What is the Beneath?

The Beneath is a network of very deep caves, directly below the Overworld.
This dimension is balanced around mid to late Metallurgy Age.

It's more dangerous than the surface, so we recommend a metal shield and good nutrition as a minimum, but some armor, a water flask, cooling clothes, and a ranged weapon will help a lot.

It differs from the usual Nether experience in a few ways:

• You enter it differently
• Water doesn't instantly evaporate
• A bed works like normal
• Traveling Beneath is no faster than in the Overworld
  
  In return, you can find resources like Kaolin Clay, Graphite, richer and more exposed ore veins, as well as other treasures.

• Entering and Exiting
• Biomes
• Top Layer
• Middle Layer
• Bottom Layer
• Geology
• More Rocks

Entering the Beneath

To travel Beneath, simply find some overworld Bedrock at Y=-58.

To get down to the bedrock, you'll have to either break through the Hornfels layer with Explosives or Steel+ Tools, find a cave with the more brittle Keratophyre, or drain a lava lake.

Note that Primitive Explosives are not strong enough to break Hornfels.

You will appear in the Beneath at the same X and Z coordinates, with a 3x2x3 space opened for you to place some supports if necessary.

A temporary cloud will be provided if there is no floor, as well as short Slow Falling and Fire Protection effects to prevent any accidents.

Exiting the Beneath

To return, just get up to ceiling bedrock in the same fashion.

It's a good idea to make a note of where you entered, so you can return to the same place in the overworld whenever you're ready to leave.

You will be returned at Y=-54, above any potential lava lakes, inside another 3x2x3 area. The middle two blocks for the player will always be replaced by air, so you may want to avoid placing ladders there.

Biomes

The Beneath has a full set of new biomes to explore!

The Beneath can be split into three vertical layers, each with their own set of biomes. Each one is more hot and dangerous as you descend!

Layers

Top Layer

• Salt Caves
• Muggy Bog
• Decaying Caverns
• Webbed Lair
  Middle Layer
• Tar Pools
• Geothermal Springs
• Thorny Grove
• Lush Hollow
  Bottom Layer
• Ash Forest
• Lava Floes
• Basalt Deltas

Salt Caves

Muggy Bog

Decaying Caverns

Webbed Lair

Tar Pools

Geothermal Springs

Thorny Grove

Lush Hollow

Ash Forest

Lava Floes

Basalt Deltas

Geology

Like the overworld, the Beneath has its own set of rock layers. At the very top, you may find Phyllite, Schist, Gneiss, Marble, Slate, Migmatite, and Travertine.

Underneath those, you may find Schist, Gneiss, Tuff, Migmatite, Travertine, and Diorite.

Below that is either Gabbro, Granite, Tuff, Diorite, or Migmatite.

At the lower levels of the Beneath, there is a layer of exclusively Migmatite, followed by Pyroxenite at the very bottom.

Some other stones can be found in other locations.

Small lava pools are surrounded by Pyroxenite, while Calcite can be found in spring water pools.

Keratophyre can be found all over the Beneath in large, tall columns.

The Geothermal Springs biome contains the exclusive Aragonite and Glauberite, along with more Calcite.

This biome also houses Huge Quartz crystals, which can either be broken with a pickaxe to obtain Smoky Quartz gems of varying quality, or broken with a Gem Saw to obtain the transparent block itself.

Gilsonite, a very dark building block and ingredient of Asphalt, can be found in large quantities in the Tar Pools biome, along with Sandstone.

Finally, Halite can be found in massive quantities in the Salt Caves biome, which can be mined for Halite and Sylvite ores.