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Introduction

Substratum provides a flexible configuration system that allows you to customize various aspects of cave generation, biome distribution, and world structure. All configuration files are located in the pack’s root directory and use YAML format.

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Configuration Files

Substratum’s configuration is split across several key files:

substratum_meta.yml

Main configuration file containing biome distribution parameters and strata layer settings

add_substratum_cave_biomes.yml

Controls which cave biomes spawn and their relative frequency

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Key Configuration Areas

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Biome Distribution

Control how biomes are placed and scaled throughout the world:
  • Global Scale: Affects the size of all biomes uniformly
  • Cave Scale: Controls the scale of cave foundation generation
  • Cave Biome Scale: Determines the size of individual cave biome regions

Biome Distribution Guide

Learn about all biome distribution parameters and their effects

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Y-Level Ranges

Define the vertical boundaries for cave generation:
  • Cave Biome Min/Max: Controls where cave biomes can generate
  • Substratum Carving Min/Max: Defines the range for cave carving

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Strata Layers

Customize the underground layering system:
  • Deepslate Transition: Configure where stone transitions to deepslate
  • Bedrock Layers: Set the Y-levels for bedrock generation
  • Bedrock Top: Configure the top bedrock layer (roof of the world)

Strata Layer Configuration

Configure deepslate transitions and bedrock layers

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Biome Weights

Adjust which biomes appear more or less frequently by modifying their weights in the extrusions file.

Disabling Biomes

Learn how to disable or adjust the frequency of specific biomes

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Configuration Workflow

1

Locate Configuration Files

Navigate to your Terra packs directory. Configuration files are located in:
plugins/Terra/packs/Substratum/
2

Edit Configuration

Open substratum_meta.yml or the relevant extrusions file in a text editor. Make your desired changes following the parameter documentation.
3

Reload Terra

After making changes, reload Terra to apply your configuration:
/terra reload
Configuration changes only affect newly generated chunks. Existing chunks will retain their original generation settings.
4

Test in New Chunks

Travel to unexplored areas or create a new world to see your configuration changes take effect.

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Best Practices

Always create a backup of your configuration files before making changes. This allows you to quickly revert if something goes wrong:
cp substratum_meta.yml substratum_meta.yml.backup
Before applying configuration changes to your main server, test them in a separate test world to ensure they produce the desired results.
Change one parameter at a time so you can easily identify which changes produce which effects. This makes troubleshooting much easier.
Add comments to your configuration files explaining what you changed and why. This helps you remember your reasoning later:
global-scale: 2 # Doubled to make biomes twice as large

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Understanding Meta-Configuration

Substratum uses Terra’s meta-configuration system, which allows values from substratum_meta.yml to be injected into other configuration files. You’ll see references like: 
${substratum_meta.yml:biome-distribution.global-scale}
This system enables centralized configuration management - you can change a value in substratum_meta.yml and it automatically updates everywhere that value is used.

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Next Steps

Biome Distribution

Configure biome scales and Y-level ranges

Strata Layers

Customize deepslate and bedrock generation

Disable Biomes

Remove or adjust biome frequency

Troubleshooting

Fix common configuration issues

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