5 best Minecraft mods for survival in February 2022

Minecraft's Survival Mode is entertaining on its own, but adding some modifications can make it more enjoyable.

Since February 2022 began, a new crop of Minecraft mods has emerged thanks to the tireless dedication of the game's community. Each mod provides different benefits, from overhauling the vanilla aspects of the game to introducing custom content.

If a player has a survival goal, there's likely a mod for it. New mods are constantly being created, providing players with plenty of options.

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Great Minecraft survival mods introduced this February

5) Shield Thorns by Sweepyspud

Shield Thorns is a simple mod that improves on the defensive utility of shields (Image via Mojang)

Thorns is a popular enchantment in Minecraft. It possesses the ability to damage any entities that attack the wearer of the Thorn-enchanted gear. The enchantment can also be found in a similar capacity on guardians and elder guardians inside ocean monuments.

Thanks to the short and sweet Shield Thorns mod, players can enchant their shields with the Thorns enchantment, just like they could on their armor. This provides another means of dealing damage to enemies who strike the player. These enemies will now take damage merely for striking the player's shield.

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4) FarmingUtils by The_Millman

FarmingUtils improves a player's ability to farm without any extra effort (Image via Mojang)

When it comes to surviving in Minecraft, keeping a steady supply of food is necessary. However, if a player is busy elsewhere, it can be tedious to return to their farm to see if their crops have made any progress.

With FarmingUtils, players can automate the farming process without any redstone knowledge needed. Players can place blocks for growing standard crops, Nether wart, sugar cane, melons, pumpkins, and cacti. The blocks can later be upgraded to improve the radius of their automation, meaning players can expand their existing farms over time.

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3) Healing Soup by Serilum

Healing Soup should provide some nostalgia to longtime Minecraft players (Image via Mojang)

Those who have played Minecraft for a considerable amount of time may remember when mushroom stew was known as mushroom soup. Back in those days, consuming the soup would heal a total of four hearts. Eventually, mushroom soup would become mushroom stew, and its use in the game would be converted from directly healing the player to filling their hunger bar.

However, with the Healing Soup mod, players can once again create mushroom soup and use it to heal themselves like in the old days. Mushroom stew remains unaffected, and players can additionally craft cactus soup and chocolate milk as an added bonus.

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2) HotbarSwap by Nyuppo

HotbarSwap was inspired by Stardew Valley's hotbar system (Image via Chucklefish Limited)

Stardew Valley, another sandbox-style game possessing some elements that parallel Minecraft, features an impressive cycling hotbar that allows players to swap between multiple sets of tools and items.

A developer named Nyuppo saw this feature and thought it would have considerable applications in Minecraft as well. With HotbarSwap, players can use the H and J keys to shift the player's inventory rows downward. The H key lowers the entire inventory, while the J key lowers a single column of the inventory.

It can take some getting used to, but this mod is an excellent time-saver. It eliminates the need to open the inventory screen multiple times and arrange items into the toolbar.

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1) Your Items Are Safe by Serilum

Your Items Are Safe drops chests and an armor stand for players to collect upon death (Image via Mojang)

An alternative to well-known gravestone mods, Your Items Are Safe provides a very helpful service within Survival Mode.

With the mod enabled, a chest (or series of chests) with an armor stand atop it will spawn once a player dies. A sign will be attached to the chest with the player's name on it. Players can return to the chest to reclaim their items and gear.

Though this service is provided by many gravestone mods in some capacity, having labeled chests and an armor stand for the player offers a different presentation.