Progressive Difficulty Scaler

Light mod that scales hostile mob health and damage to match progression, so later gameplay and hardcore worlds are actually difficult.

This mod intends to fix Minecraft's difficulty problem. Mobs stop feeling difficult after diamond or netherite armor, and hardcore worlds don't exactly feel hard anymore. 

Progression Difficulty Scaler uses a mathematical formula to scale up hostile mobs' health and damage quietly in the background so every stage of the game is still challenging and exciting. Early game stays the same, so new players aren't punished. This mod works for both singleplayer and multiplayer.

Calculation

Every player has a hidden progression score from 0 to 100, depending on:

  • The best armor and weapons in their inventory (including enchants)
  • Whether they've reached the Nether and End, and killed the Wither and Ender Dragon
  • Handful of key advancements like smeling iron or finding an End City
  • Diamonds and Ancient Debris mined

The mod averages this across everyone online (if multiplayer) and uses it to scale each mob's health and attack as it spawns.

Take a regular zombie. In vanilla it always has 20 health and hits for 3. Here is how it changes as the world progresses:

  • Fresh world (score 0): 20 health, 3 attack. Same as vanilla.
  • Mid game, full iron and a trip to the Nether (score 50): about 40 health, 6.4 attack.
  • Late game, diamond gear and End access (score 75): about 71 health, 11.6 attack.
  • Endgame, netherite and bosses down (score 100): about 84 health, 13.8 attack.

Notice it climbs hardest in the middle and then levels off near the top, so the endgame is genuinely dangerous without turning every zombie into a sponge. 

Design

Not all mobs are scaled equally. Some tough mobs like Creepers, Wardens, and bosses scale smaller. Allied mobs, including wolves, also scale. 

 

Everything is configurable. 

 

Requirements: Fabric Loader, and Fabric API. On a server, only the server needs the mod. 

The Progressive Difficulty Scaler Team

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