End Highlands

The End Highlands biome is a common biome you will run into often, generated in the End dimension and classed as an end biome. Its climate is a fixed, weatherless temperature with no rain or snow, so the End Highlands gets no precipitation at all and stays permanently dry. In technical terms the game tracks it with a temperature value of 0.5 and the biome ID minecraft:end_highlands.

Its defining terrain features are large end islands, chorus plants, end cities and end ships. The primary outer End biome with End Cities containing valuable loot. End Ships have elytra and dragon heads. Shulkers guard End Cities and drop shulker shells for shulker boxes.

The End Highlands biome was added to Minecraft in 1.9 and is still generated in version 1.21. As an End biome the End Highlands floats in the void beneath a black sky with no weather of any kind.

The End Highlands biome generates in the End, reached only after activating an End Portal in a Stronghold. It commonly borders End Midlands, End Barrens and Small End Islands, so finding any of those is a good sign you are close.

It lies on the large outer End islands reached by throwing an Ender Pearl through an End Gateway after the dragon is dead.

If cheats or operator permissions are available, the fastest method is the command “/locate biome minecraft:end_highlands”, which points you to the nearest End Highlands and gives its coordinates. Without commands you have to explore for the End Highlands on foot: because it is common, ordinary travel through End will usually reveal one before long.

The hostile life of the End Highlands biome is led by Enderman and Shulker. The Enderman teleports, picks up blocks and turns hostile if you look directly at its head, while the Shulker hides in a shell and fires homing projectiles that lift the player into the air.

The blocks that give the End Highlands biome its character include End Stone, Chorus Plant, Chorus Flower, Purpur Block, End Stone Bricks and End Rod. Within the End Highlands, End Stone, Chorus Plant, Chorus Flower and Purpur Block are the most useful to gather early, whether for building, crafting or decoration.

The End Highlands biome can generate an End City, a towering purpur structure guarded by shulkers and filled with diamond and enchanted-gear chests and an End Ship, a floating vessel carrying a pair of Elytra wings and a dragon head.

With End City and End Ship all able to appear in the End Highlands biome, it is well worth exploring thoroughly, as each of these 2 structures offers its own loot and challenges.