Altitude

Altitude is a measurement of vertical distance, or distance along the Y-axis.

Altitude is often expressed as the bottom face of a block layer, where the lowest block that can be placed is at layer -64 and has a Y-coordinate of -64. For instance, sea level is at layer 62, while clouds appear at layer 191.

This is not to be confused with altitude when otherwise expressed as the top face of a block layer, where the lowest block that can be placed is at layer -63 and has a Y-coordinate of -63. For example, sea level is at layer 63, while clouds appear at layer 192. This is akin to calling the ground level story the "first floor" (top face of a block layer), rather than the "ground floor" (bottom face of a block layer). The player can press to see the Y-coordinate of the top face of a block they are on top of.‌^{[Java Edition only]}

Altitude expressed as the bottom face of a block layer is most useful for identifying the position of blocks, such as when using /fill to replace block(s). Expressing altitude as the top face of a block layer is more useful for identifying the position of entities, such as when using /tp to teleport or /summon to spawn an entity/entities. For instance, the topmost block of water in an ocean biome has a Y-coordinate of 62; in a frozen ocean biome, ice replaces water at sea level, and the lowest height where terrestrial mobs can spawn is at layer 63.

Features in the landscape of the Overworld are found at different altitudes, as shown in the graph below for Java Edition 1.20.2.

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Note that these charts utilize the logarithmic scale, which means a slight difference in the Y-coordinate represents a large change in the relative frequency of a block type. Also note that normal and deepslate ore variants have been combined in the chart. Interactive versions of these graphs containing all blocks can be found here.

A similar graph, showing the distribution of blocks unique to the Nether (Java Edition 1.20.2):

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A similar graph, showing the distribution of blocks unique to the End (Java Edition 1.20.2):

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Issues relating to "Altitude" are maintained on the bug tracker. Issues should be reported and viewed there.

• The highest possible altitude the player can legitimately climb to is Y=320, although explosions, elytra launchers, piston slime block bounces, Riptide tridents, and wind burst launchers can all propel the player far beyond this limit.
• In Java Edition, mushrooms can appear on the Nether's bedrock ceiling.^[5]
• Block generation and player construction below and above the build limits can be achieved only through modifying the dimension properties, or mods, such as the Cubic Chunks mod.
• The reasoning behind Custom worlds having height limits of ±2032 rather than ±2048 (a binary number notated as 2¹¹) is because the lighting system still applies 16 blocks above and below the world, but the Y-coordinates of blocks (which are also used in the lighting calculation) are stored internally using only 12 bits. Therefore, having limits of ±2048 would prevent the lighting system from functioning correctly.^[4][6]
• When custom dimensions were added in Bedrock Edition, their limit was always from 512 to -512 larger than any existing dimension in Minecraft.

• 👁 Bedrock floor generating as low as Y = -2048 in a Custom world with decreased min_y.
  
  Bedrock floor generating as low as Y = -2048 in a Custom world with decreased min_y.
• 👁 Lowest placeable temporary block in a Custom world, at which point the game was unplayable.
  
  Lowest placeable temporary block in a Custom world, at which point the game was unplayable.

• Chunk
• Coordinates
• Void
• Amplified