Swamp Expansion

Overview

Swamp Expansion overhauls the Swamp biome by adding a new Willow wood type, Cattail plants, a Mud fluid system, Mud Bricks for building, and Bitter Berry bushes. Vanilla Swamp Oak trees are completely replaced with Willow Trees that feature drooping Hanging Willow Leaves, giving the biome an atmospheric, eerie look that suits its character far better than plain Oaks ever did.

The Willow wood set is fully featured with all the standard block variants you'd expect: Planks, Slabs, Stairs, Fences, Fence Gates, Doors, Trapdoors, Pressure Plates, Buttons, and even a Boat. Cattails bring new vegetation to the waterlogged edges of the biome, and Mud Bricks provide a unique brownish building block with its own Stairs, Slabs, and Walls. You can browse every item and recipe this mod adds using the tabs on this page.

Note that Swamp Expansion has been discontinued and merged into the Environmental mod. If you're starting fresh, consider using Environmental instead, which includes all of this content plus much more.

Willow Wood Set

The Willow wood type is the centerpiece of Swamp Expansion. Willow Trees replace the vanilla Swamp Oaks entirely through a feature override, so every tree you find in a Swamp biome will now be a Willow. The wood has a warm brownish-green color (MaterialColor brown) with a hardness of 2.0 and blast resistance of 3.0 for Planks, matching other wood types.

The full block set includes Willow Planks, Willow Slab, Willow Stairs, Willow Fence, Willow Fence Gate, Willow Door, Willow Trapdoor, Willow Pressure Plate, Willow Button, Willow Log, Stripped Willow Log, Willow Wood, and Stripped Willow Wood. All wooden blocks are flammable and can be used as fuel. The logs can be stripped with an Axe just like vanilla wood.

Hanging Willow Leaves

One of the most visually striking additions is the Hanging Willow Leaves block. These vine-like leaf blocks dangle from the underside of Willow Trees, creating the characteristic drooping silhouette of a real willow. They must be placed below Leaves or Logs to stay attached. Hanging Willow Leaves function as ladders, so you can climb them, making it easy to scale Willow Trees. They also produce dripping water particles during rain, adding to the atmosphere. Hanging Willow Leaves can be harvested with Shears.

Willow Boat

The Willow Boat functions identically to any vanilla Boat but uses Willow Planks as its material. It can be placed from a Dispenser and drops three Willow Planks and two Sticks when destroyed by a long fall. Swamps are full of water, so having a matching boat for your Willow builds is a nice touch.

Cattails & Cattail Thatch

Cattails are new waterlogged plants that generate naturally along the edges of Swamp biomes. They come in three growth stages: Cattail Sprouts (the youngest stage), Cattails (single block height), and Tall Cattails (double block height). Single Cattails can grow into Tall Cattails over time when planted on Farmland with sufficient light, and Bone Meal can accelerate this process.

Cattails can be planted on Grass, Dirt, Coarse Dirt, Sand, Red Sand, Clay, Farmland, or any block in the Bamboo Plantable tag. They support waterlogging, so they sit naturally in shallow water. The Tall Cattail variant is harvestable: when its age reaches 1, you can right-click to collect Cattail Sprouts (1-3 per harvest), which resets the age back to 0 on both halves. Tall Cattails grow faster when planted on Farmland and need a light level of 9 or higher to mature.

Cattails can also be placed in Flower Pots for indoor decoration. Wandering Traders sell Cattails for 1 Emerald each. The Cattail Seeds item plants Cattail Sprouts, which grow into full Cattails over time.

Cattail Thatch

Cattails can be crafted into Cattail Thatch, a decorative building block based on Hay Bale properties that can be harvested with an Axe. It comes with matching Cattail Thatch Slabs and Cattail Thatch Stairs, making it a great choice for rustic roofs and swamp-themed structures. The block uses cutout rendering, giving it a semi-transparent woven appearance.

Mud & Mud Bricks

Swamp Expansion adds Mud as a proper fluid that generates in Swamp biomes. Mud flows like Water but is much thicker, with a tick rate of 6 (compared to Water's 5) and a flow distance of only 2 blocks (compared to Water's 8). It renders as a solid, opaque brown fluid and produces underwater particles. When you're submerged in Mud, your vision becomes extremely limited with a dense brown fog (fog density of 1.0), making it genuinely dangerous to fall into.

You can collect Mud with a Bucket to get a Mud Bucket, which stacks to 1 like other fluid buckets. The Mud Ball item is a throwable projectile that behaves like a Snowball. It deals no damage but provides knockback on hit, and makes a satisfying splash sound when thrown. Smelting Mud Balls produces Mud Brick items, which can then be crafted into Mud Brick blocks.

The Mud Brick building set includes Mud Bricks (the full block), Mud Brick Stairs, Mud Brick Slabs, and Mud Brick Walls. With a hardness of 1.5 and blast resistance of 2.5, they sit between regular Bricks and Stone in terms of durability. The brownish-gray color (MaterialColor brown) gives them a distinctly earthy look that pairs beautifully with Willow wood for Swamp-themed construction.

Bitter Berries

Bitter Berry Bushes are a new food-producing plant that generates in Swamp biomes. They function similarly to vanilla Sweet Berry Bushes but with some key differences. The bush has 4 growth stages (age 0-3) and grows with a 1-in-5 random tick chance when light level is 9 or above. Like Sweet Berry Bushes, walking through a Bitter Berry Bush at age 1 or higher deals 1.0 damage and slows your movement speed. Foxes are immune to the thorns.

You can harvest Bitter Berries by right-clicking a bush at age 2 or 3. At age 2, you'll get 1-2 berries. At age 3 (fully grown), you'll get 2-3 berries plus one bonus berry. After harvesting, the bush resets to age 1 and begins growing again. Bitter Berries restore 2 hunger points but give 0.0 saturation, making them a quick but not very filling snack.

Bitter Berry Juice

Bitter Berries can be processed into Bitter Berry Juice, a drinkable item that restores 2 hunger points with 1.5 saturation, a significant upgrade over raw berries. After drinking, you're left with an empty Glass Bottle. Both Bitter Berries and Bitter Berry Juice can be consumed quickly thanks to their fast-use property.

Quark Compatibility

Swamp Expansion has built-in compatibility with the Quark mod. When Quark is installed, several additional blocks become available in the creative menu and can be crafted. These include Vertical Willow Planks, Vertical Willow Slabs, Vertical Mud Brick Slabs, a Willow Bookshelf (which provides enchanting power just like a vanilla Bookshelf), Willow Leaf Carpet, Willow Ladders, Cattail Seed Sacks, and Cattail Thatch Vertical Slabs.

The Willow Bookshelf is particularly useful as it provides the same enchanting power bonus of 1.0 as a regular Bookshelf, giving you a matching option for Swamp-themed enchanting rooms. All Quark-compatible blocks follow the same flammability and compost rules as their standard counterparts.

Building with Swamp Materials

The combination of Willow wood and Mud Bricks gives builders two complementary palettes for Swamp-themed construction. Willow Planks have a greenish-brown tone that works well for walls, flooring, and structural elements, while Mud Bricks provide an earthier contrast for foundations, chimneys, and trim work. Cattail Thatch makes for excellent roofing material, completing the rustic swamp dwelling aesthetic.

Both Willow and Mud Brick block families include the full range of building blocks. Willow has Planks, Slabs, Stairs, Fences, Fence Gates, Doors, Trapdoors, Pressure Plates, and Buttons. Mud Bricks have the full block, Stairs, Slabs, and Walls. Between the two sets plus Cattail Thatch and its Slabs and Stairs, you have everything needed for complete builds.