How to find an Ancient City in Minecraft

Bring your adventuring gear.

Image via Mojang

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There are multiple secrets to find in your Minecraft world, so long as you’re willing to brave the adventure and seek them out. Following Minecraft’s 1.19 update, you can now find an Ancient City while exploring your game. They show up in a specific section of your world, and going out of your way to finding them is extremely important if you want to secure the loot inside them. Here’s what you need to know about how to find an Ancient City in Minecraft.

Where to find Ancient Cities

The only way to find an Ancient City in Minecraft is to search the Deep Dark biome, which was also added to Minecraft’s 1.19 update. You can find the Deep Dark by searching underneath continental and mountainous areas of the game, between Y=-1 and Y=-64. These locations are considered the darkest depths of your world, so we recommend bringing plenty of lights and torches with you, protective equipment, and a worthwhile pickax to dig through the earth and find them.

You’ll know you’ve discovered an Ancient City by searching through any location at Y=-52. An Ancient City will typically spawn at this level, which means if you find a Deep Dark biome at a higher location, you need to dig further down to find an Ancient City. These locations contain deepslate and basalt. You will have the chance to find soul sand, soul fire, and soul lanterns while exploring these locations. They also include chests with echo shards, disc fragments, and Swift Sneak enchantments.

Screenshot by DoubleXP

We recommend being careful while exploring these locations. Take your time to delve into the dark, and always be on the lookout for Wardens as they can spawn in the Deep Dark with a Sculk Shrieker.