Keep Equipment
by Itamio
Keep Equipment stops players from losing their gear on death, covering armor, hotbar, offhand and the first three inventory rows.
What it does
On death, the mod keeps the armor pieces, hotbar items, offhand item and main inventory rows 1 to 3 that a player carries, so they are not dropped where the player died. Potion effects are kept as well. Losses from lava, the void or creeper explosions are covered by the same rule.
The mod is configurable: server owners choose which slots and item groups are kept, so difficulty can still be tuned. It works out of the box, keeping everything with its default settings. Keep Equipment runs on the server only, so players join without installing it, and it is published for Forge only, for 1.12.2. The code is not open source; it is released under All rights reserved.
Key features
Armor and offhand kept
Worn armor pieces and the item held in the offhand stay with the player after death.
Hotbar and inventory rows
Hotbar items and main inventory rows 1 to 3 are kept, while the remaining slots follow the configured rules.
Potion effects kept
Active potion effects carry over through death instead of being removed when the player respawns.
Configurable slot rules
Server owners choose which equipment and inventory areas are kept, so death penalties can be shaped to the server.
Compatibility
Latest build for each game version and loader.
Only full game releases are shown. This mod publishes no snapshot builds.
Use cases
Reducing death frustration
Players who want to keep full control over difficulty balance can lower the cost of dying without removing death altogether.
Dangerous terrain
Deaths caused by lava, the void or creepers no longer strip the gear a player spent time gathering.
Who it’s for: Server owners who want a lighter death penalty and players who play on a server running the mod. Only the server needs it installed.
How it compares
Obsidian Emerald Gear is a Forge mod for 1.12.2 with a client and server environment, and it is not open source. No Equipment Drop is server-side only like Keep Equipment, but it covers 1.18 – 1.21 on Forge and NeoForge and is not open source. Both differ in version range and loader coverage from Keep Equipment.
| Mod | Loaders | Game versions | Environment | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keep Equipment | Forge | 1.12.2 | Server-side only | 2026-04-04 |
| Obsidian Emerald Gear | Forge | 1.12.2 | Client and server | 2026-06-29 |
| No Equipment Drop | Forge and NeoForge | 1.18 – 1.21 | Server-side only | 2025-05-09 |
Questions
Does Keep Equipment have to be installed on the client?
Which game versions does Keep Equipment support?
Can server owners choose which items are kept?
In the catalog
Keep Equipment is one of 29,952 Game mechanics mods on ModsFinder, and one of 13,316 Game mechanics mods for Forge. 2,920 mods support Minecraft 1.12.2.
More from Itamio
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What the author says
Never lose your precious equipment to lava, void, or creepers again! Perfect for players who want to reduce death frustration while maintaining full control over difficulty balance.
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/keep-equipment
- Owner
- Itamio
- Published
- 2026-04-04
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2026-04-04
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15