■ - I feel that Hytale lacks more engaging interactions with the surrounding world and nature, so I decided to create a more in-depth and well-thought-out mod about dragons. Simply copying the vanilla horse with a different model wasn’t enough for me, so here’s what awaits you in Dragon Nestkeeper:

- Search for dragon nests. Find destroyed or abandoned nests in the world, from which you can obtain useful resources or discover an unhatched dragon. If you can't find a nest, take the dragon from a trader.
- Raise dragons. There are currently 4 growth stages, and at each stage, the dragon requires a specific type of food. The dragon’s behavior will vary significantly at each stage.
- Care for dragons. You can catch a small dragon with any piece of cloth and pick it up, while you can pet an adult dragon to restore its health.
- Ride dragons. Once fully grown, you can ride dragons. It’s not a perfect flight yet, but that might change in the future! You can remove the saddle with a pair of scissors and free the dragon if you wish.
- Trade with a new race of saurians. Saurians buy and sell dragon-related items. Be sure to craft the Nestkeeper Bench and the Saurian Trader Statue.
- Collect different dragons. Each dragon has its own unique appearance and traits. If you’ve played with Aures - Livestock Skins, you’ll easily understand what we mean.
- Read item lore. Each item comes with a detailed description and instructions on many of the mod's mechanics.

■ PLAIN DRAGON ■

■ Nest Spawn: Green Plains and Forest ☆

■ Diet: Meat

■ Drop: Ingredient_Fire_Essence (1-2), Ingredient_Life_Essence (1-2), Ingredient_Leather_Scaled (0-1)

■ Gone Reward: Ingredient_Fire_Essence (25-35), Ingredient_Life_Essence (25-45), Ingredient_Bar_Gold (9-12)

■ Saurian Trade Cost: 60 Life_Essence

■ Nest Help Cost: 1 Life_Essence

■ Lore: Plain dragons build their nests in tall grass and abandoned forest clearings, where their eggs are hidden among roots and moss. Hatchlings are fearful and weak, surviving by scavenging insects and small animals until they learn to stalk prey on their own. Unlike tundra dragons, they avoid direct confrontation and rely on patience, camouflage, and sudden ambushes from hillsides or thick vegetation.

Adult plain dragons are calm by nature and unusually tolerant of humans. Saurian Nestkeepers often leave abandoned eggs in the care of travelers, knowing these dragons can bond closely with whoever raises them. Though not powerful fliers, they are dependable companions that prefer staying near their rider rather than wandering far from home.

■ Best Use: In its final growth stage, this dragon makes an excellent starter companion that won't run away, unlike a horse! It doesn't fly very high, but it's still very convenient. They are more resilient and have more health than the others.

■ TUNDRA DRAGON ■

■ Nest Spawn: Frozen Tundra and Snowy Mountains ☆

■ Diet: Meat

■ Drop: Ingredient_Ice_Essence (1-2), Ingredient_Life_Essence (1-2), Ingredient_Fabric_Scrap_Wool (1-6)

■ Gone Reward: Ingredient_Water_Essence (25-35), Ingredient_Life_Essence (25-45), Ingredient_Bar_Silver (9-12)

■ Saurian Trade Cost: 60 Ice_Essence

■ Nest Help Cost: 1 Ice_Essence

■ Lore: Tundra dragons nest along frozen cliffs, icy caves, and remote mountain ridges where few predators can survive. Their eggs are buried beneath tree branches, pine needles, and shrubbery to protect them from the cold winds. Hatchlings are aggressive from birth and instinctively bite anything that approaches, relying on constant movement and hunger to stay alive during the harsh winters.

Unlike plain dragons, tundra dragons are active hunters that chase prey across open land instead of waiting in ambush. They feed on deer, mountain goats, and sometimes even bears when fully grown.

■ Best Use: In its final growth stage, this dragon becomes a durable travel companion for all regions. It flies farther than plain dragons, making it ideal for long journeys.

■ - Work in progress:

~~- New types of dragons with unique abilities from various biomes.~~
~~- Battle mod for dragons after remove saddle via shears~~
~~- Cosmetic items for the player made from scaly skin.~~
~~- Once the saddle is removed, the dragon will switch to combat mode and assist the player. The saddle can be reattached to turn the dragon back into a mount.~~
~~- Hunting different animals depending on the dragon's age~~
~~- Polished textures and animations.~~
~~- Unique sounds for dragons.~~
~~- More deals for Sauriums and perhaps their own dimension with dragons.~~

Since the mod failed to attract any interest from the audience and took an enormous amount of time to create, it has been decided to cancel its further development.

⚙️Installation

■┃- After downloading the mod, make sure to go to World Settings and check the boxes next to the desired mods before creating a world. This is important, otherwise the mod won't be enabled in the selected world.

■┃- Use Curseforge Launcher (preferably standalone) to conveniently download and easily install mods. Or manually add them to the mods folder.

■┃- If you are using the pre-release version, please note that mods are stored in Hytale_Game\data\pre-release\Mods, not in Hytale_Game\UserData\Mods.

■┃- To configure and edit mods, unzip them. You can customize absolutely everything within these files. If you need something specific, just ask in the chat.

■┃- For add mods for the old world, right-click on the world icon in the menu and you will see the same list of settings for enabling mods.

📦 Compatibility & Recommended Mods

■ - This mod should be compatible with everything by default. It's made for use in any modpacks.

Our Other Mods:

■ - Known issues:

- Dragons end up in a T-pose after certain actions. This is a vanilla bug; even horses and other animals regularly end up in a T-pose, but because of their simple animations, you probably haven’t noticed it. I doubt I can do anything about it. It annoys me too :(
Sometimes nests are hard to find. Unfortunately, this is a problem with many mods - in Hytale, it’s very difficult to adjust the number of NPCs that spawn in the world. There can be either too many or too few. Getting a consistent result is about as hard as getting the shower water to the right temperature. Here’s a tip: try to kill monsters along the way instead of just wandering around. This frees up spawn points for respawning. But if you haven’t found a single egg - don’t worry - just buy a dragon from Sauruim by summoning it with a statue.
For now, flying consists of long jumps, but that’s the only option the game currently allows. Once Hytale introduces flying mounts, I’ll release an update for the dragons right away!

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■ - Our Discord for mods - https://discord.gg/aSRPHxHKPg
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Aures - Dragon Nestkeeper