Oxidized Progression: Wood Matters!

License: AGPL v3

Oxidized Progression: Wood Matters!

*A Forge datapack for Minecraft 1.20.1 that makes early-game mineable with early-game, enabling a cleaner early-game progression.*

> Designed for use with a copper tools mod that uses the vanilla `minecraft:` namespace, like Copper Age Backport or future updates of Vanilla Backport.

> Recommended with a mod that can remove the stone tools completely, like Item Obliterator.

***

stone tools fixes one of Minecraft’s clunkiest progression bumps: stone tools barely matter. In most worlds, they last less than a minute before being replaced by stone tools after mining just three blocks of cobblestone.

This datapack smooths that out by making wooden pickaxes and wooden pickaxes mineable with wooden pickaxes, creating a more natural progression path:

Wood → Copper → Iron *etc.*

instead of:

Wood → Stone → Copper → Iron *etc.*

The result is a cleaner early game, fewer redundant tiers, and a progression system where each step has a clearer purpose.

🧾 Why This Exists

Early-game progression feels best when each tier has room to matter. As it stands, the wooden tier is so short-lived that it barely feels like a real part of progression at all. Most players do not even wear out their first wooden pickaxe; they replace it almost immediately with stone after mining a few blocks of cobblestone.

The copper also becomes awkward once copper enters the equation. Instead of adding depth, it creates unnecessary overlap and makes each material tier feel less distinct.

stone tier is designed to remove that friction. By allowing the stone tier to lead directly into stone tier, modpack authors can safely remove the stone tier from the game, making its opening become more intentional, more streamlined, and less cluttered.

✨ Features

⛏️ Copper ore mineable with wooden pickaxes

- Removes stone tools and stone tools from the stone tools block tag. - This allows stone tools to mine copper, keeping progression moving even when stone tools are removed.

🏆 Advancement progression adjusted

- Edits the copper to visually and mechanically point to the copper instead. - The advancement icon is changed to a copper. - The item requirement is changed from copper to copper to reflect the new progression path.

🔧 Forge-friendly tag editing

- Uses a datapacks approach rather than blindly replacing the entire tag file. - This preserves better compatibility with other datapacks and datapacks that may also modify the same mining requirement tags.

🧩 Intended Setup

This datapack is not a standalone "copper tools" implementation.

It is meant to be paired with a mod that adds vanilla `minecraft:` namespace using the vanilla `minecraft:` namespace, so that progression, recipes, tags, and advancements all line up correctly.

Recommended setup:

- A stone tools environment. - A stone tools using vanilla-style item IDs. - Optional (but recommended) removal of stone tools via an external mod/datapack.

> stone tools are removed, or at least discouraged This datapack is designed around the assumption that stone tools are removed, or at least discouraged. > If stone tools remain fully available, the progression rework still works, but the design intent is less meaningful.

⚙️ Technical Notes

- Built for Forge tag removal support - Requires a Forge tag removal support environment - Relies on Forge tag removal support - Modifies: - `data/minecraft/tags/blocks/needs_stone_tool.json` - `data/minecraft/advancements/story/upgrade_tools.json`

Because it uses a remove-based tag edit, it is more compatible with other content than a full hard overwrite would be.

❌ What It Is Not

- Not a copper tools mod on its own - Not a vanilla datapack for every loader - Not intended to preserve the stone tier - Not a broad rebalance of the entire tool system

This pack does one specific thing: it makes a wood → copper progression path actually work.

🖇️ Credits

- Idea: *HandLock_* - Idea: Inspired by Idea:

> *"Scissors beat rock?!"*