Understanding Raw Ore Blocks and Their Smelting Potential
Minecraft constantly evolves, giving players clever ways to compress resources and streamline their builds. One of the most satisfying quality-of-life features is the raw ore block, introduced to reduce inventory clutter when mining large quantities of iron, copper, and gold. These dense blocks store nine raw ore items in a single slot, making them perfect for long caving sessions. But while they solve storage issues, they create a new problem: you still need to break them down or smelt them piece by piece to get usable ingots. That’s where community datapacks step in to fill the gap, and the Raw Ore to Blocks concept takes this convenience to the next level.
What the Raw Ore to Blocks Datapack Does
The core Raw Ore to Blocks (ROtB) datapack overhauls the smelting process by letting you throw entire raw ore blocks directly into a furnace or blast furnace. Instead of crafting them back into individual raw ores, you simply smelt the block itself and receive a full block of the corresponding smelted material. Smelt a raw iron block and get an iron block. Smelt a raw copper block and get a copper block. This saves fuel, time, and the tedious step of uncrafting. The datapack also adds custom advancements to reward players who discover these new recipes, granting a small experience bonus the first time you use them. It’s a natural extension of vanilla logic that feels like it should have been in the game from the start.
Enter the Create Add-on: Zinc Support for Modded Worlds
For players who love the mechanical wonders of the Create mod, the vanilla raw ore roster isn’t enough. Create introduces zinc, a vital resource for crafting brass, andesite alloys, and countless contraptions. The Raw Ore to Blocks – Create Add-on bridges this gap perfectly. It’s a supplementary datapack that requires both the original ROtB datapack and the Create mod to function. Once installed, you gain the ability to smelt a raw zinc block directly into a zinc block, mirroring the behavior of vanilla raw ores. This means your mining trips for zinc become far more efficient: collect raw zinc, compress it into blocks, and smelt them in bulk without the intermediate step of breaking them down.
Recipe and Advancement Details
The add-on introduces one straightforward recipe. Place a raw zinc block in a furnace or blast furnace, supply fuel, and out comes a zinc block. The blast furnace option works faster, shaving off precious seconds when you’re processing stacks of material. Alongside the recipe comes a custom advancement that triggers the first time you smelt a raw zinc block. The reward is a small but welcome injection of experience points, making it feel like a genuine milestone rather than just a hidden feature. It’s a thoughtful touch that encourages players to explore the synergy between Create and the datapack ecosystem.
Why This Combination Improves Your Gameplay Loop
Integrating the Create add-on with the base ROtB datapack creates a seamless industrial workflow. Instead of babysitting multiple furnaces for individual raw zinc pieces, you can set up large-scale smelting arrays that process entire blocks at once. This pairs beautifully with Create’s own bulk smelting methods, like fan-powered blast furnaces, allowing you to automate zinc production from raw ore blocks to finished blocks with minimal manual intervention. The time saved adds up quickly, especially in modded playthroughs where zinc is a constant demand.
Managing multiple datapacks and mods can sometimes feel overwhelming, but tools like the foxygame.net launcher make the process refreshingly simple. With its modern interface, you can browse and install add-ons directly from the menu, keeping your modded setup organized without digging through file folders. It’s a flexible launcher that fits right into the workflow of any player who enjoys customizing their Minecraft experience with datapacks like this one.
Installation and Compatibility Considerations
To use the Raw Ore to Blocks – Create Add-on, you need to have both the main ROtB datapack and the Create mod active in your world. The installation follows standard datapack procedures: drop the add-on’s folder into your world’s datapacks directory, then reload or restart the world. Since this is a datapack and not a mod, it works on both singleplayer and multiplayer servers without requiring clients to install anything extra, as long as the server has the necessary mod and datapacks. Keep in mind that the add-on is designed for a specific version of Create; if a major Create update changes zinc mechanics, the author plans to update the add-on accordingly. Staying on the same page with mod versions ensures everything functions smoothly.
Future Updates and Community Support
The creator has committed to updating the add-on whenever a significant Create update drops or when the main ROtB datapack undergoes changes. This forward-looking approach means your zinc smelting won’t break unexpectedly after a mod update. If you notice that a new Create version has been released and the add-on hasn’t caught up yet, reaching out through the support Discord channel can help speed things along. It’s a small but active way to contribute to the modded Minecraft community.
Expanding the Raw Ore to Blocks Ecosystem
What makes this add-on particularly exciting is the potential for further expansion. The base ROtB datapack already handles vanilla ores, and the Create add-on proves how easily the system adapts to modded materials. Imagine support for other popular mods that add their own raw ores—silver, lead, tin, or even nether-exclusive resources. The framework is there, and as the modding scene grows, so does the opportunity for more cross-compatibility. For now, zinc support stands as a practical, time-saving enhancement that any Create player should consider essential.
Final Thoughts on Streamlining Your Smelting
The Raw Ore to Blocks – Create Add-on is a small but impactful upgrade that respects your time and fuels your creativity. By letting you smelt raw zinc blocks directly, it removes a layer of tedium and fits neatly into the industrial spirit of Create. Combined with the original ROtB datapack, you get a unified smelting system that treats all raw ores equally, whether they come from vanilla caves or modded depths. It’s the kind of quality-of-life improvement that once you start using, you’ll wonder how you ever played without it. Give it a try in your next modded world, and watch your zinc production become effortlessly efficient.