Better Mineshafts

Better Mineshafts are underground abandoned mines added by YUNG's Better Mineshafts, a worldgen-only overhaul of the vanilla mineshaft. The mod replaces the vanilla structure with 13 biome-specific variants that share one structure set. Every variant uses the same layout family and loot, but its wooden, stone and decorative blocks match the biome it generates in. Vanilla mineshafts are switched off by default, so Better Mineshafts are the mines a player finds underground. They are worth exploring for their chests, their ore deposits and the spawners in their side rooms.

Generation

Better Mineshafts generate only in the Overworld, underground, with their start point between Y -55 and Y 30. The 13 variants share one structure set, so the variant is determined by the biome at the start point:

• Oak variants appear in plains, sunflower plains, swamp and meadow biomes.
• Spruce variants appear in taiga biomes, and Spruce Snowy variants in snowy taiga, snowy plains, snowy slopes and jagged peaks.
• Jungle variants appear in jungle biomes, and Acacia variants in savanna and savanna plateau biomes.
• Desert variants appear in desert biomes. Red Desert and Mesa variants both appear in badlands biomes, so they overlap there.
• Ice variants appear in ice spikes and frozen peaks. Mushroom variants appear in mushroom fields. Lush variants appear in lush caves. Dripstone variants appear in dripstone caves.
• Overgrown variants appear in the forest biome tag, which is the broadest tag in the mod.

The mod's biome tags also include optional biomes from Terralith, Biomes O' Plenty, Biomes You'll Go and other pack mods. Modded biomes such as Desert Spires, Savanna Badlands, Ice Marsh and Jungle Mountains can therefore produce a Better Mineshaft of the matching type.

Each eligible chunk has roughly a 0.3% chance to start a structure, so Better Mineshafts are uncommon. The infobox gives the observed density. In the pack's sample, the Oak variant was the most common, followed by Overgrown, then Acacia and Spruce. Desert, Red Desert, Mesa, Ice, Jungle, Mushroom and Spruce Snowy did not appear in the sample, so their frequency is unknown.

Vanilla mineshafts are disabled by default. The /locate structure mineshaft command is blocked while they are disabled, and it points players to /locate structure #bettermineshafts:better_mineshafts, which finds any of the 13 variants.

The pack does not change the placement, spacing or biome lists of these structures, so they are not part of the pack's horror weighting.

Layout

Each structure begins with a vertical entrance at the top of a shaft. A main shaft runs from there, with side branches off it:

• Main shafts are the large central corridors. They have lanterns, chest minecarts (1% chance per roll), TNT minecarts (0.25% chance per roll) and workstation side rooms.
• Small tunnels branch off the main shafts in chains of up to nine segments. They have torches (2% chance per roll), and rare small-shaft minecarts (chest minecarts at 0.125% and TNT minecarts at 0.25% per roll).
• Workstation side rooms appear along the main shaft at a 2.5% chance per roll. They hold furnaces, a blast furnace, a smithing table, an anvil, crafting tables (50% chance), barrels with abandoned mineshaft loot, iron bars and ladders.
• Workstation cellars sit below some workstations, with a 25% chance. Each cellar holds a cave spider spawner, cobwebs and two chests with abandoned mineshaft loot.
• Ore deposits end many small tunnels. Each deposit is a cobblestone shell, with 90% of its solid blocks replaced by cobblestone. It is then filled with its chosen ore, 65% in the first pass and 15% in the second pass.
• Abandoned Miners' Outpost rooms replace some small tunnel endings, with a 2% chance per tunnel end. Each one holds a zombie villager spawner at its center and a barrel of abandoned mineshaft loot.

The ore in each deposit comes from a 0-99 roll with these default weights: cobblestone only 50, coal 20, iron 9, redstone 7, gold 7, lapis lazuli 3, emerald 3 and diamond 1. Small tunnels are therefore a source of coal and iron, with rarer lapis lazuli, emerald and diamond.

The variants differ in their decorations and block palettes. Oak, spruce, acacia, jungle and dripstone variants use planks and fences that match their wood. Desert variants use sandstone and red sandstone, with cacti and dead bushes. Ice variants use packed ice, and Mushroom variants use red mushroom blocks. Vines, moss and snow are placed where the variant's biome suits them.

Inhabitants

The mod adds no entities and places no mobs directly. It places two vanilla spawners:

• A zombie villager spawner in each Abandoned Miners' Outpost, which spawns zombie villagers.
• A cave spider spawner in each workstation cellar, which spawns cave spiders among the cellar's cobwebs.

Both are ordinary vanilla spawners, so their mobs count toward the normal monster spawn cap in the area. The mod adds no bosses.

Loot

Chests, barrels and chest minecarts in Better Mineshafts use the vanilla abandoned_mineshaft loot table. The mod does not change that table, but other mods add to it. Farmer's Delight's global loot modifiers add its chest tables to the abandoned mineshaft table by default. Traveler's Backpack adds backpack and upgrade items to the table at these chances: a Bat backpack 5%, a standard backpack 6%, an Iron tier upgrade 5% and a Gold tier upgrade 4%.

The generated table below lists the loot that can appear in Better Mineshafts.

Mineshaft Acacia bettermineshafts:mineshaft_acacia

Biomes (17): Savanna, Arid Highlands, Prairie, Dry Bushland, Mediterranean Forest, Hot Shrubland, Scrubland, Savanna Badlands, Savanna Plateau, Baobab Savanna, Fractured Savanna, Ashen Savanna, Sakura Grove, White Mesa, Savanna Slopes, Sakura Valley, Basalt Cliffs

Mineshaft Desert bettermineshafts:mineshaft_desert

Biomes (15): Wasteland, Desert, Joshua Desert, Saguaro Desert, Lush Desert, Dryland, Outback, Lush Savanna, Sandstone Valley, Desert Oasis, Desert Canyon, Lush Desert, Ancient Sands, Desert Spires, Granite Cliffs

Mineshaft Dripstone bettermineshafts:mineshaft_dripstone

Biomes (1): Dripstone Caves

Mineshaft Ice bettermineshafts:mineshaft_ice

Biomes (15): Snowy Badlands, Cold Desert, Rocky Mountains, Ice Marsh, Gravel Desert, Glacial Chasm, Frozen Peaks, Pine Slopes, Ice Spikes, Spires, Snowy Cherry Grove, Emerald Peaks, Rocky Shrubland, Siberian Grove, Icy Heights

Mineshaft Jungle bettermineshafts:mineshaft_jungle

Biomes (17): Jungle, Rainforest, Rainforest, Sparse Jungle, Volcanic Plains, Sparse Rainforest, Fungal Jungle, Rocky Jungle, Floodplain, Bamboo Jungle, Rocky Rainforest, Bamboo Forest, Eucalyptus Forest, Tropical Jungle, Jungle Mountains, Amethyst Rainforest, Amethyst Canyon

Mineshaft Lush bettermineshafts:mineshaft_lush

Biomes (1): Lush Caves

Mineshaft Mesa bettermineshafts:mineshaft_mesa

Biomes (12): Badlands, Snowy Badlands, Savanna Badlands, Wooded Badlands, Outback, Bryce Canyon, Eroded Badlands, Eucalyptus Forest, Wasteland Steppe, White Mesa, Red Oasis, Painted Mountains

Mineshaft Mushroom bettermineshafts:mineshaft_mushroom

Biomes (2): Fungal Jungle, Mushroom Fields

Mineshaft Oak bettermineshafts:mineshaft_oak

Biomes (39): Plains, Brushland, Highlands, Clover Plains, Coniferous Forest, Prairie, Alpine Highlands, Seasonal Forest, Lavender Field, Shrubland, Steppe, Shrubland, Jacaranda Glade, Aspen Glade, Bayou, Meadow, Fir Clearing, Grassland, Poppy Fields, Flower Fields, Wisteria Grove, Highland Fields, Old Growth Woodland, Sunflower Plains, Pasture, Orchid Swamp, Willow Swamp, Swamp, Marsh, Snowy Shield, Valley Clearing, Fen, Snowy Maple Forest, Shield Clearing, Wetland, Bog, Marsh, Caldera, Fungal Fen

Mineshaft Overgrown bettermineshafts:mineshaft_overgrown

Biomes (63): Sleepy Hollows, Forest, Dark Forest, Maple Forest, Mystic Grove, Redwood Forest, Orchard, Mediterranean Forest, Seasonal Forest, Temperate Highlands, Overgrown Greens, Old Growth Birch Forest, Jacaranda Glade, Aspen Glade, Birch Forest, Silver Birch Forest, Shrubland, Rocky Mountains, Old Growth Forest, Grove, Autumnal Maple Forest, Snowy Coniferous Forest, Willow Forest, Auroral Garden, Birch Taiga, Wintry Forest, Rocky Shrubland, Wisteria Grove, Orchard, Snowy Fir Clearing, Woodland, Old Growth Woodland, Moonlight Valley, Pumpkin Patch, Crag, Bamboo Forest, Snowblossom Grove, Jade Cliffs, Flower Forest, Magnolia Woodland, Alpine Grove, Pine Slopes, Lavender Valley, Blooming Valley, Blooming Plateau, Grassland, Sakura Grove, Windswept Maple Forest, Alpha Grove, Snowy Cherry Grove, Moonlight Grove, Scarlet Mountains, Yosemite Lowlands, Sakura Valley, Emerald Peaks, Siberian Grove, Cloud Forest, Moor, Caldera, Lavender Forest, Deciduous Forest (Removed), Mauve Hills (Removed), Temperate Grove (Removed)

Mineshaft Red Desert bettermineshafts:mineshaft_red_desert

Biomes (12): Badlands, Snowy Badlands, Savanna Badlands, Wooded Badlands, Outback, Bryce Canyon, Eroded Badlands, Eucalyptus Forest, Wasteland Steppe, White Mesa, Red Oasis, Painted Mountains

Mineshaft Spruce bettermineshafts:mineshaft_spruce

Biomes (56): Ominous Woods, Yellowstone, Blackwood Taiga, Coniferous Forest, Taiga, Forested Highlands, Shield, Pine Taiga, Boreal Taiga, Maple Woods, Field, Snowy Taiga, Shrubland, Muskeg, Tundra, Cold Boreal Taiga, Fir Clearing, Old Growth Pine Taiga, Frozen Pine Taiga, Snowy Coniferous Forest, Auroral Garden, Old Growth Spruce Taiga, Birch Taiga, Wintry Forest, Snowy Fir Clearing, Old Growth Dead Forest, Redwoods, Ice Marsh, Old Growth Golden Boreal Taiga, Glacial Chasm, Old Growth Boreal Taiga, Moonlight Valley, Sparse Redwoods, Dead Forest, Siberian Taiga, Snowblossom Grove, Jade Cliffs, Snowy Maple Woods, Forested Field, Wintry Lowlands, Alpine Grove, Lavender Valley, Spires, Snowy Shield, Moonlight Grove, Hot Springs, Lush Valley, White Cliffs, Snowy Maple Forest, Frozen Cliffs, Bog, Siberian Grove, Icy Heights, Cloud Forest, Lavender Forest, Golden Boreal Taiga (Removed)

Mineshaft Spruce Snowy bettermineshafts:mineshaft_spruce_snowy

Biomes (37): Snowy Plains, Shield, Snowy Taiga, Snowy Badlands, Cold Desert, Muskeg, Tundra, Cold Shrubland, Cold Boreal Taiga, Rocky Mountains, Tundra, Frozen Pine Taiga, Snowy Coniferous Forest, Auroral Garden, Snowy Slopes, Wintry Forest, Snowy Fir Clearing, Ice Marsh, Gravel Desert, Glacial Chasm, Crag, Dead Forest, Siberian Taiga, Snowblossom Grove, Jade Cliffs, Snowy Maple Woods, Wintry Lowlands, Jagged Peaks, Spires, Snowy Shield, Snowy Cherry Grove, Hot Springs, Scarlet Mountains, Snowy Maple Forest, Rocky Shrubland, Icy Heights, Caldera

Tips

The main shaft is the largest open area in each structure and the best place to start exploring. Most hostile mobs in these structures come from the two spawners, so light the side rooms and cellars before entering them, and clear the spawners' mobs before looting the chests.

Chest minecarts and TNT minecarts ride the rails in the shafts. TNT minecarts are explosive, so keep fire and redstone away from them. Ore deposits can hide their ore under a cobblestone shell, so break the shell to check what is inside.

Check the infobox for the structure's observed density. Most variants are uncommon, so explore the biomes that match the variant you want.