Tectonic Mod Wiki & Guide

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Contents (5)

Guides
Configuration
Frequently asked questions
Gallery
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Guides

Step-by-step, in-game.

How to Choose a Base Location in Tectonic's New BiomesMatching Biome to Playstyle Tectonic adds over 25 new biomes and variants, and the terrain shape matters as much as…How to Find and Survive Tectonic's Massive Mountain RangesLocating a Mountain Range Tectonic mountains stretch for thousands of blocks and often exceed y=200, so you will not…How to Find and Use Tectonic's Underground RiversWhat Underground Rivers Are Tectonic generates underground rivers where surface rivers meet cave systems, carving…How to Safely Navigate Tectonic's Oceanside and Icy CliffsRecognizing Cliff Terrain Tectonic generates cliffs where coastal terrain drops steeply into the ocean, and these…

Configuration

Every setting in the mod config file, with what it changes.

Option	What it does
`alternate_noise_scaling`Alternate Noise Scaling	These options improve terrain near mountains and oceans on larger terrain scales. Not compatible with C2ME's hardware acceleration!
`biome_noises`	Biome Noises
`carvers_enabled`Carvers Enabled	Whether old caves/ravines should generate. Game restart required!
`caves`	Caves
`cheese_additive`Cheese Additive	Density added to cheese caves. Lower values = bigger cheese caves.
`cheese_enabled`Cheese Enabled	The standard expansive, large cheese-shaped caves.
`continents`	Continents
`alternate_continents_scaling`	Continents
`continents_scale`Continents Scale	Horizontally scales continents. Lower values = larger continents and oceans between them.
`deep_ocean_depth`Deep Ocean Depth	0 is at sea level, -0.5 is 64 blocks below sea level.
`depth_cutoff_size`Depth Cutoff Size	The distance in depth between the start and end of the depth cutoff. 0.1 means caves close over ~12 blocks, 0.0 means caves cut off at the `depth_cutoff_start` value immediately.
`depth_cutoff_start`Depth Cutoff Start	The depth noise value that caves stop generating. 0.1 cuts off caves ~12 blocks below the surface, 0.5 cuts off caves ~64 blocks below the surface.
`elevation_boost`Elevation Boost	Increases the effects of Vertical Scale on mountainous terrain. This will increase the scale of mountains and plateaus faster than lowlands.
`islands_enabled`Enabled	Islands with vanilla mountainous terrain dot the oceans. With Terralith installed, these spawn volcanoes!
`erosion`	Erosion
`alternate_erosion_scaling`	Erosion
`erosion_scale`Erosion Scale	Horizontally scales erosion, primarily impacting mountains. Lower values = thicker mountain ranges and terrain between them.
`experimental`	Experimental
`flat_terrain_skew`Flat Terrain Skew	The threshold where plateau terrain becomes flatter terrain. Positive numbers favor flat terrain and negative numbers favor plateau terrain.
`general`	General
`global_terrain`	Global Terrain
`improved_jungle_pillars`Improved Jungle Pillars	Jungle pillars become twice as common, larger, and more consistently have flatter tops.
`islands`	Islands

See all 57 settings →

Frequently asked questions

How do I know if Tectonic is actually working in my world?

Generate a fresh world and look for mountains that stretch for thousands of blocks and reach well above y=200, or scan a coastline for steep cliffs with overhangs. If your terrain looks like vanilla, the datapack/mod isn't loaded or wasn't applied to that world.

Why does my old world look unchanged after adding Tectonic?

Worldgen changes only apply to chunks that haven't been generated yet, so already-explored areas keep their old terrain. You need to travel into ungenerated chunks or start a new world to see the new biomes and terrain.

Can I use Tectonic with other worldgen or biome mods?

Tectonic is designed to work alongside many other datapacks and worldgen mods, but overlapping terrain or biome overhauls can conflict and cause odd generation. Check the pack's compatibility notes and test on a fresh world before committing to a long-term save.

Does Tectonic work on a server, and do all players need it?

It can run on a server, and clients generally need the same worldgen setup to see terrain correctly. If it's installed as a datapack on the server, vanilla clients can usually connect, but mismatches can cause visual or chunk errors.

See all 10 Tectonic questions ›