How to Find an Ancient City in Minecraft

Guide Java Bedrock

Quick answer: Ancient cities only generate in the deep dark biome, with the city floor at Y=-51. The deep dark forms deep underground beneath low-erosion areas such as mountains. Look for sculk, or use a "buried ancient city" explorer map from a secret chest in an abandoned camp.

What you need

Lots of wool blocks or carpets
Food and light
Good armor and weapons (in case a warden appears)
Optional: a buried ancient city explorer map

Step by step

Prepare: bring lots of wool, food, light and good gear. The deep dark has no regular mob spawning, but the warden can appear.
Go deep: the city floor is always at Y=-51. Because ancient cities only generate in the deep dark, they are often found under mountains and other low-erosion areas.
Recognize the biome: it is covered in sculk, and the only natural light comes from sculk catalysts and lava.
Move quietly: sneaking prevents vibrations while you move, and wool or carpet placed between a sculk sensor and a vibration source blocks it. The city corridors have wool floors for this reason.
Avoid sculk shriekers: each one you trigger raises your warning level, and at level 4 the shrieker tries to summon a warden. Naturally generated shriekers are much more common in ancient cities. Each shrieker has a 10-second cooldown per player.
Loot the chests: ancient cities hold disc fragments, armor trims and echo shards that cannot be found anywhere else.
Alternative: a "buried ancient city" explorer map, found in secret chests in abandoned camps, can lead you to one.

Java vs Bedrock

Both editions generate ancient cities only in the deep dark at Y=-51. In Bedrock Edition a warden summoned by a shrieker gets the emerging spawn event so it plays its emerging animation.

Versions: Describes the current Java and Bedrock releases. See the edition note above for differences.

Frequently asked questions

What Y level are ancient cities at?

The city floor always generates at Y=-51 and the structure is about 20 blocks high, with a footprint of around 220 blocks on each horizontal axis.

How many shrieks summon the Warden?

When a player's warning level reaches 4, the shrieker tries to summon a warden after it finishes shrieking, up to 20 attempts within an 11x13x11 box. If no other warden is within 24 blocks, one emerges from the ground.

Is it worth looting an ancient city?

disc fragments, armor trims and echo shards are items that cannot be found anywhere else. Ancient cities are also one of only two places where sculk generates.

Do shriekers I place summon wardens?

No. Only naturally generated shriekers can summon wardens. Shriekers placed by players or made by sculk catalysts are inert.