Simplest Excavators
by Team Solar
With Simplest Excavators installed, a shovel-type tool can be upgraded into an excavator that clears a 3x3 area in one pass, which speeds up large digging and terraforming jobs.
What it does
Excavators are tiers of shovel-style tool that clear a 3x3 block area at once rather than a single block. Players obtain the first one by finding a smithing template upgrade and applying it to a shovel at a smithing table, using the matching material. The template is most often found in weaponsmith, toolsmith and armorer houses in villages, and less often in regular houses. Because the mod adds tiers, progression through the game stages the tool's capability.
The mod is aimed at players who terraform terrain, dig large foundations or clear land, where single-block digging becomes tedious. Simplest Excavators runs on client and server, so both the server and every player need it. Files are published for Forge and NeoForge across eight release versions, 1.20.1 – 26.2, under the MIT License, and the source code and issue tracker are public. A Fabric port exists in the author's plans, but the author usually publishes only for NeoForge and does not usually back-port to older versions.
Key features
Tiered excavators
Several tiers of excavator tool clear a 3x3 area, with each tier available at a different stage of the game.
Smithing template upgrade
A new smithing template upgrades a shovel into the first excavator once the matching material is applied.
Village loot
The smithing template is most often found in weaponsmith, toolsmith and armorer houses, and less often in regular houses.
Shovel-like behavior
Excavators work like shovels, so they clear dirt, grass and similar blocks, with the 3x3 area applied on each use.
Compatibility
Latest build for each game version and loader.
Only full game releases are shown. This mod publishes no snapshot builds.
How it compares
Only Excavators and Only Hammers And Excavators both work on Fabric, Forge and NeoForge across 1.19 – 26.3 and are published under All rights reserved, so their code is not open source. Simple Excavators also runs on Fabric, Forge and NeoForge, for 1.20.1 – 26.3, and is open source under the MIT License. Simplest Excavators is limited to Forge and NeoForge, for 1.20.1 – 26.2.
| Mod | Loaders | Game versions | Environment | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplest Excavators | Forge and NeoForge | 1.20.1 – 26.2 | Client and server | 2026-06-28 |
| Only Excavators | Fabric, Forge and NeoForge | 1.19 – 26.3 | Client and server | 2026-10-06 |
| Only Hammers And Excavators | Fabric, Forge and NeoForge | 1.19 – 26.3 | Client and server | 2026-10-06 |
| Simple Excavators | Fabric, Forge and NeoForge | 1.20.1 – 26.3 | Client and server | 2026-09-28 |
Questions
Does Simplest Excavators need a loader other than Forge or NeoForge?
Does the server need Simplest Excavators?
How does a player get the first excavator?
Which game versions have files?
In the catalog
Simplest Excavators is one of 17,631 Equipment mods on ModsFinder, and one of 9,216 Equipment mods for Forge. 13,894 mods support Minecraft 26.2.
More from Team Solar
Similar mods
What the author says
Tired of endless terraforming in Minecraft? Use an excavator! This mod adds excavators that function like shovels but in a 3x3 area which greatly simplifies terraforming and digging in the middle and late stages of the game.
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/simplest-excavators
- Owner
- Team Solar
- Published
- 2024-03-04
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2026-06-28
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15