RealWorld Iceland

All of Iceland at 1:1 scale in Minecraft

A Minecraft server with all of Iceland rebuilt metre by metre from satellite data: elevation, ground colours, rivers, waterfalls and buildings. With a custom plugin that generates the world as you play.

realworld.gerbenput.com

Python · NumPy · pyproj · OpenStreetMap · Java 25 · Paper · Node.js · Docker

RealWorld Iceland: Screenshot of the live site — Scroll: this is the real site

The story

The idea

Can you make a Minecraft world that really looks like the real country, not just in height but in colour, water and atmosphere? Iceland was the perfect test: waterfalls, geysers, glaciers and black beaches.

From satellite to block

A Python pipeline turns elevation models, satellite imagery, land cover and OpenStreetMap into tiles. Colours are matched against Minecraft blocks in CIELAB. Rivers only flow downhill.

Playing and showing

A custom Paper plugin in Java generates the world as you play, with teleport points, Strokkur eruptions and mist at the waterfalls.

RealWorld Iceland home page
Places with renders from the world and their teleport command
Satellite map of all of Iceland with the featured places

In detail

1:1 scale: One block is one metre, across all 103,000 km² of Iceland.
Real colours: Moss, black sand and solfatara ground chosen from Sentinel-2.
Waterfalls: Gullfoss, Skógafoss, Dettifoss and more, with white water, plunge pools and mist.
Living places: Strokkur erupts, fumaroles hiss, surf breaks on the beach.
Commands: Teleport to places or real coordinates, and fly faster.
Custom renderer: Perspective images of the world, straight from the region files.

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