World Generation

Hytale's world generation system creates infinite, procedural worlds with custom biomes, terrain, and structures. Learn how to create your own worlds.

How World Generation Works

Hytale uses curated procedural generation. This means:

• The world is infinite and generates as you explore
• Everything follows design rules set by creators
• Each world is unique, but consistent in style

Two Generation Systems

World Hierarchy

Creating Biomes

Biomes are like puzzle pieces. Each one defines terrain shape, materials, and what grows there.

Biome Definition

{
    "identifier": "mypack:crystal_caves",
    "displayName": "Crystal Caves",
    "terrain": {
        "baseHeight": 40,
        "heightVariation": 20,
        "material": "stone"
    },
    "features": [
        "crystal_formations",
        "underground_lakes",
        "glowing_mushrooms"
    ],
    "ambience": {
        "fogColor": "#1a1a3a",
        "fogDensity": 0.3
    }
}

Biomes as Tiles

The game treats biomes like jigsaw pieces:

• Each biome defines its own terrain shape
• Biomes have edge rules for blending
• Zones stitch biomes together into regions

Terrain Generation

Terrain is built from noisemaps - patterns of random numbers that create natural-looking shapes.

Material Providers

Material Providers are logic nodes that decide what blocks to place:

• Block depth - How far below the surface
• Empty space above - Is there a cave above?
• Biome - Which biome is this in?
• Noise value - Random variation

Prefabs and Structures

Prefabs are pre-built structures that spawn in the world.

Types of Prefabs

• Story prefabs - Always appear, advance the game's story
• Regular prefabs - Randomly placed villages, ruins, etc.
• Dungeons - Connected rooms with challenges and loot
• Portal dungeons - Lead to pocket dimensions

Prop Placement

Props (trees, rocks, decorations) follow placement rules:

{
    "prop": "ash_tree",
    "rules": {
        "requiresEmptySpaceBelow": true,
        "minSpacing": 5,
        "maxSlope": 30,
        "biomes": ["ash_forest", "volcanic_rim"]
    }
}

Ash trees only spawn above caves (empty space below), making them natural cave markers!

Creating Dungeons

Dungeons are generated from connected room prefabs:

1. Create individual room prefabs
2. Define connection points
3. Set loot tables and mob spawns
4. Create a "final room" with boss and rewards

Modding World Generation

You can customize everything:

• Add new biomes to existing zones
• Create entirely new zones with your theme
• Modify terrain rules for different landscapes
• Design custom prefabs and dungeons

Testing Your World

1. Put your worldgen files in your pack
2. Create a new world with your pack enabled
3. Explore to see your biomes generate
4. Use /tp to teleport and test different areas