Last weekend, we were treated to the yearly Minecraft Live event where developers revealed what is going to be arriving in Minecraft with the next update. As you probably know by now, the 1.17 update is called the "Caves and Cliffs" update, and will forever change how cave generation works in Minecraft. Although the specific number of cave variants coming to the game wasn't stated, (one developer said there would be "a ton"), we do know that at least one more type will be added to 1.17. "Mesh" caves were recently revealed in a tweet by a Minecraft developer, bringing the total number of known cave variants in 1.17 to four.
The Caves and Cliffs reveal stunned and excited viewers with remarkable views of the new cave biomes coming to Minecraft. From the wide-open grand caverns with massive subterranean lakes, to the introduction of the Warden, there was quite a lot to take in. However, there's still some room for speculation — in part, because the update isn't coming until the summer of 2021.
So when Minecraft game developer and designer Henrik Kniber tweeted out a picture of him working on the update, fans couldn't help but notice a weird new structure on his computer screen.
Kniberg was working at his desk when the picture was snapped, and one of his computer screens was open on Minecraft. However, it was clear that he was working with a developer version, as a large cave could be seen in the foreground. Further back in the image was a strange structure that looked almost man-made. Kniberg soon explained that these are new, naturally occurring structures called "mesh caves."
With between eight and ten months until the release of 1.17, there is plenty of time to learn what these mesh caves could be like, as well as what might be found in them. For now, though, we are left to wonder why they generate at right angles, and what exactly makes them "mesh" caves. That being said, if we look at real-life examples of caves, they look similar to lava tubes — long, straight corridors created by lava flows from dead volcanoes. Of course, they could also be man-made or created by some new mob, or a million other things. We'll be keeping an eye out to see what they're all about.