Overview

Ore Veins overhauls vanilla ore generation to encourage exploration and transportation. Instead of common small deposits, you'll find rare but massive veins that require establishing mining outposts and transport routes.

Features

▸▸ Massive Veins: Rare but enormous ore deposits

▸▸ Exploration Focus: Incentive to explore caves and mountains

▸▸ Transport Systems: Makes railways and roads meaningful

▸▸ Six Distinct Shapes:

1 Cloud:

A sphere filled with scattered, uneven pockets. Density varies randomly, creating ore-rich zones and empty voids within the same body. (copper,…)

2 Disk:

A wide, gently undulating horizontal sheet. Follows the ancient landscape, forming curved, nearly flat layers that can be traced across terrain. (andesite, diorite,…)

3 Falloff:

A sphere with smooth density gradient—richest at the core, fading toward the edges. Creates a clear “bullseye” pattern underground. (gold,…)

4 Kimberlite:

A tall, narrow, twisting vertical pipe. Often bends or branches, cutting through multiple rock layers from deep bedrock to near surface. (diamond,coal,…)

5 Sphere:

A large, nearly uniform spherical deposit. Consistent density throughout, forming predictable, rounded ore bodies. (iron,…)

6 Lens:

A flattened, oval-shaped lenticular deposit. Thickens in the center and tapers toward the edges, like a flattened lens or pillow. (coal,…)

🎨 Fully Customizable Generation

Beyond the preset vein types, Ore Veins provides a complete configuration system that lets you:

▸▸ Build custom shapes – bend, stretch, and distort spheres and cylinders with radial, surface, and volume noise

▸▸ Control size distributions with different random generators

▸▸ Create complex ore mixtures using the ChanceMapping system

▸▸ Set up templates (Specs) and override any parameter in specific placements

▸▸ Disable vanilla ore generation entirely with Removals

All configuration is done through JSON files in config/ore_veins/worldgen/, making it ideal for modpack creators and server admins.

🧭 Mining Philosophy

Ore Veins replaces common ore deposits with rare mineral formations, ranging from compact seams to colossal treasures up to 96 blocks in diameter — true underground vaults of wealth.

🏔️ "Harsh Survival" Style (without helper mods):
Here, you'll truly learn to value every scrap of iron from a chest or a fight without a shield. The "Stone Age" may last several play sessions. Your strategy shifts from digging to exploration: seek out rocky outcrops where ore is exposed, and delve into the deepest cave systems.

🔍 "Industrial Logistics" Style (with prospecting mods):
The intended experience for builders. We recommend reducing vein frequency in the world config — this makes each discovery a strategic prize, justifying the construction of roads and rails for hundreds of blocks. The core gameplay becomes about developing infrastructure, not endless searching.

The total ore in the world remains close to vanilla, but now it requires systematic exploration and thoughtful logistics.

Configuration

Files created automatically, after first game launch.

1.3.0 and above:

config/ore_veins/server.toml - Server settings
config/ore_veins/client.toml - Client settings
config/ore_veins/worldgen/*.json - Detailed world generation settings
config/ore_veins/docs/readme.md - Detailed documentation on modifying world generation

1.2.2 and below (legacy):

Ore Vein Generation