Harder Dense Mining
by Catomon
Harder Dense Mining makes stone and deepslate slower to break when many other rock blocks surround them, so mining straight down costs more than digging through caves.
What it does
Each stone or deepslate block's mining speed drops according to how many rock blocks sit next to it, falling from full speed down to 15 percent in the most enclosed case. Players who dig straight down through solid rock therefore progress more slowly, which makes open cave exploration comparatively more worthwhile.
Key features
Neighbor-based slowdown
Mining speed for stone and deepslate depends on the count of surrounding rock blocks, reaching 15 percent of normal speed at the densest point.
Global speed modifier
A config file sets a global mining speed multiplier and a whitelist of additional blocks that the slowdown applies to.
Adjustable balance
The slowdown multiplier can be changed in the config, letting server owners tune how strongly tunneling is penalized.
Compatibility
Latest build for each game version and loader.
Only full game releases are shown. This mod publishes no snapshot builds.
How it compares
Minespar: Simple Mining Dimension is a Forge and NeoForge mod for 1.20.1 – 1.21.1 under All rights reserved and not open source, and it changes the world through a separate mining dimension. Ore mining speed is a NeoForge mod for 1.21.1 that runs server-side only, so players join without installing it.
| Mod | Loaders | Game versions | Environment | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harder Dense Mining | Forge and NeoForge | 1.20.1 – 1.21.1 | Client and server | 2026-07-26 |
| Minespar: Simple Mining Dimension | Forge and NeoForge | 1.20.1 – 1.21.1 | Client and server | 2026-08-17 |
| Ore mining speed | NeoForge | 1.21.1 | Server-side only | 2026-02-10 |
Questions
Does Harder Dense Mining need to be installed on the server?
Which loaders are supported?
In the catalog
Harder Dense Mining is one of 19,031 Adventure mods on ModsFinder, and one of 10,478 Adventure mods for Forge. 32,366 mods support Minecraft 1.21.1.
More from Catomon
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What the author says
A simple mod that slows stone and deepslate mining depending on the amount of rock blocks around the block you are trying to mine to balance straght-down mining vs cave exploring. Mining speed goes from 100% to 15% depending on rock count around one you are mining. You can whitelist more blocks, change slowness…
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/harder-dense-mining
- Owner
- Catomon
- Published
- 2026-02-13
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2026-07-26
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15