Small Ships
by talhanation
With Small Ships, players build a Dockyard beside water and the finished ship is placed in the lake or sea near it, with cannons, sails and a helm to steer.
What it does
Small Ships adds boats that can be crafted at a Dockyard, which must be placed next to water deep and wide enough for the hull. Each ship has its own attributes for hull HP, speed, turning, acceleration, inventory size and water type. Mounted cannons take up one seat, and cannon balls, chained shot and grape shot are made from gunpowder, iron nuggets and chain.
The server config file controls the balance: upgrade costs and refunds, wind strength and direction, damage from cannons and collisions, speed modifiers for cargo, cannons and biomes, and which entities may mount a ship. Server values are synced to clients, and changes apply to ships already in the world. The /smallships wind command shows the current wind, and operators can set its direction and strength.
The mod is distributed for Fabric, Forge and NeoForge, with files for 1.18.2 – 1.21.4. Fabric builds require Fabric API. Small Ships is not open source; it is released under All rights reserved. Four catalog mods depend on it: TerraFirmaShips, Small Ships Upgrades, Small Ships Heraldry and WTHIT: Small Ships Plugin.
Key features
Dockyard crafting
A Dockyard built next to water produces the finished ship, which is placed in the nearby water.
Cannons and ammunition
Mounted cannons fire cannon balls, chained shot and grape shot, each crafted from simple materials.
Configurable ship stats
Hull HP, speed, turning, acceleration, inventory size and water type are set per ship in the server config.
Wind system
Wind has a direction and strength that change over time, with a minimum strength during rain and thunder.
Addon ship registry
Other mods can register their own ships, which then appear in the Dockyard. Crafting recipes at the Dockyard can be edited through a datapack.
Gallery
Compatibility
Latest build for each game version and loader.
1.21.x3 of 3 versions with builds
1.20.x4 of 4 versions with builds
1.19.x2 of 2 versions with builds
1.18.x1 of 1 version with builds
Only full game releases are shown. This mod publishes no snapshot builds.
Required by 4 mods
How it compares
Eureka! Ships! for Valkyrien Skies is open source under the Apache License 2.0, runs on Fabric and Forge for 1.16.5 – 1.20.1, and is client and server. Swashbucklers is not open source, uses All rights reserved, and runs on Forge and NeoForge for 1.16.5 – 1.21.4, also client and server. Sable: Ships is NeoForge only, for 1.21.1, under a custom license.
| Mod | Loaders | Game versions | Environment | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small Ships | Fabric, Forge and NeoForge | 1.18.2 – 1.21.4 | Client and server | 2026-10-12 |
| Eureka! Ships! for Valkyrien Skies (Forge/Fabric) | Fabric and Forge | 1.16.5 – 1.20.1 | Client and server | 2026-04-24 |
| Swashbucklers | Forge and NeoForge | 1.16.5 – 1.21.4 | Client and server | 2025-05-24 |
| Sable: Ships | NeoForge | 1.21.1 | Client and server | 2026-06-11 |
Questions
Does Small Ships need Fabric API?
Must the server have Small Ships installed?
Where are the ship values stored?
In the catalog
Small Ships is one of 3,932 Transportation mods on ModsFinder, and one of 2,390 Transportation mods for Fabric. 17,979 mods support Minecraft 1.21.4.
More from talhanation
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What the author says
Want to play together with your friends? Check out DatHost for the best performance and easy setup! Removed cannons, shields and banners are given back. Removed upgrades give back 30% of the material.
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/small-ships
- Owner
- talhanation
- Published
- 2023-05-30
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2026-10-12
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15