TL;DR: The Nether's two forests each hide something useful that most players walk past. Weeping vines (Crimson Forest) hang down and twisting vines (Warped Forest) grow up, and you can climb both like a ladder. Shroomlights grow near the top of huge fungi and give off light level 15, the maximum. Bring shears and you are set.
What they are
The Crimson Forest and the Warped Forest are the Nether's two "tree" biomes, and the big red and blue-green mushroom-trees are called huge fungi. Three useful things grow on or around them: weeping vines, twisting vines, and shroomlights. None of them is hard to get, and all of them are worth a small detour.
Weeping vines (Crimson Forest)
Weeping vines are found in the Crimson Forest, hanging from cracks in the ceiling and from huge crimson fungi. They attach to the bottom of a block and grow downward.
- Getting them: break one with shears (or a tool with Silk Touch) and it always drops a vine. With any other tool it only drops about a third of the time. Cut weeping vines from the bottom up: any piece left dangling with nothing holding it breaks on its own and only drops a third of the time, even with shears.
- Climbing: stand inside the vines and hold jump, and you climb like a ladder. If there is a solid block behind them, holding forward works too.
- Growing: they slowly grow on their own, and bone meal makes them grow right away. That makes them a handy way to make a route down from a high ledge.
Twisting vines (Warped Forest)
Twisting vines are the mirror image. They are found only in the Warped Forest, on the ground and on huge warped fungi, and they grow upward. Shears give a guaranteed drop, and you climb them the same way. Cut twisting vines from the top down for the same reason: pieces left with nothing under them break and only drop about a third of the time.
- Building up: place one on a solid block, add bone meal, and you have a fast climbing column.
- Falls: the wiki notes twisting vines can be used to prevent fall damage, similar to a water bucket. Try it in a safe test spot before you trust it on a real drop.
- Tip: using shears on the tip of a vine stops it from growing further, which is useful when you want a column to stay a certain height.
Shroomlights
Shroomlights are glowing blocks that generate near the top of huge fungi, both crimson and warped. They give off light level 15, the highest in the game, and they do not burn. Break one with any tool and it always drops, though a hoe is the fastest.
They are also renewable. Bone meal on a crimson fungus planted on crimson nylium has a 40% chance to grow a huge crimson fungus, and growing one that way can produce shroomlights near the top. A little patience gives you a steady supply of bright, warm-colored blocks for a base. See Lighting a Nether Base for what light does and does not do down there, and Glowstone for the other big Nether light source.
Best uses / Best tips
Bring shears and a stack of bone meal, and you can turn a forest trip into a climbing kit and a lighting kit in one go. Shroomlights make good hidden lamps under a roof or behind a wall, and vines give you climbing routes in builds that would otherwise need a lot of ladders.
Keep in mind which forest you are in. The Crimson Forest is Hoglin and Piglin country, so read How to Handle Hoglins and Piglins Explained before you go vine-picking; the Warped Forest is a calmer place to work.
Lore color
Some travelers say the vines in the Crimson Forest hang down because they are trying to reach the floor, and the ones in the Warped Forest climb because they are trying to reach something above. That is a story, not a game rule. What the game does say is simple: one grows down, one grows up, and you can hold onto either.
Common mistakes
- Breaking vines with a plain tool and getting nothing back. Shears (or Silk Touch) are the reliable way, cut from the right end.
- Looking for twisting vines in the Crimson Forest or weeping vines in the Warped Forest. Each one only generates in its own forest, though you can grow a crimson fungus somewhere else if you bring crimson nylium.
- Expecting a huge fungus from bone meal on the wrong ground. Crimson fungus needs crimson nylium.
- Trusting twisting vines to break a real fall before testing it somewhere safe
Related
Crimson Forest · Warped Forest · Lighting a Nether Base · Glowstone · Understanding Nether Biomes · Complete Nether Guide · Walk the World
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