Formations: Nether Temples and Arenas

Formations: Nether Temples and Arenas is the group of surface structures that the Formations Nether mod adds to the Nether dimension. The mod adds 21 structure types, built on the Formations structure framework, and places them in the Nether's existing biomes. This page covers the Checkerboard Temple, the Blackstone Castle, the Small Fire Arena, the Small Lava Arena and the Small Lava Shrine. Some of these structures hold hostile mobs in spawners, and the arenas are the places where a player meets wither skeletons and piglin brutes in this group.

The mod adds no blocks, items, recipes or custom mobs. Every structure is built from vanilla blocks, and its only special behaviour comes from the spawners, loot chests and barrels placed inside it.

Generation

All 21 structures sit in three minecraft:random_spread structure sets, and all of them place only in the Nether dimension. The common and rare sets are the two that contain the structures on this page. Spacing is given in chunks, using the values in effect on this server:

• Common set: spacing 9 chunks, separation 3 chunks, 18 members with equal weight (1/18 chance per placement). The two arenas and the shrine belong to this set.
• Rare set: spacing 28 chunks, separation 19 chunks, 2 members with equal weight (1/2 chance per placement). The Checkerboard Temple and the Blackstone Castle are the only members.

Separation is the minimum distance between two structures of the same set. Because the rare set has a large spacing, the temple and the castle are the least common structures in the mod. A 26 km² survey of Nether terrain found none of the structures on this page, so a player should expect to search a wide area to find one.

Each structure can spawn only in the Nether biomes listed for it. The Blackstone Castle can spawn in 16 biomes, including Nether Wastes, Soul Sand Valley, Crimson Forest, Warped Forest, Basalt Deltas and Blackstone Basin. The Checkerboard Temple is limited to 9 biomes, including Nether Wastes, Soul Sand Valley, Basalt Deltas, Crystalline Chasm and Erupting Inferno. The Small Lava Shrine is limited to 4 biomes, including Nether Wastes, Crystalline Chasm and Erupting Inferno. The full biome list for each structure is in the infobox and in the generated tables.

These structures use the beard-thin terrain adaptation, so their foundations blend into the surrounding ground. Most of the wooden blocks in them are swapped for the wood type of the biome they generate in. For example, crimson wood appears in Crimson Forest and warped wood in Warped Forest. Stone, blackstone and other non-wood blocks are not swapped.

Layout

Each structure is built from one prefabricated template, or from a small set of templates that the game picks at random.

Checkerboard Temple

The Checkerboard Temple is a single template in the rare set. It has no spawners, so it contains no hostile mob spawns. It can appear in 9 biomes, including Nether Wastes, Soul Sand Valley, Basalt Deltas, Crystalline Chasm, Erupting Inferno, Withered Abyss, Black Ice Glaciers and Blackstone Basin.

Blackstone Castle

The Blackstone Castle is the other rare-set structure. It uses two templates and contains a loot chest table, but no spawners. It can spawn in 16 biomes, which makes it the most widely distributed of the rare-set structures.

Small Fire Arena

The Small Fire Arena is a common-set structure with one template and one loot table. It can appear in 9 biomes, including Nether Wastes, Soul Sand Valley, Basalt Deltas, Crystalline Chasm and Erupting Inferno. Its layout includes a wither skeleton spawner.

Small Lava Arena

The Small Lava Arena is a common-set structure that can appear in 16 biomes. It uses three templates and includes a piglin brute spawner. Respawn anchors placed in the arena are given a random charge between 0 and 3. The arena has its own loot table.

Small Lava Shrine

The Small Lava Shrine is a common-set structure that can appear in 4 biomes: Nether Wastes, Crystalline Chasm, Erupting Inferno and one further biome. Its template count matches the Small Lava Arena's, and its layout places piglin brutes. The shrine has its own loot table.

Other structures in the set

The other 16 structures of the mod's Nether set are not covered on this page. They include houses, campsites, pillars, pedestals, a respawn anchor altar, a parkour challenge and a basalt hut. Several of them can spawn in the same biomes as the arenas.

Inhabitants

The structures on this page contain two types of hostile mob, both placed by spawners:

• Wither skeletons are placed by the Small Fire Arena's spawner. Their attacks inflict the wither effect.
• Piglin brutes are placed by the Small Lava Arena's spawner, and the Small Lava Shrine places them too.

The Checkerboard Temple and the Blackstone Castle have no spawners and no mobs placed in them.

Loot

Chests and barrels in these structures draw from loot tables in the formationsnether namespace. The Small Fire Arena, the Small Lava Arena, the Small Lava Shrine and the Blackstone Castle each have a loot table recorded for them, and the Checkerboard Temple has none. The generated table below lists the items and chances for each table.

Basalt Hut formationsnether:basalt_hut

Biomes (3): Basalt Deltas, Erupting Inferno, Blackstone Basin

Blackstone Castle formationsnether:blackstone_castle

Biomes (16): Nether Wastes, Soul Sand Valley, Crimson Forest, Warped Forest, Basalt Deltas, Black Ice Glaciers, Crystalline Chasm, Erupting Inferno, Undergrowth, Visceral Heap, Withered Abyss, Mycotoxic Undergrowth, Blackstone Basin, Infernal Holt, Glistering Meadow, Redstone Abyss (Removed)

Blackstone Remnant formationsnether:blackstone_remnant

Biomes (16): Nether Wastes, Soul Sand Valley, Crimson Forest, Warped Forest, Basalt Deltas, Black Ice Glaciers, Crystalline Chasm, Erupting Inferno, Undergrowth, Visceral Heap, Withered Abyss, Mycotoxic Undergrowth, Blackstone Basin, Infernal Holt, Glistering Meadow, Redstone Abyss (Removed)

Campsite formationsnether:campsite

Biomes (7): Crimson Forest, Warped Forest, Undergrowth, Visceral Heap, Glistering Meadow, Infernal Holt, Mycotoxic Undergrowth

Checkerboard Temple formationsnether:checkerboard_temple

Biomes (9): Nether Wastes, Soul Sand Valley, Basalt Deltas, Crystalline Chasm, Erupting Inferno, Withered Abyss, Black Ice Glaciers, Blackstone Basin, Redstone Abyss (Removed)

Large House formationsnether:large_house

Biomes (7): Crimson Forest, Warped Forest, Undergrowth, Visceral Heap, Glistering Meadow, Infernal Holt, Mycotoxic Undergrowth

Chest loot: formationsnether:large_house/chest

Item	Chance	Avg. stack
Arcane Essence	73.7%	4.2
Saddle	49.3%	1.3
Golden Sword	46.7%	1.2
Golden Apple	46.0%	1.3
Ghast Tear	45.0%	1.3
Crimson Fungus	44.0%	1.2
Wither Rose	44.0%	1.1
Magma Cream	43.0%	1.2
Warped Fungus on a Stick	43.0%	1.2
Nether Wart	42.0%	1.9
Warped Fungus	41.3%	1.2
Blaze Powder	40.7%	1.9
Scroll	29.3%	1.0
Air	29.0%	0.0
Blazing Fishing Rod	18.7%	1.0
Bomb	16.0%	2.0
Blank Runestone	13.7%	1.0
Iron Tier Upgrade	7.0%	1.0
Gold Tier Upgrade	6.0%	1.0
Blue Bomb	4.3%	1.0
Fireward Ring	1.0%	1.0
Frostward Ring	1.0%	1.0
Ring of Expediency	0.7%	1.0
Amulet of Concentration	0.7%	1.0
Conjurer's Talisman	0.7%	1.0
Emerald Stoneplate Ring	0.7%	1.0
Heavy Chain	0.7%	1.0
Poisonward Ring	0.7%	1.0
Ring of Recovery	0.3%	1.0

Nether Wart Field formationsnether:nether_wart_field

Biomes (7): Nether Wastes, Soul Sand Valley, Crystalline Chasm, Erupting Inferno, Withered Abyss, Black Ice Glaciers, Redstone Abyss (Removed)

Parkour Challenge formationsnether:parkour_challenge

Biomes (4): Nether Wastes, Crystalline Chasm, Erupting Inferno, Redstone Abyss (Removed)

Respawn Anchor Altar formationsnether:respawn_anchor_altar

Biomes (16): Nether Wastes, Soul Sand Valley, Crimson Forest, Warped Forest, Basalt Deltas, Black Ice Glaciers, Crystalline Chasm, Erupting Inferno, Undergrowth, Visceral Heap, Withered Abyss, Mycotoxic Undergrowth, Blackstone Basin, Infernal Holt, Glistering Meadow, Redstone Abyss (Removed)

Small Fire Arena formationsnether:small_fire_arena

Biomes (9): Nether Wastes, Soul Sand Valley, Basalt Deltas, Crystalline Chasm, Erupting Inferno, Withered Abyss, Black Ice Glaciers, Blackstone Basin, Redstone Abyss (Removed)

Mobs placed in the structure: Wither Skeleton

Small Lava Arena formationsnether:small_lava_arena

Biomes (16): Nether Wastes, Soul Sand Valley, Crimson Forest, Warped Forest, Basalt Deltas, Black Ice Glaciers, Crystalline Chasm, Erupting Inferno, Undergrowth, Visceral Heap, Withered Abyss, Mycotoxic Undergrowth, Blackstone Basin, Infernal Holt, Glistering Meadow, Redstone Abyss (Removed)

Mobs placed in the structure: Piglin Brute

Small Lava Shrine formationsnether:small_lava_shrine

Biomes (4): Nether Wastes, Crystalline Chasm, Erupting Inferno, Redstone Abyss (Removed)

Mobs placed in the structure: Piglin Brute

Tips

Check the arena for a spawner before you enter. The Small Fire Arena's wither skeletons inflict the wither effect, so fight them at range or with a shield where possible. The Small Lava Arena and the Small Lava Shrine both contain piglin brutes, which are melee mobs, so bring a sword and keep your distance from the lava pool.