How to Find Badlands in Minecraft

Guide Java Bedrock

Quick answer: Badlands generate in the hottest, driest zones at low erosion, usually bordering deserts near oceans and stony shores - and near cooler zones, savannas, forests and plains. From the air look for layered terracotta mesas in red, orange, yellow, white and brown with red sand below. They come with bonus gold (ore up to Y=255 at much higher rates) and surface mineshafts made of dark oak.

What you need

An elytra or a high vantage point for scouting (optional but fast)
A boat - badlands often hug coastlines
An iron pickaxe or better for the bonus gold

Step by step

Search in the hottest zones: badlands generate at the highest temperature values with low erosion, commonly bordering deserts near oceans and stony shores at lower altitudes.
Near cooler zones they border savannas, forests and plains instead - so walk the edge of any big desert first.
Spot them from the air: huge terracotta mounds banded in red, orange, yellow, white, light gray and brown, with red sand at the base. Nothing else looks like it.
Terrain varies from mid-altitude plateaus and valleys to peaks up to Y=256; rivers cut deep fjords or vanish entirely.
Confirm the biome: red sand on the surface with orange terracotta underneath down to Y=63, dead bushes, cacti (sometimes flowering) and the eroded or wooded badlands variants nearby.
Bonus gold: extra gold ore generates in badlands up to Y=255 - not just below Y=32 - and at much higher rates than anywhere else. Branch-mine inside a terracotta hill.
Surface mineshafts: badlands mineshafts generate at much higher elevations, often exposed to the air, with dark oak planks and fences instead of oak - free chest loot without digging.
Underground, badlands often sit over dripstone caves and the deep dark - listen for cave sounds before you dig straight down.
Still stuck? Use /locate biome minecraft:badlands (or wooded_badlands, eroded_badlands) with cheats enabled for exact coordinates.

Java vs Bedrock

Hot coast, desert edge, striped orange mesas: find one and you leave with a stack of terracotta colors, bonus gold and a surface mineshaft's chests.

Versions: Badlands generation is the same on Java and Bedrock. Current as of 26.x.

Frequently asked questions

Where do badlands biomes spawn in Minecraft?

In the highest-temperature zones at low erosion, typically bordering deserts near oceans and stony shores. Near cooler zones they touch savannas, forests and plains. They range from plateaus to peaks up to Y=256.

Why do people look for the badlands?

Three reasons: unlimited terracotta in seven natural colors, bonus gold ore up to Y=255 at much higher rates, and mineshafts that generate exposed on the surface with dark oak wood.

What is the difference between badlands, wooded badlands and eroded badlands?

Regular badlands are terracotta mesas with red sand. Wooded badlands add oak trees and coarse dirt on the upper layers. Eroded badlands (the bryce variant) carve the terracotta into tall spikes and hoodoos.