aleki's Nifty Ships
by alekiponi
Nifty Ships is a Forge and NeoForge mod for Minecraft 1.20.1 that adds ships with building, sailing, cannons and storage.
What it does
Unfinished rowboats and ships can be found on beaches and rivers, and players complete them by building. A finished ship can be loaded with cargo, creatures or cannons, then sailed with a simulation of wind and handling. Cannons fire from the sea and from land, so naval fights can happen on either.
Any container can be placed in the hold or on the deck, including shulker boxes, furnaces and crafting tables. The mod also upgrades vanilla boats with some of its features and includes two larger ships, a two-masted and a three-masted one. A separate addon adds support for Biomes O'Plenty.
Nifty Ships requires nothing beyond its loader and runs on client and server, so the server and every player need it. Files are published for Forge and NeoForge for 1.20.1, with the latest 1.0.14 dated 2024-12-04. The code is open source under the MIT License.
Key features
Ship building
Players construct ships from parts in the world, then add decks and sails to shape the vessel.
Sailing simulation
Ships move according to a sailing model rather than simple boat physics, so steering takes practice.
Cannons
Cannons can be mounted on a ship and fire at targets, on water or on land.
Placeable containers
Shulker boxes, furnaces, crafting tables and other containers can be placed in the hold or on deck.
Larger ships
A two-masted and a three-masted ship extend the size range beyond the vanilla boat.
Gallery
Compatibility
Latest build for each game version and loader.
Only full game releases are shown. This mod publishes no snapshot builds.
Required by 2 mods
Use cases
Naval battles on a server
Players on a shared server can build fleets and fight each other with cannons, since the mod is installed on both sides.
Cargo runs
Storage on the deck or in the hold lets a ship carry goods or animals between ports.
Who it’s for: Players who want ships and naval combat in a Forge or NeoForge world on 1.20.1, and server owners who want shared sea travel and battles.
How it compares
Valkyrien Sails is a Fabric, Forge and NeoForge mod for 1.20.1 – 1.20.6, open source under the GNU Lesser General Public License v3.0 only, and it focuses on ship physics. Whaleborne is open source under the MIT License, covers Forge and NeoForge for 1.20.1 – 1.21.1, and adds whale-based travel rather than ships. Boatload is not open source, is licensed under a custom license and supports 1.16.5 – 1.21.1 on Forge and NeoForge.
| Mod | Loaders | Game versions | Environment | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| aleki's Nifty Ships | Forge and NeoForge | 1.20.1 | Client and server | 2024-12-04 |
| Valkyrien Sails | Fabric, Forge and NeoForge | 1.20.1 – 1.20.6 | Client and server | 2026-05-11 |
| Whaleborne | Forge and NeoForge | 1.20.1 – 1.21.1 | Client and server | 2026-09-18 |
| Boatload | Forge and NeoForge | 1.16.5 – 1.21.1 | Client and server | 2025-10-17 |
Questions
Does this ship mod need another mod to run?
Does the server need this ship mod?
Does this ship mod work with Biomes O'Plenty?
In the catalog
aleki's Nifty Ships is one of 3,932 Transportation mods on ModsFinder, and one of 1,908 Transportation mods for Forge. 34,764 mods support Minecraft 1.20.1.
More from alekiponi
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What the author says
Find unfinished rowboats and ships on beaches and rivers, and learn how to complete them! Build your ship, fill it with cargo, creatures, or cannons, and sail it across the seas with a realistic sailing simulation!
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/alekiships
- Owner
- alekiponi
- Published
- 2024-07-21
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2024-12-04
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15