How to find Aether Cave biomes in Terraria

The Aethereal caves await.

Image via Re-logic

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Among the many biomes, you can find in Terraria, the Aether biome is unique in appearance and utility. This rare biome is home to pools of Shimmer, the transmutative liquid that has been added in Patch 1.4.4 of Terraria, also known as the Labor of Love patch. Aether can be recognized by the way it turns its surrounding blocks to pitch black, with only a starry glimmer around the dark outlines of the surface, making it look like something out in space. While it may seem random, there is a method to look for the Aether biome in Terraria, and here’s what you need to keep in mind to find it.

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Where to find the Aether in Terraria

While all world seeds in Terraria are unique, there are certain rules in how each biome is spawned. You can leverage those rules to find the biomes you’re looking for, especially for underground exploration.

Aether Caves can also be only found underground, and here’s what to look out for. The Aether is always located on the Jungle biome side of your Terraria world, more precisely, at the Jungle side’s outer fifth. It is also usually located below the Ocean, which gives you a rough idea of the direction and location. Next, let’s look at the depth, which is the more tricky part. That’s because Aether can be found in the Cavern layer between 100 and 2000 blocks in depth, depending on the generated world’s size. However, a good rule of thumb is to look slightly above where the lava layers begin to form.

Screenshot by Gamepur

You’ll recognize the Aether Cavern biome when the surrounding blocks start to shift to black, soon after which you will see a pool of Shimmer, usually at the center of the cave. Shimmer can be used to transmute items and creatures, but beware that enemies who wander inside can become invisible, so it’s best to be on guard.