Updated for Java Edition 26.3 (October 2026).
The windswept savanna is a hot, dry Overworld biome of acacia trees growing on jagged, broken terrain: tall stone spikes, overhangs and sudden drops, covered in grass, coarse dirt and bare stone. It is rare, about 1 block in 480 in our sample of 300 Java 26.3 seeds. Come for the strange terrain, horses and armadillos.
| Dimension | Overworld |
|---|---|
| Where it generates | Hot, dry areas with broken terrain, often along rivers, plains and coasts |
| How common | 0.21% of the surface in our sample (about 1 block in 480) |
| Distance from spawn | Median 1,586 blocks; within 1,000 blocks in 27% of seeds, within 2,000 in 66% (our sample) |
| Mobs | Horses, donkeys, armadillos, sheep, pigs, chickens, cows; zombie horses and the usual hostile mobs at night |
| Notable blocks | Acacia and oak trees, coarse dirt, exposed stone |
| Structures | Mountain-style ruined portals; underground, mineshafts and trial chambers. No villages. |
| Climate | Temperature 2.0, downfall 0 (no rain or snow) |
| Biome ID | minecraft:windswept_savanna |
| Added in | Java Edition 1.7.2 (2013) as savanna M; named shattered savanna in 1.13 and windswept savanna in 1.18 |
Is the windswept savanna rare?
Yes. It covered 0.21% of the surface in our sample, about the same share as the savanna plateau and about a twentieth of the regular savanna (4%). Of the 52 surface biomes we measured, only ten covered less. The patches are also small. Still, every one of our 300 seeds had at least one inside the sampled area, and two out of three had one within 2,000 blocks of spawn, so it is rare rather than hard to reach.
How to find a windswept savanna
In our sample, 22% of a windswept savanna’s edge touched a river, 11% plains, 10% ocean, 7% forest and 7% lukewarm ocean. So look in warm country along rivers and coasts, and watch the skyline: acacia trees perched on thin stone pillars are the giveaway. Because the patches are small, a seed map saves a lot of walking.
These three Java 26.3 seeds put a windswept savanna within about 35 blocks of world spawn. Each coordinate is inside the windswept savanna, checked at block level. The patches near spawn are small, so open the map to see their shape.
| Seed | Windswept savanna at | From spawn | Map |
|---|---|---|---|
-4679753259282980691 |
X -26, Z -14 | 30 blocks | Open on the map |
-8687070917831850527 |
X -42, Z -58 | 28 blocks | Open on the map |
6771975629874302160 |
X -26, Z -22 | 34 blocks | Open on the map |
Already in a world? Type /locate biome minecraft:windswept_savanna (cheats on) for the nearest one, or paste your seed into the biome finder to see every windswept savanna around spawn. These are Java seeds; the same number on Bedrock gives a different world.
What spawns in a windswept savanna
Horses and donkeys spawn here, though less often than the farm animals (sheep, pigs, chickens and cows). Do armadillos spawn in windswept savannas? Yes: armadillos spawn in all three savanna biomes, and brushing one gives armadillo scutes for wolf armor. Llamas and wolves do not spawn here in Java; the savanna plateau is the savanna that has them.
At night, besides zombies, skeletons, spiders, creepers, endermen and witches, a zombie horse can appear with a zombie rider holding an iron spear. Goats don’t spawn here; they belong to the snowy mountain biomes.
Terrain and blocks
The terrain is the reason to come. The ground breaks into tall, thin columns and ledges, with overhangs and floating-looking chunks of land, and the surface switches between grass, coarse dirt and bare stone. Acacia trees, with a few oaks, grow on top of all of it. Bring a water bucket for falls and scaffolding or blocks for climbing.
The exposed stone makes coal and iron easy to spot, but there is no emerald ore: emerald only generates in mountain biomes and the windswept hills group, and the windswept savanna is not one of them. It never rains or snows here.
Windswept savanna vs savanna and savanna plateau
| Feature | Savanna | Savanna plateau | Windswept savanna |
|---|---|---|---|
| How common (our sample) | 4% of the surface | 0.21% | 0.21% |
| Terrain | Flat to rolling | Raised, flat-topped | Jagged spikes and overhangs |
| Villages | Yes | No | No |
| Llamas and wolves | No | Yes | No |
| Horses, donkeys, armadillos | All three | ||
| Rain | Never | ||
Java 1.18 folded the old shattered savanna and shattered savanna plateau into this one biome, which is why players still search for “shattered savanna”. The windswept hills share the name but are a cool, stony biome with llamas and emerald ore.
What changed in 2025-26
In Mounts of Mayhem (Java 1.21.11, December 2025), zombie horses started spawning naturally in plains and savanna biome types, with a zombie rider holding an iron spear. The windswept savanna is one of them.
In Spring to Life (Java 1.21.5, March 2025), the windswept savanna was listed as a warm biome. Pigs, cows and chickens that spawn here use the new warm variants, warm chickens lay brown eggs, and sheep are most often brown. Fallen oak trees also generate here now, some with mushrooms or vines on top.
Source: the official 1.21.11 and 1.21.5 release notes.
How we measured
The numbers on this page come from our own seed map engine, running Java Edition 26.3 world generation. We generated 300 random seeds and sampled every 16th block across a 10,240 by 10,240 block square centered on each world’s spawn. “How common” is the windswept savanna’s share of those samples; “distance from spawn” is how far the nearest windswept savanna sample was. The seeds above were picked from the same run, and each coordinate was re-checked at block level.
