely or never fall may have a Floating Island above.
- Create a Hardcore character, die, and become a Ghost, and then fly around to look for an Island.
- Occasionally, Floating Islands spawn low enough to open up other methods of locating them:
- The waterfalls flowing from the Island may be seen when flying.
- Dungeons and Living Trees may be high enough to already see the lower part of the Island when standing atop them.
- The water generated on Floating Islands sometimes form small puddles on the surface, so if a suspiciously small puddle of water is seen on the surface, there is a high chance a Floating Island is located above it.
Trivia
- Floating Islands were originally made out of Dirt and Stone Blocks. The house was either made of Gold, Silver or Copper Bricks with a single chest inside, causing it to somewhat resemble a Shrine. Grass vines hanging below the island could be used to locate it as projectiles would make noise when destroying them. The chests used to be locked and had to be opened with Golden Keys from the Dungeon.
History
- Desktop 1.3.0.1: Sky Lakes introduced to make sky fishing easier.
- Desktop 1.2: Chests no longer require keys and islands have been revamped.
- Desktop 1.0.6: Gold Chests are now replaced with locked chests.
- Desktop 1.0.5: Common Chests are now replaced with Gold Chests.
- Desktop-Release: Introduced.
- Console-Release: Introduced.
- Switch 1.0.711.6: Introduced.
- Mobile-Release: Introduced.
- 3DS-Release: Introduced.