Guide:Artificial biomes
This means the page will walk you through a specific task, strategy, or enemy/boss fight.
Artificial biomes are player-constructed biomes that will spawn the enemies and provide access to most of the other materials that this biome provides. Only certain biomes can be artificially constructed. These are useful for building gardens or otherwise farming for certain items. This guide will explain how to build such biomes.
Some biomes can be constructed within virtually any Layer, at any depth, while others have specific depth requirements. With the exception of the Meteorite biome, no biome will override the Underworld. Only biomes mentioned below can be constructed artificially.
General tips
- Seeds can be used to create/spread biomes over Grass. These include:
- Grass Seeds, whose purpose is to convert dirt into Grass, helping to create more Forest or other biomes;
- Jungle Grass Seeds, which are used to create the Jungle;
- Mushroom Grass Seeds, which are used to create the Glowing Mushroom biome;
- Corrupt Seeds or Crimson Seeds, used to create their respective Evil biome;
- Hallowed Seeds, used to create Hallow.
- The Staff of Regrowth is handy for growing grass on dirt (and moss on stone).
- Some throwable items can be used to spread or cleanse Corruption, Crimson, and Hallow: Purification Powder, Vile Powder, and Vicious Powder, and weapons such as Holy Water, Unholy Water, and Blood Water. All of them will be consumed on use.
- The Clentaminator (sold by the Steampunker) is a very useful tool for making Artificial biomes: although it can be more expensive than other options, it is far quicker than the other methods.
- When attempting to create an artificial corruption/crimson biome, it is important to remember that it will spread to nearby blocks. For this reason, it is recommended that fairly sized trenches are dug out around where the artificial corrupt biome is being constructed.
Buildable artificial biomes
These biomes can be constructed within any location. The depth will determine for some biomes if it's in "surface" or "underground".
Forest
A Forest biome is the default biome for the Surface layer. When none of the other conditions for a biome are currently fulfilled on the surface, then it is a forest biome.
A more proper forest can be grown by planting Grass Seeds on Dirt blocks. Trees can be grown with Acorns.
Using the Clentaminator with Green Solution will convert Corruption, Crimson, and Hallow into Forest.
This biome is useful if you don't want to deal with Hallow enemies, which can be hard to deal with, or you need a Fishing spot for fish that only spawn here, or to get materials that you can only get here (like normal Wood).
Desert
A Desert biome is defined by the presence of Sand blocks, in any layer except the Underworld. Even a single block of sand can grow Cactus and Waterleaf. It requires (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 1,500 / (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) 1,000 blocks of sand, hardened sand, or sandstone to change the background into the desert background. The presence of sufficient other biome-defining blocks on-screen will override this background.
A flat strip of sand, one block in height, is sufficient for harvesting various Desert materials. However, making a proper desert (with the background) is necessary for the (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) Desert Key to drop, and for (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) Sandstorms to occur, which can be used to farm Forbidden armor in Hardmode.
Underground Desert
To count as an Underground Desert, in addition to the Desert criteria being met, the player must be at the Underground or Cavern layer or lower, and must be standing in front of the unsafe variant of sandstone or hardened sand walls. This is required for the background and music to change, and for other various effects. However, Underground Desert enemy spawns do not require that the desert criteria have been met. It is only necessary that the enemy is spawning on top of unsafe sandstone or hardened sand walls.
The artificial sandstone and hardened sand walls added in 1.4.0.1(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) (created via Ecto Mist) are "safe" walls, and like most player-created walls, enemies cannot spawn in front of them. To turn these into the unsafe variants, they must be thrown into (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) Shimmer in order to obtain (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) Treacherous Sandstone or Treacherous Hardened Sand Walls, on which Underground Desert enemies can spawn. It is also possible to create the unsafe variants via the use of the Clentaminator.
Hardmode Desert
Hallowed, Corrupted, and Crimson deserts can be constructed from Pearlsand, Ebonsand, and Crimsand, respectively, in Hardmode.
Players might want to build these variants to farm Hardmode desert enemies for loot, such as Mummies, as their Hallow and Evil counterparts are needed to get Light and Dark Shards.
The Clentaminator can be used to convert Sand into other variants:
- Using Purple Solution will convert Sand into Ebonsand;
- Using Red Solution will convert Sand into Crimsand;
- Using Blue Solution will convert Sand into Pearlsand;
- Using Green Solution on Hallowed, Corrupted, or Crimson deserts will convert them back into normal deserts.
Jungle
The surface Jungle is defined by the presence of Jungle Grass, Lihzahrd Bricks or Hive on the Surface layer. Jungle Grass will cause the spawning of surface jungle enemies, regardless of how many tiles are present. 80 (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) / 140 (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) blocks of Jungle Grass and/or Lihzahrd Bricks, including plants that grow in the tiles above Jungle Grass, are needed to change the background and music into the Jungle biome's natural music and background.
Unlike the Forest, Jungle grass naturally grows Rich Mahogany Trees, meaning you don't need acorns to get Rich Mahogany wood. Additionally, the Jungle is the main source of Moonglow and Sky Blue Flowers. It's also a source of Jungle Grass Seeds, which can be used to build your own Jungle.
The Jungle terrain is generally rough, and thus, it's a good idea to flatten and drain lakes around your farm spot, in order to farm its materials more efficiently.
Underground Jungle
The Underground Jungle biome is defined by the presence of Jungle Grass or Lihzahrd Bricks in the Underground or Cavern layers. Which depth this is depends on the Map's size:
| Map Size | Min Start Depth | Average Start Depth | Max Start Depth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small | 60 ft | 240 ft | 420 ft |
| Medium | 90 ft | 360 ft | 630 ft |
| Large | 120 ft | 480 ft | 840 ft |
If you're building an Underground Jungle, make sure to protect it from eventual Corruptible blocks that can destroy your efforts once you enter in Hardmode. For example, place a thick Snow barrier (must be at least 3-blocks thick) around your jungle.
An Underground Jungle built in Cavern layer contains:
- The already mentioned Surface materials (Rich Mahogany Trees, Moonglow, Sky Blue Flowers);
- Hornets, which drop Stingers;
- Man Eaters, which drop Vines;
- Jungle Spores, Jungle Roses and Nature's Gift can grow.
Additionally, in Hardmode:
- Creating Patches of Mud can create Chlorophyte veins;
- Life Fruits can spawn, which are needed to increase maximum health to 500;
- Giant Tortoises, which can drop Turtle Shells;
- Plantera's Bulb, which can be used to spawn Plantera.
Additionally, Underground Jungles can be created by using the Clentaminator with Green Solution in naturally generated Glowing Mushroom Biomes.
Snow biome
A Snow biome is defined by the presence of 1500 (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) / 300 (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) or more Snow Blocks, Ice Blocks (including pink, purple, and red variants) or Snow Bricks. This will change the background and music into the Snow biome ones. Below the cavern layer, Ice biome will be created instead.
Some Snow biome enemies require the presence of Ice Blocks to spawn, while others will appear along with the biome background and music, with particular enemies depending on depth and whether it's raining/snowing or not.
It's useful to farm Boreal Wood and Shiverthorns, which can only grow in Snow, and Frost Core in Hardmode.
Corruption, Crimson, and Hallow
The Corruption, Crimson, and Hallow biomes are defined by the presence of their respective evil and Hallowed blocks, in any layer other than the Underworld. At least (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 300 / (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) 200 tiles of evil or (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 125 / (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) 100 Hallowed grass, Ice, Stone, and Sand define a biome; tiles with plants growing on top of its grass also count. Note that for purposes of defining a biome, each block of Crimson or Corruption will subtract 1 from the total count of Hallow blocks and vice versa. Note, Sunflowers reduce the area's Corruption rating by 5 tiles with an effect radius of about 25 tiles.
If the world is in pre-Hardmode, an artificial Hallow biome will not spawn its usual monsters; it will spawn Forest monsters instead. It will spawn Lightning Bugs, instead of Fireflies, however.
Underground Corruption, Crimson, and Hallow
The criteria for the Underground Corruption, Underground Crimson, and Underground Hallow are the same as for the standard versions of the biomes, only that the player needs to be at Underground or Cavern layer or lower.
In pre-Hardmode, Hardmode enemies will not spawn.
Meteorite
The presence of (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 75 / (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) 23 Meteorite ore on the screen will transform any environment into a Meteorite biome. All naturally-occurring enemy spawns will be replaced with Meteor Heads, unless this is done in the ocean biome. This works even in the Underworld.
Glowing Mushroom biome
A Glowing Mushroom biome is defined by the presence of Mushroom grass, at least one exposed block of which will spawn Glowing Mushroom biome enemies if above the surface level of the world. At any depth, this grass will also sprout 1-block-tall Glowing Mushrooms and Giant Glowing Mushrooms. At least 100 tiles of mushrooms or mushroom grass are needed to start seeing changes to the Music and Background, although changing the water color in the biome may take more.
Making an artificial Glowing Mushroom biome in surface is needed for Truffle to appear. Moreover, making a surface version of this biome can give you a more accessible Glowing Mushroom farm, which grows naturally. However, it will not spawn Truffle Worm, as these can only be found in the Underground Layer.
It is possible to convert portions of the Jungle or places in which there is mud into Glowing Mushroom biome by using the Clentaminator with Dark Blue Solution (sold by the Truffle).
Dungeon
The Dungeon must be below the surface level of the world, and consist of at least 250 blocks of Dungeon Brick. The player must also be standing in front of a naturally-placed Dungeon Wall – if the player removes and replaces the wall at the same location or elsewhere, it will no longer count towards the requirement. The player can throw Dungeon walls in Shimmer, to get a cursed variant of them, acting like a naturally-placed wall.
Furthermore, for a dungeon NPC to spawn, there must also be a natural Dungeon wall tile directly above a Dungeon Brick surface, ensuring they never appear just outside of Dungeons. Being in a Dungeon biome prevents any non-Dungeon NPCs from spawning. So if there is no appropriate spawn surface for Dungeon enemies (brick and wall), then all spawns are blocked.
Spider Nest
A Spider Nest mini-biome is based on the presence of the special mottled grey/brown cave wall in these areas. Blocks in front of these walls will accumulate Cobwebs up to three tiles deep, and Wall Creepers (pre-Hardmode) and Black Recluses (in Hardmode) will spawn. It is not possible to move or collect this cave wall, but artificial biomes can be created elsewhere with the use of the Shimmer. Transmuting crafted Spider Walls will result in Infested Spider Walls, allowing for artificial biomes.
Biomes that can be augmented, but not moved
Several biomes require that the player stand in front of a specific natural background wall to spawn the particular biome enemies. The existing biome may be enlarged, creating more space for the enemies to spawn. Background walls placed by the player will block enemy spawns.
Reaching them
Because these biomes cannot be made by the players, you need to connect them with some form of transportation system. You can travel between these biomes by:
- Walking
- Hellevator
A Rail system
Running on Asphalt
A Teleporter Network
A Pylon Network(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)- Teleporting items such as a
Magic Mirror, 
Magic Conch(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions), or a 
Demon Conch(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions).
Ocean
The Ocean is the border of the world, and it is located in the world edges. It is a large body of water, with a small beach (in which you can farm and replant Palm trees) in its border.
- The floor must be made of Sand at least one block thick. Pearlsand, Ebonsand, or Crimsand does not count.
- There must be 2 or more tiles of Water atop the sand for Ocean monsters to spawn.
- 7 or more tiles of water for Coral to grow.
- This must be positioned within 250 blocks of either edge of the map.
- This must be above a depth of 0, so within the Surface or Space layers.
- There must be 1,000 tiles of connected liquid in order to catch ocean fish.
- Cannot use lava, honey or other liquids besides water.
Underworld
The Underworld is defined as roughly the bottom 200 tiles of any world; at around this level, the music and background changes, Underworld enemies will spawn, and water will generally evaporate. An artificial Underworld cannot be created at any other depth.
Jungle Temple
A Forbidden Lihzahrd Brick Wall behind the player is required for Lihzahrd and Flying Snake spawns. Lihzahrd Bricks count as Jungle biome blocks, and can be used to create an artificial Jungle biome, greatly increasing the spawn rate and NPC cap (in the forest or desert, for example), or to permit the summoning of Queen Bee.
Calculation mechanics
Qualifying blocks: Only blocks within a rectangular zone 84 tiles left and right, 61 tiles above and 60 tiles below the players 3×2 hitbox are counted towards determining active biomes. At the edges of the world, when the screen stops scrolling, this reference point no longer matches the player's position.
For biome-influencing walls (e.g. Dungeon and Lihzahrd Brick Walls), only the one tile directly behind the middle of the player's sprite is considered. This moves with the player at all times, even at the world's edges.
The reference point determining biome depth appears to be the top of the screen. When at a transition between layers, resizing the screen may change the active biome, even while player remains totally static.
When the criteria for multiple biomes are met simultaneously, there is an order of precedence for which one sets the music, background scenery, spawn rate, innocent NPC spawns, etc. However, multiple biomes may be active simultaneously. This allows, for example, the possibility of two or more Biome Key (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) / Biome Key Mold(Old-gen console and 3DS versions) drops within one area. See Biomes#Biome existence requirements for further information.
