Overview#
Base Metals adds historically common metals to Minecraft, specifically silver, copper, tin, lead, zinc, mercury, nickel, and platinum, as well as the fantasy metals cold-iron, mithril, adamantine, and star-steel. For most of these metals, players can craft a full suite of standard Minecraft tools (pickaxes, shovels, axes, hoes, swords) and metal-related blocks.
The mod is designed to bridge the gap between the pre-industrial fantasy setting of Minecraft and the historical reality of metalworking, while also providing high-tier magical materials for late-game progression. A core feature of the mod is the Crack Hammer, which introduces an early-game method for ore doubling and alloy creation.
The Crack Hammer & Ore Processing#
The Crack Hammer (also known as a sledgehammer) is a specialized tool used to pulverize ores and items into powders. This is the primary method for doubling metal production and creating alloys.
Mechanics
- Ore Doubling: Breaking an ore block with a Crack Hammer drops two piles of metal powder instead of the standard ore block. These powders can then be smelted into ingots, effectively doubling your yield.
- Item Crushing: You can crush items by dropping them on the ground and right-clicking the ground directly beneath the items with the Crack Hammer.
- Metal Blocks: Crushing a metal block yields 9 powders.
- Ingots: Crushing an ingot yields 1 powder.
- Miscellaneous: Crushing bones yields bone meal; crushing sea lanterns yields prismarine crystals.
- Alloy Blending: Alloys are created by crafting different metal powders together to create an "Alloy Blend," which is then smelted in a furnace to produce an alloy ingot.
Crafting Recipe
The Crack Hammer can be crafted using two sticks and one block of the desired metal (e.g., a Block of Iron or a Block of Copper).
Natural Elemental Metals#
These metals spawn naturally as ores in the Overworld. Most can be used to craft standard tools and armor.
| Metal | Hardness | Durability | Enchantability | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Copper | 4 | 4 | 5 | Abundant; essential for Bronze and Brass. |
| Silver | 5 | 4 | 6 | Valued for beauty and alchemical uses. |
| Tin | 3 | 1 | 2 | Very soft; used primarily for Bronze. |
| Lead | 1 | 1 | 1 | Fragile but deals high damage as a weapon. |
| Zinc | 1 | 1 | 1 | Too weak for tools; used to make Brass. |
| Nickel | 4 | 4 | 7 | Used to create Invar and Cupronickel. |
| Mercury | — | — | — | A liquid metal; essential for Mithril. |
| Platinum | 3 | 5 | 15 | Highly enchantable; primarily decorative. |
| Antimony | — | — | — | Used for specific alloys and compatibility. |
| Bismuth | — | — | — | Used for specific alloys and compatibility. |
Metal Alloys#
Alloys cannot be mined; they must be crafted by mixing metal powders and smelting the resulting blend.
Alloy Recipes & Properties
| Alloy | Ratio (Powders) | Hardness | Durability | Enchantability | Special Properties |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bronze | 3 Copper: 1 Tin | 8 | 4 | 4 | As hard as iron but less durable. |
| Brass | 2 Copper: 1 Zinc | 3 | 3 | 9 | Golden color; soft but enchantable. |
| Steel | 8 Iron: 1 Carbon* | 8 | 15 | 2 | As hard as iron and much more durable. |
| Invar | 2 Iron: 1 Nickel | 9 | 10 | 3 | Harder than steel; can mine Obsidian. |
| Electrum | 1 Gold: 1 Silver | 5 | 4 | 10 | High enchantability like gold. |
| Cupronickel | 2 Copper: 1 Nickel | 5 | 5 | 6 | Balanced utility alloy. |
| Pewter | 1 Lead: 1 Tin | 3 | 2 | 4 | Low-tier utility alloy. |
Note: Carbon dust is obtained by crushing Coal or Charcoal with a Crack Hammer.
Fantasy Metals#
Fantasy metals possess magical properties and are found in other dimensions or crafted through complex means.
Cold-Iron
- Location: Found as ore in the Nether.
- Properties: Hardness 7, Durability 7, Enchantability 7.
- Special: Tools are extra effective against Nether mobs and fire-immune creatures. A full suit of armor provides complete protection from fire and lava.
Adamantine
- Location: Rare ore found in the Nether.
- Properties: Hardness 12, Durability (Very High), Enchantability 0.
- Special: Stronger than diamond. Tools deal extra damage to mobs with more than 10 hearts of health. Armor makes the wearer nearly invulnerable.
Mithril
- Crafting: Alloy blend of 2 Silver: 1 Mercury: 1 Cold-Iron.
- Properties: Hardness 9, Durability 9, Enchantability 9.
- Special: Harder than steel. Mithril weapons deal significant bonus damage to undead mobs.
Aquarium
- Crafting: Alloy blend of 2 Copper: 1 Zinc: 3 Prismarine Crystals.
- Properties: Hardness 4, Durability 10, Enchantability 15.
- Special: Full armor set allows underwater breathing and provides extra protection while submerged. Tools deal bonus damage to aquatic mobs.
Star-Steel
- Location: Found as ore in the End dimension.
- Properties: Hardness 10, Durability 25, Enchantability 12.
- Special: Armor reduces the wearer's weight, granting higher jumps and slower falls. Tools slowly repair their own durability while held.
Mechanics & Configuration#
Universal Bucket
Base Metals includes a Universal Bucket that can hold any liquid registered in the Forge Fluid Registry. This eliminates the need for separate buckets for every custom fluid added by other mods.
Ore Generation
The mod features a highly flexible spawning mechanism. Users can configure any block to spawn as an ore and add spawns to any dimension (Overworld, Nether, or End) via the config files.
- Config Location:
config/orespawn/*.json(for newer versions) orbasemetals.cfg. - Requirements: In Minecraft and later, the mod often requires MMD Ore Spawn to handle world generation.
Mod Compatibility
Base Metals is designed to work seamlessly with other industry mods. It includes built-in support for Just Enough Items (JEI) and Not Enough Items (NEI), allowing all Crack Hammer and alloy recipes to be viewed in-game.
Gallery#
