Additional Tools
Mining in vanilla Minecraft is a slow, methodical grind. You swing a pickaxe, block by block, and after a few hours your inventory is full of cobblestone and your patience is running thin. The Additional Tools mod by Rolexzoz of Corrupted Studios attacks that problem directly. It is a compact Forge mod that adds a handful of genuinely useful tools and items, each one designed to remove a specific annoyance from the early and mid game. Nothing here feels bloated or out of place, which is exactly why it has become a quiet favorite in modpacks.
What Does Additional Tools Add?
The mod keeps its scope tight. Instead of adding dozens of new ores and machines, it focuses on tools that do more than their vanilla counterparts. Every item has a clear purpose, and most of them slot naturally into a survival playthrough without breaking progression.
Tools Included
- Hammer — mines in a 3x3 area, perfect for clearing large veins or flattening terrain quickly.
- Waraxe — deals heavy damage but swings with a low attack speed, rewarding careful timing over spam clicking.
- Katana — a sword with a fast attack speed, ideal for players who prefer mobility and rapid combos.
- Lumberaxe — chops down an entire tree from the base block, so no more floating leaves or tedious pillar climbing.
- Paxel — combines axe, shovel and pickaxe into one slot, saving inventory space on long expeditions.
Items Included
- Autosmelter — smelts ores directly in your inventory, turning raw materials into ingots as you mine.
- Mining Helmet — lets you see in the dark, removing the need to place torches every few blocks underground.
Each of these fills a gap that vanilla Minecraft leaves open. The Lumberaxe alone saves a surprising amount of time once you start building with wood, and the Autosmelter quietly streamlines the entire ore processing loop.
Version and Loader Compatibility
Additional Tools for Minecraft is built as a Forge mod, so you will need a Forge installation matching your game version before anything else. The mod has been maintained across several popular releases, and the exact supported versions are listed on its project page. If you are running a heavily modded pack, double-check that your Forge build lines up with the version of Additional Tools you plan to use, since mismatches are the most common cause of a crash on startup. The mod is also modpack-friendly; the author explicitly allows it to be included in packs, which is why it shows up in so many curated collections.
If you would rather skip the manual file juggling, the foxygame.net launcher handles the whole process for you. It lists Additional Tools in its add-on catalog, matches the correct build to your installed game version, and keeps it updated automatically, so you never have to hunt down a new release after a patch.
How to Install Additional Tools
Getting the mod running is straightforward, even if you have never installed a Forge mod before. Follow these steps in order and you will be mining in 3x3 patterns within minutes.
- Install the correct version of Minecraft Forge for your game version.
- Download Additional Tools from its official project page, making sure the file matches your Forge build.
- Place the downloaded .jar file into your mods folder, located inside your Minecraft directory.
- Launch the game using the Forge profile and confirm the mod appears in the mod list.
If the game crashes on launch, the usual culprit is a version mismatch between Forge and the mod, or a conflicting tool mod that overrides the same recipes. Removing the conflicting mod or switching to a matching Forge build almost always resolves it.
Why It Fits Into Almost Any Modpack
Additional Tools does not try to reinvent Minecraft. It simply makes the existing loop faster and less tedious, which is why it pairs well with everything from lightweight quality-of-life packs to large kitchen-sink modpacks. The Paxel reduces inventory clutter, the Mining Helmet improves cave exploration, and the Autosmelter removes a repetitive furnace step. None of these changes feel overpowered, and none of them require a wiki open in another tab to understand.
For players who want a small, focused mod that delivers immediate value, Additional Tools is an easy recommendation. Install it once, craft a Hammer and a Lumberaxe, and you will wonder how you ever played without them.