Chai's Early Game Overhaul
by Chai
Chai's Early Game Overhaul changes the opening hours of a survival world, so stone tools arrive later and are reached through gathering and crafting steps.
What it does
Instead of punching trees straight to a wooden pickaxe, players first collect materials like sticks and flint. Coal and samples come from the axe, a campfire can bake clay into bricks, and the campfire can then be used to build a furnace for raw copper. Copper samples are needed to craft the first pickaxe. The changes add about 30 steps to reaching stone tools, so the early game takes noticeably longer.
Once copper tools are crafted at the same position where stone tools would normally be, the vanilla progression resumes. A Survival Manual is given at first spawn and can be read for the new route. The mod is aimed at players who want a slower start that still keeps vanilla recipes and blocks in place. Every player and the server need a copy of the mod. It requires Bento Box, Fabric API and Lavender, and is published for Fabric only, across 1.20 – 1.20.4.
Key features
Slower stone tools
Reaching stone tools takes roughly 30 extra steps, built on gathering sticks, flint and coal before any pickaxe is made.
Campfire and furnace route
Clay is baked into bricks on a campfire, and that campfire is then used to build a furnace for raw copper.
Copper pickaxe first
Copper samples are needed to craft the first pickaxe, and copper tools open the stone stage at the same position as vanilla.
Survival Manual
A guide book is given at first spawn and explains the new early steps, although the author notes say a guide book is missing in some builds.
Gallery
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 3
Use cases
Who it’s for: Players who want the first stage of a survival world to last longer, and server owners who run a slower start for everyone on the server.
How it compares
Random's Early Progression is a Fabric mod for 1.20.1 – 1.20.2 under the MIT License and is open source, with the environment set to client and server. Atheneum is also Fabric and client and server, but it is for 1.20.5 – 1.20.6 and is not open source, being under All rights reserved. IroNightmares covers 1.20.1 – 1.21.5 under the MIT License and is open source, so it reaches more versions than Chai's Early Game Overhaul.
| Mod | Loaders | Game versions | Environment | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chai's Early Game Overhaul | Fabric | 1.20 – 1.20.4 | Client and server | 2024-06-14 |
| Random's Early Progression | Fabric | 1.20.1 – 1.20.2 | Client and server | 2023-09-23 |
| Atheneum | Fabric | 1.20.5 – 1.20.6 | Client and server | 2024-06-05 |
| IroNightmares | Fabric | 1.20.1 – 1.21.5 | Client and server | 2025-06-23 |
Questions
Does Chai's Early Game Overhaul need Fabric API?
Does the server need the mod?
Which game versions does the mod support?
In the catalog
Chai's Early Game Overhaul is one of 19,031 Adventure mods on ModsFinder, and one of 10,052 Adventure mods for Fabric. 13,907 mods support Minecraft 1.20.4.
More from Chai
Similar mods
What the author says
Once you've crafted your set of copper tools, you are now at the same position as having stone tools in vanilla Minecraft.
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/chais-early-game-overhaul
- Owner
- Chai
- Published
- 2024-04-16
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2024-06-14
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15