Cave Overhaul
Cave Overhaul replaces Minecraft's carver-based caves with noise-generated caves that players meet as they dig into a new world.
What it does
Cave Overhaul swaps the vanilla carver step for custom noise caves, using a noise-based system that Mojang designed and that the mod pushes further with domain warping. Domain warping distorts the regular noise pattern, so the resulting caverns are not standard noise shapes, and terrain becomes stranger the deeper a player digs.
The mod is an unofficial fork of WF's Cave Overhaul and ships with a play configuration that players can use right away. Its features include underground rivers, labyrinthine passages, claustrophobic tunnels and large open caverns, and the author states that the caves are built to make each world's caving different. Installation needs Fabric, and Fabric API is required for the mod to load. Cave Overhaul is server-side only, so players join without installing it, and the license is the GNU General Public License v2.0 only, which makes the mod open source.
Key features
Noise-based caves
Carver caves are replaced by custom noise caves that generate in place of Minecraft's native cave shapes.
Domain-warped terrain
Domain warping bends the noise so the caverns take unusual forms, and the terrain grows stranger with depth.
Underground rivers
Massive underground rivers can be followed through the caves, letting players travel by boat.
Labyrinthine caves
Winding cave systems and mixed tunnels and open caverns make it simple to lose one's bearings underground.
Optional configuration tools
Optional Mod Menu and Cloth Config support lets players adjust the mod's settings if they want to tinker with them.
Gallery
Compatibility
Latest build for each game version and loader.
Only full game releases are shown. This mod publishes no snapshot builds.
How it compares
Ore Overhaul is a Fabric mod for 1.21 – 26.2 that clients and servers both run, under All rights reserved and not open source, so it changes ore placement rather than caves. d3v_c's Terrain Overhaul is a Fabric server-side mod for 1.21.11 under the MIT License, and it is not open source as a catalog listing. OnlyNoiseCaves also builds noise caves, but it supports Fabric, Forge, NeoForge and Quilt for 1.20 – 1.21.11 and needs the server while the client may skip it.
| Mod | Loaders | Game versions | Environment | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cave Overhaul | Fabric | 1.21.11 – 26.1.2 | Server-side only | 2026-04-17 |
| Ore Overhaul | Fabric | 1.21 – 26.2 | Client and server | 2026-08-09 |
| d3v_c's Terrain Overhaul | Fabric | 1.21.11 | Server-side only | 2026-03-08 |
| OnlyNoiseCaves | Fabric, Forge, NeoForge and Quilt | 1.20 – 1.21.11 | Server required, client optional | 2025-06-20 |
Questions
Does Cave Overhaul need Fabric API?
Does a player need Cave Overhaul to join a server that runs it?
Which versions does Cave Overhaul support?
In the catalog
Cave Overhaul is one of 8,515 World generation mods on ModsFinder, and one of 4,027 World generation mods for Fabric. 15,189 mods support Minecraft 26.1.2.
More from swankydenizen
Similar mods
What the author says
Unofficial fork of WF's Cave Overhaul ## Ready to play, no configuration needed Cave Overhaul Provides brand new caves without requiring any configuration or client-side mods. Just place the mod in your mod folder and you're set. Optional Mod Menu + Cloth Config support is available for those who want to tinker with…
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/cave-overhaul
- Owner
- swankydenizen
- Published
- 2026-01-14
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2026-04-17
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15