Around the Block: Lukewarm Ocean

Some of Minecraft’s ocean is warm. Some are deep and cold. Some are even frozen. But today we’re featuring the bits of the Overworld ocean that are just kinda in-betweeny, not too warm and not too cold. They’re known as the Lukewarm Ocean, our biome of the month!

The different ocean variants in the game were added in the Update Aquatic, back in 2018. In one way they’re all fairly similar – full of water. But the different ocean biomes are dramatically different in every other way, including the life that you’ll find there, and the resources you can collect.

Lukewarm oceans have light blue water, and tend to generate adjacent to biomes like jungles and savannas. The seafloor is sand, like in warm oceans, though you’ll also find dirt, clay, and gravel when the seabed rises closer to the surface. Shipwrecks and ocean ruins can be found in this biome, but be careful when you’re raiding them because the drowned are an ever-present danger.

You’ll find some seagrass and kelp to collect in lukewarm oceans, though more of the former and less of the latter than in colder oceans. It’s also pretty common to find cod, pufferfish, and tropical fish for your home aquarium. Dolphins and squid roam through these waters too, though they’re rather harder to take home because they don’t fit in a bucket.

Deep lukewarm oceans are similar to their shallow cousins, but they also have a chance to generate ocean monuments, haunted by Guardians, and more tall seagrass.

In the real world, Earth’s lukewarm oceans are known as “temperate” and span the area between the poles and the tropics, helping exchange heat between the two. 

The Earth’s rotation generally means that these oceans form enormous circular currents known as “gyres”. Towards the north, the water is rich in things to eat – attracting a lot of fish, whales, and humans wanting to catch fish and whales. In the southern parts, the sea tends to be emptier of life, resulting in clear, deep blue waters. 

As lukewarm oceans serve as the meeting point between polar and tropical seas, they tend to contain aspects of both. They’re a nice happy medium. If you prefer your oceans more extreme, then keep swimming.