5 best survival mods to try out before Minecraft 1.19 update releases

Minecraft is a game known for mods. Players have been editing the game’s file for their own creations since before the game even had infinite world generation, which was a long time ago.

With the 1.19 The Wild Update right around the corner, players will assuredly dedicate a lot of time to playing vanilla Minecraft to see all the new changes. But there are many mods that players should try before the 1.19 update arrives.

It would be nearly impossible to write out every feature and change that these modpacks have included. Therefore, this article will contain a brief overview of some of the largest changes and features that add to the survival element of the game, as well as the kind of players that the modpacks might appeal to.

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The 5 best survival modpacks to try before Minecraft’s The Wild Update releases

1) One Block

One Block is a very similar concept to Skyblock. While the latter gives players a small starting island and a chest that is filled with items that would be otherwise impossible to obtain, One Block, as the name implies, starts players on a single block.

The gimmick of this mod is that when the player breaks the block, it will respawn as another random block, pulling from a potential list of blocks based on the One Block’s level. For example, the first level the block at the start of a new world will provide the player with dirt and wood, among other blocks and chests with basic loot.

This progresses until the Nether and the End levels where players can gain the resources needed to travel to those dimensions, making it possible to complete the game. The real draw of this mod is the heightened Skyblock-style survival, which really pushes even veteran players of the game to the limit.

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2) Sky Factory 4

Sky Factory 4 is the oldest mudpack on this list by far, running off of Minecraft 1.12.2. Unfortunately, this means that players playing with this modpack will be stuck with the original and much less interesting Nether, as that update was in 1.16.

However, Sky Factory 4 is one of the game’s most well known modpacks, with over six million downloads through the CurseForge app alone, and many more millions outside of it. With more than 210 base mods included in the pack, very few aspects of the original game remain totally untouched.

The pack begins with players on a seemingly basic Skyblock survival island. They are given an achievement book which acts as a way to guide players through their progress by giving hints on how to progress to the next level of an item. This book has several pages, with each one taking many hours to complete, and there is almost always something to do in Sky Factory.

There are additional resources and saplings that can be turned into various resources, along with magic, science, trading, and alchemy to name a few. There is also an interesting prestige system, which while optional, allows players to gain prestige points when completing certain tasks. These points can buy prestige perks, which are boons that will apply to each world the player creates.

This modpack combines Skyblock-style survival with a massive amount of mods that allow for hours upon hours of progression. For those that don’t mind running an older version of Minecraft, this modpack is a classic for a reason, and should definitely be tried out.

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3) Stone block

Stone Block is an interesting inversion on the Skyblock formula. Instead of being stuck on an island in the middle of an endless void, players are instead stuck in a small box in a world of endless stone. This flip on the popular formula will force players to re-evaluate how they think, and help encourage interesting decision-making.

This modpack is very similar to Sky Factory 4, to the extent that it runs on the same version of Minecraft: 1.12.2. It is also similar in that a lot of the mods that are added are shared between the two.

This modpack is perfect for players who have played hundreds of hours of Skyblock or Sky Factory and want the same kind of experience, but packaged in a new and interesting way that will force different ways of thinking and progression tracks.

There is currently a third version of this modpack being developed by the Feed the Beast team, which should usher it into a much newer version of Minecraft.

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4) RL Craft

RL Craft might be the best known Minecraft modpack of recent years. With dozens of YouTubers featuring the modpack in videos due to its difficulty and enhanced gameplay, RL Craft changes almost every aspect of Minecraft’s gameplay. This modpack runs on version 1.12.2 as well.

With a number of mods well into the triple digits, RL Craft focuses on a handful of things. Namely, adventure and survival. Players will need to balance consistent eating, drinking, and management of stamina with their desire to explore and loot the numerous new structure types that have been added.

The mods in question add a nice difficulty to the looting, a nice contrast from how easy most of vanilla Minecraft can sometimes feel.

There is also magic, alchemy, additional farming, dragons, dungeons, new biomes, and more. Really, anything that a player could want is there and more, all wrapped in a hardcore survival shell.

RL Craft is great for those who think the base game is not nearly as difficult as it should be, as well as perfect for those who want to enhance the risk/reward aspect of adventuring.

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5) Better Minecraft

With just over 190 mods included, Better Minecraft is currently experiencing a massive uptick in popularity. One of the main draws of this modpack is that players will not need to give up any modern game features, as the modpack runs on 1.18.1, one of the most recent versions of Minecraft out.

A very similar concept to RL Craft, this modpack adds multiple new dimensions, better than Netherite gear, many new structures and dungeons all with loot, waystones for fast travel, quality of life improvement mods, ridable dragons, several completely new biomes, biome overhauls, and much more.

While not as difficult as RL Craft, this modpack benefits from all the new world generations, such as the cave generation overhaul, which adds a great bit to the mods. This modpack is perfect for those who want to enhance much of what Minecraft already is without going too far, which will make it feel like an entirely different game.