Despawning Eggs Hatch
by Serilum
Despawning Eggs Hatch makes chicken eggs on the ground hatch into chicks just before they would vanish, when the egg lies on a hay block.
What it does
Items and eggs despawn after 6000 ticks, which is 5 minutes. The mod intercepts that moment for chicken eggs: instead of disappearing, an egg can hatch into a chicken. By default this happens only when the egg rests on top of a hay block, so wild flocks in loaded chunks do not keep growing unnoticed. A hatchling appears as a small chick unless the option is turned off.
Several settings control the behavior. A hatch chance can be lowered from its default value. A limiter stops hatching when too many chickens already stand within a set radius of the egg, with the default cap at 50 chickens and a radius of 32 blocks. The entity limiter is the mechanism that keeps new spawns from growing without bound. The mod runs only on the server, so players join without installing anything.
Installation requires Collective on every loader. The mod is published for Fabric, Forge, NeoForge and Quilt across 29 release versions, 1.16.5 – 26.3, and the code is under All rights reserved, so it is not open source. Source code and an issue tracker are publicly linked.
Key features
Hatching at despawn time
A chicken egg hatches just before the despawn timer removes it, instead of vanishing.
Hay block requirement
By default an egg hatches only when it sits on top of a hay block, which keeps wild flocks from expanding.
Chicken count limit
Hatching stops when the number of nearby chickens reaches a configurable threshold, 50 by default.
Adjustable hatch chance
The chance that an egg hatches can be set between 0 and the maximum in the configuration.
Baby chick option
A newly hatched chicken can be spawned as a small chick, which is the default setting.
Compatibility
Latest build for each game version and loader.
26.x5 of 5 versions with builds
1.21.x12 of 12 versions with builds
1.20.x7 of 7 versions with builds
1.19.x3 of 3 versions with builds
1.18.x1 of 1 version with builds
1.16.x1 of 1 version with builds
Only full game releases are shown. This mod publishes no snapshot builds.
Requirements
Dependencies declared by the latest file for each loader.
Required 1
Use cases
Managed chicken farms
Server owners who want chickens to appear from eggs on hay blocks can keep control over population growth.
Preventing runaway flocks
Worlds with many wild chickens can use the radius limiter to stop large groups from forming in loaded chunks.
Who it’s for: Server owners who want a controlled way for chicken eggs to produce chicks, and players on those servers who gain chicks from eggs placed on hay.
How it compares
Chickens Hatch Now is client and server, open source is not claimed, and it is published for Forge and NeoForge across 1.20.1 – 26.2, under All rights reserved. Hatchable is server required with client optional, under the MIT License, for 1.21 – 26.3 on Fabric, Forge, NeoForge and Quilt. Nest Egg is client and server under the MIT License, for Forge and NeoForge across 1.20.1 – 1.21.1.
| Mod | Loaders | Game versions | Environment | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Despawning Eggs Hatch | Fabric, Forge, NeoForge and Quilt | 1.16.5 – 26.3 | Server-side only | 2026-10-02 |
| Chickens Hatch Now | Forge and NeoForge | 1.20.1 – 26.2 | Client and server | 2026-06-24 |
| Hatchable | Fabric, Forge, NeoForge and Quilt | 1.21 – 26.3 | Server required, client optional | 2026-07-25 |
| Nest Egg | Forge and NeoForge | 1.20.1 – 1.21.1 | Client and server | 2026-08-15 |
Questions
Does Despawning Eggs Hatch need Collective?
Does the mod have to be installed on the client?
Why does an egg only hatch on a hay block?
In the catalog
Despawning Eggs Hatch is one of 6,151 Food mods on ModsFinder, and one of 2,715 Food mods for Fabric. 8,071 mods support Minecraft 26.3.
More from Serilum
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What the author says
Despawning Eggs Hatch is a minimalistic configurable mod which allows chicken eggs on the ground to hatch just before they despawn. New spawns will be limited to 50 by default, in order to prevent infinite chicken spawns. Items (and eggs) despawn after 6000 ticks, 5 minutes. By default a chicken will only spawn when…
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/despawning-eggs-hatch
- Owner
- Serilum
- Published
- 2022-09-01
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2026-10-02
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15