Cheap Lanterns
by Prunty
Cheap Lanterns is a Fabric mod that lowers the iron and copper nugget cost of lantern recipes in vanilla Minecraft, for players who build a lot.
What it does
Lantern recipes in vanilla Minecraft consume a fair number of nuggets, which slows down decorative lighting in survival builds. Cheap Lanterns changes the crafting cost of the standard lanterns, the soul lanterns and the copper lanterns so that fewer nuggets go into each one. The change touches recipes only, so the lantern blocks themselves and their light levels stay as they are.
The mod is useful for survival builders and for vanilla-plus packs that focus on construction, where lighting a large area can take a lot of resources. It is server-side only, so players join without installing anything, and the server alone needs the mod. It requires Fabric API, and files are published for Fabric only, for 15 release versions 1.21 – 26.1.2, with mc26.1-26.1.2-1.0.0 as the latest file for 26.1.2. The code is released under the MIT License, and the mod is not open source.
Key features
Cheaper iron lanterns
Lanterns are crafted with fewer iron nuggets than in vanilla, lowering the cost of each one.
Cheaper soul lanterns
Soul lanterns use fewer iron nuggets in their recipe, so lighting with them costs less.
Cheaper copper lanterns
Copper lanterns use fewer copper nuggets in their recipe, keeping copper-based lighting affordable.
Recipe-only change
Only the crafting recipes are altered, so the lanterns behave the same once they are placed.
Gallery
Compatibility
Latest build for each game version and loader.
26.x3 of 3 versions with builds
1.21.x12 of 12 versions with builds
Only full game releases are shown. This mod publishes no snapshot builds.
Use cases
Survival building
Players lighting a large base or village need many lanterns, and cheaper recipes reduce the nuggets spent on each one.
Builder-focused packs
Modpacks built around construction can keep decorative lighting accessible without grinding for nuggets.
Who it’s for: Survival players and server owners who run vanilla-plus or builder-focused packs and want lantern recipes that cost fewer nuggets.
How it compares
Cheaper Lantern Recipes is a Fabric, Forge, NeoForge and Quilt mod for 1.21.9 – 26.2, server required and client optional, under the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 4.0 License, and it is not open source. Colorful Copper Lanterns is server-side only like Cheap Lanterns, open source under the MIT License, and published for Fabric and Quilt across 1.21.10 – 26.2. Waylight is client-side only, open source under the GNU Lesser General Public License v3.0 only, and runs on Fabric for 1.21.11 – 26.3.
| Mod | Loaders | Game versions | Environment | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap Lanterns | Fabric | 1.21 – 26.1.2 | Server-side only | 2026-05-05 |
| Cheaper Lantern Recipes | Fabric, Forge, NeoForge and Quilt | 1.21.9 – 26.2 | Server required, client optional | 2026-09-03 |
| Colorful Copper Lanterns | Fabric and Quilt | 1.21.10 – 26.2 | Server-side only | 2026-07-23 |
| Waylight | Fabric | 1.21.11 – 26.3 | Client-side only | 2026-09-22 |
Questions
Does Cheap Lanterns need Fabric API?
Does every player need Cheap Lanterns installed?
Which versions does Cheap Lanterns cover?
In the catalog
Cheap Lanterns is one of 12,078 Decoration mods on ModsFinder, and one of 6,982 Decoration mods for Fabric. 15,189 mods support Minecraft 26.1.2.
More from Prunty
Similar mods
What the author says
Lanterns are overpriced in vanilla. This fixes the recipe and moves on. Cheap Lanterns reduces the crafting cost of lanterns so decorative lighting is easier to use in real survival worlds.
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/cheap-lanterns
- Owner
- Prunty
- Published
- 2025-12-06
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2026-05-05
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15