WaterLakesAreBack
by kabanod1m
WaterLakesAreBack restores water lakes to world generation in 1.20.1 worlds, where the vanilla generator has stopped producing them.
What it does
Water lakes return to the terrain of 1.20.1 worlds, in places where the vanilla generator has stopped producing them. Because the generation logic was changed in a later update, water lakes appear less often than they once did, and they do not turn up exactly where they used to. The mod is built on the early Moderner Beta idea of water lakes, and it does not restore the full scenery of older versions.
Lakes generate on the surface and also within deepslate, unlike lava lakes. The mod works alongside modded biomes that add water lakes, but it does not recognize modded deserts, where water lakes stay absent. Players who want the old lake placement can disable the generation in the configuration file, which the author documents on the project page.
The mod is a server-side only addition for Fabric and needs Fabric API. Only the server must run it, so players join without installing anything. Files are published for 1.20.1, with 1.20.1-1.0 as the only release, dated 2026-01-22. The code is released under the MIT License, and the public source code and issue tracker are linked from the project.
Key features
Surface water lakes
Water lakes are placed on the surface of the terrain again, mirroring the lakes that older versions produced.
Deepslate placement
Water lakes can generate inside deepslate layers, a difference from lava lakes that the mod keeps.
Configurable generation
The configuration file lets server owners turn the lake generation off and return to the default placement.
Modded biome compatibility
Water lakes also appear in biomes added by other mods that include water lake generation, though modded deserts are not covered.
Gallery
Compatibility
Latest build for each game version and loader.
Only full game releases are shown. This mod publishes no snapshot builds.
Requirements
Dependencies declared by the latest file for each loader.
Required 1
How it compares
Lakeside is a Fabric client and server mod for 1.17 – 1.17.1 under the MIT License, so it covers a different version range and needs installation on both sides. Feature Removal is a server-side only Fabric mod for 1.21.11, released under the MIT License, but it removes generation features rather than restoring water lakes. Lake Feature Fix is server-side only for Fabric and NeoForge across 1.21 – 26.2, and it is under All rights reserved, so its source code is not open.
| Mod | Loaders | Game versions | Environment | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WaterLakesAreBack | Fabric | 1.20.1 | Server-side only | 2026-01-22 |
| Lakeside | Fabric | 1.17 – 1.17.1 | Client and server | 2021-06-12 |
| Feature Removal | Fabric | 1.21.11 | Server-side only | 2026-02-14 |
| Lake Feature Fix | Fabric and NeoForge | 1.21 – 26.2 | Server-side only | 2026-06-18 |
Questions
Does WaterLakesAreBack need Fabric API?
Do players need the mod on their client?
Can the water lakes be turned off?
In the catalog
WaterLakesAreBack is one of 8,515 World generation mods on ModsFinder, and one of 4,027 World generation mods for Fabric. 34,764 mods support Minecraft 1.20.1.
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What the author says
I made this mod because I really liked the Moderner Beta mod with its early release world generation, but it doesn't bring back water lakes, so I had to do it to complete the scenery.
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/waterlakesareback
- Owner
- kabanod1m
- Published
- 2026-01-22
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2026-01-22
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15