This is because compared to terrain, big tree seeds can be tested significantly faster than other structures. Two large trees on the left side are described as crucial to the seed cracking algorithm. In their methodology document, the team describe terrain structures they used to find the correct seed. The screenshot was taken in Alpha version 1.0.16_02 and features the player looking at a hill, with a chicken in the foreground and what looks like a player hiding in the fog in the background. The screenshot in question was posted alongside the original creepypasta story which gave birth to the Herobrine hoax.
Herobrine is a well-known hoax in the Minecraft community. Members of study in-game screenshots to detect unique structures that generate in specific ways in a world, and then search through millions of worlds to try and find that exact terrain. The same seed generates the exact same world in compatible versions of the game. A few weeks after finding the world seeds of several main menu backgrounds has found the seed in which the iconic hoax image of Herobrine was taken.Ī world seed in Minecraft controls how world generation is conducted.
