Dustpunk - The Desert World Mod

Dustpunk is a NeoForge mod for Minecraft 1.21.1 that aims to completely reimagines the world's surface as a vast, geologically diverse desert planet. Say goodbye to forests, plains, and swamps – everything is sand, sandstone, and colorful badlands, each with unique properties, loot, and crafting potential. (WIP)

The World of Dustpunk

The entire overworld is transformed into a collection of 16 distinct sand types, each representing a real-world geological formation. From iron-rich red deserts to volcanic ash wastelands and fossilized guano islands, every biome tells a story.There is the Sands, but not the Worldgen! (WIP)

Sand Types & Origins

Sand	Color	Real-World Inspiration	Key Loot
Anthrosol	Dark Gray	Anthropogenic soils (ancient settlements)	Food, wood, wool, leather
Ferric	Deep Red	Iron oxide deserts (red sands)	Iron nuggets, raw iron, flint
Loess	Golden Yellow	Wind-blown silt deposits	Coal, gravel, flint, cactus
Ochre	Brown-Orange	Limonite/goethite (tropical deserts)	Terracotta, honey, pumpkin
Volcanic Tephra	Deep Purple	Volcanic ash and pyroclasts	Basalt, obsidian, netherite scrap
Phosphatic	Sage Green	Guano deposits (fossilized bird droppings)	Bone meal, lapis lazuli, vines
Glauconitic	Forest Green	Marine glauconite sands	Copper, prismarine, moss, emerald
Calcic	Light Beige	Calcium carbonate (coral sands)	Quartz, sugar, bone meal, skeleton skull
Diatomite	Turquoise	Diatomaceous earth (ancient lakes)	Kelp, glass, prismarine shards, sugar cane
Sodalite	Deep Blue	Sodalite-rich rocks	Lapis lazuli, heart of the sea, diamond
Rhodochrosite	Pink	Manganese carbonate (hydrothermal veins)	Amethyst, redstone, totem of undying (rare)
Basaltic	Medium Gray	Basalt erosion (Hawaii/Iceland black sands)	Basalt, magma cream, netherite scrap
Carnelian	Orange	Chalcedony (carnelian agate)	Quartz, gold nuggets, orange dye
Chrysocolla	Light Blue	Copper silicate (arid zones)	Copper, lapis, heart of the sea, diamond
Halite	Salmon Pink	Salt desert sands (halophilic bacteria)	Sugar, pink dye, honey
Zircon	Pearly White	Zirconium silicate (beach/desert placers)	Amethyst, diamond, flint

🧱 Stone Variants

For each sand type, the mod adds a full suite of decorative and functional blocks:

Sandstone

Sandstone
Cut Sandstone
Chiseled Sandstone
Sandstone Stairs (full stair behavior)
Sandstone Slabs (full slab behavior)

All 16 sandstone variants are fully craftable following vanilla patterns:

4 sand → 1 sandstone
4 sandstone → 4 cut sandstone
2 cut sandstone (vertically) → 1 chiseled sandstone
3 sandstone (horizontal) → 6 slabs
6 sandstone (L-shape) → 4 stairs

Crafting & Smelting

Glass Production

All 16 sand types can be smelted into vanilla glass (not stained glass), ensuring compatibility with all existing glass recipes (bottles, panes, beacons, etc.), and this won't change, because most IRL Sands can be melted to the same color of Glass, they are tinted afterwards.

Color Coding

If you need colored glass or stained glass, use vanilla dyes on regular glass – the sand itself only produces clear glass to maintain recipe compatibility.

Mining Mechanics

Different sand types require different tool tiers, creating natural progression:

Tier	Sands
Any tool	Anthrosol, Calcic, Diatomite, Halite
Stone tier	Ferric, Loess, Phosphatic, Glauconitic, Rhodochrosite, Chrysocolla
Iron tier	Ochre, Volcanic Tephra, Sodalite, Basaltic
Diamond tier	Carnelian, Zircon

All sands are mined with shovels; sandstones require pickaxes.

Creative Tab

All blocks are organized in the "Dustpunk Sands" creative tab for easy access.

Technical Details

Mod ID: dustpunk
Minecraft Version: 1.21.1
NeoForge Version: 21.1.106+
Data Generation: Fully datagen-compatible (textures, models, loot tables, recipes, tags)
GIT:Has Github Page.

Compatibility

Separate World Preset for only playing with the mods biomes + Lush Caves and Deep Dark
Compatible with other mods that add minerals/ores since (existing deepslate/cave layers remain). This mod WON'T BE adding new ores/minerals, but feel free to Datapack according to your pack. (Otherwise, it would be a nightmare to make it compatible)

Credits

Author: Wendy (Dustpunk Mod)
Geological inspiration: Real-world sand formations from Pfeiffer Beach (CA), Papakolea Beach (HI), Namibian desert deposits, and ancient loess plateaus