BetterEnd — a mod for global overhaul and improvement of the End dimension in Minecraft

BetterEnd — a mod for global overhaul and improvement of the End dimension in Minecraft

The vanilla End after defeating the dragon is a belt of nearly identical islands with chorus, rare cities, and void between them. BetterEnd replaces the generation of this dimension with its own: islands of various sizes and heights, 24 new biomes with their own vegetation and mobs, caves inside the islands, and a separate ritual system. The mod does not touch the Nether and the Overworld — all work is done within the Minecraft End. The single problem it solves: to turn the post-raid End into a place worth returning to for resources and exploration, rather than just passing through it on the way to the elytra. 

New End generation 

Instead of a continuous carpet of small islands, the generator splits the Outer End into three layers of islands — large, medium, and small. Each layer has its own density, scale, and height variation, so instead of a flat plane, you get terrain with peaks, depressions, and gaps between islands. Inside the islands themselves, caves are generated with separate biomes and resources that are not found on the surface. 

General view of the generated End — islands of various heights and sizes 

Island layers 

Large islands are rare and far apart, but they have the largest scale and the smallest height variation — these are massive flat plateaus. Medium islands are placed more densely, and the central island is tied to this layer. Small islands are the densest and closest to the spawn point; they have the greatest height variation, so the area with small islands looks like a cluster of suspension at different levels. 

Central island and dragon fight 

The central island retains the usual start scenario. The player spawns on a platform, in the center stands the exit portal, surrounded by obsidian pillars with crystals. The pillars are redrawn and more detailed than the vanilla ones. The fight with the Ender Dragon remains a mandatory stage: as long as the dragon is alive, the gateway to the Outer End is closed, and thus the rest of the mod's content is closed. 

Redesigned obsidian pillars with crystals 

Biomes 

The mod adds twenty-four biomes, each with its own set of blocks, plants, mobs, music, and sound design. Biomes are divided into surface ones — those that form the islands themselves — and cave ones, which are generated in cavities inside the islands. 

Surface biomes 

Among the surface biomes are the Amber Land with tall orange vegetation and amber ore, the Crystal Mountains with bright crystalline blocks, the Shadow Forest with dark mushroom trees and thorny plants, the Sulphur Springs with geysers and underwater deposits, the Foggy Mushroomland with giant glowing mushrooms, the Megalake with multi-tiered water bodies, the Chorus Forest with redrawn chorus plants. Each biome has its own fog palette and lighting, so the border between them is immediately noticeable. 

Cave biomes 

Cave biomes are not visible from the surface — you have to dig through the body of the island to reach them. Inside, crystalline cavities are generated with their own sources of ores and glowing blocks. Caves occur under islands of any surface biome, so full exploration of an island means digging deep, not just looking at the top layer. 

Underground biome inside an island 

Mobs 

BetterEnd adds six new creatures, some of which have biome variations — a different appearance depending on where the mob spawned.

The End Slime behaves like a normal slime, but has four plant variants of appearance according to the spawn biome. End Fish — glowing fish inhabiting lakes and geysers; color depends on the biome, the fish can be scooped up in a bucket. Shadow Walker — a humanoid creature of the Shadow Forest that stays in the dark and stalks the player; touching it causes temporary blindness. Silk Moth lives in the Blossoming Spires biome, fills nests with silk.

End Slime — one of four biome appearance variants  

Blocks, vegetation, and materials 

In addition to decor, the mod adds nine types of wood and seven types of stone, new food sources, as well as tools, armor, and weapons. Some materials are mined directly from biomes: amber — in the Amber Land, crystalline blocks — in the Crystal Mountains. End ore in the caves breaks down into End Shards — the base resource for rituals and anvil recipes. Tool progression is tied not only to crafting at a workbench, but also to anvil recipes and infusion. 

Infusion rituals 

Infusion is a separate way of obtaining items that does not fit into the crafting table grid. The ritual requires a structure of eight outer pedestals around a central Infusion Pedestal. Catalysts are laid out on the eight outer pedestals, and the main ingredient is placed on the central one last — or activated by right-clicking. After starting, the ritual takes a certain time, during which particles play over the structure. 

Eternal Crystal and Eternal Portal 

The main product of infusion is the Eternal Crystal. Recipe: End Crystal on the central pedestal plus four End shards and four crystalline shards on the outer ones. The ritual lasts 250 game ticks — about 12.5 seconds after activation.

Activated Eternal Portal with Eternal Crystals around it

Eternal Crystals are needed to launch the Eternal Portal — a structure that opens a passage between the End and the Overworld. The portal ring consists of runic flavolite, and six Eternal Pedestals stand around it. One Eternal Crystal is placed on each pedestal. As they are placed, a beam appears above each crystal, similar to a beacon beam; when the sixth crystal is placed, an ignition sound is heard and the portal opens. A linked portal is simultaneously created in the Overworld, so you can return at any time.

Eternal Portals also occur in the End in generated form. Some of them generate ruined — then the ring will have to be completed with runic flavolite, which is also obtained through infusion.

Config 

Mod settings are stored in three JSON files in the config/betterend/ folder. Below, each parameter from each file is described. The fields create_version and modify_version in all files are service ones: they record the mod version with which the file was created and last modified, and are not edited manually. 

File client.json 

Responsible for visual effects on the client side. 

File generator.json 

Controls dimension generation. Parameters from the structure block change what appears in the world, so applying them to an already generated End makes no sense — changes can only be seen in new chunks. 

Island layer parameters are put into the generator.layers block — three sets with the identical list of fields for the layers big_islands, medium_islands, and small_islands. 

File portals.json 

Describes Eternal Portals — what they are and how they are activated. The portals field is a list, so you can set several different types of portal. By default there is one entry in the list. 

Conclusion 

BetterEnd adds biomes with resources, caves, infusion rituals, and Eternal Portals. Compared to the vanilla End, the mod provides heterogeneous terrain instead of a monotonous belt of islands and gives a reason to explore the dimension in depth, not just horizontally. There are two limitations. First — the status of release 21.0.11 is marked as Alpha, so crashes and unfinished mechanics are possible. Second — the generator changes the very structure of the world, so when adding the mod to an already generated End, sharp terrain drops will appear at the border of old and new chunks; a clean result is only provided by a new world. The mod is suitable for survival where the player wants to fully develop the End after the dragon raid.