10 best Minecraft 1.20 mods for Java Edition

Minecraft is well-known for its compatibility with some of the largest collections of mods in the gaming industry as we know it. No matter how many times it receives updates, the modding community is never far behind. Players create new modifications and bringing the existing ones in step with the latest release. This hasn't changed as of the 1.20 Trails & Tales update either.

As far as Java Edition 1.20 is concerned, the number of mods is truly staggering. There are so many options at players' disposal that it can be difficult just to parse through them to find the ones that are desired.

If Minecraft fans are hunting for some of the best mods to experience the Trails & Tales update with, there are a few worth checking out before diving deeper into the mod lists.

Note: This article is subjective and reflects the writer's views.

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10 Minecraft mods worth downloading and using in the 1.20 Update

1) Tectonic

Minecraft's terrain-generation capabilities have certainly grown over the years, but they could still use a more detailed touch in some circumstances. The Tectonic mod aims to do so by reimagining the way that terrain is generated upon world creation. The changes after this mod is installed are noticeable almost immediately.

In addition to smoothing out many biomes, Tectonic adds the ability for Minecraft to generate deeper oceans, more imposing mountain ranges, oceanside cliff faces, and even underground rivers of water and lava.

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2) Sodium

Minecraft: Java Edition is certainly optimized for many different platforms, but it still relies on the Java platform's binary to operate. As such, unintended performance issues can occur, including FPS problems. This isn't the case if players have high-end PCs, but those enjoying the game otherwise may need a little help.

Sodium is flat-out one of the best mods to have for Minecraft Java, regardless of how good a player's hardware is. The mod fixes a wide host of graphical issues and addresses the way the game renders visuals, resulting in huge boosts to FPS without players needing to provide any direct input.

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3) Lithium

Where Sodium improves Minecraft's graphics rendering, Lithium does the same for multiple in-game mechanics — all without changing core gameplay in the slightest. It improves mob-tick response, physics, and entity AI for both players and server hosts.

Most of what Lithium does likely won't be noticed by many players, but it's undeniably one of the most useful assets in a Minecraft fan's mod collection and works flawlessly with Sodium.

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4) Physics Mod

Possibly one of the most remarkable Minecraft mods in recent memory is the Physics Mod. The days of simple block physics are a thing of the past once this one is installed. It adds customizable variants that add ragdoll physics to mobs, tides to water, blocks that shatter into several different forms based on player choice, and an improved influence of gravity on the environment.

The Physics Mod makes Minecraft feel much more like a realistic survival-crafting game, and it may be difficult to switch it off after getting used to it. The innovation contained in this mod is truly something special.

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5) Not Enough Animations

Minecraft's in-game animations certainly get the job done, but there are discrepancies between viewing them between the first- and third-person cameras. Not Enough Animations seeks to address this by making many of the animations seen in first-person look more accurate when viewed in third-person.

From eating and drinking to riding mounts and using weapons, players will notice that their characters are more appropriately animated when viewed by others or in the third-person perspective. This mod doesn't make massive changes, but does fix a long-running issue with Mojang's stock animations.

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6) FallingTree

Knocking down trees and collecting wood is one of the core aspects of the game, but it doesn't exactly happen in the most productive way. Players are typically forced to break each individual wooden log block of a tree in order to get the resources they need. This can make tree collection a bit tedious if nothing else.

FallingTrees is a very simple mod that makes wood collection much easier. With it installed, they only need to break one of the central log blocks on a tree's trunk to make the rest of the wood blocks break as well.

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7) JourneyMap

Given the sheer size of Minecraft worlds, losing track of one's location can happen more often than expected. This is particularly true for new players who aren't used to marking their paths often. Thanks to JourneyMap though, getting lost is essentially a thing of the past.

The mod provides a minimap that players can also open both in-game and their web browser to mark their map as needed. Even better, the map itself updates in real-time as players make builds or alter the landscape accordingly.

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8) Just Enough Items

Undoubtedly one of the best utility mods ever conceived for Minecraft, Just Enough Items is one of the best inventory management and crafting mods available. It provides the ability to check any block or item in the game from the inventory screen, look at their crafting recipes, and even apply them where possible.

For players who don't know the full breadth of crafting recipes in-game or those who want to craft at an expedited pace, Just Enough Items is a crucial mod worth installing.

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9) Essential Mod

Minecraft's social and multiplayer functions tend to work fine on their own, but the Essential Mod creates even more ways for fans to interact in-game and customize their experience. It adds the ability for players to join each other's singleplayer worlds without using LAN, and even adds an in-game messaging feature.

If that wasn't enough, they can also use the mod to add cosmetics to their character, switch accounts in-game. Further, they also receive the ability to take screenshots and edit/share them without leaving the confines of the game itself.

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10) Friends & Foes

Mojang holds a yearly Mob Vote event that allows players to pick from three different new mobs to determine which will be added in a future update. As fun as the vote itself can be, it does mean that two mods are left out of the game; that is unless they install the Friends & Foes mod.

It brings back the mobs and critters that didn't win the Mob Vote contest, such as copper golems, mooblooms, beekeepers, and the illusioner. For fans who may have seen their favorite new mob miss out on being officially added to Minecraft, this mod brings them into the fore, complete with their features.