How to find an ancient city in Minecraft

Whatever you do, make sure you do it quietly or the Warden will stop you from getting precious loot.

Screengrab via Mojang | Remix by Kacee Fay

The arrival of Minecraft’s the Wild Update brings many exciting additions to the game, with the bulk of the update focusing on the new Deep Dark biome. At the core of the Deep Dark biome are the ancient city structures containing precious loot and mysterious Minecraft lore lying within.

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Ancient cities are structures in Minecraft that feature a series of rundown, palace-like shaped formations, various colors of wool carpet scattered about, lanterns and candles as the only light source, and remnants of a deceased place that may have previously been home to life. At the center of every ancient city sits a large, portal-like structure that also resembles the shape of the Warden’s head.

Screengrab via Mojang

Certain loot, including items like the swift sneak enchantment book, disc fragments, Sculk blocks, and echo shards that can only be found within the chests located around ancient cities. In addition to loot that is exclusive to the structures, the chests scattered across ancient cities also boast rare treasures that existed before the Wild Update, such as enchanted golden apples, name tags, leads, and enchanted books.

Where to find ancient cities in Minecraft

The ancient city structure can only be found within the Deep Dark biome. The Deep Dark biome can be found anywhere below y level zero, which means players seeking an ancient city will need to venture deep underground to find one.

The best way to find the Deep Dark biome and ancient cities, is to find a cave or series of caves that lead deep underground. The ancient cities that lie within the Deep Dark can usually be found connected to existing caves.

Screengrab via Mojang | Remix by Kacee Fay

Players will oftentimes find that Sculk blocks and especially Sculk veins will bleed into the surrounding cave tunnels. If you see any trace of Sculk blocks, simply follow them until you find yourself in a Deep Dark Biome, then wander around until you find the only structure that can exist in the biome, which is ancient cities. Ancient cities and the Deep Dark are also the home of the formidable Warden, so any players seeking the loot within should do so quietly and quickly.

Related: Mojang unveils new trailer teasing the arrival of Minecraft’s 1.19 Wild Update

The Deep Dark biome is fairly rare, which makes the ancient city structures rare as well. This means players hoping to naturally find the structure must simply be patient and hope they are lucky.

Alternatively, players can also use the “/locate” command to find the structure instantly. To do this players should press T to open chat then type “/locate structure minecraft:ancient_city” and either teleport directly there by clicking on the coordinates, or navigate there by using the debug menu to follow the coordinates.

Author
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Kacee Fay
Staff Writer at Dot Esports covering new releases and a wide array of topics including Minecraft, Disney Dreamlight Valley, Phasmophobia, general gaming, streaming, and more. She has been avidly writing and gaming her whole life and now spends her time combining the two. Kacee graduated from San Diego State University in 2021 with a Bachelor’s Degree in English and a Certificate in Creative Editing and Publishing. She then joined Dot Esports as a Freelance Writer in 2022 before transitioning to a Staff Writer in 2023. In her spare time, she enjoys buying more books than she can read, gaming alone or with friends, drinking too much tea, attending concerts, fangirling over movies and television, listening to music, and spending time with her family, friends, and pets, who are the most important parts of her world.