# Carvers > Carve caves and canyons into Minecraft terrain with Kore - probability, height, tunnel count and radius multipliers. Updated 2026-10-26. Canonical: https://kore.ayfri.com/docs/data-driven/worldgen/carvers Carvers hollow out terrain after the noise and surface steps but before features, which is why caves never destroy trees or ores placed later. A carver pairs a carver type with its configuration and lives in `data//worldgen/carver/.json`. Biomes reference carvers by ID. Two carver types exist: - `cave` - Winding tunnel systems, sometimes branching out of a circular room. - `canyon` - Deep ravines with steep walls. A carver replaces every block it carves with air, or with water or lava below the aquifer fluid level. It never carves the bottom layer or the top 7 blocks of the generation range. References: [Carver definition](https://minecraft.wiki/w/Carver_definition), [Carver](https://minecraft.wiki/w/Carver), misode's [carver generator](https://misode.github.io/worldgen/carver/) ## Declaring Carvers `carvers` opens a scope where `cave` and `canyon` each create exactly one file. Every field has a neutral default, so a carver only needs the values that differ from it. ```kotlin fun DataPack.myCarvers() { carvers { cave("my_cave") { count = veryBiasedToBottom(0, 14) floorLevel = uniform(-1.0f, -0.4f) horizontalRadiusMultiplier = uniform(0.7f, 1.4f) probability = 0.15 roomVerticalRadiusMultiplier = uniform(0.1f, 0.9f) thickness = trapezoid(0.0f, 3.0f, 1.0f) verticalRadiusMultiplier = uniform(0.8f, 1.3f) weirdThicknessBias = true y = uniformHeightProvider(aboveBottom(8), absolute(180)) } } } ``` ```json { "type": "minecraft:cave", "count": { "type": "minecraft:very_biased_to_bottom", "min_inclusive": 0, "max_inclusive": 14 }, "floor_level": { "type": "minecraft:uniform", "min_inclusive": -1.0, "max_exclusive": -0.4 }, "horizontal_radius_multiplier": { "type": "minecraft:uniform", "min_inclusive": 0.7, "max_exclusive": 1.4 }, "probability": 0.15, "room_vertical_radius_multiplier": { "type": "minecraft:uniform", "min_inclusive": 0.1, "max_exclusive": 0.9 }, "thickness": { "type": "minecraft:trapezoid", "min": 0.0, "max": 3.0, "plateau": 1.0 }, "vertical_radius_multiplier": { "type": "minecraft:uniform", "min_inclusive": 0.8, "max_exclusive": 1.3 }, "weird_thickness_bias": true, "y": { "type": "minecraft:uniform", "min_inclusive": { "above_bottom": 8 }, "max_inclusive": { "absolute": 180 } } } ``` Each function returns a `CarverArgument`, which is what a biome's `carvers` list takes. To capture that argument outside a `carvers` block, call the same function on `carversBuilder`: ```kotlin val cave = carversBuilder.cave("my_cave") { probability = 0.15 } ``` ## Shared Configuration | Field | Type | Default | Vanilla | Meaning | |---------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------| | `probability` | `Double` in `[0, 1]` | `0.1` | cave `0.15`, canyon `0.01` | Chance for each chunk to attempt a carve. Higher carves more chunks. | | `y` | [Height provider](https://kore.ayfri.com/docs/data-driven/worldgen/providers.md#vertical-anchors) | `constantAbsolute(0)` | cave `uniformHeightProvider(aboveBottom(8), absolute(180))`, canyon `uniformHeightProvider(absolute(10), absolute(67))` | Height at which the carve starts. | ## Cave | Field | Type | Default | Vanilla | Meaning | |---------------------------------|---------------------------------|----------------|-----------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | `count` | Int provider, `0` or more | `1` | `veryBiasedToBottom(0, 14)` | Tunnels per chunk attempt. Higher means more tunnels. | | `floorLevel` | Float provider in `[-1.0, 1.0]` | `0f` | `uniform(-1f, -0.4f)` | `0.0` carves ellipsoids, `1.0` carves upper half-ellipsoids for a flat floor. | | `horizontalRadiusMultiplier` | Float provider | `1f` | `uniform(0.7f, 1.4f)` | Horizontal scaling of tunnels. Higher means wider tunnels, not longer ones. | | `roomVerticalRadiusMultiplier` | Float provider | `1f` | `uniform(0.1f, 0.9f)` | Vertical scaling of the rooms tunnels start from. Higher means taller rooms. | | `startVerticalRadiusMultiplier` | Float provider, optional | `null` | absent | Vertical scaling of the first tunnel segment. Vanilla uses `1.0` when absent. | | `thickness` | Float provider, `0` or more | `1f` | `trapezoid(0f, 3f, 1f)` | Breadth and height of tunnels. Higher means bigger tunnels. | | `verticalRadiusMultiplier` | Float provider | `1f` | `uniform(0.8f, 1.3f)` | Vertical scaling of tunnels. Higher means taller tunnels, not longer ones. | | `weirdThicknessBias` | `Boolean`, optional | `null` | `true` | Irregular tunnel thickness. Vanilla uses `false` when absent. | Every int and float provider field also has a setter taking a plain number, `count(4)` or `thickness(2f)`, next to the assignment (`count = veryBiasedToBottom(0, 14)`) and the provider setter (`floorLevel(uniform(-1f, -0.4f))`). The Vanilla column is the `cave` carver. `cave_extra_underground` is the same, except for a `probability` of `0.07` and a `y` of `uniformHeightProvider(aboveBottom(8), absolute(47))`. ## Canyon `canyon` adds a vertical rotation and a `shape` object, configured with the `shape` block: | Field | Type | Default | Vanilla | Meaning | |-------------------------------|-------------------------|----------------|----------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------| | `verticalRotation` | Float provider | `0f` | `uniform(-0.125f, 0.125f)` | Vertical rotation applied as the canyon extends. | | `distanceFactor` | Float provider | `1f` | `uniform(0.75f, 1f)` | Length of the canyon. Higher is longer. | | `horizontalRadiusFactor` | Float provider | `1f` | `uniform(0.75f, 1f)` | Breadth of the canyon. Higher is wider. | | `thickness` | Float provider | `1f` | `trapezoid(0f, 6f, 2f)` | Breadth and height of the canyon. Higher means a bigger canyon. | | `verticalRadiusCenterFactor` | `Float` | `0f` | `0f` | Extra depth based on horizontal distance from the canyon center. | | `verticalRadiusDefaultFactor` | `Float` | `1f` | `1f` | Depth of the canyon. Higher is deeper. | | `widthSmoothness` | `Int`, greater than `0` | `1` | `3` | Smoothing of the walls along the vertical axis. | | `yScale` | Float provider | `1f` | `3f` | Vertical scaling of the carved shape. Higher stretches it vertically. | All fields except `verticalRotation` belong to `shape`. ```kotlin canyon("my_canyon") { probability = 0.02 verticalRotation = clampedNormal(0.0f, 1.0f, -1.0f, 1.0f) y(aboveBottom(65)) shape { thickness = trapezoid(0.0f, 6.0f, 2.0f) widthSmoothness = 3 yScale(3f) } } ``` ```json { "type": "minecraft:canyon", "probability": 0.02, "shape": { "distance_factor": 1.0, "horizontal_radius_factor": 1.0, "thickness": { "type": "minecraft:trapezoid", "min": 0.0, "max": 6.0, "plateau": 2.0 }, "vertical_radius_center_factor": 0.0, "vertical_radius_default_factor": 1.0, "width_smoothness": 3, "y_scale": 3.0 }, "vertical_rotation": { "type": "minecraft:clamped_normal", "mean": 0.0, "deviation": 1.0, "min": -1.0, "max": 1.0 }, "y": { "above_bottom": 65 } } ``` ## Using Carvers In A Biome A biome's `carvers` field is a flat list of carver IDs, or a single carver tag: ```kotlin val cave = carversBuilder.cave("highlands_cave") { probability = 0.08 } biome("highlands") { carvers(cave, Carvers.CANYON) } ``` ```json { "carvers": ["mypack:highlands_cave", "minecraft:canyon"] } ``` `Carvers` lists the vanilla carvers: `CANYON`, `CAVE`, `CAVE_EXTRA_UNDERGROUND` and `NETHER_CAVE`. The field also accepts a `CarverTagArgument`, built with `carverTag`. ## See Also - [Biomes](https://kore.ayfri.com/docs/data-driven/worldgen/biomes.md) - listing the carvers a biome runs - [Noise & Terrain](https://kore.ayfri.com/docs/data-driven/worldgen/noise.md) - the terrain shape the carvers cut through - [Providers](https://kore.ayfri.com/docs/data-driven/worldgen/providers.md) - height, int and float providers - [World Generation](https://kore.ayfri.com/docs/data-driven/worldgen.md) - overview of the worldgen system