How to Find Lush Caves in Minecraft

Guide Java Bedrock

Quick answer: Look for a naturally generated azalea tree with oak logs and azalea leaves: its rooted dirt leads down toward lush caves. Search beneath humid terrain such as dark forests, jungles and old growth taigas. Player-grown azalea trees do not indicate a cave.

What you need

A pickaxe and torches
A water bucket for axolotls (optional)

Step by step

Look for a naturally generated azalea tree: it has oak logs and azalea leaves, sometimes with flowers. Its roots lead toward a lush cave. Trees grown by players can appear anywhere and are not a reliable clue.
Search humid terrain: lush caves commonly generate beneath dark forests, jungles, old growth taigas, wooded badlands and taigas within frozen biomes. They do not generate beneath ordinary forests, plains or savannas, but can sometimes occur beneath oceans and deserts.
Follow rooted dirt below a natural azalea tree. Dig a staircase or check the blocks beneath you before descending so you do not fall into the cave. Rooted dirt continues down toward the lush cave, with hanging roots near its end.
Or go caving: explore any large cave system under humid terrain and watch for moss blocks, cave vines with glow berries, and clay-lined pools - that is the lush cave palette.
Confirm the biome with its vegetation: moss, cave vines with glow berries, spore blossoms and dripleaf around clay-lined pools. Underground light alone is not enough to identify a lush cave.
Look for axolotls in the water: they spawn only in lush caves, with clay less than five blocks below the spawning space. Tropical fish can inhabit the pools, and glow squid can also spawn in the biome.
Explore for moss blocks, azalea bushes, spore blossoms, glow berries, clay and dripleaf plants. These are useful resources to look for throughout the cave.
Use a water bucket to collect an axolotl. Axolotls released after being carried in a bucket do not despawn.
Stay safe: glow berries light much of the biome, but dark pockets still spawn hostile mobs - light the place as you explore.

Java vs Bedrock

Lush caves and natural azalea-tree clues exist in both editions. Mob spawn tables differ between Java and Bedrock, so do not assume every mob has the same spawn weight or group size.

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

Frequently asked questions

How do you find a lush cave in Minecraft?

Search for naturally generated azalea trees and follow their rooted dirt downward carefully. Azalea trees can also generate inside caves. A player-grown tree does not prove that a lush cave lies underneath.

What biomes are above lush caves?

They commonly form beneath dark forests, jungles, old growth taigas, wooded badlands and taigas within frozen biomes. Ordinary forests, plains and savannas are not humid enough. Lush caves can sometimes occur beneath oceans and deserts.

What spawns in lush caves?

Axolotls (only in lush caves), tropical fish and glow squid in the clay pools, plus bats and the usual hostile mobs in dark areas. Glow berry vines provide natural light.

What can you get from lush caves?

Look for moss blocks, azalea and flowering azalea bushes, spore blossoms, cave vines with glow berries, dripleaf, rooted dirt and clay. You can also collect axolotls with a water bucket.