Only Excavator
Digging out a foundation, leveling a build site, or wiping an entire chunk by hand is slow, tedious work. Only Excavator fixes that problem with a simple, vanilla-friendly idea: shovels that dig in a 3x3 area instead of a single block. One swing clears nine blocks of dirt, sand, gravel, or snow, which turns hours of grinding into minutes of satisfying excavation.
The add-on keeps the familiar Minecraft progression intact. You are not handed a magical endgame tool at spawn. Instead, you craft your way up through six tiers, each one stronger and more durable than the last. If you already enjoy shovel-based building and terraforming, this is the kind of small addition that quietly changes how you play.
What Only Excavator Adds to the Game
Every excavator is a shovel variant that mines a 3x3 square of shovel-friendly blocks. That means dirt, grass, sand, red sand, gravel, clay, snow, and soul sand all disappear in a single click. The tool behaves like a normal shovel in every other way, so it fits naturally into survival gameplay without breaking balance.
The add-on covers six materials: wood, stone, iron, gold, diamond, and netherite. Each tier has its own attack damage, efficiency level, attack speed, and durability, giving you a clear reason to upgrade as your resources grow.
- Wood: 1.2 attack damage, efficiency 2, 59 durability
- Stone: 1.7 attack damage, efficiency 4, 131 durability
- Iron: 2.2 attack damage, efficiency 6, 250 durability
- Gold: 1.2 attack damage, efficiency 10, 32 durability
- Diamond: 2.7 attack damage, efficiency 8, 1,561 durability
- Netherite: 3.2 attack damage, efficiency 9, 2,032 durability
Gold stands out as the fastest option thanks to its efficiency of 10, though its tiny durability pool means you will be repairing it often. Netherite is the long-term workhorse with over two thousand durability, making it ideal for massive landscaping projects.
Supported Versions and Loaders
Only Excavator is built for modern Minecraft releases and is distributed as a Fabric mod, so you will need the Fabric loader installed before adding it to your game. It works cleanly alongside other lightweight add-ons and does not require any additional libraries beyond the standard Fabric setup. Always check the file listing on the download page to confirm which game versions are currently supported, since updates roll out as new Minecraft snapshots and releases arrive.
How to Install Only Excavator
Getting the add-on running takes just a few minutes if you follow the standard mod installation process.
- Install the Fabric loader for your Minecraft version.
- Place the Fabric API file into your mods folder.
- Download Only Excavator and drop the .jar file into the same mods folder.
- Launch Minecraft using the Fabric profile and start a world.
Once in-game, open the creative inventory and look for the dedicated creative tab, which groups all six excavators together for quick access. In survival, simply craft them using the same recipes as regular shovels, with the appropriate material in the head slot and sticks below.
If you prefer a smoother setup, the foxygame.net launcher handles the whole process for you, letting you install Only Excavator with a single click and keeping it updated automatically as new builds appear. The launcher also maintains a curated add-on catalog, so you can browse compatible mods and confirm version compatibility before anything touches your game files.
Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Excavator
Because the tool clears a 3x3 area, it is worth thinking about positioning. Standing at the edge of a pit and digging downward creates a staircase effect rather than a clean shaft, so plan your angle before you start swinging. For flat ground, walk backward as you dig to leave a tidy, even surface behind you.
Enchanting an excavator with Efficiency and Unbreaking dramatically extends its usefulness, especially on diamond and netherite versions. Mending is also a strong choice for netherite, since the high durability means repairs are rare but valuable. Keep a spare gold excavator in your inventory for quick jobs where speed matters more than longevity.
Final Thoughts
Only Excavator does one thing and does it well. It takes the humble shovel and turns it into a genuine terraforming tool without adding complicated mechanics, new ores, or confusing menus. Whether you are flattening a plain, carving out a quarry, or deleting an unwanted chunk, the 3x3 mining pattern saves an enormous amount of time. For players who spend most of their sessions building and reshaping the world, this add-on earns a permanent spot in the mods folder.