HardDrops — Every Resource Matters

Think a skeleton will always drop bones? Think that diamond ore belongs to you the moment you find it? HardDrops removes that certainty.

HardDrops is a difficulty mod that drastically reduces the chances of obtaining resources from mobs and ores. Minecraft remains familiar, but progression becomes slower, more strategic, and far less forgiving.

Every piece of food, every ingot, and every Ender Pearl becomes a real reward.

A Much More Challenging Survival Experience

Killing a mob no longer guarantees its loot:

Skeletons have a 30% chance to drop a bone, 10% for an arrow, and only 5% for their bow.
Creepers only drop gunpowder 25% of the time.
Endermen have a 20% chance to drop an Ender Pearl.
Blazes have a 20% chance to drop a Blaze Rod.
Ghasts have only a 10% chance to drop a Ghast Tear.
Evokers have only a 10% chance to drop their precious Totem of Undying.
Shulkers have a 20% chance to drop a Shulker Shell.
Wither Skeleton Skulls remain extremely rare, with a drop rate of only 2.5%.
Animals no longer guarantee food: most meat and fish drops have a 50% chance.
Leather, feathers, wool, string, spider eyes, and many other resources are also much harder to obtain.

Most vanilla mobs with death loot are affected, from ordinary zombies to Nether creatures and dangerous Illagers.

Mining No Longer Guarantees a Reward

Even after finding an ore, its resources may be lost when mined.

Ore	Chance to Keep the Drop
Coal	60%
Iron	40%
Copper	45%
Redstone	50%
Lapis Lazuli	45%
Diamond	30%
Emerald	25%

Finding a diamond is already an achievement. Successfully obtaining it becomes another.

Vanilla Rules Are Still Respected

HardDrops preserves Minecraft’s special loot conditions. Certain drops can only be obtained if vanilla Minecraft had already generated them.

For example:

A creeper must still be killed under the correct conditions to drop a music disc.
A sheared sheep will not drop wool when killed.
Froglights still require the vanilla interaction between a frog and a Magma Cube.
Mob weapons and equipment are only checked when Minecraft would normally allow them to drop.

HardDrops makes rewards rarer without bypassing Minecraft’s original mechanics.

Intentionally Unaffected Creatures

Some bosses and special mobs are not modified:

Warden
Guardian
Elder Guardian
Wither
Ender Dragon

Creatures without vanilla death loot, such as bats, villagers, bees, axolotls, foxes, and wolves, also remain unchanged.

Fully Configurable

Every percentage shown above is a default value and can be customized inside:

config/harddrops-common.toml

You can create your own difficulty, increase specific drop rates, or make your world even more unforgiving.

Who Is HardDrops For?

HardDrops is perfect for:

Difficult survival and Hardcore worlds
Challenges with friends
Demanding multiplayer servers
Survival-focused modpacks
Minecraft series and challenge videos
Players who find vanilla progression too generous

At first, you may only notice that a skeleton dropped no bones. Then iron will begin to disappear. Food will become precious. The Nether will force you to take greater risks…

And when you finally discover your first diamond, you will still have to hope that the world allows you to keep it.

HardDrops is only the beginning. For those who still find this difficulty too forgiving… something far worse is coming.