What Is the No Caves Datapack and Why You Might Want It
Minecraft’s underground has always been a sprawling network of dark tunnels, sudden drops, and echoing ambience. For some players, that labyrinth is the heart of the game. For others, it’s a constant source of frustration, especially when you’re trying to build massive foundations, carve out a subterranean base, or simply avoid mobs spawning in every hidden corner. The No Caves datapack offers a radical solution: it removes caves entirely from world generation while preserving everything else you love about the underground.
This isn’t about stripping the depths down to solid stone. Ancient Cities, Strongholds, Mineshafts, Amethyst Geodes, lava pools, and all ore distributions remain untouched. You’ll still stumble across the Deep Dark, hear the scuttling of Silverfish in Stronghold halls, and find exposed Diamond ore near lava pockets. The only difference is the absence of those winding, interconnected cave systems that usually riddle the terrain. The result is a cleaner, more deliberate mining experience where every block you break is a conscious choice, not a stumble into a pre-made void.
How the Datapack Transforms Your World
When you apply No Caves to a new or existing world (though it’s best used during initial generation), the terrain generator skips the cave-carving phase. Surface terrain, biomes, and elevation remain exactly as they should be. The Nether and End are unaffected. Underground, you’ll still encounter water and lava at their usual levels, but they won’t flow through miles of open caverns. Mining becomes a strategic endeavor: you dig shafts, branch mine, or blast tunnels exactly where you need them, without the constant interruption of intersecting cave mouths.
Builders in particular find this datapack liberating. Large-scale excavation for underground cities, vaults, or redstone machinery no longer requires patching up a thousand random holes. Every hollow space you create is yours by design. For server admins, it can also reduce entity lag, since fewer dark, open spaces mean fewer mob spawns in uncontrolled areas. And if you’re running a custom challenge map or a hardcore survival with limited resources, the absence of caves forces you to engage more deeply with the mining mechanics.
Sister Versions for Fine-Tuned Control
One size doesn’t fit all, and the creator of No Caves understands that. Alongside the main pack, several sister versions let you remove only specific cave types. For example, you might want to keep the classic, narrow tunnels from older versions but eliminate the massive, sprawling noise caves introduced in the Caves & Cliffs update. Or vice versa. These variants are perfect if you enjoy a particular era’s underground style or need compatibility with other worldgen mods that rely on certain cave shapes.
Here’s a quick breakdown of what you can customize:
- Full Cave Removal: All natural caves, both old-style and new, are gone.
- Old Cave Removal: Only the pre-1.18 winding tunnels and ravines disappear; noise caves remain.
- New Cave Removal: Cheese caves, spaghetti caves, and aquifer systems are stripped out, leaving only legacy generation.
All versions now fully support the Large Biomes and Amplified world presets, so you can pair dramatic surface terrain with a solid underground without worrying about chunk errors or broken generation. This compatibility opens up even more creative possibilities, like building an amplified mountain range with a completely clean interior for a dwarven hold.
Compatibility and Load Order Essentials
Because No Caves fundamentally alters world generation, it needs to be placed correctly in your datapack list. The golden rule is simple: No Caves must be the top-most datapack. It should appear higher than any other worldgen-altering pack in the list. This ensures its cave-removal logic overrides whatever comes after. If you’re using mods like Tectonic or Terralith, which reshape terrain and sometimes add their own cave variants, manual compatibility might be required. In many cases, the datapack handles this automatically, but the outcome depends on how those mods implement their caves.
The creator has expressed plans to add official support for popular terrain mods, so keep an eye on updates. For now, if you’re combining No Caves with other datapacks, test the generation in a creative world first. Look for stray cave openings at the surface or unexpected hollows underground. A quick fly-through in spectator mode will reveal any conflicts. While you’re tweaking your setup, consider that installing and managing such datapacks becomes much smoother with a modern launcher. For instance, many players find that using the foxygame.net launcher streamlines the entire process, letting you download and activate datapacks right from its built-in menu without digging through folders.
Installation Steps and First Launch
Getting No Caves running is straightforward, even if you’re new to datapacks. Follow these steps:
- Download the datapack ZIP file that matches your desired version (full removal or a specific variant).
- Open your Minecraft world folder. You can do this from the world selection screen by clicking “Edit,” then “Open World Folder.”
- Navigate to the “datapacks” folder. If it doesn’t exist, create it.
- Place the downloaded ZIP file directly into this folder. Do not unzip it.
- Launch the world. If you’re already in the world, run the /reload command to activate the datapack.
After activation, new chunks will generate without caves. Existing chunks remain unchanged, so for the full effect, start a fresh world or explore unexplored territory. You can verify the datapack is active by typing /datapack list enabled in the chat; you should see “No Caves” listed at the top.
Unexpected Benefits for Gameplay and Performance
Beyond the obvious building advantages, removing caves subtly shifts the survival experience. Nighttime on the surface feels more isolated, because mobs can’t retreat into nearby cave mouths at dawn. You’ll encounter more surface-level combat. Mining becomes a meditative, rhythmic activity, and the thrill of finding a Stronghold or Ancient City is amplified because you can’t just stumble into it through a cave wall—you have to dig purposefully.
On the technical side, server owners report noticeable performance improvements. The game no longer has to calculate mob spawns in thousands of dark cave blocks, nor does it need to render complex underground geometry for every chunk. If you’re running a large multiplayer server with a focus on building, this datapack can be a game-changer for TPS stability.
Final Thoughts
The No Caves datapack is a deceptively simple tool that reshapes Minecraft’s core loop. It doesn’t add flashy new items or biomes, but it hands control of the underground back to the player. Whether you’re a builder tired of filling in gaping chasms, a server admin chasing performance gains, or a mapmaker crafting a custom experience, the ability to erase caves while keeping every other underground feature intact is invaluable. With its sister variants, Amplified support, and clear load-order rules, it slots neatly into almost any modded or vanilla setup. Just remember to place it at the top of your datapack list, and you’ll be digging through solid stone with a renewed sense of purpose.