The Levelling

Your equipment should feel earned, not disposable. The Levelling gives every eligible weapon and armor piece its own persistent XP and level, allowing the gear you actually use to grow alongside you.

Level equipment through combat

• Weapons earn item XP only when they kill a creature. Damage dealt and repeated hits do not award XP.
• Equipped armor earns XP when you take damage, even when enchantments or Resistance reduce it.
• Every item progresses independently, beginning at level 0.
• The default progression supports 500 levels and can be changed by the server owner.

Rewards that match the fight

A zombie and a Warden should not be worth the same amount of XP. Vanilla enemies use a threat-based reward table, while creatures added by other mods are detected automatically and scaled from their maximum health.

For unknown hostile creatures, 20 health is the standard 1× reward. Passive and neutral creatures receive half of the health-based value to reduce easy farming. Server owners can override any entity through xp.entityMultipliers and limit individual rewards with xp.maxXpPerAttack.

Weapons keep their identity

Level damage scales from the weapon's original strength. A strong modded weapon remains stronger than a vanilla sword at the same level instead of both receiving one identical flat bonus.

The system supports swords, axes, maces, tridents, bows, crossbows, compatible spears, modded melee and ranged weapons, and armor. Mace smash damage, thrown tridents, projectiles, enchantments, and supported special weapon behavior are included in the final calculation.

Broken gear stays with you

When eligible equipment reaches zero durability, it becomes Broken instead of disappearing.

• Broken weapons cannot deal damage.
• Broken armor provides no protection.
• The item's level and XP are preserved.
• One valid repair material in an anvil restores one durability point and makes the item usable again.
• Broken items receive a visible cracked icon and red slot border.

Clear, configurable presentation

• Custom item-level panel with a smooth XP bar
• Live total damage or Armor value
• Compact, Standard, and Detailed tooltip modes
• A separate accent color at maximum level
• Achievement-style level-up notifications
• Small kill-XP notifications that show exactly when XP was earned
• Hoverable item sharing with Shift + Middle Click
• A compact WL button in the pause menu
• Optional Jade integration for levelled items in the world

Client-side visuals and sharing features can be disabled. Shared progression and balance settings are controlled by the server.

Multiplayer and configuration

Progression, damage, XP rewards, commands, and gameplay settings are server-authoritative. World hosts and permitted server operators can edit shared options in-game. Other players can view protected settings, but they appear locked and cannot be changed.

Install the same version of The Levelling on the server and every connecting client.

Compatibility

The Levelling includes data-driven detection for compatible modded equipment and has been developed with weapons from Simply Swords, Spartan Weaponry Unofficial, and equipment from ArmorPlus in the test environment. Item tags and server allow/exclude lists are available for modpacks that need manual control.

Combat overhauls that completely replace standard Minecraft attack or projectile events may require a separate compatibility add-on.

Requirements

• Minecraft Java Edition 1.21.1
• NeoForge 21.1.248 or a newer compatible 21.1.x build
• Java 21

Jade is optional and is not required to run the mod.

Open beta

This release is still a beta. Balance and compatibility with unusual modded weapons may change based on player feedback. When reporting an issue, please include your Minecraft and NeoForge versions, full mod list, latest.log, reproduction steps, and a screenshot or video when possible.