Better Diving Mod Wiki

Better Diving (Work Like Fish in Water) transforms the vanilla Minecraft ocean experience into a fluid, exploration-focused environment. Heavily inspired by the game Subnautica, the mod replaces the clunky vanilla swimming with 360-degree movement, overhauls the oxygen system to allow for longer dives, and adds a progression system of diving suits, oxygen tanks, and vehicles.

Whether you are playing on 1.12.2 or 1.16.5, the mod provides the tools necessary to turn the ocean from a hazard into a viable home and resource hub.

The mod introduces three fundamental changes to how players interact with water:

1. Movement Overhaul

• 360-Degree Swimming: Players now swim in the direction they are looking. Looking up while moving forward will cause the player to ascend naturally.
• No Automatic Sinking: Players will hover in place when they stop moving, rather than slowly sinking to the bottom.
• Surface Speed: Swimming at the water's surface provides a speed bonus, making long-distance travel across oceans more efficient.

2. Oxygen System

• Extended Breath: The base oxygen capacity is increased from the vanilla 15 seconds to 45 seconds.
• Numerical HUD: A custom GUI replaces the vanilla bubbles with a precise timer showing remaining seconds of air.
• Depth Penalty: Diving deeper than 30 blocks increases oxygen consumption. For every 30 blocks of depth, the efficiency of your lungs decreases, requiring specialized masks to mitigate.
• Enchantment Synergy: Each level of the Respiration enchantment adds an additional 15 seconds of air (up to +45 seconds at level III).

3. Mining & Interaction

• Underwater Efficiency: By default, breaking blocks underwater is 60% as fast as on land (compared to the much slower vanilla rate).
• Aqua Affinity: This enchantment increases underwater mining efficiency to 80%.
• Gear Bonuses: Wearing specific diving gear (like Wetsuit Leggings) can restore mining speed to 100%.

Diving gear is split into three tiers: Standard, Improved, and Reinforced. While Standard gear provides basic utility, Improved gear offers specialized perks, and Reinforced gear provides maximum armor protection.

Note: Oxygen tanks slightly decrease your swim speed due to their weight, which can be offset by high-tier fins.

For advanced exploration, the mod adds two primary modes of transport:

Seaglide

A handheld propulsion tool that significantly increases swim speed while held. It consumes energy from a battery and features a built-in light for navigating dark trenches.

Seamoth

A modular, one-person submersible. It allows for high-speed travel and provides a constant supply of oxygen to the pilot.

• Power: Requires a Power Cell to operate.
• Modules: The Seamoth can be customized with up to four upgrade modules:
  • Depth Modules (MK1-MK3): Increases the safe diving depth before the hull takes pressure damage.
  • Storage Module: Adds a small inventory to the exterior of the sub.
  • Solar Charger: Recharges the Power Cell when the sub is near the surface during the day.
  • Sonar: Sends out a pulse to highlight the surrounding terrain and entities.
  • Perimeter Defense: Discharges an electrical pulse to ward off aggressive mobs.

Better Diving adds new flora and mineral outcrops to the ocean floor to facilitate its unique crafting progression.

Outcrops

Instead of traditional ores, players find "Outcrops" that must be broken to reveal resources:

• Limestone Outcrop: Drops Titanium or Copper Ore.
• Sandstone Outcrop: Drops Silver Ore, Lead, or Gold.
• Shale Outcrop: Drops Redstone, Gold, or Diamonds.

Flora

• Creepvine: Tall, glowing kelp. Breaking the vine yields Creepvine Samples (used for Fiber Mesh). Right-clicking the glowing pods yields Creepvine Seed Clusters (used for Silicone Rubber).
• Acid Mushroom: Found in clusters on the seabed. Used as a primary component in crafting Batteries.

The mod uses a tiered crafting system where basic materials are refined into high-tech components.

The mod is highly configurable via the betterdiving.cfg file or the in-game config menu. Server owners can adjust:

• Oxygen Capacity: Change the base 45-second limit.
• Movement Speed: Tweak the multipliers for fins and the Seaglide.
• Mining Speed: Adjust the underwater block-breaking penalties.
• Visuals: Toggle the custom Oxygen HUD and underwater fog density changes.