If I delete an existing chunk with MC Edit in my pre-1.8 save, will the new landscape in 1.8 line up with it?

Question

As Omokoii's answer to this question suggests, you can use MC Edit to delete existing chunks in an old save so that, once 1.8 is out, those chunks will be generated anew, and they should respect the new version's additional landscape and other world-building features, like villages and the new biome. However, Ullallulloo pointed out that random seeds will generate different worlds in 1.8 than they used to, so deleted chunks will not be recreated exactly as they were.

Does that mean that new chunks will not line up seamlessly with old chunks? Just how abrupt will the transition from the old landscape to the new landscape be?

Answer

"How abrupt" depends entirely on the particular chunks in question, and is impossible to predict to boot. There's really no way to know until you try for yourself.

If you're unsure you want the potentially very obviously misaligned chunks, you can always backup your world before deleting it, reverting if the border does not line up particularly smoothly.

Check more discussion of this question.

Do alternative dimensions depends on the world seed?

Question

We have a new world on our 1.0 minecraft server in which we just created a nether portal.

We started exploring the nether to gather some materials, but didn't manage to find a nether fortress or structures to get some nether brick.

I was thinking of deleting the nether folder of the world and let the server regenerate it from scratch, hoping for more luck during the generation process.

However, before doing such, that question came to my mind : 'Is the nether dimension tied to the world seed ?'.

If so, deleting the world may be useless, and we need to explore further to find a nether fortress.

Does anyone have information on how the alternative dimensions are generated relative to the world seed ?

Answer

Yes, the Nether is generated the same way as other terrain (in fact it's just a special biome). It uses your world seed to generate it, so re-generating will not affect the layout of it (although there may be slight changes, such as the position of mushrooms, but I'm guessing that this doesn't bother you too much).

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How do I pre-generate a Minecraft world?

Question

I want to create a new world on our Minecraft server, but exploring a new map and generating terrain causes massive lag.

Is there a way to pre generate the chunks (with the default map generator) in a specific radius around the spawn?

I'm looking for a Bukkit plugin or tool I can use on our Linux machine. An offline tool I can run on my local machine is ok, too.

Answer

In this thread on Reddit, I found a command line script that will generate terrain by repeatedly restarting a server with varying spawn points until the area you specify is filled. This seems like just what you're looking for.

There's also a Bukkit plugin named WorldGenerationControl which can do it on a live server.

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What resources will be impossible to acquire when structures are disabled?

Question

I'm considering starting a map with the structures option disabled since I don't really like the villages and the abandoned mine shafts. The mine shafts especially, seems to take over all underground areas to a point where it is hard to find any natural cave systems.

I also realized that ravines, which I like a lot, will still be generated when structures are disabled.

The one resource I know I will miss are melons but giving 1 melon seed as server admin should fix that.

So what other resources of importance will be impossible to find when structures are disabled?

Answer

Abandoned mine shafts

• As you said, Melon Seeds will be unavailable.

Strongholds

• The cracked and mossy variants of Stone Bricks will be unavailable as a building material; normal Stone Bricks can be crafted.
• Air portal frames will be unavailable, and with it the entire unreleased dimension that they will very likely lead to at some point.
• Red Apple

Nether ruins

• Nether Brick
• Nether Brick Fence
• Nether Brick Stairs
• Nether Wart

Check more discussion of this question.

If I delete an existing chunk with MC Edit in my pre-1.8 save, will the new landscape in 1.8 line up with it?

Question

As Omokoii's answer to this question suggests, you can use MC Edit to delete existing chunks in an old save so that, once 1.8 is out, those chunks will be generated anew, and they should respect the new version's additional landscape and other world-building features, like villages and the new biome. However, Ullallulloo pointed out that random seeds will generate different worlds in 1.8 than they used to, so deleted chunks will not be recreated exactly as they were.

Does that mean that new chunks will not line up seamlessly with old chunks? Just how abrupt will the transition from the old landscape to the new landscape be?

Answer

"How abrupt" depends entirely on the particular chunks in question, and is impossible to predict to boot. There's really no way to know until you try for yourself.

If you're unsure you want the potentially very obviously misaligned chunks, you can always backup your world before deleting it, reverting if the border does not line up particularly smoothly.

Check more discussion of this question.