Getting Started

Getting Started is the new-player introduction to Fear Nightfall, a horror-themed Minecraft 1.21.1 NeoForge modpack. The pack is built on a YouTuber's original mod list and adds a large number of mods on top of it, mostly for structures, biomes, horror mobs and magic. It also changes many of their defaults. Each mod has its own article in the wiki. This page explains how the pack plays and which features a new player meets first.

Fear Nightfall is set in the Overworld, where the horror content is weighted most heavily into forests, taigas and swamps. The main threats are the undead and other hostile mobs that appear after dark, the Sleepy Hollows biome and its sanity drain, and the timed attacks of Horde Nights. The Mod List shows every mod in the pack, and Changes to Vanilla lists the rules that differ from the base game.

Your first night

Night is the most dangerous time in the pack. The hostile mobs of Born in Chaos spawn in almost every Overworld biome. Dread Hound packs of three to five hunt players on sight in caves and other unlit ground after dark. The Nightmare spawns in plains, snowy, sandy, wasteland, dry and swamp biomes. It teleports toward players who look at it, takes no damage from projectiles and must be fought in melee.

Zombies, husks, drowned and several other undead can infect players and mobs. Each hit from an infection-capable attacker can start the Infected effect, which advances through four stages and then kills the entity. The full rules are on Zombie Infection. A single golden apple cures an infection at any stage.

The Sleepy Hollows biome is a dark, wet forest of graves and hollow trees. Standing in it drains the player's Sanity meter, which starts at 100. Sanity falls by 1 every 5 seconds during the day and by 2 at night, and it regenerates by 5 every 5 seconds outside the biome. At 0 the player gains the Insanity effect and is sent back to bed. Standing within 4 blocks horizontally of a sanity light stops the drain. Sanity lights include the Spectral Lantern, the Spectral Jack o'Lantern, Jack o'Lanterns, lanterns and soul lanterns. A light stops the drain but does not restore sanity.

To keep hostile mobs away from a base, see Base Defense and Spawn-Proofing.

Horde nights

The Hordes sends timed waves of undead and other hostile mobs at one player, who is the target for the whole event. Each player has an independent horde cycle counted in playtime, not world time. The first horde night falls on day 10, and then one falls every 10 days. The event starts at midnight and happens only in the Overworld. During the event the sky, fog and moon are tinted and beds refuse to work. The world keeps running when no players are online, so the schedule continues on an empty server.

The Graveyard adds its own nightly undead horde, described on Graveyard Hordes.

Dying and respawning

When a player dies, the Corpse mod stores the player's inventory in a corpse at the place of death instead of scattering the items as drops. A player who dies while infected rises again as a zombie player that carries the player's name and skin. The respawn rules are on Death and Respawning.

Early goals

The Progression Guide sets out the order in which the pack's content is usually reached. In broad terms a new player gathers tools, armour and food first, then turns to magic, potions and structures, and leaves the bosses for last.

• Gear and food. The basic equipment is covered by Tools, Weapons and Armor. Food and cooking are covered by Food and Cooking.
• Magic. Spellcasting explains mana and cast interruption, and Spell Books covers the books that hold spells. Players respawn with no mana by default.
• Potions. Potions and Brewing covers brewing and the effects it produces.
• Structures and loot. Villages, Dungeons and Taverns, The Graveyard and Tombstones and Graves are the main sources of chests and keys early in a world. Advancements lists the achievements that these structures and mods award.
• Bosses. The Lich is the late-game boss. It is never generated naturally and must be summoned at an Altar (The Graveyard) using the materials listed on Corruption, Vial of Blood and Summoning the Lich. The other bosses are listed on Bosses.

Mechanics that differ from vanilla

• Biomes. Horror biomes such as Dark Forest, Ominous Woods, Spider Nest, Sleepy Hollows and Willow Swamp are weighted six times higher than other biomes, so horror biomes make up roughly 12% of the land. See Biomes.
• Structures. Horror structures are placed about 30% closer together than in the mods' defaults. Villages are merged into a single set, so each location gets one village type. See Structures and Villages.
• Loot. Loot from several mods is added to the chests that play the same role in vanilla. Lootr gives each player their own copy of a chest's contents. Coffins, urns and some other containers stay shared, first come first served.
• Hordes. Zombies and skeletons burn in sunlight, infection cures are enabled and the world does not pause when the server is empty. See The Hordes.
• Bosses. The Pocket Watch from Tide cannot freeze bosses, and the bosses in the #c:bosses tag are immune to it.
• Nature's Compass. The biome finder's recipe uses diamonds in the corners instead of saplings. See Nature's Compass and Finding Structures and Biomes.

Controls and multiplayer

The pack's default keybinds are listed on Controls and Keybinds. Servers use the same mod set as their players, with the client-only mods left out, and every client must have the same mod files to connect. Multiplayer and Server Setup covers joining and hosting. The game rules and commands are listed on Gamerules and Commands.

Tips

• Visit the Sleepy Hollows biome in daylight, since the sanity drain is half as fast during the day. Carry lanterns or other sanity lights for the trip.
• Have a defended base before day 10, when the first horde night falls.
• Carry golden apples on night trips. A single cure ends an infection at any stage.
• Check the Mod List before joining a server. A client without the server's mods cannot connect.