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BiomeBannerDesert
Desert heat (demo)

The heat distortion effect added in 1.3.3

The Desert is a sandy biome. Each map will generally contain at least one Desert area. The main Desert, present in every world, will be larger and will house the Underground Desert biome beneath. Pyramids can rarely appear in Desert biomes. Pools of water may rarely appear in the desert, which take on a sandy yellow (on Old Chinese version Old Chinese and tModLoader 1 tModLoader Legacy) or turquoise (on PC version PC, Console version Console, Mobile version Mobile, and tModLoader version tModLoader) color.

On the PC version PC version, Console version Console version, Mobile version Mobile version, and tModLoader version tModLoader version, the Oasis mini biome can be found inside the Desert, which includes palm trees and a big pool of water in the middle.

On the PC version PC version, Console version Console version, Mobile version Mobile version, and tModLoader version tModLoader version, the main desert has a 33.33*1/3 (33.33%) chance of containing some kind of entrance to the Underground Desert below. These entrances come in four varieties: Chambers, Anthill, Larva Hole, and Pit.[1]If spawning this way, some of the Anthills or Larva Holes may just contain Antlion Eggs and not lead to the Underground Desert. On the Old Chinese version Old Chinese version and tModLoader 1 tModLoader 1.3-Legacy version, the main desert will always have an Pit-type entrance.

An area is considered a Desert biome if there at least 1500 Sand Blocks[2], causing the water and background to change, but Desert plants and enemies can spawn on even a single block of sand. Deserts are overridden by most other biomes, including the Ocean. Rain will occur in Deserts just as in any other surface biome. On the PC version PC version, Console version Console version, Mobile version Mobile version, tModLoader version tModLoader version, and tModLoader 1 tModLoader 1.3-Legacy version of Terraria, Sandstorms may also occur periodically /when wind speed is over 30 mph , which cause special enemies to spawn as well as pushing the player according to the direction of the wind.

During Hardmode, the increased spread of the Corruption/Crimson and Hallow is likely to eventually convert any normal Deserts. Corruption/Crimson Deserts spawned upon world creation may also be turned into Hallow ones if they are inside the world part that is instantly converted at the beginning of Hardmode. All variations will be similar to their main biomes (e.g. The Corruption or The Hallow): the music theme is the same, the enemies are the same (except for Mummy variants and sandstorm enemies), and the background is just slightly different. The sand will be replaced by ebonsand, crimsand, or pearlsand. Although their color will change, cacti still drop Cactus when cut, and Waterleaf are also able to grow in a Hallowed Desert.

  • Corrupted Desert

    Corrupted Desert

  • Crimsoned Desert

    Crimson Desert

  • Hallowed Desert

    Hallowed Desert

  • Oasis Desert

    Oasis Desert

Contents[]

See Underground Desert, Sandstorm, Pyramid, and Oasis for additional content related to the Desert.

Entrances to the Underground Desert[]

PC versionConsole versionMobile versionOld Chinese versiontModLoader versiontModLoader 1
PC/Console/Mobile/Old Chinese/tModLoader/tModLoader 1.3-Legacy-Only Content: This section's information applies only to the PC, Console, Mobile, Old Chinese, tModLoader, and tModLoader Legacy versions of Terraria.

On the PC version PC version, Console version Console version, Mobile version Mobile version, and tModLoader version tModLoader version, there is a 33.33*1/3 (33.33%) chance that the main desert will generate with one of four types of structures that lead towards the Underground Desert. They are referred to as: Chambers, Anthill, Larva Hole and Pit:

  • The Chambers consist of of a zigzagging downward tunnel with one or two small rooms connected to the corners.[3]
  • Pits are large funnels generated at the center of the desert.[4]
  • Anthills are upward cones with narrow downward holes in the center. For this entrance type, 2-3 Anthills will generate across the surface of the main desert.[5]
  • Larva Holes are downward funnels with narrow holes in the center. For this entrance type, 2-3 Larva Holes will generate across the surface of the main desert.[6]

On the Old Chinese version Old Chinese version and tModLoader 1 tModLoader 1.3-Legacy version, there is a 100% chance that the main desert will generate with a large Pit-type entrance.

NPC Happiness []

DesertDesert
Loved byn/a
Disliked by
Hated by

For more information, see NPC happiness.

Trivia[]

  • The Desert is the least popular biome for housing (discounting invalid housing biomes like the Corruption and the Crimson). A total of 5 NPCs either hate or dislike living in it, more than any other biome.
  • The Desert, along with the Glowing Mushroom biome, are the only surface biomes to not have a biome-exclusive Boss.
  • The Desert is the only biome not to contain any special fishing catches.
  • According to the Bestiary entry for the Sand Shark, a saltwater river ran through the Desert in ancient times.

Gallery[]

Backgrounds[]

This content is transcluded from Biome backgrounds § Desert.

History[]

  • Desktop 1.2.3: Fixed a bug where Crimsand deserts were not making the water show up red.
  • Desktop 1.2:
    • Water in deserts is now yellow.
    • Now has its specific music.
  • Desktop 1.1:
    • Cacti no longer damage the player.
    • Now has own specific background.
  • Desktop 1.0.6:
    • Cacti no longer cause knockback when damaging players and no longer destroy blocks above when growing.
    • Desert spawn slightly farther away from the initial spawn point.
  • Desktop 1.0.2: Sand no longer spawns within a certain distance of the spawn location. This removes the chance of spawning in a desert with no wood to use.

References[]

  1. Information taken from the PC version PC 1.4.0.5 source code, method Place() in Terraria.GameContent.Biomes.DesertBiome.cs. There may be inaccuracies, as the current PC version PC version is 1.4.4.9.
  2. Information taken from the PC version PC 1.4.0.5 source code, method ExportTileCountsToMain(), property EnoughTilesForDesert, and field DesertTileThreshold in Terraria.SceneMetrics.cs There may be inaccuracies, as the current PC version PC version is 1.4.4.9.
  3. Information taken from the PC version PC 1.4.0.5 source code, methods Place() and PlaceAt() in Terraria.GameContent.Biomes.Desert.ChambersEntrance.cs There may be inaccuracies, as the current PC version PC version is 1.4.4.9.
  4. Information taken from the PC version PC 1.4.0.5 source code, methods Place() and PlaceAt() in Terraria.GameContent.Biomes.Desert.PitEntrance.cs There may be inaccuracies, as the current PC version PC version is 1.4.4.9.
  5. Information taken from the PC version PC 1.4.0.5 source code, methods Place() and PlaceAt() in Terraria.GameContent.Biomes.Desert.AnthillEntrance.cs There may be inaccuracies, as the current PC version PC version is 1.4.4.9.
  6. Information taken from the PC version PC 1.4.0.5 source code, methods Place() and PlaceAt() in Terraria.GameContent.Biomes.Desert.LarvaHoleEntrance.cs There may be inaccuracies, as the current PC version PC version is 1.4.4.9.
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