Always Drop Loot (update)
If you have ever built a massive mob farm in Minecraft only to discover that your carefully engineered fall damage or lava blade setup yields almost nothing, you know the frustration. Vanilla Minecraft has a hidden rule: many mobs only drop experience or certain loot when a player lands the killing blow. Environmental deaths, such as falling, drowning, burning, or suffocation, often strip away those rewards. The Always Drop Loot (update) add-on changes that fundamental behavior, ensuring your automated farms and passive traps deliver the loot and XP you rightfully expect.
What Does Always Drop Loot (update) Do?
This unofficial Fabric update breathes new life into the classic Always Drop Loot mod for the full Minecraft 1.21.x line, covering versions 1.21 through 1.21.11. The core function is simple: it makes mobs able to drop XP even when they die without a direct player kill. But the mod goes further, giving you granular control over how non-player kills behave.
- XP Control: You can decide how much XP non-player kills should give, from zero to double the normal amount.
- Loot Condition Control: The mod lets you manipulate the killed_by_player loot condition, so loot tables treat automated deaths as player kills, never as player kills, or follow vanilla logic.
- World-Specific Configuration: Instead of a clunky config screen, settings are stored per world through gamerules. This means each save or server can have its own unique behavior.
In practice, this means farms based on fall damage, campfires, entity cramming, or other automatic kill methods can still drop XP and loot depending on the rules you choose. It works seamlessly in singleplayer and on Fabric servers, making it an essential tool for technical players and redstone enthusiasts.
Supported Versions and Loaders
The Always Drop Loot (update) add-on is primarily designed for the Fabric loader, with a single runtime JAR that declares compatibility across the entire 1.21.x series. This means you do not need a separate file for every patch release. The mod has been tested against the compatibility range from 1.21 through 1.21.11, ensuring stability even as Mojang and Fabric changed internal APIs several times within that version line.
While the original mod supported Forge and NeoForge, this specific update fork focuses on the Fabric ecosystem for Minecraft 1.21.x. If you are running a Fabric server or client on version 1.21 or newer, this mod is ready for you. The current mod version is 5.6.0, and it requires Fabric Loader 0.15.11 or newer, along with Fabric API 0.100.4 or newer.
How to Install Always Drop Loot (update)
Installing this add-on is straightforward, even for players new to modding. Follow these steps to get your farms dropping loot in no time:
- Install Fabric Loader for your Minecraft version.
- Install Fabric API for the same version.
- Download Always Drop Loot (update) and place the mod jar in your mods folder.
- Start the game or server.
Because the mod is server-side in practice, it is useful both in singleplayer and on dedicated servers. If you are looking to download Always Drop Loot (update), make sure you grab the correct version for your Minecraft client. The installation process is identical whether you are using the launcher of your choice or a third-party launcher.
For players who prefer a more streamlined experience, the foxygame.net launcher offers a one-click install option for Always Drop Loot (update), automatically handling version compatibility and dependency checks so you can jump straight into the game without manual setup.
Configuration Gamerules Explained
The mod uses three main gamerules to control its behavior. Since they are world-specific, each save or server can have different settings. If cheats are disabled in a singleplayer world, you can temporarily enable access to gamerules by opening the world to LAN with cheats enabled.
always-drop-loot:always_drop_xp
This rule controls whether mobs may drop XP when they die without being killed by a player. The default is true, meaning mobs can still drop XP from environmental or automated deaths. Set it to false for vanilla-style XP behavior.
always-drop-loot:passive_xp_modifier
This multiplier affects the XP amount for mobs that die without a player kill. A value of 1.0 gives the normal XP amount, 0.5 halves it, 0.0 removes it entirely, and 2.0 doubles it. This value only affects deaths not credited to a player and does not change normal player-kill XP.
always-drop-loot:loot_drop_mode
This rule controls how loot tables interpret the killed_by_player condition. Available values include:
- ALWAYS_AS_PLAYER: Always treat the mob as if a player killed it.
- NEVER_AS_PLAYER: Never treat the mob as a player kill.
- VANILLA: Use normal vanilla behavior.
- VANILLA_INVERSE: Invert vanilla behavior.
This rule is what affects loot-table based drops that depend on the killed_by_player condition.
Example Farm Setups
Here are some practical configurations to get you started:
Always drop normal XP and loot from automated farms:
/gamerule always-drop-loot:always_drop_xp true /gamerule always-drop-loot:passive_xp_modifier 1.0 /gamerule always-drop-loot:loot_drop_mode ALWAYS_AS_PLAYER
Allow loot from farms, but reduce XP from automated kills:
/gamerule always-drop-loot:always_drop_xp true /gamerule always-drop-loot:passive_xp_modifier 0.5 /gamerule always-drop-loot:loot_drop_mode ALWAYS_AS_PLAYER
Keep vanilla loot logic, but still allow some XP from passive farms:
/gamerule always-drop-loot:always_drop_xp true /gamerule always-drop-loot:passive_xp_modifier 0.5 /gamerule always-drop-loot:loot_drop_mode VANILLA
Compatibility and Credits
This fork was updated specifically for the Minecraft 1.21.x series and tested against the compatibility range from 1.21 through 1.21.11. Because Mojang and Fabric changed internal APIs several times within that version line, the fork includes compatibility work so the same mod jar can run across the full range. The Always Drop Loot (update) add-on continues to respect the original project's Apache-2.0 license. Full credit for the original mod concept, implementation, and open-source release goes to sargunv. This updated fork exists to keep the mod usable on newer Fabric 1.21.x versions while preserving the original idea and behavior as closely as possible.
For those using the foxygame.net launcher, the add-on catalog includes Always Drop Loot (update) with automatic updates, so you will always have the latest compatible version without manually checking for patches.
Final Thoughts
If you are tired of losing valuable drops to the quirks of vanilla death mechanics, Always Drop Loot (update) for Minecraft is the solution. It is lightweight, configurable, and works exactly as advertised across the entire 1.21.x line. Whether you are running a small singleplayer world or a large multiplayer server, this mod ensures your automation investments pay off. Knowing how to install it takes less than five minutes, and the gamerule-based configuration gives you total control without ever leaving the game. Give your farms the rewards they deserve and download Always Drop Loot (update) today.
--- **Update Sep 18, 2026:** Added 2 files for version 26.3 (NeoForge, Fabric).