Progressive Smithing
by NellowTCS
Progressive Smithing turns the Smithing Table into a staged upgrade path, so iron and diamond gear is no longer the only step between early and late game.
What it does
Instead of moving straight from iron to diamond, players advance through a tiered material ladder. The mod adds custom smithing templates as an upgrade step, and those templates can be found in naturally generated loot in dungeons, ruins and other structures, which gives exploration a reason to pay off. New smithing recipes cover armor pieces, tools and weapons, so mid-game gear stays useful instead of being skipped.
Progressive Smithing is built on Architectury, so one mod family covers Fabric and NeoForge for Minecraft 1.21.10 – 1.21.11. Files exist for both loaders in 1.21.11, with the first release dated 2026-05-25. Installation covers the server and each player's game. The code is open source under the MIT License, and the source and issue tracker are public.
Key features
Full upgrade progression
The Smithing Table gains a staged progression that carries gear from early materials through to late-game tiers.
Custom smithing templates
Templates added by the mod serve as the upgrade step between tiers and are placed in loot in generated structures.
New armor, tool and weapon recipes
Smithing recipes are added for armor pieces, tools and weapons, extending the vanilla crafting paths.
Balanced vanilla-style pacing
The added steps are tuned to sit alongside the base game, so the progression reads as part of vanilla rather than a separate system.
Gallery
Compatibility
Latest build for each game version and loader.
Only full game releases are shown. This mod publishes no snapshot builds.
Use cases
Survival progression
Players in survival worlds get a middle tier to work through before diamond, which spreads out the mid-game.
Exploration rewards
Because upgrade templates are found in dungeons and ruins, exploring structures becomes a direct source of smithing progress.
Who it’s for: Players who want a longer gear progression in survival, and server owners who want the upgrade path to be part of the world's loot tables.
How it compares
Smithing Tweaks is a Fabric, Forge and NeoForge mod for 1.20.1 – 1.21.8 under the CC0 1.0 Universal license, and it is not open source. Power Upgrade covers Fabric and NeoForge for 1.21 – 1.21.1 and is open source under the GNU General Public License v3.0 only. Forged Path is Fabric-only for 1.21.11 under the MIT License and is not open source.
| Mod | Loaders | Game versions | Environment | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Progressive Smithing | Fabric and NeoForge | 1.21.10 – 1.21.11 | Client and server | 2026-05-25 |
| Smithing Tweaks | Fabric, Forge and NeoForge | 1.20.1 – 1.21.8 | Client and server | 2025-12-01 |
| Power Upgrade | Fabric and NeoForge | 1.21 – 1.21.1 | Client and server | 2026-07-15 |
| Forged Path | Fabric | 1.21.11 | Client and server | 2026-04-14 |
Questions
Which loaders does Progressive Smithing support?
Does Progressive Smithing need to be installed on the server?
Can Progressive Smithing be used on 1.21.10?
In the catalog
Progressive Smithing is one of 17,631 Equipment mods on ModsFinder, and one of 8,894 Equipment mods for Fabric. 19,862 mods support Minecraft 1.21.11.
Similar mods
What the author says
Progressive Smithing is a vanilla‑plus progression mod that expands the Smithing Table into a true upgrade path for tools, weapons, and armor. Instead of jumping straight from iron to diamond, players now advance through a tiered material ladder that feels natural, rewarding, and fully integrated into Minecraft’s…
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/progressive-smithing
- Owner
- NellowTCS
- Published
- 2026-05-25
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2026-05-25
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15