Naturalist Lite

Overview

Naturalist fills your Minecraft world with over 24 real-world animals, each with unique behaviors that mirror their real-life counterparts. Bears forage for Honey and Sweet Berries, Lions hunt in prides at night, Butterflies pollinate your crops, and Snails come in 16 dyeable colors. The mod focuses on creating a living ecosystem rather than adding combat or progression systems, so you can enjoy it alongside any other mods in your playthrough.

Beyond the animals themselves, Naturalist adds several new food items (Venison, Duck, Bass, Catfish, Bushmeat, and Lizard Tail), decorative Shellstone building blocks crafted from Snail Shells, three colors of Froglass, the Forest Dasher potion brewed from Antlers, and a handful of utility items like the Bug Net and Glow Goop. You can browse every item and recipe the mod adds using the tabs at the top of this page.

Passive Animals

Deer

Deer are skittish forest creatures with just 8 HP. They flee from players, monsters, and predators, and if you hit one, every Deer within 8 blocks will panic and scatter. Sneak up on them or hold Wheat to get close. They can be bred with Wheat and eat Grass blocks like Sheep to speed up baby growth. Deer drop 0-2 Leather and 1-2 Venison (cooked automatically if killed while on fire).

Duck

Ducks are semi-aquatic birds with 4 HP that spawn near water. They slow-fall like Chickens (taking no fall damage) and periodically lay Duck Eggs every 5 to 10 minutes. Duck Eggs can be thrown like regular Eggs, used in Cake and Pumpkin Pie recipes, or cooked in a Furnace to make Cooked Eggs. Ducks drop Feathers and raw Duck meat when killed.

Giraffe

Giraffes are towering savanna animals with 35 HP. They are temporarily rideable: feeding them their food items sets a 30-second timer during which you can mount and steer them. When the timer expires, they buck you off. Feed them again to ride more. Breeding requires Golden Apples. Giraffes drop 1-2 Bushmeat and occasionally a Hay Block.

Zebra

Zebras use the same attribute system as vanilla Horses, meaning they can be tamed and ridden with a Saddle. They spawn in savanna biomes and function similarly to Horses with varying speed and jump attributes.

Snail

Snails are slow-moving creatures (0.1 movement speed) with only 2 HP. They come in all 16 dye colors and can be re-dyed by using a Dye item on them. Snails climb walls, can be picked up with a Bucket (producing a Snail Bucket that preserves their color), and hide in their shell when players get within 5 blocks, which reduces incoming damage by 20% and knockback by 75%. Breed them with Mushrooms to get Snail Eggs, which hatch 2-6 baby Snails after a short delay. They drop Slime Balls and have a 10% chance to drop a Snail Shell, used to craft Shellstone.

Tameable Animals

Birds

Naturalist adds six species of songbirds: Bluejay, Canary, Cardinal, Robin, Finch, and Sparrow. All share the same stats (6 HP, 0.8 flying speed) and tameable behavior. Feed them their food items for a 1 in 10 chance to tame them. Once tamed, they sit on your shoulder just like Parrots, follow you around, and can be commanded to sit. Wild birds flock together and avoid players, but tamed ones lose that behavior. Each species has unique ambient songs and produces note particles during the day.

Tortoise

Tortoises are slow, tanky companions with 20 HP (increasing to 30 HP when tamed) and 0.6 knockback resistance. Feed them their tempt items for a 1 in 3 taming chance. Once tamed, they can follow you or sit, and feeding them restores 3 HP. They come in three biome-dependent variants: a default green variant, a desert/badlands sandy variant, and a jungle/savanna dark variant. Wild Tortoises hide in their shell when untamed players approach, reducing damage taken by 20%. They lay Tortoise Eggs on suitable blocks, which eventually hatch into baby Tortoises. They drop Turtle Scute.

Lizard

Lizards are fast (0.3 movement speed), agile creatures with 8 HP (20 HP when tamed) and 2 attack damage (4 when tamed). They have a 1 in 3 taming chance when fed. Their most unique feature is tail autotomy: when a Lizard drops below 50% health, it drops its tail as a decoy entity that enemies retarget to, buying the Lizard time to escape. The tail regrows after 10 minutes, but you can speed this up by feeding a tamed Lizard when it's at full health. They come in four biome-dependent color variants. The dropped Lizard Tail is a food item that grants 2 hunger and briefly applies Poison.

Neutral and Hostile Animals

Bear

Bears are powerful neutral mobs with 30 HP, 6 attack damage, and 0.6 knockback resistance. They become aggressive if you get near their cubs or attack them, staying angry for 20-39 seconds. Bears have rich foraging behavior: they harvest Honey from Beehives at level 5, pick Sweet Berries from bushes, steal food from Campfires, and will pick up and sit down to eat any food items on the ground. They sleep during parts of the day but wake up in rain. Bears can be sheared with Shears to produce 1-2 Fur, and they regrow their coat after eating food.

Boar

Boars are the wild equivalent of Pigs with 14 HP and 1 attack damage. They're normally passive but become aggressive when their health drops below 50%, so be ready for a fight if you don't kill them quickly. When struck by Lightning, a Boar transforms into a Zoglin. They drop 1-3 Porkchop and 0-2 Leather.

Alligator

Alligators are semi-aquatic predators with 30 HP, 6 attack damage, and 0.6 knockback resistance. They attack any player standing in water and are very protective of their eggs, attacking anything that gets too close to an Alligator Egg. They can breathe underwater and will hunt aquatic creatures. Alligators lay Alligator Eggs that hatch over time, similar to Turtle Eggs, and can be trampled by careless players or mobs.

Lion

Lions have 24 HP, 6 attack damage, and a large 32-block follow range, making them the most alert predators in the mod. They have a full day-night cycle: they sleep during the day and hunt at night, stalking prey by approaching slowly at a distance and then sprinting in for the kill. Male Lions (with manes) lead prides, and females follow the maned leader. Baby Lions never attack. Lions drop Leather and Fur.

Hippo

Hippos are semi-aquatic tanks with 40 HP, 6 attack damage, and 0.6 knockback resistance. They attack players in water and destroy Boats that get too close. They can breathe underwater and are bred with Melons, but only while standing in water. Hippos drop 1-5 Melon Slices.

Elephant

Elephants are the toughest animals in the mod at 80 HP with 10 attack damage, 1.2 armor points, and 0.75 knockback resistance. They are neutral mobs that retaliate when attacked, launching targets skyward with a devastating custom knockback effect. Interestingly, they avoid Bees. Elephants drop 3-5 Leather and 1-3 Bushmeat.

Rhino

Rhinos have 40 HP, 6 attack damage, and 0.6 knockback resistance. Their signature ability is a devastating charge attack: they scrape their foot as a warning, then charge at 2.5x their normal speed, breaking certain blocks in their path. After hitting a target during a charge, they become stunned for 3 seconds. Rhinos attack players who wear Carved Pumpkins and are protective of their babies. They drop 1-3 Leather and 1-3 Bushmeat.

Snakes

The mod adds three Snake types: regular Snakes, Coral Snakes, and Rattlesnakes. All share 10 HP, 6 attack damage, and 0.18 movement speed. They climb walls, sleep at night, and hunt small creatures. Coral Snakes and Rattlesnakes inflict 2 seconds of Poison on hit. Rattlesnakes give an audible warning rattle when players get within 4 blocks, giving you a chance to back away. Snakes can spawn holding random items: there's a 20% chance they'll have an Emerald, Name Tag, Gold Ingot, Clock, or Bone in their mouth.

Vulture

Vultures are flying scavengers with 10 HP and 4 attack damage. They target players at low health (6 HP or below) but instead of dealing damage, they steal the item from your main hand. They also hunt weak mobs and pick up Rotten Flesh from the ground, which they slowly digest. Vultures perch on blocks when idle. They drop Feathers and Rotten Flesh.

Moose

Moose are large forest animals with 40 HP, 6 attack damage, and immunity to drowning and Berry Bush damage. They retaliate when attacked and cannot be pushed by other entities. Moose can be bred with Apples.

Insects and Small Creatures

Butterfly and Caterpillar Lifecycle

Butterflies have a complete lifecycle in Naturalist. When you breed two Butterflies with Flowers, they produce a Caterpillar instead of a baby Butterfly. The Caterpillar will eventually seek out a Log block and attach a Chrysalis to an adjacent surface. The Chrysalis goes through four growth stages and then hatches into a new Butterfly with a random variant. There are five Butterfly variants: Cabbage White, Monarch, Clouded Yellow, Swallowtail, and Blue Morpho. Both Butterflies and Caterpillars can be caught with a Bug Net and drop Bone Meal when killed.

Firefly

Fireflies are nocturnal flying insects with 6 HP that glow periodically in darkness. They burn in sunlight, despawning after 30 seconds of direct sun exposure, and hide in Tall Grass or Fern blocks during the day. Killing a Firefly drops Glow Goop, which can also be smelted from Glow Berries. Glow Goop is both an item and a placeable light source, with up to three Glow Goop blocks stackable in one space for increasing brightness (5 light per layer, up to 15).

Dragonfly

Dragonflies are hovering insects with 6 HP that come in three color variants. Right-clicking a Dragonfly with a Glass Bottle creates an Area Effect Cloud that grants Regeneration II for 10 seconds, making them a useful healing resource. When a Frog kills a Dragonfly, it drops a variant-specific Froglass block (Azure, Verdant, or Crimson), a new decorative glass type with matching pane variants.

Fish

Naturalist adds two new fish: Bass and Catfish. Both can be caught with a Bucket to produce Bass Buckets and Catfish Buckets. Bass are passive schooling fish, while Catfish have 6 HP and 1 attack damage, actively hunting small water creatures tagged as their prey (with a 2-minute cooldown between hunts). Both fish types can be cooked in a Furnace, Smoker, or Campfire. Bass uses the same food values as raw Cod, while Catfish matches raw Salmon.

Unique Items and Blocks

Antler and Forest Dasher Potion

Deer drop Antlers, which serve as the brewing ingredient for the Forest Dasher potion. Brew an Antler with an Awkward Potion to create a Potion of Forest Dasher, which grants Speed II and Jump Boost I for 20 seconds. Extend the duration to 40 seconds with Redstone Dust, or increase the strength to Speed III and Jump Boost II with Glowstone Dust. This makes Deer hunting worthwhile even in the late game.

Glow Goop

Glow Goop is obtained from Fireflies or by smelting Glow Berries. It's a placeable, stackable light source: you can place up to 3 in a single block space, with each layer adding 5 light levels (max 15). It can be waterlogged and has no collision, making it perfect for subtle underwater lighting or hidden illumination. Glow Goop is also used to craft Spectral Arrows (8 Glow Goop + 1 Arrow = 2 Spectral Arrows), providing an alternative recipe to the vanilla Glowstone Dust version.

Shellstone Building Blocks

Shellstone is the mod's decorative building material, crafted from 2 Calcite and 2 Snail Shells to produce 8 Shellstone blocks. From there, it follows the same pattern as other Minecraft stone types: you can craft or stonecutt it into Shellstone Stairs, Slabs, and Walls. Combine 4 Shellstone in a 2x2 grid for Shellstone Bricks (with their own Stairs, Slabs, and Walls). Make Cut Shellstone from 2 Shellstone Slabs, and smelt Shellstone in a Furnace for Smooth Shellstone. Each variant has its own complete set of Stairs, Slabs, and Walls, giving you a total of 16 block variants for building. Check the Recipes tab for the full list of Shellstone recipes.

Teddy Bear

The Teddy Bear is a purely decorative block crafted from String and Wool. It's a small, directional block that faces the opposite direction of the player when placed, making a cute addition to bedrooms or children's builds.

Food Items

Naturalist adds several new food items, all of which can be cooked in a Furnace, Smoker, or Campfire. Venison comes from Deer and uses the same food values as raw Rabbit (raw) and cooked Rabbit (cooked). Duck comes from Ducks and matches Chicken values. Catfish and Bass are new fish types matching Salmon and Cod values respectively. Bushmeat is a unique food dropped by Elephants, Rhinos, and Giraffes: raw Bushmeat restores 3 hunger with the same saturation as raw Beef, while Cooked Bushmeat restores a generous 8 hunger. Lizard Tail is a special food that restores 2 hunger but inflicts Poison for 5 seconds when eaten raw. Cooked Eggs are a simple food made by cooking any Egg (including Duck Eggs) in a Furnace. Duck Eggs also substitute for regular Eggs in Cake and Pumpkin Pie recipes.

Configuration

Naturalist uses the Midnight Config library, and every animal can be individually toggled on or off through the "mobRemoval" config category. If you find that a particular animal is causing issues or you simply don't want it in your world, set its "Removed" option to true (e.g., alligatorRemoved = true). The "mobConfig" category lets you fine-tune spawn weights and group sizes for each animal. For example, Lions have a default spawn weight of 3 and spawn in groups of 1-3, while Deer have a spawn weight of 10 in groups of 3-5. Rarer animals like Rhinos (weight 1) and Zebras (weight 1) can be made more common by increasing their spawn weight. Each animal also supports a biome blacklist tag, allowing you to prevent specific animals from spawning in certain biomes through datapacks.