How do coordinates affect season?

[bob4786 0]

Hey everyone. First off I want to say that I love this mod. I've been playing it for a few weeks now and I am very pleased with it. Recently I packed up all my items and traveled to the equator. I was under the assumption that the season at the equator would always be hot enough to farm.  When I got to the equator my season had changed to early Autumn from early Spring. After further examination I discovered that the season changed exactly when I crossed the equator (the line between the blocks on z:0 and z:1) When the Z coordinate becomes positive it is early Autumn and when the Z coordinate is negative it is early Spring. It is currently March 5th, 1002 on my save. Can anyone explain how this works to me? Is there a place where I can farm year around or do I have to face the winter? Below are some pictures incase you don't understand what I'm talking about.

[Kittychanley 1,002]

The minecraft world is split in half, with 0 being the equator. Just like on earth, the seasons are different depending on what half you are in. The northern half (-Z) has the same seasonal pattern as the Earth's northern hemisphere (Summer in June, Winter in December). The southern half (+Z) has the same seasonal pattern as Earth's southern hemisphere (Summer in December, Winter in June).

 

However, it should be noted that just because the calendar says "Winter" doesn't mean that everything is going to freeze and be snow. Crop growth is based off of the area's temperature, not the season. As you can see in the background of your screenshots, regardless of if it is Early Autumn, or Early Spring, your Temperature (temp:) is 49.67. That value in in Celsius, so about 121 degrees Fahrenheit for Americans. More than hot enough for your crops to thrive and grow without ever having to worry about a frost killing them.

 

The only other thing you need to keep in mind is that if you stay in this hotter area, and you have food decay turned on (which it is by default), it is going to rot A LOT  faster than in cooler areas, like around +/- 12,000 Z

[munin295 18]

The wiki says that "…the average temperature at a given latitude will be similar to the same latitude in degrees north of the equator in a continental (ie non-coastal) location of North America. …", but it doesn't seem to (explicitly) define the conversion between coordinates and latitude.

 

Is it simply meters = meters, and thus the equivalent of the poles are at +/-10,000,000? Most of my spawns have only been in the few 1,000s (i.e., a few km from the equator).

[Kittychanley 1,002]

That page is also outdated. 0 is the Equator, +/- 30,000 is the poles. There's a handful of posts by Dunk on the forums explaining this.

[bob4786 0]

So does that mean there is an optimal area in the world where I could farm year around but my food wouldn't decay as fast? If so any idea where this is?

[Kittychanley 1,002]

It really depends on the world seed, but I would guess that around Z +/- 8,000 would be the coldest area that doesn't get so cold in the winter that crops die. This is going to vary year by year though, and it isn't exactly a guarantee. You'll really just have to wander around your map in the winter and find an area that's a bit warmer than freezing temps.

[munin295 18]

That page is also outdated. 0 is the Equator, +/- 30,000 is the poles. …

 

Okay, that makes much more sense.