diff --git a/Tools/BiomeVisualiser/BiomeRenderer.cpp b/Tools/BiomeVisualiser/BiomeRenderer.cpp
index 569128a12..5c572d33e 100644
--- a/Tools/BiomeVisualiser/BiomeRenderer.cpp
+++ b/Tools/BiomeVisualiser/BiomeRenderer.cpp
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ bool cBiomeRenderer::Render(cPixmap & a_Pixmap)
 					{
 						for (int i = 0; i < ARRAYCOUNT(CurBiomes); i++)
 						{
-							CurBiomes[i] = (EMCSBiome)-1;
+							CurBiomes[i] = EMCSBiome::biInvalidBiome;
 						}
 						break;
 					}
diff --git a/src/BiomeDef.cpp b/src/BiomeDef.cpp
index 89a1cdefb..5c1156484 100644
--- a/src/BiomeDef.cpp
+++ b/src/BiomeDef.cpp
@@ -13,8 +13,16 @@ EMCSBiome StringToBiome(const AString & a_BiomeString)
 	int res = atoi(a_BiomeString.c_str());
 	if ((res != 0) || (a_BiomeString.compare("0") == 0))
 	{
-		// It was a valid number
-		return (EMCSBiome)res;
+		if(res >= biFirstBiome && res < biNumBiomes)
+		{
+			return (EMCSBiome)res;
+		}
+		else if(res >= biFirstVarientBiome && res < biNumVarientBiomes)
+		{
+			return (EMCSBiome)res;
+		}
+		// It was an invalid number
+		return biInvalidBiome;
 	}
 	
 	// Convert using the built-in map:
@@ -100,7 +108,7 @@ EMCSBiome StringToBiome(const AString & a_BiomeString)
 			return BiomeMap[i].m_Biome;
 		}
 	}  // for i - BiomeMap[]
-	return (EMCSBiome)-1;
+	return biInvalidBiome;
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/BiomeDef.h b/src/BiomeDef.h
index df1e387f0..f015dd836 100644
--- a/src/BiomeDef.h
+++ b/src/BiomeDef.h
@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@ BiomeIDs over 255 are used by MCServer internally and are translated to MC biome
 */
 enum EMCSBiome
 {
+	biInvalidBiome     = -1,
+
+	biFirstBiome       = 0,
 	biOcean            = 0,
 	biPlains           = 1,
 	biDesert           = 2,
@@ -74,6 +77,7 @@ enum EMCSBiome
 	biVariant = 128,
 	
 	// Release 1.7 biome variants:
+	biFirstVarientBiome    = 129,
 	biSunflowerPlains      = 129,
 	biDesertM              = 130,
 	biExtremeHillsM        = 131,
@@ -95,9 +99,12 @@ enum EMCSBiome
 	biMesaBryce            = 165,
 	biMesaPlateauFM        = 166,
 	biMesaPlateauM         = 167,
+	// Automatically capture the maximum consecutive biome value into biVarientMaxBiome:
+	biNumVarientBiomes,  // True number of biomes, since they are zero-based
+	biMaxVarientBiome = biNumVarientBiomes - 1,  // The maximum biome value
 } ;
 
-/// Translates a biome string to biome enum. Takes either a number or a biome alias (built-in). Returns -1 on failure.
+/// Translates a biome string to biome enum. Takes either a number or a biome alias (built-in). Returns biInvalidBiome on failure.
 extern EMCSBiome StringToBiome(const AString & a_BiomeString);
 
 /// Returns true if the biome has no downfall - deserts and savannas
diff --git a/src/Generating/BioGen.cpp b/src/Generating/BioGen.cpp
index f89b1800d..1a18f53f1 100644
--- a/src/Generating/BioGen.cpp
+++ b/src/Generating/BioGen.cpp
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ void cBioGenConstant::InitializeBiomeGen(cIniFile & a_IniFile)
 {
 	AString Biome = a_IniFile.GetValueSet("Generator", "ConstantBiome", "Plains");
 	m_Biome = StringToBiome(Biome);
-	if (m_Biome == -1)
+	if (m_Biome == EMCSBiome::biInvalidBiome)
 	{
 		LOGWARN("[Generator]::ConstantBiome value \"%s\" not recognized, using \"Plains\".", Biome.c_str());
 		m_Biome = biPlains;
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ void cBiomeGenList::InitializeBiomes(const AString & a_Biomes)
 			}
 		}
 		EMCSBiome Biome = StringToBiome(Split2[0]);
-		if (Biome != -1)
+		if (Biome != EMCSBiome::biInvalidBiome)
 		{
 			for (int i = 0; i < Count; i++)
 			{
@@ -500,7 +500,7 @@ void cBioGenMultiStepMap::DecideOceanLandMushroom(int a_ChunkX, int a_ChunkZ, cC
 			int OffsetZ = (m_Noise4.IntNoise3DInt(RealCellX, 32 * RealCellX - 16 * RealCellZ, RealCellZ) / 8) % m_OceanCellSize;
 			SeedX[xc][zc] = CellBlockX + OffsetX;
 			SeedZ[xc][zc] = CellBlockZ + OffsetZ;
-			SeedV[xc][zc] = (((m_Noise6.IntNoise3DInt(RealCellX, RealCellX - RealCellZ + 1000, RealCellZ) / 11) % 256) > 90) ? biOcean : ((EMCSBiome)(-1));
+			SeedV[xc][zc] = (((m_Noise6.IntNoise3DInt(RealCellX, RealCellX - RealCellZ + 1000, RealCellZ) / 11) % 256) > 90) ? biOcean : (EMCSBiome::biInvalidBiome);
 		}  // for z
 	}  // for x
 	
@@ -573,7 +573,7 @@ void cBioGenMultiStepMap::AddRivers(int a_ChunkX, int a_ChunkZ, cChunkDef::Biome
 		float NoiseCoordZ = (float)(a_ChunkZ * cChunkDef::Width + z) / m_RiverCellSize;
 		for (int x = 0; x < cChunkDef::Width; x++)
 		{
-			if (cChunkDef::GetBiome(a_BiomeMap, x, z) != -1)
+			if (cChunkDef::GetBiome(a_BiomeMap, x, z) != EMCSBiome::biInvalidBiome)
 			{
 				// Biome already set, skip this column
 				continue;
@@ -693,7 +693,7 @@ void cBioGenMultiStepMap::DecideLandBiomes(cChunkDef::BiomeMap & a_BiomeMap, con
 		int idxZ = 17 * z;
 		for (int x = 0; x < cChunkDef::Width; x++)
 		{
-			if (cChunkDef::GetBiome(a_BiomeMap, x, z) != -1)
+			if (cChunkDef::GetBiome(a_BiomeMap, x, z) != EMCSBiome::biInvalidBiome)
 			{
 				// Already set before
 				continue;
diff --git a/src/Generating/ChunkDesc.cpp b/src/Generating/ChunkDesc.cpp
index 87566aa78..d9529b4b0 100644
--- a/src/Generating/ChunkDesc.cpp
+++ b/src/Generating/ChunkDesc.cpp
@@ -118,9 +118,9 @@ void cChunkDesc::SetBlockMeta(int a_RelX, int a_RelY, int a_RelZ, NIBBLETYPE a_B
 
 
 
-void cChunkDesc::SetBiome(int a_RelX, int a_RelZ, int a_BiomeID)
+void cChunkDesc::SetBiome(int a_RelX, int a_RelZ, EMCSBiome a_BiomeID)
 {
-	cChunkDef::SetBiome(m_BiomeMap, a_RelX, a_RelZ, (EMCSBiome)a_BiomeID);
+	cChunkDef::SetBiome(m_BiomeMap, a_RelX, a_RelZ, a_BiomeID);
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/Generating/ChunkDesc.h b/src/Generating/ChunkDesc.h
index e258383d5..8edc2800b 100644
--- a/src/Generating/ChunkDesc.h
+++ b/src/Generating/ChunkDesc.h
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ public:
 	void       SetBlockMeta(int a_RelX, int a_RelY, int a_RelZ, NIBBLETYPE a_BlockMeta);
 	NIBBLETYPE GetBlockMeta(int a_RelX, int a_RelY, int a_RelZ);
 
-	void       SetBiome(int a_RelX, int a_RelZ, int a_BiomeID);
+	void       SetBiome(int a_RelX, int a_RelZ, EMCSBiome a_BiomeID);
 	EMCSBiome  GetBiome(int a_RelX, int a_RelZ);
 
 	// These operate on the heightmap, so they could get out of sync with the data
diff --git a/src/Mobs/SnowGolem.cpp b/src/Mobs/SnowGolem.cpp
index 06021cca5..c60103055 100644
--- a/src/Mobs/SnowGolem.cpp
+++ b/src/Mobs/SnowGolem.cpp
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ void cSnowGolem::GetDrops(cItems & a_Drops, cEntity * a_Killer)
 void cSnowGolem::Tick(float a_Dt, cChunk & a_Chunk)
 {
 	super::Tick(a_Dt, a_Chunk);
-	if (IsBiomeNoDownfall((EMCSBiome) m_World->GetBiomeAt((int) floor(GetPosX()), (int) floor(GetPosZ())) ))
+	if (IsBiomeNoDownfall(m_World->GetBiomeAt((int) floor(GetPosX()), (int) floor(GetPosZ())) ))
 	{
 		TakeDamage(*this);
 	}
diff --git a/src/World.cpp b/src/World.cpp
index de2002b84..f9a6e7776 100644
--- a/src/World.cpp
+++ b/src/World.cpp
@@ -1222,7 +1222,7 @@ void cWorld::GrowTreeByBiome(int a_X, int a_Y, int a_Z)
 {
 	cNoise Noise(m_Generator.GetSeed());
 	sSetBlockVector Logs, Other;
-	GetTreeImageByBiome(a_X, a_Y, a_Z, Noise, (int)(m_WorldAge & 0xffffffff), (EMCSBiome)GetBiomeAt(a_X, a_Z), Logs, Other);
+	GetTreeImageByBiome(a_X, a_Y, a_Z, Noise, (int)(m_WorldAge & 0xffffffff), GetBiomeAt(a_X, a_Z), Logs, Other);
 	Other.insert(Other.begin(), Logs.begin(), Logs.end());
 	Logs.clear();
 	GrowTreeImage(Other);
@@ -1475,7 +1475,7 @@ void cWorld::GrowSugarcane(int a_BlockX, int a_BlockY, int a_BlockZ, int a_NumBl
 
 
 
-int cWorld::GetBiomeAt (int a_BlockX, int a_BlockZ)
+EMCSBiome cWorld::GetBiomeAt (int a_BlockX, int a_BlockZ)
 {
 	return m_ChunkMap->GetBiomeAt(a_BlockX, a_BlockZ);
 }
diff --git a/src/World.h b/src/World.h
index bf6a4ba28..afdc09788 100644
--- a/src/World.h
+++ b/src/World.h
@@ -526,7 +526,7 @@ public:
 	void GrowSugarcane(int a_BlockX, int a_BlockY, int a_BlockZ, int a_NumBlocksToGrow);
 	
 	/** Returns the biome at the specified coords. Reads the biome from the chunk, if loaded, otherwise uses the world generator to provide the biome value */
-	int GetBiomeAt(int a_BlockX, int a_BlockZ);
+	EMCSBiome GetBiomeAt(int a_BlockX, int a_BlockZ);
 
 	/** Returns the name of the world */
 	const AString & GetName(void) const { return m_WorldName; }