Best Minecraft Ancient City Seeds for Bedrock & Java (December 2023)

Minecraft Ancient Cities are rare, elusive structures containing many hidden structures, plenty of Skulk, and the terrifying Warden. After exploring many seeds and uncovering numerous Ancient Cities, we've come up with this list of the best Ancient City seeds in both Java and Bedrock editions.

From clusters of Ancient Cities to Ancient Cities hidden beneath overworld structures and interesting caves, this list contains exciting seeds for brave Minecraft explorers.

Best Minecraft Java Ancient City Seeds

If you're a spelunker with a wild side, you'll enjoy uncovering every one of these Ancient Cities! Whichever you decide to enter, make sure you're prepared to face the Warden on his own turf.

14 Cities within 1,500 blocks.

Seed: -9120244995390914005

If you want to experience Ancient Cities in a variety of ways, this seed is for you. There is a 1,500 x 1,500 block area near Spawn that is filled with them. While none are close enough to merge, tunnels could easily be built between all of them. Creative players could enjoy rebuilding the cities and constructing tunnels to act as highways beneath them in order to create one giant country beneath the Overworld.

Civilizations Past and Present

Seed: -3357859088329589424

This world is filled with remnants of the ancient civilizations that used to inhabit it. The most grand of these is the Ancient City. There is also a mineshaft, which juts out of the cavern wall surrounding the Ancient City and implies that the city's residents were miners. Additionally, Trail Ruins containing relics of another society can be found near the world's beginning.

Slice of the Earth

Seed: 2851726316935960465

At the base of this snowy mountain, a sliver has been taken out of the earth, revealing a deep cavern. At the surface, you initially only see the remnants of a Lush Cave. Venturing inward, however, reveals first a mineshaft and then a large Deep Dark biome with an Ancient City! It's a straight shot down to the Ancient City from the top of the cavern—this makes it possible for players to dig up more of the earth in order to reveal the Ancient City to everyone living above ground.

Ancient City Beneath Spawn

Seed: 4664851906503284504

This seed spawns players within 50 blocks of an Ancient City! While resources are sparse, especially with the closest village being over 1,000 blocks away, this seed is best for those who just want to dive into exploring an Ancient City with little to no preparation.

Cherry Grove Ancient City with Outpost

Seed: -6731578495346077883

This seed spawns you in a forest just 300 blocks away from a Cherry Grove, an Ancient City, and a Pillager Outpost. With multiple Dripstone caves and a mineshaft on the way down to the Ancient City, there is tons of loot available for players to uncover. While villagers are farther away from the Ancient City, there are still two within 1,000 blocks.

Mournful Metropolis

Seed: -8835422761617239676

Two ancient cities sit eerily close to one another, hinting at a past connection. Surrounding them are some small biomes with a lot of character! You spawn right next to a village, so this is a great get-up-and-go seed for instantly getting a lot of advancements!

Mansion City

Seed: 27989392284679975

What's more formidable than a Woodland Mansion packed with Pillagers? One on top of an Ancient City of course! This unique seed has a Mansion directly above the Ancient City. Take over the Mansion and kick out the Pillagers in order to tunnel directly down to it.

Related: 15 Luckiest Minecraft Seeds (Java and Bedrock)

Dripstone Dungeon

Seed: 3972586366582016976

This Ancient City directly intersects with a huge Dripstone cave, giving it a menacing and dark feel that adds to the city's already formidable atmosphere. What's more, there are plenty of Skulk-filled caves and lush locations on the way as you dig down toward this dangerous locale. Starting in an icy wasteland, you'll quickly be able to escape and find a way to this dark place!

Taiga of Terror

Seed: 4502343212214991445

This seed featured a huge Dripstone cavern jutting out of an endless Taiga, and continuing deep into the ground until you hit the Ancient City. What's crazy about this City is how much Skulk there is. It creeps up for almost 100 blocks and the city is absolutely covered in the stuff. If you're looking for a large supply of the stuff, then look no further than this world!

Ancient Azaleas

Seed: 2414075141698161170

Spawning in a forest with naturally grown Azalea trees can only mean one thing: A very shallow Lush Cave! After digging just a few dozen blocks down from your starting point, you'll find some incredible Lush Caves. With the Ancient City around 3000 blocks away and so many fascinating caves on the way, this is a really beautiful spawn.

Best Minecraft Bedrock Ancient City Seeds

For players on Bedrock/Windows 1.19 edition, you may need to turn on Wild Update Experiments in the Options menu to make sure an Ancient City is generated. Some of these seeds were generated with the Wild Update Experiments option activated.

Quadruple-City Mountain

Seed: -4850116730494539458

This Mountain is well worth the trek due to the numerous Ancient Cities beneath it. If you want to prepare yourself before jumping in, there are a few villages and a Pillager Outpost in the Badlands Desert near Spawn. If you want to jump straight into the cities, head towards them while gathering wood and food and dive on in.

Ancient Dwarven City

Seed: 468893351111893428

A large, snowy mountain looms in the distance, filled with visible caverns and Dripstone Caves. Venturing into the mountain reveals the remnants of a dwarf-like ancient civilization! A mineshaft hangs above the Ancient City, serving as a sign that the civilization likely relied heavily on mining. Exploring the city will give you answers on what happened to them to make them leave their home behind.

Ancestors' Savannah

Seed: -2546237744985555990

A wide Savannah covers the Overworld, with pockets of Stony Peaks throughout it. From the Overworld, the land looks desolate. Only one singular Pillager Outpost can be seen across the entirety of the plateau. Beneath the ground, however, the world teems with remnants of life long ago. There are three Ancient Cities to be explored, as well as a series of mineshafts. It is impossible to tell if they left descendants behind or if these remnants are the last remaining pieces of their civilizations.

Ancient City Beneath Cherry Grove

Seed: -5180491134649022265

This seed spawns you just a short walk away from a large cherry blossom biome resting on top of a massive cave system containing an Ancient City. The cave system's entrance lies on the snowy part of the hill, providing players with a direct path to the Ancient City. The path to the city is dotted with mob spawners, an amethyst geode, and plenty of ores. For those wanting to be fully prepared before heading into the cave, there is a Savannah Village just a few hundred blocks away that can be used to stock up on goods, enchantments, and more!

Ancient City next to Spawn

Seed: 8080406849999409967

This seed has an Ancient City just a stone's throw away from Spawn. Walking northeast from Spawn about 200 blocks and digging down will drop players into the city. The area around Spawn has buried treasure hidden along the coast in addition to a nearby ruined portal in the ocean. The area also contains a variety of different biomes scattered about, giving players the opportunity to collect a variety of natural resources.

Related: Best Minecraft Deep Dark Seeds (Bedrock and Java)

Dangerous Mountains

Seed: 7842580296603006545

As you probably know, Ancient Cities spawn more frequently under mountains. Which is fine, until you find yourself spawning on a giant one! There are over 10 ancient cities within less than 2,000 blocks of spawn on this incredible seed. If you're looking to meet some Wardens, this is the seed for you!

Multi-City Madness

Seed: 7532078582357717303

This seed is infamous because of its multiple ancient cities very close together. Explore at your own risk as that means more Wardens, more danger, but lots of loot! Honestly, if you're looking for a lot of Skulk to mess around with, this is one of the best seeds there is.

Badlands Basement

Seed: -7969402200478764570

A brutal Badlands expanse with a dark city below. It sounds like something from a horror movie! The surface is as inhospitable as the underground in this sprawling location. However, one great advantage is the huge amount of gold you're likely to find digging while towards the city!

Badlands Sanctuary

Seed: -6778246788154565662

This is actually the default seed you’ll get if you specify an Ancient City biome when you create your world in Bedrock edition. With Spawn in a huge Mesa/Badlands biome bordered by jungles and forests, this is an unorthodox starting point with an interesting secret: An Ancient City just 120 blocks from 0, 0. On your way down to discover the Ancient City, you’ll encounter lush caves, plenty of resources, and the vast open darkness of the Deep Dark. It provides a perfect start for any Ancient City seekers.

Desert of Conflict

Seed: -7946293441700138673

This seed spawns you in one of the most populated deserts you’ll ever find! Villages, Pillager Outposts, and Temples all sit within a stone's throw, meaning imminent conflict will occur in this vast desert. Below all of this is one of the largest and most sprawling Ancient Cities we’ve encountered: A huge cavern buried beneath a mountain range that causes Skulk to rise up almost 40 blocks. To make things even more hazardous, several parts of this Ancient City are in Slime Chunks!

For more amazing Minecraft seeds, check out the Best Minecraft Seeds for All Platforms on Pro Game Guides.