⚒️ Just Tools — The Ultimate Tool, Armor & Ranged Expansion
Minecraft Version
NeoForge
Items
License
Just Tools is a comprehensive Vanilla+ expansion mod for Minecraft 1.21.1 (NeoForge). It adds over 170+ new items — including 3×3 area mining tools, versatile Paxels, complete Copper and Deepslate gear sets, a full armor overhaul, tiered Bows & Crossbows, and an intuitive Hardening Station with 11 modular upgrade plates that work on tools, armor, and ranged weapons!
No bloated dependencies. No overpowered mechanics that break survival balance. Just clean, satisfying progression done right.
✨ Highlights
- 🔨 Hammers & Excavators — Effortlessly mine and clear land in full 3×3 swathes (Wood through Netherite).
- 🪓 Paxels — The ultimate 4-in-1 multi-tool (Pickaxe + Axe + Shovel + Hoe) with all right-click utility actions.
- 🏹 Tiered Bows & Crossbows — Complete ranged weapon progression (Copper, Deepslate, Iron, Diamond, Netherite) plus Hardened variants with up to 6,500 durability, faster draw speeds, and bonus damage!
- 🥉 Copper & Deepslate Gear — Full tool, armor, and ranged weapon sets for both materials, finally giving Copper a meaningful purpose!
- 🦺 Hardened Armor System — Reinforce every armor tier (Leather to Netherite) for 2.5× to 3× durability, bonus Toughness, and Knockback Resistance.
- 🛡️ Tool Hardening Station — Upgrade, customize, and repair gear with raw materials for 0 XP cost while permanently resetting anvil repair penalties!
- 🔮 11 Stackable Upgrade Plates — Apply modular enchant-like powers (Auto-smelt, Item Magnet, Lava immunity, Void fall save, Auto-repair, and more) to any tool, armor piece, bow, or crossbow.
- 🎨 Smithing Armor Trims — Every armor piece fully supports all vanilla smithing templates and trims.
- ⚡ Standalone & Server-Safe — Zero required library mods, tested for dedicated multiplayer servers.
🔨 New Tool Types
🔨 Hammers (3×3 Pickaxes)
Mine a 3×3 section of stone or ores in a single swing! Available for all 8 material tiers.
- Fair Durability: Consumes only 1 durability per swing, regardless of how many blocks are broken.
- Deep Excavation: Upgrade with a Depth Drill Plate to dig 3×3×2 tunnels (up to 18 blocks per swing!).
🚜 Excavators (3×3 Shovels)
Clear massive amounts of dirt, gravel, sand, clay, and soul sand in 3×3 areas. Essential for large-scale landscaping and terraforming projects.
🪓 Paxels (4-in-1 Multi-Tools)
Consolidate your hotbar! Paxels combine a Pickaxe, Axe, Shovel, and Hoe into a single tool:
- Breaks stone, wood, dirt, gravel, and crops at proper speeds.
- Right-click functionality: strip logs, create dirt paths, till farmland, scrape copper oxidation, remove wax, and extinguish campfires.
🏹 Bows & Crossbows Expansion
Ranged combat finally gets proper material progression and longevity:
🏹 Tiered Bows
- Hardened Bow (Upgraded vanilla Wooden Bow) — 1,150 durability, +1.0 damage, 1.25× draw speed.
- Copper Bow (300 dur) & Hardened Copper Bow (900 dur) — Rapid draw speed (up to 1.35×) and high enchantability.
- Deepslate Bow (450 dur) & Hardened Deepslate Bow (1,350 dur) — Heavy recurve bow packing a punch (+2.5 bonus damage).
- Iron Bow (550 dur) & Hardened Iron Bow (1,650 dur) — Reliable mid-game ranged workhorses.
- Diamond Bow (1,800 dur) & Hardened Diamond Bow (4,500 dur) — 1.50× draw speed and +3.5 damage.
- Netherite Bow (2,500 dur) & Hardened Netherite Bow (6,000 dur) — Fireproof, 1.60× rapid draw speed, +4.5 bonus damage!
🎯 Tiered Crossbows
- Hardened Crossbow (Upgraded vanilla Crossbow) — 1,400 durability, +1.5 damage, 20 ticks reload (vs 25 vanilla).
- Copper Crossbow (350 dur) & Hardened Copper Crossbow (1,050 dur) — 17 ticks rapid reload.
- Deepslate Crossbow (500 dur) & Hardened Deepslate Crossbow (1,500 dur) — Heavy arbalest (+3.0 damage).
- Iron Crossbow (600 dur) & Hardened Iron Crossbow (1,800 dur) — 18 ticks reload, +2.0 damage.
- Diamond Crossbow (2,000 dur) & Hardened Diamond Crossbow (5,000 dur) — 15 ticks reload, +4.0 damage.
- Netherite Crossbow (2,800 dur) & Hardened Netherite Crossbow (6,500 dur) — Fireproof, blistering 13 ticks reload, +5.0 bonus damage!
⛏️ New Material Tiers
| Tier | Durability | Speed | Attack Damage | Enchantability | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Copper | 190 | 5.0 | 1.5 | 13 | Faster than stone, highly enchantable. Gives copper ingots real utility! |
| Deepslate | 320 | 4.5 | 1.5 | 7 | Crafted from Cobbled Deepslate. A resilient early-game stone alternative. |
Both tiers include full equipment sets: Sword, Pickaxe, Axe, Shovel, Hoe, Hammer, Excavator, Paxel, Bow, Crossbow, Helmet, Chestplate, Leggings, and Boots.
🦺 Armor Expansion & Hardened Armor
Tired of having no armor between Leather and Iron? Just Tools fills the progression gaps and introduces long-lasting armor sets for late-game adventurers.
- Copper Armor — Crafted with Copper Ingots. Provides 12 defense points with high enchantability, filling the gap between Leather/Gold and Iron.
- Deepslate Armor — Heavy stone armor providing 15 defense points with built-in Armor Toughness (+1) and Knockback Resistance (5%).
- Hardened Armor (All 8 Tiers) — Reinforce Leather, Copper, Deepslate, Chainmail, Iron, Gold, Diamond, or Netherite armor in the Hardening Station:
- 2.5× to 3× durability boost (e.g. Hardened Diamond Chestplate boasts 1,360 durability vs 528 vanilla!).
- Inherent Armor Toughness bonuses across all tiers.
- Higher enchantment values.
- Full Trim Support — All 40 mod armor pieces seamlessly accept vanilla smithing trims and color palettes at the Smithing Table!
🛡️ The Hardening Station
Say goodbye to the frustrating "Too Expensive!" anvil message! The Hardening Station is your all-in-one crafting workstation for maintaining and enhancing equipment:
- Reinforce to Hardened Variants — Use a Hardening Plate to upgrade base tools, armor, bows, and crossbows to their Hardened forms, massively boosting durability and stats.
- Free Material Repairs — Place damaged gear with its base material (e.g., Diamond for Diamond gear, String/Sticks for Bows, Tripwire Hooks/Iron for Crossbows) to restore 50% durability per item for 0 XP!
- Combine Duplicate Gear — Merge two damaged tools, armor pieces, or bows to combine their durability plus a 12% bonus, merge compatible enchantments, and reset prior work penalties.
- Universal Compatibility — Works with all vanilla gear as well as Just Tools gear!
🔮 11 Modular Upgrade Plates
Install upgrade plates onto tools, armor, bows, or crossbows in the Hardening Station. Every single plate can be stacked, allowing you to forge truly customized gear tailored to your playstyle:
| Upgrade Plate | 🛠️ Tool Ability | 🦺 Armor Ability | 🏹 Bow & Crossbow Ability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🛡️ Hardening Plate | Hardened variant upgrade / full repair | Hardened armor upgrade / full repair | Hardened bow/crossbow upgrade / full repair |
| 🚜 Depth Drill Plate | Expands Hammer/Excavator mining to 3×3×2 (18 blocks) | Heavy Plating: Reduces all incoming damage by 12% per piece | Heavy frame reinforcement |
| 💜 Soul Repair Core | Auto-repair (1 dur / 5s) + XP mending | Auto-repair (1 dur / 5s) + XP mending | Auto-repair (1 dur / 5s) + XP mending |
| 🔥 Lava Seal Plating | Fireproof; floats on lava | Fire & Lava Immunity: Cancels fire/lava damage and clears flames | Fireproof; floats on lava |
| ⚡ Redstone Turbine | +35% mining speed + streak Haste | Kinetic Boost: +15% player movement speed | Rapid Draw / Quick Charge: +30% to +35% faster draw and reload |
| 💨 Wind Core Plate | Eliminates water/air mining penalties | Feather Fall: 100% fall damage immunity | Gale Velocity: Flatter trajectory and high-speed projectile flight |
| 🌋 Thermal Core Plate | Auto-Smelts mined drops directly into ingots/glass/bricks | Flame Barrier: Ignites melee attackers for 4s + freeze immunity | Incendiary Arrows/Bolts: Innate Flame/Fire effect on all shots |
| 🔩 Reinforced Frame | 50% chance to consume zero durability | 50% chance to consume zero durability from attacks | 50% chance to consume zero durability per shot |
| 💎 Amethyst Shield | Break Prevention: Tool never breaks (stops at 1 durability) | Shatter Guard: Armor never breaks (stops at 1 durability) | Shatter Guard: Weapon never snaps (stops at 1 durability) |
| 🌿 Photosynthesis Plate | Repairs durability in sunlight or on grass/moss | Repairs in sunlight/nature + daytime Regeneration | Regenerates durability in direct sunlight |
| 🧲 Magnetic Vacuum | Mined drops pulled into inventory | Item Magnet Aura: Draws drops within 8 blocks | Sniper Loot Magnet: Defeated mob drops fly straight to your inventory |
📊 Comprehensive Stats Comparison
Tools: Base vs. Hardened
| Tier | Base Durability | Base Speed | Hardened Durability | Hardened Speed | Hardened Attack Bonus | Hardened Enchantability |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wood | 59 | 2.0 | 180 | 3.5 | +0.5 | 16 |
| Stone | 131 | 4.0 | 390 | 5.0 | +1.5 | 8 |
| Deepslate | 320 | 4.5 | 900 | 5.5 | +2.0 | 12 |
| Copper | 190 | 5.0 | 570 | 6.0 | +2.0 | 15 |
| Iron | 250 | 6.0 | 750 | 7.0 | +2.5 | 16 |
| Gold | 32 | 12.0 | 150 | 13.0 | +1.0 | 24 |
| Diamond | 1,561 | 8.0 | 4,000 | 9.0 | +3.5 | 12 |
| Netherite | 2,031 | 9.0 | 5,500 | 10.5 | +4.5 | 18 |
(Hammers & Excavators feature tailored durability scaling: e.g., Hardened Diamond Hammer boasts 9,000 durability; Hardened Netherite Hammer has 13,000!)
Bows & Crossbows: Base vs. Hardened
| Weapon Tier | Base Durability | Base Damage Bonus | Base Draw/Reload | Hardened Durability | Hardened Damage Bonus | Hardened Draw/Reload |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vanilla Wood Bow | 384 | +0.0 | 1.00× (20t) | 1,150 | +1.0 | 1.25× (16t) |
| Copper Bow | 300 | +0.5 | 1.15× (17t) | 900 | +1.5 | 1.35× (15t) |
| Deepslate Bow | 450 | +1.5 | 0.95× (21t) | 1,350 | +2.5 | 1.10× (18t) |
| Iron Bow | 550 | +1.0 | 1.10× (18t) | 1,650 | +2.0 | 1.30× (15t) |
| Diamond Bow | 1,800 | +2.0 | 1.25× (16t) | 4,500 | +3.5 | 1.50× (13t) |
| Netherite Bow | 2,500 | +3.0 | 1.35× (15t) | 6,000 | +4.5 | 1.60× (12t) |
| Vanilla Crossbow | 465 | +0.0 | 25t reload | 1,400 | +1.5 | 20t reload |
| Copper Crossbow | 350 | +0.5 | 21t reload | 1,050 | +1.5 | 17t reload |
| Deepslate Crossbow | 500 | +2.0 | 26t reload | 1,500 | +3.0 | 21t reload |
| Iron Crossbow | 600 | +1.0 | 22t reload | 1,800 | +2.0 | 18t reload |
| Diamond Crossbow | 2,000 | +2.5 | 19t reload | 5,000 | +4.0 | 15t reload |
| Netherite Crossbow | 2,800 | +3.5 | 17t reload | 6,500 | +5.0 | 13t reload |
Armor: Base vs. Hardened
| Tier | Base Defense (H/C/L/B) | Base Toughness | Hardened Defense (H/C/L/B) | Hardened Toughness | Hardened Durability Multiplier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leather | 1 / 3 / 2 / 1 | 0 | 2 / 4 / 3 / 2 | +1.0 | ×15 |
| Copper | 2 / 5 / 4 / 1 | 0 | 3 / 6 / 5 / 2 | +1.0 | ×30 |
| Deepslate | 2 / 6 / 5 / 2 | +1.0 | 3 / 7 / 6 / 3 | +2.0 | ×46 |
| Chainmail | 2 / 5 / 4 / 1 | 0 | 3 / 6 / 5 / 2 | +1.0 | ×38 |
| Iron | 2 / 6 / 5 / 2 | 0 | 3 / 7 / 6 / 3 | +1.5 | ×42 |
| Gold | 2 / 5 / 3 / 1 | 0 | 3 / 6 / 4 / 2 | +1.0 | ×22 |
| Diamond | 3 / 8 / 6 / 3 | +2.0 | 4 / 9 / 7 / 4 | +3.0 | ×85 |
| Netherite | 3 / 8 / 6 / 3 | +3.0 | 4 / 9 / 7 / 4 | +4.0 | ×100 |
🎮 Getting Started
- Craft Copper or Deepslate Tools, Armor, Bows & Crossbows using standard recipes with Copper Ingots or Cobbled Deepslate.
- Craft a Hammer or Excavator:
- Hammer: 5 ingots/materials + 2 sticks in a T-shape.
- Excavator: 3 ingots/materials + 2 sticks in a wide shovel pattern.
- Craft a Paxel: Combine a Pickaxe + Axe + Shovel + Stick in any crafting grid.
- Build a Hardening Station: Combine Iron Ingots, Obsidian, and a Crafting Table.
- Craft Upgrade Plates: Use thematic materials (Echo Shards, Breeze Rods, Amethyst Shards, Magma Cream, etc.) to produce plates.
- Harden and Upgrade: Place your gear into the Hardening Station with a plate to instantly reinforce it!
(All recipes are fully visible in the recipe book and JEI / EMI / REI).
⚙️ Mod Compatibility & Modpacks
- Dedicated Servers: Fully tested and server-safe (required on both client and server).
- Modpacks: Yes! You are completely free to include Just Tools in any public or private modpack.
- Dependencies: None. Only NeoForge is required.
- Recipe Viewers: Works out-of-the-box with JEI, REI, and EMI.
- Languages: Native support for English 🇬🇧 and German 🇩🇪.
📋 Requirements & Installation
- Make sure you have Minecraft 1.21.1 with NeoForge 21.1.251 (or newer) installed.
- Download
JustTools-1.21.1-x.x.x.jar. - Drop the file into your Minecraft
.minecraft/modsfolder. - Launch and enjoy!
JustTools & Armor Team
