BBOX 36.1080, -115.1800, 36.1200, -115.1650

The real world,
block by block.

Generate Minecraft Java Edition worlds from real-world geography. Elevation, roads, buildings, water, vegetation — all from open data. CLI-first early access, full GUI coming soon.

EARLY ACCESS
terravox
$ python main.py --bbox "36.1,-115.2,36.2,-115.1" --name "Las Vegas"
11 Land Cover Types
~10m Elevation Resolution
4 Tree Species
1:1 Meter-to-Block Scale

What goes into a Terravox world

LiDAR Elevation

USGS 3DEP at ~10m resolution for the US. AWS Terrain Tiles as global fallback. Real 1:1 meter-to-block height scaling with slope-aware surface materials.

Land Cover

11 types from OSM tags with randomized surface variation. Forest floors get podzol patches, deserts get mixed sand, and industrial zones get concrete — not uniform single-block surfaces.

Water Carving

Rivers get carved channels with parabolic cross-sections. Lakes get bowl-shaped basins. Graduated shoreline transitions with sand beaches and sugarcane at the water's edge.

Trees + Vegetation

Oak, birch, spruce, and dark oak trees placed with natural clustering — groves, not random scatter. Density-varied ground cover with biome-appropriate flowers, grass, and ferns.

Buildings

OSM footprints with glass curtain walls for commercial, brick for residential. Multi-story from tags, foundation fill, roof parapets, and interior ceiling lights.

Roads + Infrastructure

Black asphalt roads with sidewalks, yellow center lines, and proper widths from lane data. Plus parking lots, street lights, fences, walls, and guard rails.

Three inputs, one world

01

Pick coordinates

Define a bounding box with lat/lng coordinates. Any rectangle on Earth. Urban, rural, mountain, desert — whatever you want.

--bbox "36.1,-115.2,36.2,-115.1"
02

Generate

Terravox fetches elevation data and OpenStreetMap features, classifies land cover, carves water channels, computes slope, then places terrain, roads, buildings, trees, and vegetation.

python main.py --bbox "..." --name "My City"
03

Play

Drop the output folder into your Minecraft saves directory. Load it up in Java Edition 1.20+. Walk through the real world, block by block.

%appdata%\.minecraft\saves\

Powered by open data

ELEVATION

USGS 3DEP

LiDAR-derived elevation for the continental US at ~10 meter resolution. The same data the government uses for flood mapping and infrastructure planning.

1/3 arc-second | ImageServer API | GeoTIFF
FALLBACK

AWS Terrain Tiles

Global elevation coverage via Amazon's open terrain dataset. Terrarium-encoded PNG tiles at zoom level 14 for anywhere 3DEP doesn't reach.

Global | Zoom 14 | Terrarium PNG
FEATURES

OpenStreetMap

Every road, building, park, waterway, and fence comes from OSM's crowdsourced geodata via the Overpass API. 3-server failover for reliability.

Overpass QL | 3-server failover | Real-time

What Terravox generates

Feature
Basic
Terravox
Land classification
Binary: "urban" or grass
11 types from OSM tags
Surface materials
Uniform single block
Randomized patches with 3-5 variants per type
Water bodies
Flat, 1 block deep
Carved basins, variable depth, sand shorelines
Elevation source
AWS tiles only
USGS 3DEP LiDAR (US) + AWS fallback
Steep terrain
Same grass on cliffs
Exposed stone, gravel, andesite on slopes
Roads
Gray slab, one width
Black asphalt, lane-based width, sidewalks, street lights
Trees
Random scatter
Natural clustering with density variation per biome
Desert terrain
Green grass in the Mojave
Sand, dead bushes, bare rock

What's coming next

127 features across 10 phases. Terravox is in early access — here's where it's headed.

01

Road & Infrastructure

In Progress
  • Terrain-following road surfaces
  • Crosswalks & traffic signals
  • Bridge & tunnel detection
  • Roundabouts & cul-de-sacs
10 features
02

Water Overhaul

Planned
  • Ocean & coastline support
  • Waterfalls & variable depth
  • Swimming pools & fountains
  • Docks, piers & dams
10 features
03

Building Quality

Planned
  • Gabled & hipped roofs
  • Entrances, balconies & awnings
  • Interior rooms & stairwells
  • Building color from OSM tags
16 features
04

Transportation

Planned
  • Railway tracks & stations
  • Subway entrances & tram lines
  • Airports & runways
  • Bike lanes & bus stops
11 features
05

Urban Details

Planned
  • Benches, trash cans & hydrants
  • Power lines & cell towers
  • Street signs & monuments
  • Manhole covers & storm drains
15 features
06

Sports & Recreation

Planned
  • Soccer, tennis & basketball courts
  • Stadiums & playgrounds
  • Golf courses & skate parks
  • Cemeteries & amphitheaters
9 features
07

Natural World

Planned
  • More tree species & size variation
  • Moss, vines & mushrooms
  • Orchards, vineyards & crops
  • Snow at elevation & sand dunes
17 features
08

Data Sources

Planned
  • NLCD land cover & tree canopy
  • Climate-based biome assignment
  • Bathymetry for ocean floors
  • Satellite imagery classification
11 features
09

Performance

Planned
  • Multi-threaded generation
  • Data caching & EXE build
  • Config files & custom palettes
  • World preview & batch mode
15 features
10

GUI

Planned
  • Interactive map with bbox picker
  • Settings panel & feature toggles
  • Real-time generation progress
  • Dark theme matching website
13 features

Common questions

What Minecraft version does Terravox target?

Java Edition 1.20 and above. Worlds are generated with DataVersion 3465 and use the modern chunk format with 24 sections (-64 to 319 Y range).

Does it work outside the US?

Yes. Terravox uses USGS 3DEP for high-resolution US elevation, but automatically falls back to AWS Terrain Tiles for any location on Earth. OSM data is global.

How large of an area can I generate?

There's no hard limit, but areas over 2km x 2km (~4 million blocks) will take longer and use more memory. A typical city block area (1km x 1km) generates in a few minutes.

What data does Terravox need to download?

Elevation data from USGS or AWS (a few MB), and OSM feature data from the Overpass API (varies by area density). All data is fetched automatically — no manual downloads.

Does it support Bedrock Edition?

Not currently. Terravox generates Anvil region files (.mca) which are specific to Java Edition. Bedrock support may come in the future.

What dependencies does it need?

Python 3.10+ and three packages: requests, numpy, and Pillow. That's it. No Java, no Gradle, no C++ compilers.

Any place. Any scale.

Pure Python. Three dependencies. Real-world data in, Minecraft world out.

Python NumPy Pillow Requests
Java Edition 1.20+ Anvil Format NBT Writer