Don't Die in Lava

Vanilla Minecraft, just a little friendlier.

Don't Die in Lava is a lightweight NeoForge modpack built for a small group of friends who want to play the Minecraft they already know, without the tedious parts. There are no new dimensions, tech trees, or magic systems to learn. It's survival as you remember it, plus a set of quality-of-life upgrades that make exploring, building, and playing together smoother.

If you've ever lost a full inventory to a lava pool, spent twenty minutes punching down one tree, or wandered for an hour looking for a jungle, this pack is for you.

What you'll notice right away

Smoother performance

• Sodium replaces the rendering engine for much higher, steadier frame rates, especially on modest hardware and at longer render distances.
• spark is included so performance problems can be profiled and fixed instead of guessed at.

Always know where you are and where you're going

• Xaero's Minimap puts a configurable minimap on screen, with waypoints and nearby mob/player indicators.
• Xaero's World Map keeps a full-screen map of everywhere you've explored, so you can plan trips and find your way home.
• Nature's Compass lets you search for any biome and points you straight to it. No more hunting for that one mushroom island.
• Waystones let you build teleport points around the world so friends can meet up quickly, and returning to base after a long expedition doesn't eat your evening.

Information at a glance

• Jade shows what you're looking at: block names, which mod it comes from, crop growth, mob health, and more.
• AppleSkin shows hunger, saturation, and how much food will actually restore.
• Enchantment Descriptions explains what every enchantment does, right in the tooltip.
• Durability Tooltip shows exact tool and armor durability.
• Shulker Box Tooltip lets you preview a shulker box's contents without placing it.
• Spawn Overlay highlights blocks where mobs can spawn, so you can light up your base properly.
• BetterF3 turns the F3 debug screen into something readable and customizable.

Less grind, more playing

• FallingTree chops the whole tree when you cut one log.
• Trade Cycling lets you reroll a villager's trades until you get the one you want, without breaking and replacing their workstation over and over.
• Inventory Essentials adds handy inventory shortcuts for moving stacks and items quickly.
• Traveler's Backpack adds wearable, upgradeable backpacks with extra storage, fluid tanks, and a built-in sleeping bag, plus dozens of themed designs, some with their own special abilities.

For when you do die in lava

• Simple Tomb places a grave where you die that holds your items, so a bad moment doesn't wipe out hours of progress.
• Lootr gives every player their own loot from structure chests. Whoever gets to the dungeon first doesn't take everything, so everyone gets to explore.
• Loot Integrations spreads modded loot into vanilla structure chests, giving exploration a little extra reward.

A bit of extra progression

• Advanced Netherite adds new netherite armor and tool tiers infused with iron, gold, emerald, and diamond. Each tier has its own perks, which gives you something to work toward after full netherite.

Small but handy

• Just Zoom adds a zoom key for scouting and admiring builds.
• Freecam lets you detach the camera to inspect builds, redstone, or caves without moving your character.

Who this pack is for

• Players who love vanilla survival and want it to feel more polished, not replaced.
• Small groups and friend servers that want quick meetups, fair loot, and fewer "where did you go?" moments.
• Anyone who wants a stable, low-maintenance pack that runs well on everyday PCs.

Server friendly

The pack runs on a dedicated server. Client-only mods like Sodium, Freecam, and Just Zoom stay on the player's side, while gameplay mods like Waystones, Lootr, Traveler's Backpack, and Simple Tomb run on the server so everyone shares the same experience.

Technical details

• Minecraft: 26.3
• Mod loader: NeoForge
• Also includes the libraries these mods need (Balm, Cloth Config, Cupboard, Konkrete, Prickle, Shogi, SuperMartijn642's Config Lib).

No promises about the lava, though. That part's on you.