Swamp

Swamps are low, flooded lands with murky green water, vine-covered oaks and lily pads. They are the only place to find witch huts and blue orchids, and slimes bounce around at night. This swamp biome finder locates the closest swamp in your seed. Enter the seed above and the map moves to the nearest swamp and marks it with a biome icon.

Where swamps generate

Swamps need very high erosion, which keeps the ground flat and close to sea level. The temperature is cool to moderate. In warmer climates, mangrove swamps appear instead.

Rivers cannot run through a swamp, but they can flow into its edges. Common neighbours include forests, dark forests, plains and taigas. Below the surface, dripstone caves are common, and lush caves show up where humidity is high. Swamps are fairly common overall.

Inside a swamp, land and water mix in a patchwork of shallow pools. The water is rarely deeper than a few blocks. So you can usually wade or build small bridges instead of using a boat.

What you find in a swamp

The water here looks dark and green. Swamp oaks grow on land and in shallow water, draped with vines. Lily pads float on top, and clay sits on the flooded floor.

• Plants: blue orchids, which only grow here, plus mushrooms, sugar cane, seagrass and firefly bushes.
• Mobs: frogs, slimes, witches and bogged skeletons with poison arrows.
• Structures: swamp huts with a witch and a black cat, plus abandoned camps and underground fossils.

How to find a swamp in your world

On the map, enter your seed and edition. It pans to the nearest swamp and outlines the biome in colour. The list on the left shows more swamps by distance. Click one to see it on the map, then teleport with /tp @s X 80 Z if cheats are on.

In game, press F3 and look for minecraft:swamp. Dark, greenish water and grass are the giveaway. If you want a witch hut, scan the water for a small spruce shack on stilts.

Swamp tips: slimes, witches and frogs

Swamps are the best surface spot for slimes. They spawn at night between Y=50 and Y=70. The rate peaks at full moon and drops to zero at new moon. So plan slime hunting around the moon phase.

Witch huts are also useful. Witches keep spawning in and around the hut, which makes it a good base for a witch farm. Witches drop redstone, glowstone and sugar.

Frogs are fun too. Lead a tadpole bucket to different climates and it grows into another frog variant. However, watch out for bogged at night, because their poison arrows hurt.

Swamp vs mangrove swamp

Both biomes are flat and wet, but they look and play quite differently.

• Climate: swamps form in cool to mild areas, while mangrove swamps need warm areas.
• Trees: swamps have oaks with vines. Mangrove swamps have dense mangrove trees with roots.
• Ground: swamps have grass and clay. Mangrove swamps are mostly mud.
• Structures: only regular swamps have swamp huts.
• Animals: swamps spawn farm animals and frogs. Mangrove swamps only spawn frogs on land.

So if you want a witch hut or blue orchids, choose the regular swamp. If you want mud or mangrove wood, the mangrove swamp is better. Both biomes spawn slimes on the surface at night.

Swamp version history

Swamps started as swampland in Alpha. Java 1.1 added witch huts and slimes. In 1.13 the name changed to swamp. Java 1.19 added frogs and moved warm swamps to the new mangrove swamp. Java 1.21 added bogged, and 1.21.5 added firefly bushes. Java 26.3 added abandoned camps.

Swamp FAQ