The day has finally arrived: Minecraft's Caves & Cliffs Part II update has come to both Java and Bedrock Editions of the game, bringing new world generation and some rather lovely new caves.

We've covered the way the new terrain generation works already when we got our mitts on the Snapshot earlier this year, but after several more tweaks, patches, fixes and updates, the official release of Caves & Cliffs Part II is a much more stable experience.

To download the new update on your Switch, go to the Minecraft icon on your home screen, press the + button to open the Options, go to "Software Update" and select "Via the Internet". This will check for the update, although it may have downloaded it automatically already.

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As for updating your existing worlds, Mojang have provided instructions:

How do I update my world?
On Bedrock Edition, once you have updated to 1.18 and go to load up an existing world, you will be shown a prompt and asked if you would like to make a backup copy of that world. If you do want to make a backup, be sure to hit the prompt and then click through to update your world and start playing.

Sadly, some of the features initially planned for Caves & Cliffs Part II — like the Deep Dark biome, the Warden, and archaeology — have been pushed back to the next update, 1.19, called "The Wild Update".

Here's the changelog for Bedrock Edition (that's the one on Switch):

  • Increased the world height and depth, adding 50% more vertical space to build and explore
  • New cave generation to explore below your existing worlds
  • New cave and mountain biomes like Lush Caves and Jagged Peaks
  • Drastically updated and improved biome, cave, and ore generation
  • Added several new music tracks to enjoy during gameplay
  • Fixed over 70 bugs, issues, and parity changes

If you have an existing world, Realm, or server, and want to know how these changes affect your world, check out Minecraft's handy FAQ on world updating.

Have you upgraded your world — or started a new one? Let us know your thoughts so far!