Better Harvest Levels
Better Harvest Levels lets a modpack define its own mining tiers and reassign which blocks each tool can harvest, through JSON files.
What it does
Harvest levels decide which tool can break which block. Better Harvest Levels replaces the vanilla wood, stone, iron, diamond and netherite hierarchy with tiers that a pack author defines. A tier can be placed before or after an existing one, given a name, a color and a numeric level, and assigned an icon shown in the Jade tooltip. Overrides target single blocks, whole mods or groups of blocks, and several overrides can be split across files for each mod, such as blocks.json or create.json.
The mod suits pack authors who want precise control over progression. Tiers can be grouped so that parallel progressions, for example a modded alloy, count as equivalent to a vanilla tier. Overrides are merged automatically in alphabetical order, and blocks with no override are left untouched. Modpacks can ship the tier configuration to end users, so players receive the progression without editing anything. The mod requires Fabric API and is published for Fabric, Forge and NeoForge for 1.20.1, 1.21.1, 26.1, 26.1.1, 26.1.2 and 26.2, with the 2.1.0 builds as the latest files.
Key features
Custom mining tiers
Define tiers beyond the vanilla wood, stone, iron, diamond and netherite hierarchy, such as a copper tier between stone and iron.
Block and mod overrides
Set the tier required to harvest a block or a whole mod's blocks, and which tool tier a block belongs to.
Tier groups
Group tiers so that different progression paths, such as a modded alloy, count as equivalent for harvesting.
Tooltip display
Blocks with an override show the required tier in a Jade tooltip, with a configurable icon for each tier.
Split JSON files
Place overrides across multiple JSON files by mod, and exclude entire mods from override resolution.
Compatibility
Latest build for each game version and loader.
Only full game releases are shown. This mod publishes no snapshot builds.
Requirements
Dependencies declared by the latest file for each loader.
Required 1
Incompatible 1
How it compares
Phat's Progression Framework is a server-required mod for 1.21.1 – 1.21.11 on Fabric and NeoForge under the MIT License, and it is open source. Harvest Leveling is limited to Forge 1.18.2 under the MIT License and is open source. Better Harvest Levels differs from both in its license, the GNU Lesser General Public License v3.0 only, and in its JSON-driven tier overrides.
| Mod | Loaders | Game versions | Environment | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Better Harvest Levels | Fabric, Forge and NeoForge | 1.20.1 – 26.2 | Not published | 2026-09-24 |
| Phat's Progression Framework | Fabric and NeoForge | 1.21.1 – 1.21.11 | Server required, client optional | 2026-05-01 |
| Harvest Leveling | Forge | 1.18.2 | Client and server | 2022-10-19 |
Questions
Does Better Harvest Levels need Fabric API?
Can Better Harvest Levels be used with Jade?
In the catalog
Better Harvest Levels is one of 17,631 Equipment mods on ModsFinder, and one of 8,894 Equipment mods for Fabric. 13,894 mods support Minecraft 26.2.
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What the author says
Take full control of your modpack's mining progression. BetterHarvestLevel lets you define custom tool tiers, override harvest levels for any block or tool, and unify cross-mod progression… all through simple JSON config files. Group tiers that should be treated as equivalent for mining purposes. Useful for mods that…
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/better-harvest-levels
- Owner
- TysonTheEmber
- Published
- 2026-03-24
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2026-09-24
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15