How to Find Lush Caves in Minecraft and What's Inside

Lush caves are underground biomes full of moss, glowing vines, flowers and small pools of clay-lined water. The quickest way to find one is to spot an azalea tree on the surface and dig down beside its roots. They’re the only place axolotls spawn.

Finding a lush cave

An azalea tree is a small, round tree with pink-flowered or leafy shrub-like leaves. Underneath it, rooted dirt and hanging roots run down through the ground toward a lush cave. Dig a staircase next to the roots and you’ll come out in moss.

They also show up while exploring big caves. A sudden patch of green moss and hanging vines in a stone cave means you’ve found the edge of one. With cheats, run /locate biome minecraft:lush_caves.

What grows in lush caves

Block or item	Use
Moss block	Spreads with bone meal, compostable, crafting moss carpet and mossy cobblestone.
Cave vines with glow berries	Glow berries are food and give off light when grown.
Spore blossom	Hangs from the ceiling and drops green particles. Pure decoration.
Big dripleaf	A leaf you can stand on until it tilts and drops you.
Small dripleaf	Decoration; bone meal grows it into big dripleaf.
Azalea / flowering azalea	Plant them to grow azalea trees.
Clay	Lines the water pools.

The clay pools are a nice bonus: lush caves are one of the easier places to collect clay in bulk.

Axolotls

Axolotls spawn in water inside lush caves, in the dark, above clay blocks. They come in five colors. The blue one is very rare and comes only from breeding. Scoop them up with a bucket of water and they’ll help you in underwater fights, attacking drowned and guardians.

Glow squid also spawn in dark underground water, so you’ll often see them nearby.

Is a lush cave safe?

Mostly no different from any other cave. Hostile mobs still spawn in the dark spots. The dim light from glow berries helps you see but doesn’t stop spawns. Light the cave with torches if you plan to stay.

A good underground base

Lush caves are the best-looking underground biome, and players love them for hidden bases. Moss and glow berries regrow, the water pools are pretty, and there’s built-in light. Pair one with our mining guide and you’ll have both a base and a mine.

The lush caves sit between the surface and the deep dark, so if the moss runs out and the stone turns teal and silent, stop and listen. For other biome profiles, see the biomes hub.