Simple handheld ore detectors for the early and mid game. Craft one, right-click a surface, and it scans the blocks behind that surface for a specific ore. A short beep and an action bar message tell you whether the ore is there and exactly how much. A lightweight, no-cheats way to decide where to start digging, with no x-ray and no waypoints.
Detectors
Eleven always-available detectors, each tuned to one ore:
- Coal, Copper, Iron
- Redstone, Lapis Lazuli
- Gold (overworld and nether), Diamond, Emerald
- Nether Quartz
- Amethyst (finds geodes)
- Netherite (Ancient Debris)
More appear automatically when their mod is installed:
- Zinc, with Create, Create Fabric, and Create Fly
- Tin, Lead, Osmium, Fluorite and Uranium, with Mekanism
- Inferium, Prosperity and Soulium, with Mystical Agriculture
Each one is crafted from the material its ore gives and repaired with that same material. The tables below show which Minecraft versions each of these mods covers.
How it works
- Right-click a surface to scan the blocks behind it.
- Point at the ground to reach deep (16 blocks), or at a wall or ceiling for a shorter range (8 blocks), across a 3x3 column.
- The result shows in the action bar, tinted to the ore's color, with the exact count. For example: Detected 4 Iron Ore nearby.
- Detectors wear down as you use them (1 per scan, plus 1 per ore found). Rarer ores wear the detector faster, so it stays balanced. Repair them in an anvil with their material, or use Mending.
- Each detector has its own cooldown. Using one does not put the rest of your detectors on cooldown.
- The beep is a real noise: sculk sensors will react to it. Set the volume to 0 in the config for a silent, sculk-safe detector.
Looking for more?
Ore Detector Reborn is the next step: one detector for every ore. You brew a liquid from the ore you want, pour it in, and the detector finds that ore, with X-Ray Goggles that draw what it found through the rock. It already covers several modded ores and will cover most of them as it grows, so mods with many ores, like Mythic Metals or Silent's Gems, are its job rather than this one's.
The two are separate mods and install side by side without conflicting. The first time you join a world, a short notice in chat points to it.
Ore Detector Reborn on CurseForge
Supported versions
| Minecraft |
Fabric |
NeoForge |
Forge |
| 26.1 to 26.3 |
Yes |
Yes |
n/a |
| 1.21.11 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| 1.21 to 1.21.1 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| 1.20 to 1.20.1 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Each line is a single download per loader. The 26.x file covers 26.1, 26.1.1, 26.1.2, 26.2 and 26.3.
On 1.20.x there is one Forge file that also runs on NeoForge. At that Minecraft version NeoForge still uses Forge's mod ids, so the Forge download is the NeoForge download (the same is true of Cloth Config: install its Forge build).
Optional mods
Every integration is automatic: install the other mod and it just works. There is nothing to configure, and nothing breaks if you don't have them.
Seamless Ores and Universal Ores make the detectors find their ore variants too. Stone variants such as andesite, diorite, granite, tuff, basalt and blackstone ores are counted right alongside the vanilla ones, and the Mekanism detectors also count Dense Mekanism ores.
Which of these you can use depends on your Minecraft version, because those mods do not ship for every version and loader:
| Minecraft |
Zinc (Create) |
Mekanism |
Mystical Agriculture |
Universal Ores |
| 26.1 to 26.3 |
Create Fly (Fabric) |
no build |
NeoForge, 26.1.2 |
Fabric, up to 26.2 |
| 1.21.11 |
Create Fly (Fabric) |
no build |
no build |
Fabric |
| 1.21 to 1.21.1 |
Create (NeoForge, 1.21.1) |
NeoForge |
NeoForge |
Fabric |
| 1.20 to 1.20.1 |
Create (Forge/NeoForge) or Create Fabric (Fabric) |
Forge/NeoForge |
Forge/NeoForge |
Fabric |
Seamless Ores has a build for every line above. Support for all of these is built into every version of Ore Detector Legacy, so anything marked "no build" will simply start working if those mods add one, with no update needed here.
Crafting
Each detector is made from its matching material, a redstone comparator, and a few sticks.
In-game config
A config screen lets you tune scan reach, column size, cooldown, a durability multiplier, and beep volume.
On Fabric the button comes from Mod Menu; on NeoForge and Forge it is in the mods list. Every build uses Cloth Config, with two exceptions: Forge on 1.21.11 has its own built-in screen and needs nothing extra, and on NeoForge 26.x Cloth Config is optional (without it the detectors use their default settings and there is no config screen).
Dependencies
| Mod |
Fabric |
NeoForge |
Forge |
Notes |
| Fabric API |
Required |
n/a |
n/a |
|
| Cloth Config |
Required |
Required, optional on 26.x |
Required, except on 1.21.11 |
Powers the config screen |
| Mod Menu |
Optional |
n/a |
n/a |
Adds the Fabric config button |
| Create / Create Fly / Create Fabric |
Optional |
Optional |
Optional |
Adds the Zinc Detector |
| Mekanism |
n/a |
Optional |
Optional |
Adds five detectors |
| Mystical Agriculture |
n/a |
Optional |
Optional |
Adds three detectors |
| Seamless Ores |
Optional |
Optional |
Optional |
Its ore variants get detected too |
| Universal Ores |
Optional |
n/a |
n/a |
Its ore variants get detected too |
Known quirk
Right-clicking redstone ore makes it light up, and in Minecraft that block reaction takes priority over the item in your hand, so the Redstone Detector will not fire when you aim it straight at exposed redstone ore. Aim at a block next to it instead, or sneak while right-clicking. Every other detector is unaffected. A fix is planned for a future update.
Credits
Unofficial community port and expansion of Ore Detector by restonic4. Not made by or affiliated with the original author. Licensed under MIT.
