Upgrade Arid
by reflectant
Upgrade Arid overhauls the forgotten deserts and badlands of Minecraft with new blocks, hazards, flora and mobs for Forge on 1.20.1.
What it does
Upgrade Arid reworks desert and badlands biomes with unique hazards, new flora and vanilla-style mechanics, aiming to update those biomes while keeping the feel of the base game. New tree types now spawn in deserts and badlands, and a new aggressive mob spawns at night there, adding enemy variety to these areas.
Several new blocks are included. Some look much like regular sand or red sand, and a sand variant slowly sinks a player who steps onto it. Blocks of this kind are collected with shovels and can be used in traps. New mud brick variants, functional crafting blocks and a slime-like creature that jumps and moves like a normal slime add building and exploration options.
Servers that run it need every player to install it too. Files are published for Forge 1.20.1, with 1.1.2 as the latest file, released 2026-10-11. The mod is released under All rights reserved and is not open source.
Key features
Overhauled desert and badlands
Desert and badlands biomes receive unique hazards and new plant life while keeping vanilla-style mechanics.
New desert trees
Additional tree types now generate in deserts and badlands, changing how these biomes look.
Sinking sand blocks
Some new blocks resemble regular sand and red sand, but a player who steps onto one begins sinking slowly.
Night desert mobs
A new aggressive mob spawns in deserts at night, adding to the enemy types found there.
Mud brick variants
New mud brick block variants extend the building palette, alongside functional crafting blocks.
Compatibility
Latest build for each game version and loader.
Only full game releases are shown. This mod publishes no snapshot builds.
Use cases
Who it’s for: Players who want a bigger challenge in desert and badlands biomes, and builders who want new materials. Server owners who add it need it installed on the server and on each client.
How it compares
Arid Biomes Only is a Forge option for 1.20.1 – 1.20.6 that is server-side only and not open source. Upgrade Arid needs the client too, since it is client and server. wastped is a Forge mod for 1.20.1 that is client and server and open source under the Mozilla Public License 2.0, so its source is available while this mod is not.
| Mod | Loaders | Game versions | Environment | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upgrade Arid | Forge | 1.20.1 | Client and server | 2026-10-11 |
| Arid Biomes Only | Forge | 1.20.1 – 1.20.6 | Server-side only | 2025-06-27 |
| wastped | Forge | 1.20.1 | Client and server | 2026-02-06 |
Questions
Does Upgrade Arid need to be installed on the server?
Which Minecraft version does Upgrade Arid support?
Does the mod's source code have to be public?
In the catalog
Upgrade Arid is one of 8,515 World generation mods on ModsFinder, and one of 5,058 World generation mods for Forge. 34,764 mods support Minecraft 1.20.1.
More from reflectant
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What the author says
Upgrade Arid is a lightweight Desert and Badlands overhaul mod that's designed to update these biomes in a Vanilla-Friendly way. These blocks look similar to regular sand and regular red sand. However, if you step on it, it'll start sinking you inside slowly. Could be collected with shovels and used for traps.
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/upgrade-arid
- Owner
- reflectant
- Published
- 2026-08-11
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2026-10-11
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15