Stony Cliffs Are Cool — Guide

What the rule actually checks

The replacement is not applied to dirt in general - it is targeted, which is why ordinary ground is unaffected.

A block is only changed when it is dirt that is genuinely part of an exposed steep face, with stone or similar material already present around or above it. In practice that means the vertical cuts on a hillside qualify, while a gentle grassy rise does not. The block on the surface stays grass, so slopes still look alive from above; it is the cliff face that changes.

What it does not touch

Terrain height and terrain shape are completely unchanged. Hills sit where they sat, at the height they were, with the same silhouette - only the material showing on the cut face is different.

It also adds nothing: no blocks, no items, no mobs, no structures, no recipes and no biomes. Nothing about how you play changes, and removing it leaves behind a world whose landscape is still perfectly ordinary.

Where it applies

The rule runs across every overworld biome rather than being tied to a particular climate, so the effect follows the terrain instead of the weather. You will see it most on ridgelines, plateau edges, the sides of river valleys and around the rims of lakes - anywhere the ground has been cut steeply.

Flat biomes simply have less steep ground, so they show less of it. That is intentional: the effect appears where a cliff would actually form.

Worlds you have already played

Because the work happens while land is generated, it applies to terrain created after it is installed. Chunks you have already explored keep the shape and the surface they were born with, so adding this to an existing world will not rewrite the hills around your base.

Walk far enough into unexplored land and the new terrain will generate with stone faces. This also means a world can safely be played with or without it later on - nothing depends on it being present.