Minecraft: What Are Those Weird, Creepy Noises?

Minecraft can seem innocent enough while roaming the overworld, gathering resources along the way, but the game isn’t short of mysteries and unexplained events. Many players have faced some odd, bizarre, and even unsettling background noises at random times, with countless players still wondering what the weird, creepy noises in Minecraft are.

Although the creepy and occasionally terrifying noises in Minecraft can put you off your game, there is a range of understandable explanations. Stick around to find out everything you need to know about the creepy noises in Minecraft, as well as if there’s a way to play Minecraft without them.

What are the weird, creepy noises in Minecraft?

The world of Minecraft has tons of interesting things to discover, and it can be pretty fun and easygoing for the most part – depending on your preferred playstyle, of course. However, at times, Minecraft can smack players with a sudden jolt of fear using jump scares from unexpected creepers or baby zombies, as well as some nifty sound effects.

In most cases, these sounds are nothing to be too fussed about, as they rarely mean the player is in immediate danger (unless you’re hearing a nearby monster). But, you should definitely be aware of what different sounds could mean for your Minecraft character’s safety. Below are some of the most common explanations for Minecraft’s weirdest and creepiest sounds.

Nether mob sounds

When it comes to the Nether, things can be a bit tricky when trying to discern sounds, apart from the occasional environmental sound effect based on the Nether biome. Ghasts can actually be heard as nearby or local sounds, even if there are no Ghasts within nearby blocks.

This is because the game will generally only check if Ghasts have spawned somewhere in the Nether world and let players know by making them audible. In some cases, the Ghasts in question could be as far as hundreds of blocks away, but the sounds will still be played for every Minecraft player in the Nether at the time.

Boss spawns & kills

If you are playing Minecraft multiplayer mode, there are some specific and powerful creatures that could be audible irrespective of where your Minecraft character is. This is particularly common for cases where another player spawns a Wither or kills the Ender Dragon since everyone in the world might hear it as a local sound.

Ambient noises

In addition to adding some sound effects for mobs and monsters in Minecraft, the devs have also added some occasional ‘teaser’ clips. These little sound snippets are added to offset the otherwise friendly and passive feel – a smart move considering how terrifying Minecraft can be at times.

Such sound effects were meant to be ominous, and it definitely adds something unique to each Minecraft player’s experience. Other than sounds caused by unseen mobs, these odd, creepy, and unsettling sounds have been the main area of interest for players experiencing random weird sounds in their world.

Check out the video below by Alex Tannhauser for a taste of some of Minecraft’s spookiest ambient noises:

These could play no matter where you are in the world, but they are typically more common when the player’s character is inside or near a cave – the reason why they are referred to as “cave sounds” by most of the Minecraft community. Still, many Minecraft players wonder why these sound effects would apply if they are playing in a flat Minecraft world.

Ambient noises are actually categorized into different types, and there are various ambient sounds for caves, underwater, and the Nether as well. At the time of writing, there are currently 167 different sound effects in the game.

The game does not technically know when the player is inside a cave or not, meaning that players choosing a flat or another type of Minecraft world may still hear them. It actually uses a “Mood Algorithm” system that causes an illusion of randomization, where ambient sounds occur based on a “mood” percent value between 0–100.

According to the Minecraft Wiki, the mood increases when the player is in a cave or in a dark place and decreases otherwise. When the mood reaches 100%, one of the relative ambient sounds will play at random, after which the value will be reset to 0%, and the cycle will begin again.

The darker it is, and the more non-transparent blocks there are, the quicker the mood increases. Using this as a base for estimation, players in complete darkness with no lit blocks would experience ambient noise every 6000 ticks (5 minutes).

Plus, the area that is used for this determination could be an air space and will not always be directly in front of or even near the player. This means that (even in a flat Minecraft world with no caves) the game could detect a void or dark space instead since it looks out for light levels below 8, irrespective of where you actually are.

As a result, players walking around in a dark forest could hear these ambient “cave sounds,” as well as any player who finds themself in a darker-than-average place. For this reason, these sounds are very common for Minecraft players who set up their base underground or on a mountain with plenty of surrounding caves and dark spaces.

But these noises can occur at random as well, so no Minecraft player is truly safe from them. In some cases, it could only take one block of darkness to cause these sounds. This means it’s possible to have a primary area of “ambient noise” somewhere around your Minecraft home – even if you can’t see it.

How to turn off spooky sounds in Minecraft?

Although it’s great to know that most creepy sounds in Minecraft are nothing to worry about, they can be too much to handle for some players – especially if you’re just trying to spruce up your cozy Minecraft home or breed some adorably innocent cows.

Thankfully, you can switch off these sounds in a pinch using the game settings. However, changing these settings will affect other sounds, like fireworks and rockets.

1. Navigate to the Music & Sound Options.
2. Locate Atmosphere/ Environment.
3. Turn the sound setting down as you’d like, or switch it off completely by turning it down to 0%.

It’s no secret that Minecraft will always have a plethora of unexplored blocks, no matter how much you think you’ve explored. These weird and creepy noises are simply added to make players more aware of what’s around them or for the sake of immersion – but, if you can’t stand these spooky sounds any longer, you do have the option to turn them off using the game settings.

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