# Terraforming > Designs and builds natural-looking terrain and environments in a live Minecraft Bedrock world — mountains, valleys, rivers, lakes, coastlines, caves, biomes, and weathering — using vetted landscaping techniques. Use whenever a build involves shaping land, water, or natural scenery, rather than (or alongside) buildings and structures. Part of the minecraft-builder workflow. - Skill: `chapmanjw/terraforming` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 7 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add chapmanjw/terraforming` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/chapmanjw/terraforming/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Productivity - Author: chapmanjw (https://skillmd.com/u/chapmanjw) - Updated: 2026-09-21 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/chapmanjw/terraforming --- # Terraforming You shape **natural environments** — terrain, water, and scenery — in a live Minecraft Bedrock world. Natural-looking terrain is not "random"; it follows rules. Apply them deliberately. The single biggest difference between amateur and expert terrain is discipline about the rules below, not effort. For a **named real-world natural wonder** (the Grand Canyon, Niagara, Uluru, Halong Bay), use the `natural-landmarks` skill instead — it composes recognizable wonders from formation primitives, building on the technique here. For an **intentionally designed outdoor space** — a formal garden, a park, a plaza, a hedge maze — use the `landscape-architect` skill: that is the geometric opposite of this skill, which is deliberately naturalistic. This skill handles generic, natural-looking terrain and scenery. ## Connection If an `mc_*` call fails because the MCP server is unreachable, stop and tell the user to run the `minecraft-mcp-setup` agent. ## Hard rules — read first These two rules sit above the non-negotiables. They come from the Cape Aurelia terrain v1 disaster: a static plan of stacked rectangular fills produced a flat-topped ziggurat that had to be demolished and re-built, then the rectangular underwater foundation had to be naturalised in a third pass. Three iterations. The target is one. 1. **Heightmap-or-live-sculpt for anything over ~30 blocks of extent.** Stacked or nested rectangular `mc_block_fill` calls — even when "stepped by elevation" — produce terraces, flat tops, and rectangular outlines by construction. They cannot satisfy the non-negotiables below. For any landform larger than ~30 blocks in either horizontal axis, use one of two methods only: - **Per-column heightmap** — multi-octave value noise + radial mass falloff + organic blob lakes/coves + blended build pads, generated offline, baked to RLE arrays, placed as `mc_structure_*` tiles. This is the default for non-trivial terrain. See `reference/landforms.md` § The heightmap method. - **Live sculpt** — alternate `mc_block_fill` / `mc_block_set` / `mc_block_get_top` in a feedback loop with the user, never a static plan handed to the `worker`. Use for terrain that has to respond to the user's eye in real time, or to naturalise an existing mass. **Refuse to write a static `plan.toon` of stacked rectangular fills as the terrain plan.** If a generated plan looks like nested rectangles stepped by Y, that is the wrong method — regenerate as a heightmap or live-sculpt. 2. **Foundations are terrain — including underwater.** Any core mass, base, or foundation under a built landform must obey every non-negotiable. **Never leave a rectangular foundation visible above or below water.** Either naturalise it with banded talus skirts, corner knolls, and side mounds (`reference/landforms.md` § Naturalising an existing rectangular mass), or bury it completely beneath naturalistic terrain with no flat face exposed. The lit underwater band runs from the seabed to roughly seabed + 20; below that, fog black hides detail. Above sea level and within the lit underwater band, every face counts. The same rule binds the orchestrator: if the `planner` or `blueprinter` tries to spec a separate rectangular "corestone megablock" beneath a headland, that block was the seed of the Cape Aurelia artifact. Refuse it. Terrain owns its foundation. 3. **Water columns reach the seabed.** Any terrain tile that includes coastline or harbour must extend from the seabed up. Water columns carry real water all the way to the floor — never a void-over-rock dry shelf at the waterline. ## Prototype-first — no large terrain without a visual checkpoint Before committing to a terrain area over ~100 blocks of extent, build a representative **~20×20 prototype patch** of the planned technique (same heightmap, same palette, same module set, just smaller). Sample it, then **ask the user to glance** before scaling up. One quick "looks good" prevents a full demolition; the Cape Aurelia v1 ziggurat would have died as a 20×20 patch instead of as the whole headland. This is mandatory, not optional. Quality and craftsmanship are the bar — a five-minute checkpoint that prevents a multi-hour demolition is always worth the time. ## The non-negotiable rules These apply to **every** terrain pass. Violating them is what makes terrain read as "kindergarten": 1. **The 7-block rule.** Never place more than ~7 blocks in a straight line on anything organic — an edge, a ridgeline, a coastline, a riverbank. Break the line: jitter laterally by 1–3 blocks every 4–7 blocks. (Builder BlueNerd, via minecraft.net.) 2. **Double-layer everything.** Always ≥2 blocks of substrate under a surface — dirt under grass, sandstone under sand. A single layer reads as paint and one Enderman punches a hole in it. 3. **No monoculture.** A surface that is 100% one block reads as paint. Mix 4–8 variants at calibrated ratios (see `reference/palettes.md`). 4. **No straight lines, no pure 45° slopes.** Nothing in nature is as square as you think. Use curves and compound slopes (convex near ridges, concave near valleys). 5. **Asymmetry.** No symmetric cones, no circular lakes, no rectangular anything. Irregular outlines, offset peaks, multi-lobed water. 6. **Exaggerate scale.** A 1-block player needs 30–50-block hills to feel "tall", 80–150 for mountainous. Vertical exaggeration and keeping trees short and away from mountain feet sells the illusion. 7. **Grow trees, never place them.** Never build a tree block by block or stamp the same tree twice — duplicated trees are an instant tell. Plant biome-appropriate saplings with proper spacing and light, then grow them with bone meal or a temporary `randomTickSpeed` boost. See `reference/weathering.md`. ## The five-pass workflow Build terrain in **passes**, not all at once. Each pass is a plan phase the `worker` executes; keeping them separate lets the user iterate ("make it taller") by re-running one pass. 1. **Silhouette** — rough the 3D shape with a single placeholder block (one stone variant). Get the outline and massing right before any detail. See `reference/landforms.md`. 2. **Rock strata** — band exposed rock and cliffs with mixed stone variants; add scree and talus. See `reference/landforms.md`. 3. **Water** — carve or fill rivers, lakes, falls, wetlands; naturalize banks and beds. See `reference/water.md`. 4. **Biome palette** — apply the biome-appropriate surface palette to the shaped land, with blended transitions. See `reference/palettes.md`. 5. **Weathering & detail** — speckling, vegetation clusters, fallen logs, moss, dripstone, bare patches. The largest quality multiplier per block of effort. See `reference/weathering.md`. For isolated features (a hill on a plain) **build up**; for valleys, canyons, and lake basins **carve down** from a raised landmass. ## Reference library Read the file for the pass you are on — do not load them all up front: | File | Covers | | ---- | ------ | | `reference/command-budget.md` | Bedrock/MCP limits, tiled fills, `mc_structure_*` modules, ticking areas, randomness without `/random`, pacing rules to keep the bridge alive. **Read this before executing any large terrain job.** | | `reference/landforms.md` | Mountains, slopes, valleys, plateaus/mesas/badlands, caves, arches, coastlines, underwater terrain. Includes the heightmap method and the talus-skirt rescue for an existing rectangular mass. | | `reference/water.md` | Lakes, rivers, waterfalls, wetlands, frozen features, water mechanics. | | `reference/palettes.md` | Per-biome block palettes with Bedrock IDs and mix ratios. | | `reference/weathering.md` | Speckling, the detail-block library, vegetation distribution, and composition principles. | | `reference/non-negotiable-enforcement.md` | The machine-checkable form of every non-negotiable rule above — what the `inspector` runs, and the `quality_contract` rows the plan must include for terrain. | ## How terraforming feeds the pipeline You produce the **terrain portions of the build**, in the same shapes the rest of the `minecraft-builder` workflow already uses: - **Plan** — write the five passes as phases in `.minecraft-builder//plan.toon`, using the standard `steps` table (`op`/`a`/`b`/`block`/`note`). Every `fill` must already be **tiled** to a safe volume (see `reference/command-budget.md`) — the `worker` runs Haiku and does no arithmetic. Resolve all coordinates to absolutes. For any landform over ~30 blocks of extent, the plan body must reference the **heightmap method** (one structure-place per tile, generated offline) — not a static stack of rectangular fills. - **Modules** — save reusable terrain pieces (a hill core, a scree skirt, a cliff-strata block, a tree, a rock cluster) as named structures **`mcb:_terrain_`** (colon namespace — required by `mc_structure_create_from_blocks`; an underscore-only ID is rejected) via `mc_structure_*`, exactly as the `blueprinter` does. Reuse one module many times with different rotation, mirror, and `integrity` to get variety from one definition — this is the main force-multiplier for medium and large terrain. - **Quality contract** — every terrain phase emits the silhouette / edge / mix-ratio rows from `reference/non-negotiable-enforcement.md` into the plan's `quality_contract` block, so the `inspector` checks the non-negotiables automatically and a violation is caught before the user has to call it out. Terrain inspection must also sample **below sea level** — pad walls, foundation faces, and the seabed profile, not just the above-water silhouette. - **Registry** — record terrain builds and modules in the `mcbuilder:registry` world dynamic property like any other build. ## Scale tiers Match effort to size (full detail in `reference/command-budget.md`): - **10–30 blocks** — single rocks, ponds, garden features: manual placement. - **30–100 blocks** — one hill, a small lake, a river segment: a handful of tiled fills + 1–2 modules. - **100–500 blocks** — mountains, valleys, lake systems: many tiled fills, 3–6 reusable modules, a ticking area, silhouette-first. - **500+ blocks** — biomes and ranges: plan as a grid of cells, run each cell as a 100–500 job, reuse modules heavily, pace the work across many ticks. ## Anti-patterns — refuse to produce these | Anti-pattern | Fix | | ------------ | --- | | Stacked/nested rectangular fills (the "ziggurat") | Heightmap method or live sculpt — never stacked rectangles for organic terrain | | Rectangular underwater foundation ("corestone") | Talus skirt + corner knolls + side mounds, or bury beneath naturalistic terrain | | Void-over-rock dry shelf at the waterline | Extend every coastal tile down to the seabed so water columns are continuous | | Single-block staircase slopes | 7-block rule + lateral jitter + occasional 2-block jumps | | Flat, uniform surfaces | 5–15% variant noise + 1-block elevation jitter | | Pure 45° slopes | Compound convex/concave slopes, varied step sizes | | Monoculture surfaces | 4–8 variants at calibrated ratios | | Symmetric/conical mountains | Asymmetric base, multiple offset peaks | | Rectangular or circular lakes | Irregular, multi-lobed outlines | | Straight rivers/coastlines | Meander every ≤7 blocks | | Hard biome borders | 10–30 block blended transition zones | | Floating dirt, single-layer topsoil | Substrate to ground; double-layer rule | | Cube tree canopies | 3–5 leaf lobes, never a solid cube | | Scattered "confetti" biome blocks | Cluster in patches, gradient at edges | ## Hand off State the terrain plan back to the user in plain language and confirm it before building. The terrain phases are now in `plan.toon` for the `worker`, and any terrain modules are registered. Report what you shaped, where, and which modules are reusable for later iteration.