Sparse Structures is a highly configurable mod designed to address the common issue of structure overcrowding in Minecraft, especially within large modpacks that introduce numerous new structures. It allows players to precisely control the rarity of all structures, including those added by datapacks and other mods. This functionality is invaluable for players seeking to enhance the exploration aspect of their game, making the world feel more expansive and challenging. By adjusting the spread factor, you can either make structures significantly rarer, encouraging deeper exploration to find them, or conversely, make them more common if that suits your gameplay preference. This mod fundamentally alters the balance of world generation to promote a more engaging and less cluttered experience. The mod operates by modifying the generation parameters of structures within Minecraft. It introduces a configurable spread factor that directly influences the spacing and rarity of all structures present in the game. This means that whether you're dealing with vanilla structures, those from datapacks, or additions from other mods, Sparse Structures provides a unified system for adjustment. The mod also implements an improved structure spread mechanism using a custom salt based on the structure ID, which effectively prevents common issues like structure clustering, particularly when other mods use default or identical salts. This granular control ensures that the world generation feels more natural and less predictable, fostering a sense of discovery. Sparse Structures is designed for broad compatibility and supports multiple mod loaders, including Fabric, Forge, and NeoForged. It is compatible with Minecraft versions 1.21.3, 1.21.4, 1.21.5, 1.21.8, 1.21.10, 1.21.11, as well as versions 26.1.2 and 26.2. Importantly, this mod is required on the server side only and is not supported on the client. This server-centric approach ensures that all players connecting to a server running Sparse Structures will experience the same adjusted structure generation, maintaining consistency across the multiplayer environment without requiring any client-side modifications. Installing Sparse Structures is straightforward. For Fabric, Forge, or NeoForged installations, the mod file should be placed in the 'mods' folder of your Minecraft instance. Before launching the game, it is crucial to ensure that you have the necessary dependency, Fabric API (or its Quilt equivalent), installed on your server if you are using Fabric. Additionally, players should be aware that configuration changes, made in the sparsestructures.json5 file located in the config folder, require a game restart to take effect. Checking the game logs for any errors during startup is also a recommended step to ensure the mod is loaded correctly and functioning as intended.
