Bronze N' Steel
by elidhan
Bronze N' Steel adds a metal progression for NeoForge on Minecraft 1.21.1, starting with bronze and steel ingots made from copper, diorite, sand, iron and coal.
What it does
Players begin by gathering copper, diorite and sand, then craft a silicon mixture from one diorite and one sand. That mixture combined with a copper ingot produces a bronze mesh. Smelting in a regular furnace yields a bronze ingot, which the mod presents as the alternative iron tier.
For steel, players collect iron and coal or charcoal, then craft four crude iron from three iron and one coal or charcoal. Smelting crude iron in a blast furnace produces a steel ingot, which serves as the workhorse tier. Regular furnaces do not process the crude iron, so the blast furnace is required for that step.
The mod runs on NeoForge only and is published for 1.21.1. Both the server and every player need it, since the environment is client and server. The code is open source under the MIT License, and the latest file, 1.0.1, is dated 2026-09-30.
Key features
Bronze ingots
A regular furnace turns the bronze mesh inputs into bronze, giving an early metal between stone and steel.
Steel from a blast furnace
Crude iron smelted in a blast furnace produces steel ingots, so this step depends on that block.
Crude iron crafting
Three iron and one coal or charcoal make four crude iron, which feeds the steel route.
Durable tool materials
The metals are meant to make tools that last longer than plain iron and reach a tier that is hard to get early on.
Gallery
Compatibility
Latest build for each game version and loader.
Only full game releases are shown. This mod publishes no snapshot builds.
Use cases
Early-game progression
Players who want a tier between stone and diamond tools can follow the bronze and steel route before mining diamonds.
Who it’s for: Players who want a metal progression for NeoForge on 1.21.1 and server owners who want a gated early tier before diamonds.
How it compares
Steel Age is NeoForge, runs client and server, covers 1.21.1 – 1.21.10 and is closed under All rights reserved. Random Additives is also NeoForge and client and server for 1.21.1, but it is open source under the GNU General Public License v3.0 only. Grandiorite, open source under the ISC License, also targets NeoForge 1.21.1 with client and server.
| Mod | Loaders | Game versions | Environment | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bronze N' Steel | NeoForge | 1.21.1 | Client and server | 2026-09-30 |
| Steel Age | NeoForge | 1.21.1 – 1.21.10 | Client and server | 2025-11-24 |
| Random Additives | NeoForge | 1.21.1 | Client and server | 2025-07-27 |
| Grandiorite | NeoForge | 1.21.1 | Client and server | 2024-10-20 |
Questions
Does Bronze N' Steel need to be installed on the server?
Why does the steel recipe need a blast furnace?
Which loader and version does Bronze N' Steel support?
In the catalog
Bronze N' Steel is one of 17,631 Equipment mods on ModsFinder, and one of 7,420 Equipment mods for NeoForge. 32,366 mods support Minecraft 1.21.1.
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What the author says
Bronze is meant to be an alternative to iron. The process of obtaining it is a little lengthier than iron, but it's more durable in return. Steel meanwhile is meant to be the workhorse tier; 3x as durable as iron and can mine the same things as diamond. I wanted a tier that makes players not feel the need to rush for…
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/bronze-n-steel
- Owner
- elidhan
- Published
- 2026-08-27
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2026-09-30
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15