Minecraft Biome Vote History: Winners, Nominees, and Missing Updates

Minecraft's public voting tradition began with mobs in 2017, but two later events focused on biomes instead. Those votes decided which environments would receive new terrain features, mobs, and blocks first, while leaving a few ideas waiting in the wings.

2018 Biome Chooser

The first biome-focused vote was the 2018 Biome Chooser video. Players picked one of three biomes to receive an overhaul.

Desert

The desert proposal included oases, palm trees, and meerkats. It did not win the vote. Later desert-related additions in Minecraft 1.20 made the missing ideas feel less impossible, though these exact features were not added at that time.

[Winner] Taiga

Taiga won the 2018 Biome Chooser. Its promised features were foxes, berry bushes, and campfires, all of which arrived in Minecraft 1.14.

Savanna

The savanna pitch included baobab trees, termites, and ostriches. Like the desert update, it remained outside the game after losing the vote.

2019 Biome Vote

The next biome event arrived in 2019. This time, Mojang explained that players were voting on which biome update would arrive first, not which ideas would be discarded forever. As of the original article, two of the three choices had made it into the live game.

Badlands

The badlands option featured tumbleweeds, vultures, and a new flowery cactus. Of the three 2019 biome nominees, this was the only one still missing from the game.

Swamp

The swamp update later arrived with Minecraft 1.19, The Wild Update. Mangrove swamps, frogs, and boats with chests were added. Fireflies, however, did not make the final release because they were poisonous to frogs.

[Winner] Mountains

Mountains won the 2019 vote, leading into the Caves and Cliffs update that began with Minecraft 1.17. The original pitch mentioned powdered snow, goats, and mountain improvements, but the finished update grew far beyond that first outline.

Will Biome Votes Return?

Only two biome votes had happened by the time of the source article. Fans have speculated that the format could return after the remaining losing biome concepts are added, but the regular mob vote continued instead.