Better Forests
by Zeno410
Better Forests changes the trees that generate in Minecraft's forest biomes, so each forest shows many different tree shapes instead of repeated vanilla ones.
What it does
Forest biomes in vanilla Minecraft reuse the same few tree forms over and over. Better Forests swaps them for a varied set: some trees grow massive and giant, others stay smaller and more inviting, and some forests consist of pure stands of one kind. Open forests let the eye see far through the trunks, while darker forests vary in how dense their canopy is from one area to the next.
The mod is a server-side only Forge mod, so only the server needs it and players join without installing anything. Its tree placement is tracked by a light-aware planning system, which keeps the densest and grandest forests from letting daylight spawns become too rare, though dark forests stay dark by design. Saplings are hand-grown in groups on a 3x3 area, with the middle sapling setting the form of the tree and the surrounding ones supplying material, using only vanilla tree materials. Files exist for 1.20.1, 1.20.2, 1.20.3 and 1.20.4, the range 1.20.1 – 1.20.4, released under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later, and the code is not open source.
Key features
Varied forest trees
Forest biomes receive many different tree kinds in place of a few repeated vanilla shapes.
Sizes and moods
Trees range from massive giants to smaller, more inviting forms, with forests that feel open or darker.
Light-aware planning
A tracking system for light levels keeps daylight spawns from becoming rare in the densest forests.
Hand-grown saplings
Groups of saplings on a 3x3 area determine the tree form, using only vanilla tree material.
Gallery
Compatibility
Latest build for each game version and loader.
Only full game releases are shown. This mod publishes no snapshot builds.
Use cases
Who it’s for: Players who want more varied forest scenery, and server owners who want that scenery without requiring any client install.
How it compares
More Forests is client-side only and under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license, not open source, with a Forge file for 1.20.1, so it changes what clients see. Twilight Forest Vanilla Structures needs the server while clients may stay vanilla, and targets 1.20 – 1.20.1 on Forge. Biomeland runs on client and server together, with All rights reserved licensing and a Forge file for 1.20.1.
| Mod | Loaders | Game versions | Environment | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Better Forests | Forge | 1.20.1 – 1.20.4 | Server-side only | 2024-08-15 |
| More Forests | Forge | 1.20.1 | Client-side only | 2024-07-07 |
| Twilight Forest Vanilla Structures | Forge | 1.20 – 1.20.1 | Server required, client optional | 2026-09-05 |
| Biomeland | Forge | 1.20.1 | Client and server | 2026-07-16 |
Questions
Does Better Forests need to be installed on the client?
Which versions does Better Forests support?
Does Better Forests work on Fabric or NeoForge?
In the catalog
Better Forests is one of 8,515 World generation mods on ModsFinder, and one of 5,058 World generation mods for Forge. 13,907 mods support Minecraft 1.20.4.
More from Zeno410
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What the author says
Better Forests replaces simple and repetitive vanilla forests with constantly varying ones full of many different kinds of beautiful trees. And open forests you can see all the way through.
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/better-forests
- Owner
- Zeno410
- Published
- 2024-05-23
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2024-08-15
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15