Sun Compass
by Hakobu
Sun Compass is a NeoForge survival item that finds north from where the sun sits and what hour it is, with no coordinate display needed.
What it does
The Sun Compass works like a sundial-based navigation tool. Its position is read from the sun, so a player on the surface can find north during the day without relying on debug screens or magic coordinate systems. Unlike the standard compass, which points toward the world spawn, this item follows the real-world sun and its shadow.
To find north, the player rotates until the shadow points east, then uses the compass board to read the cardinal directions. Other directions follow from north: west is 90 degrees, reached six hours after the sunrise. Because the direction accuracy depends entirely on time estimation, the in-game hours have to be counted with care, and a player can adjust the reading by turning roughly 30 degrees clockwise for each two hours.
Servers that run it need every player to install it too. It is published for NeoForge only, for 1.21.1, with 0.2.0 as the latest file on the beta channel. Sun Compass is open source under the MIT License.
Key features
Sun-based direction finding
The compass reads the position of the sun and its cast shadow to indicate north and the other cardinal directions.
Shadow alignment
A player turns until the shadow points east, and the compass board then shows the directions around the player.
Time-based readings
Each in-game hour that passes shifts the compass one hour clockwise, so the reading depends on the time of day.
Four crafting layouts
The item can be crafted in four different layouts, using a plank with a torch, coal, charcoal or an ink sac and a stick.
Vanilla-friendly tool
The item stays within survival play and does not add a separate coordinate interface to the game.
Gallery
Compatibility
Latest build for each game version and loader.
Only full game releases are shown. This mod publishes no snapshot builds.
How it compares
True North is the other entry for this kind of navigation, a Fabric and NeoForge mod that is open source under the MIT License and covers 1.21.1 – 26.1.2, with a client and server environment. Sun Sheep's tool is a NeoForge mod for 1.21.1 released under All rights reserved, so its code is not open source.
| Mod | Loaders | Game versions | Environment | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun Compass | NeoForge | 1.21.1 | Client and server | 2026-01-05 |
| True North | Fabric and NeoForge | 1.21.1 – 26.1.2 | Client and server | 2026-06-17 |
| Sun Sheep's tool | NeoForge | 1.21.1 | Not published | 2025-06-08 |
Questions
Does Sun Compass need to be installed on the server?
Which loader and version does Sun Compass support?
How accurate is the direction reading?
Is Sun Compass open source?
In the catalog
Sun Compass is one of 19,031 Adventure mods on ModsFinder, and one of 8,588 Adventure mods for NeoForge. 32,366 mods support Minecraft 1.21.1.
Similar mods
What the author says
A vanilla-friendly survival tool for finding your way. The Sun Compass is a utility item that uses the position of the sun to cast a shadow on the board, helping you navigate during the day without relying on "magic" coordinate systems or debug screens.
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/suncompass
- Owner
- Hakobu
- Published
- 2026-01-03
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2026-01-05
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15