The Nether in Minecraft tends to be a quick in-and-out operation, as there’s not much to explore. In this list, we’ll take a look at some mods that will improve the Nether Dimension, which will add new biomes, structures, mobs, and more.
This list has been designed for both Forge and Fabric. And it isn’t designed for one version of Minecraft either, as we hope it’s relevant to as many of our readers as possible! But we’ll still list each mod loader below.
Some of these links go back to CurseForge, as well as pages on our website where we’ve covered some of these mods further. There, you can find more screenshots and information.
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Bygone NetherBygone Nether adds three new structures into the Nether, which are the Catacomb, Citadel, and Piglin Manor. In the Catacombs, you can find a structure filled with the likes of Wraither’s and Wither Skeleton Knights. Next is the Citadel, which spawns inside a Warped Forest. The creature that resides in this structure is the Warped Enderman, and these will attack instantly; it doesn’t matter if you look at them. When killed, they drop Warped Ender Pearls, which give Absorption and Slow Falling when thrown. The final structure is the Piglin Manor. You can find Piglin Hunters, some of which might be riding Skeletal Horses. And you can even kill the Piglin Hunter and take the Horse to use as a means of traversing the Nether. Bygone Nether also brings some changes to the design of the Vanilla Nether Fortress.
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Awesome DungeonsThere’s also a Nether variant of the Awesome Dungeons mod available. It includes the Obsidian Palace, Obsidian House, Square, Blaze Tower, and Giant Crimson Tree. Like similar Awesome Dungeon releases, the mod adds no new blocks, items, or creatures, so they’re made up entirely of vanilla content. But they’re still appropriately themed, as they mostly spawn mobs like Piglin Brutes and Blaze. Some of these structures are quite big too. Overall, it should make the Nether more explorable and interesting, especially if you’re looking for a challenge.
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IncendiumIncendium brings a huge overhaul of the Nether, with many new biomes and structures. When it comes to biomes, you can find Ash Barrens, Infernal Dunes, Inverted Forest, Quartz Flats, Toxic Heap, Volcanic Deltas, Weeping Valley, and Withered Forests. The effect of these biomes is really noticeable. And the height of the Nether has increased to 192 blocks. Everything included with Incendium comes from Vanilla Minecraft, as no new custom content is added. And within these biomes are many theme-appropriate structures, such as the Abandoned Tower, Forbidden Castle, Nether Reactor, Pipeline, Sanctum, Ruined Lab, Quartz Kitchen, Piglin Village, and the Infernal Altar, and these can all be explored, with some of them acting like dungeons. Locations like the Sanctum and the Forbidden Castle are huge in size. Whereas you can go inside the Pipeline to defeat the enemies inside.
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Stalwart DungeonsAnother mod to add dungeons into the Nether is Stalwart Dungeons. You can come across the Keeping Castle and the Awful Dungeon, but there’s also a new location added to the End. The Keeping Castle is inhabited by Giddy Blaze, which comes to life when you get close, and nearby rooms can be explored behind the runic walls. And it’s here that you can summon the Nether Keeper Boss. The other location you can explore is the Awful Dungeon. It’s filled with dangerous traps and creatures like the Reinforced Blaze and Incomplete Wither Skeletons. Later you can summon the Awful Ghast, another boss you’ll want to defeat. As you progress through the mod, you’ll unlock new equipment and weapons that have abilities like launching Ghast Fireballs.
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Nether SkeletonsNether Skeletons adds some new types of Skeletons, which match many of the Nethers Biomes. Included are the Crimson, Soul, Warped, Basalt, Nether, Charred, and Crying Obsidian Skeletons, which can all spawn normally. They don’t act like normal Skeletons either, as they attack with melee, and they have some drops that are related to their Biomes, like Soul Sand Blocks or Nether Fungus. Whereas the Basalt Skeleton seems to be able to break through blocks. There’s even a new Ghast, and it’s called the Skelly Ghast.
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Infernal ExpansionA few changes come with Infernal Expansion, with the first being the new Glowstone Canyon Biome. And as the name suggests, it’s going to be a great place to obtain lots of Glowstone Dust and blocks. Here, you can find some new mobs like Blindsights, Glowsquitos, Glowsilk Moths, and Blackstone Dwarfs. These have some interesting mechanics, like how a Glowsquito can suck the light out of Glowstone, and how they’ll be hunted by the Blindsight. But changes also come to the Nether Wastes, Crimson Forest, Warped Forest, Basalt Deltas, and Soul Sand Valley. Lots of new mobs, structures, and blocks are also added to these locations.
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Repurposed StructuresEven though Repurposed Structures makes most of its changes to the Overworld, you’ll still find lots of content added to the Nether, including the recently added Ancient Cities. Repurposed Structures aims to add new variants of existing structures and spawn them across each dimension with an appropriate theme. So when it comes to the Nether, expect to find Ancient Cities, Mineshafts, Monuments, End Cities, Pillager Outposts, Pyramids, Ruins, Shipwrecks, Strongholds, and Temples. But instead of spawning their regular mobs, they’ll have Nether ones, like Piglins, Blaze, and Wither Skeletons. You can even find Nether structures like Bastion Remnants and the Nether Fortress in the Overworld.
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Towers of the Wild AdditionsTowers of the Wild adds large towers into Minecraft, inspired by Zelda Breath of the Wild. Using the Towers of the Wild Additions mod, you can also have these Towers spawning within the Nether and End Dimensions. They make great locations to scout from or set up a base. And if you have the Waystones mod installed, one will spawn on each tower. Towers of the Wild hasn’t been updated as a mod in a long time, but it’s still available on the latest versions in its Datapack form.
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Nether’s DelightNether’s Delight is an expansion to the Farmer’s Delight mod. It adds lots of foods, which you can make in a Cooking Pot on the Blackstone Stove. Some new Nether-themed meals can be created like Strider Moss Stew, Grilled Strider, and Warped Moldy Meat. Killing Hoglins will now give items like Hoglin Loins, Hams, and Hides. These can also be used to create a Stuffed Hoglin. This item is a feast, so it can be placed down in the game world like a Cake. Other players can then come and interact with it while holding a Knife and Bowls to take off the ears, and then bowls of Hoglin Snouts, Hams, and Roasts. Or you could mount a Hoglin Head in your home instead.
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Nether’s ExoticismNether’s Exoticism adds 5 exotic fruits into the Nether, and these are the Jabuticaba, Kiwano, Pitaya, Rambutan, and the Buddha’s Hand. Consuming them gives different effects like Cure, Fire Resistance, Regeneration, Night Vision, and Wither Cure. These can be collected from some new plants and trees that you’ll come across, and the likes of Jabuticaba and Rambutan Trees can both be turned into some new wood types. Rambutan can be turned into a Shield and Helmet which damages entities that touch you. And Kiwano can be turned into an entire set of Armor and Tools, which automatically cooks and smelts harvested items. There’s even a new creature called the Moloch, which can be bucketed.
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Amplified NetherAmplified Nether is going to change the terrain in the Nether. It applies the world height changes we saw in the Caves & Cliffs Update, making the dimension have a 256-block height. So exploring the Nether should be more interesting, and you’ll definitely want to increase your render distance to get the most out of this mod. Using an Elytra is also a good idea, as you can now fly through chasms that are hundreds of blocks high. And that’s not the only change. To complement the world height, Amplified Nether introduces 3D Biomes. What this means is that Biomes can now change on the vertical axis, so at the bottom of a cliff, you might find the Basalt Deltas, but as you go up, it could change into a Warped Forest.
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CataclysmAnother mod that will add some Dungeons is Cataclysm. Currently, it includes three Dungeons, with two of them being found inside the Nether. Specifically, you can find the Soul Blacksmith and the Burning Arena. The Burning Arena is the newest of the two, and it’s huge. In these structures, you’ll find bosses such as the Netherite Monstrosity, Ignited Revenant, and the Ignis. These aren’t easy fights, as each boss has their own attack style, and they also have hundreds of health. Defeating them will allow you to unlock new equipment, like Ignitum Armor which provides many benefits related to the Nether, like being able to walk on Lava. Or there’s the Incinerator which can summon a flame strike. The other Dungeon included with Cataclysm can be found in the End.
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Advanced NetheriteWhile it doesn’t change anything inside the Nether, Advanced Netherite is still appropriate for this list. Alongside regular Netherite Equipment, you’ll now find 4 additional tiers which can all be upgraded between. These are made from Netherite Iron, Gold, Emerald, and Diamond. Each tier is stronger than the previous, and you can’t go straight from Netherite Iron to Diamond, you have to work your way up between them. Each tier provides special effects, as Netherite Iron will make Phantoms passive. Netherite Gold will cause Piglins to be passive, and Netherite Emerald will cause Enderman to be passive. But by wearing Netherite Diamond, both Enderman and Piglins will be passive instead.
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Piglin ExpansionPiglin Expansion slightly improves the lore of Piglins by adding some new structures. The first is the Piglin Fortress, which Piglins would build to conquer the land. Alongside Piglin Brutes, you can find Gold Blocks and Chests inside the Fortress. You might also come across the Piglin Ship, which was used to transport items around the Nether, and even now they still contain lots of items that can be collected. Crafting the Piglin Divinity Staff will allow you to strike targets with lightning, or there’s a new set of Piglin Divinity Armor.
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Blaze GearA new set of equipment comes with the Blaze Gear mod, and it can be crafted from Brimsteel Ingots. A single Brimsteel Ingot can be crafted from an Iron Ingot, 3 Blaze Powder, 2 Magma Cream, 2 Gold Nuggets, and a Ghast Tear, and 24 are required to craft a full set of armor. Wearing the armor increases protection from ongoing fire damage and standing on hot blocks, not including Fire or Lava. Brimstool Tools can set targets on fire, mine flammable blocks faster, and automatically smelt mined blocks, so it should be quite useful.
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Oh The Biomes You’ll GoAnother way to improve the look of the Nether would be to install ‘Oh The Biomes You’ll Go’. It’s a popular mod that focuses on improving all 3 dimensions. But when it comes to the Nether, you’ll find around 10 new Biomes, including the Magma Wastes, Crimson Gardens, Withering Woods, Brimstone Caverns, and Embur Bog. It definitely strays from Vanilla Minecraft quite a bit, as lots of new blocks and flora are added, but it’s a nice change. And lots of the blocks will be great for decorating with, as the new Trees can be chopped down for some interesting wood colors. Outside of the Nether, you’ll find dozens of other biomes too.
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Easy PiglinsTo help out with trading in the Nether, you can install the Easy Piglins mod. From now on, you can pick up a Piglin by sneaking and right-clicking them. Then you can craft the Barterer block from 5 Glass Panes, 2 Iron Ingots, a Gold Block, and Nether Bricks. Piglins can be placed inside the Barterer Block, confining them to it. Right-clicking the Barterer will allow you to trade with the Piglins through a useful interface without having to throw items on the ground.
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Nether Depths UpgradeOne of the first changes Nether Depths Upgrade makes is that you can now cast a Rod out in Lava. Then you can catch 9 different fish, such as the Lava Pufferfish, Searing Cod, Wither Bonefish, Soul Sucker, and Blaze Fish. They can be caught in different Biomes, and you’ll also find them swimming in the Lava, which will be easier to find if you drink a Potion of Lava Vision. Or you can find Lava Sponges, which can be used to soak up Lava. Players can also craft Soul Sucker Boots, which give increased movement speed on Soul Sand and Soul Soil.
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CinderscapesCinderscapes adds 4 new Biomes into the Nether, which are the Ashy Shoals, Blackstone Shales, Luminous Grove, and the Quartz Cavern. It’s a pretty simple mod really, it just aims to add a more diverse environment to the Nether, and no new mobs or equipment are added. Although lots of the blocks can be harvested and transformed, giving you access to some new building blocks. And there’s also some new flora.
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Better NetherAnd finally, you might want to check out Better Nether. It adds just over 20 Biomes including the Magma Lands, Nether Jungle, Soul Plain, Crimson Pinewood, and Bone Reef. The Biomes that you find with this mod really change the appearance of the dimension, as there’s so much more life. You can obtain lots of new blocks, especially when it comes to new colors of Wood. Within these Biomes are lots of new structures too, like Portals, Nether Cities, Altars, Temples, and more. This mod hasn’t received an update for Forge in a long time, but I know Minecraft 1.12 is still a popular choice. But if you’re looking for a complete Nether overhaul for Fabric, this is probably your best choice.