World Preview
With World Preview, a player can inspect the biomes of a seed on a Preview tab in the Singleplayer menu before creating the world.
What it does
When the Preview tab opens, a random seed is picked and a biome map of the overworld is generated. Structures are hidden and no heightmap is built until they are switched on in the Settings screen, reached through the button in the top-left corner of the Preview tab. Persistent seed storage keeps the chosen seed between sessions.
Dragging across the map moves along the x and z axes, and each move loads terrain data in a set order: biomes first, then structures, the heightmap and adjacent y-layers when those are enabled. Scrolling changes the y-level instead of zooming, so cave biomes can be inspected; non-cave biomes extend through the full world height. The mod is open source under the Apache License 2.0, runs on the client alone, and needs Fabric API on Fabric. Files are published for Fabric, Forge and Quilt across 8 release versions, 1.20 – 1.21.
Key features
Biome map preview
Generates a biome map for a random or chosen seed before any world is created.
Structure toggles
When structure sampling is enabled, individual structure types can be shown or hidden on the preview.
Heightmap view
Lets the preview switch between a biome display and a colorized terrain height display when height sampling is enabled.
Y-layer intersections
Shows blocks on the current y-layer, with the layer one step below drawn in a lighter color.
In-game preview
Experimental support opens the preview inside an existing single-player world.
Gallery
Compatibility
Latest build for each game version and loader.
Only full game releases are shown. This mod publishes no snapshot builds.
Requirements
Dependencies declared by the latest file for each loader.
Required 1
Use cases
Choosing a seed
Players check the biomes and structures around a seed before committing to it for a new survival or creative world.
Finding cave biomes
Scrolling through y-levels reveals cave biomes that a surface-only map would not show.
Who it’s for: Players who want to look at a seed's terrain before creating a world, and server owners who test seeds on a single-player client.
How it compares
TFCGenViewer is a Forge and NeoForge mod for 1.20.1 – 1.21.1 that runs on both client and server, released under the MIT License, and is open source. Seed Viewer is a client-side only mod for Fabric and NeoForge, covering 1.21.1 – 26.2, under the MIT License, and is not open source. World Preview runs on the client alone, supports Fabric, Forge and Quilt, and is open source under the Apache License 2.0.
| Mod | Loaders | Game versions | Environment | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Preview | Fabric, Forge and Quilt | 1.20 – 1.21 | Client-side only | 2024-09-05 |
| TFCGenViewer | Forge and NeoForge | 1.20.1 – 1.21.1 | Client and server | 2026-08-19 |
| Seed Viewer | Fabric and NeoForge | 1.21.1 – 26.2 | Client-side only | 2026-07-17 |
Questions
Does World Preview need Fabric API?
Why does scrolling not zoom the preview?
Why is the y-intersections view completely white or black?
In the catalog
World Preview is one of 8,515 World generation mods on ModsFinder, and one of 4,027 World generation mods for Fabric. 15,770 mods support Minecraft 1.21.
More from caeruleusDraconis
Similar mods
What the author says
World Preview is a mod for visualizing Minecraft world seeds before they are generated. World Preview adds a new Preview tab to the Singleplayer menu.
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/world-preview
- Owner
- caeruleusDraconis
- Published
- 2023-07-20
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2024-09-05
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15