Cheaper Spyglasses
by Mr_frugal
Cheaper Spyglasses changes the spyglass recipe so that Glass replaces the Amethyst Shard, letting players craft one early in a survival world.
What it does
The mod overwrites the vanilla spyglass recipe. Where the default recipe needs an Amethyst Shard, which only turns up after finding a geode underground, the recipe now uses Glass in that place. The two Copper Ingots stay as they are, so copper keeps its existing use. The vanilla amethyst recipe is fully disabled, which prevents it from conflicting with or duplicating the new one.
Because Glass is obtainable from sand early in a world, a player can make a spyglass at the start of a survival journey rather than searching for a rare shard first. The change is a small recipe tweak and adds no new items or mechanics. The server has to run the mod, while players may add it for the recipe change on their own side. It is published for Fabric, Forge, NeoForge and Quilt, and as a data pack, across the 1.21.11 – 26.2 range, and is released under the MIT License. The mod is not open source.
Key features
Glass recipe
The spyglass is crafted with Glass in place of the Amethyst Shard, so the lens comes from a standard block.
Early availability
Glass can be collected from basic beach sand, so a spyglass is reachable at the start of a world.
Copper kept intact
The original two Copper Ingots remain part of the recipe, preserving the copper's role in the spyglass.
Default recipe removed
The vanilla amethyst spyglass recipe is disabled entirely, so only one spyglass recipe exists.
Gallery
Compatibility
Latest build for each game version and loader.
Only full game releases are shown. This mod publishes no snapshot builds.
Use cases
Who it’s for: Players and server owners who want the spyglass to be craftable from common materials rather than the rare Amethyst Shard. Single-player players who install it on the client also get the recipe change.
How it compares
Amethyst Pickaxes is a server-side only mod with All rights reserved licensing, published for 1.21.11 – 26.1.2. Night Vision Spyglass needs the server, while players may add it, and uses a custom license; it is published for 1.21 – 26.2 and adds a night vision feature rather than changing a recipe. Cheaper Spyglasses covers 1.21.11 – 26.2 and is released under the MIT License.
| Mod | Loaders | Game versions | Environment | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheaper Spyglasses | Fabric, Forge, NeoForge and Quilt | 1.21.11 – 26.2 | Server required, client optional | 2026-08-12 |
| Amethyst Pickaxes | Fabric, Forge, NeoForge and Quilt | 1.21.11 – 26.1.2 | Server-side only | 2026-05-11 |
| Night Vision Spyglass | Fabric, Forge, NeoForge and Quilt | 1.21 – 26.2 | Server required, client optional | 2026-07-01 |
Questions
Does Cheaper Spyglasses need to be installed on the client?
Which loaders is Cheaper Spyglasses available for?
Does the mod change any other recipe?
In the catalog
Cheaper Spyglasses 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.
More from Mr_frugal
Similar mods
What the author says
Frustrated by how long it takes to find an amethyst geode just to zoom in? This lightweight recipe tweak rebalances the spyglass blueprint, making exploration tools accessible much earlier in your survival journey. In vanilla Minecraft, crafting a spyglass forces you to track down a rare Amethyst Shard to use as the…
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/cheaper-spyglasses
- Owner
- Mr_frugal
- Published
- 2026-08-04
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2026-08-12
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15