How to Make a Void World in Minecraft (Java, Bedrock and Servers)

Here's how to make a void world in Minecraft, fast. On Java Edition, create a new world, set World Type to Superflat, hit Customize, then Presets, and pick The Void. On Bedrock, open Create New World, go to the Advanced tab, switch on Flat world and pick The Void preset. That preset only exists on current Bedrock builds. On a server, you need either the flat level type or a world generator plugin like VoidGen.

Methods below are current as of November 2026 (Java 26.3, Bedrock 26.63). If you want a blank world to start your own skyblock, build a sky base or run a void server, this covers it.

Void world in Minecraft Java (single-player)

Java has had a Void preset for years. It showed up in 1.9 (snapshot 15w37a). The click path:

1. Click Create New World.
2. Set World Type to Superflat.
3. Click Customize, then Presets.
4. Pick The Void from the list and confirm.

The preset is a single layer of air in the Void biome, so there's no ground at all. The game spawns you on a stone platform with one cobblestone block in the middle. Step off the platform and you fall.

The custom preset code

Superflat presets are also just a line of text, and you can paste one into the Presets screen. A code has three parts split by semicolons: the block layers, the biome, and (in older versions) features. Layers go from the bottom up, and N*minecraft:block repeats a layer. The wiki's own example looks like this:

minecraft:mossy_cobblestone,250*minecraft:air,minecraft:obsidian,minecraft:snow;minecraft:plains

Mess up the format and the game quietly falls back to Classic Flat. So if you land on grass instead of nothing, check your code. Since 1.16 you also can't put structures in the code at all.

How to make a void world in Minecraft Bedrock

For years the honest answer was "Bedrock can't do it without add-ons." That's out of date for current versions. Mojang added The Void as a flat world preset in Preview 1.21.100.23 (July 2025), and it's in the current preset list.

1. Click Create New World.
2. Open the Advanced tab.
3. Turn on Flat world.
4. Choose the The Void preset and create the world.

Run an older Bedrock version and you won't see the preset, so update first. Bedrock has no in-game screen for custom layers either. Presets are all you get unless you edit FlatWorldLayers in level.dat with an external editor, which is fiddly. I'd stick with the preset. Flat presets on Bedrock never generate features or structures.

On console or mobile, menus can look a little different, so if you don't spot The Void right away, scroll the whole preset list and make sure your game is up to date. Bedrock Editor also has a true Void world type, but it's Editor-only and not part of normal play.

Void world on a Java server

Vanilla server.properties

A vanilla server can make a flat world, and you control it with two keys in server.properties:

• level-type=minecraft\:flat gives you a flat world. The colon is escaped in the file, and you can drop the minecraft: prefix.
• generator-settings takes JSON for the biome and layers. The wiki's Classic Flat example is {"biome":"minecraft:plains","layers":[{"block":"minecraft:bedrock","height":1},{"block":"minecraft:dirt","height":2},{"block":"minecraft:grass_block","height":1}]}. The obvious way to get a void is to swap that layer list for a single layer of air, like the preset's, but that isn't an official example, so try it on a throwaway world before you rely on it.
• generate-structures=false turns structures off. Dungeons can still generate.

Restart the server after editing. These settings only apply when the world is created. If the world already exists, the changes are ignored, so delete or rename the folder named in level-name and let the server generate a new one.

Paper or Spigot: Multiverse-Core plus VoidGen

If you run plugins, this is the usual route, and it lets you keep your normal world next to a void one. You need Multiverse-Core and VoidGen. VoidGen's Modrinth page lists Paper, Spigot, Bukkit, Folia and Purpur, and versions from 1.8.8 up to 26.3. The original author went inactive, so the maintained one is the NicoNekoDev fork.

1. Drop both plugins in plugins and restart.
2. Create the world with Multiverse, pointing it at the generator. The Multiverse create syntax is /mv create <name> <environment> --generator <generator> --world-type <type>. The environment is normal, nether or the_end, and world names can't have spaces.
3. For VoidGen that looks like /mv create voidworld normal --generator VoidGen --world-type flat. VoidGen's own page writes it with the short flags -g and -t FLAT.

VoidGen takes optional JSON parameters after the generator name, like VoidGen:{"biome":"plains"}. The options include biome, caves, mobs, structures, decoration, noise, surface, bedrock and layers. Anything you leave out defaults to false, so no mobs and no structures unless you turn them on. Set mobs to true if you want vanilla mob spawning. Set a biome and only structures that naturally spawn in that biome can generate, which rules out all of them in the Void biome. Use the JSON form, not the old VoidGen:PLAINS style you'll see in old forum threads.

VoidGen's page also says to set level-type=FLAT in server.properties so the "void darkness" starts at Y=0 instead of Y=64. To make the void world your main world, put generator: VoidGen under worlds: in bukkit.yml. Multiverse also has /mv setspawn and /mv spawn for where players land.

Gotchas: falling, spawn, structures

• You fall. With nothing under you, you drop into the void and take void damage. On Java's preset you at least get the stone platform. Stay on it.
• Not every method gives you a platform. The Java preset does. On plugin servers VoidGen's docs don't mention one, so check where you spawn before you invite anyone.
• Structures. If you want a truly empty world, switch off the Generate structures toggle when you create it. Bedrock flat presets never generate structures at all.
• The Nether and End are normal. A superflat world still generates them as usual.
• Older advice is wrong now. Anything telling you Bedrock needs add-ons for a void world predates the July 2025 preset.

Turning a void world into a skyblock start

An empty world is the blank page, not skyblock. The small island, the tree and the few things you start with are the part you set up yourself. My full walkthrough is in how to play skyblock, and if this is for a server, how to make a skyblock server is next. Not sure you want to build it yourself? The best skyblock maps come with the island done. Once you're standing on one, how to get resources in skyblock covers what to do next.

FAQ

How do I create a void world?

On Java, use Superflat and the The Void preset (Customize, then Presets). On current Bedrock, turn on Flat world in the Advanced tab and pick The Void. On a Paper or Spigot server, use Multiverse-Core with VoidGen.

How to make a void world in Minecraft Bedrock?

Update to a current version, then Create New World, Advanced tab, Flat world on, and choose The Void preset. Versions before 1.21.100 don't have it.

Do I need a new world on a server?

Yes. World generation settings only apply when the world is created, so delete or rename the old world folder first.