Progressive Automation: Improved – The Ultimate Minecraft Automation Mod
If you have ever dreamed of a self-sustaining base where machines tirelessly chop wood, plant crops, and mine ores while you focus on grander designs, the Progressive Automation: Improved mod is exactly what you need. This community-driven fork breathes new life into the classic Progressive Automation concept, delivering a polished, bug-free experience that fits perfectly into modern modded Minecraft. Whether you are a seasoned engineer or just dipping your toes into automation, the tiered machine system offers a satisfying progression curve that rewards creativity and resource management.
What Is Progressive Automation: Improved?
Originally inspired by the well-known Progressive Automation mod, this improved version is a complete rewrite and continuation hosted on Codeberg. The core idea remains wonderfully simple: craft a basic machine, fuel it, and watch it perform mundane tasks automatically. Over time, you upgrade that machine through multiple tiers—Wood, Stone, Iron, and Diamond—each unlocking greater speed, larger operational areas, and more efficient energy usage. The mod eliminates grind without feeling overpowered, because every upgrade demands meaningful investment.
Unlike the original, Progressive Automation: Improved focuses on stability, compatibility with recent Minecraft versions, and a cleaner codebase. Many long-standing bugs have been squashed, and the machines now interact more predictably with hoppers, pipes, and other tech mods. If you ever hesitated to add the old Progressive Automation to a modpack due to crashes or quirks, this fork is the reliable alternative you have been waiting for.
Core Machines and Their Roles
The mod introduces several specialized machines, each designed to handle a specific chore. All of them follow the same tiered upgrade path, so once you master one, you instantly understand the rest. Here is a quick overview of what you can build:
- Chopper – Automatically fells trees within its range and collects the wood, saplings, and apples. It even replants saplings if you provide them, making tree farms truly hands-off.
- Planter – Plants seeds, carrots, potatoes, or nether wart in a configurable area. Pair it with a Harvester from another mod or simply harvest manually for a massive farming boost.
- Miner – Digs a vertical shaft and extracts ores and stone. Higher tiers mine faster and can be upgraded with fortune-like enchants, turning a simple quarry into a resource powerhouse.
- Crafter – Uses a stored recipe to automatically craft items from adjacent inventories. It is perfect for compressing ingots into blocks or assembling complex components without clunky redstone setups.
- Killer – Slays mobs in a defined area and collects their drops. Ideal for mob farms, it can be configured to ignore certain creatures, protecting your beloved pets or livestock.
- Fisher – Casts a virtual fishing rod into nearby water, reeling in fish, treasure, and junk. It works while you are away, steadily filling chests with valuable resources.
Each machine starts at the Wood tier, requiring only basic materials like logs and cobblestone. As you progress, you craft upgrade kits that transform the machine in-world, preserving any stored fuel or items. This design encourages early-game adoption and makes the mod feel like a natural extension of vanilla Minecraft.
The Tiered Upgrade System
The beauty of Progressive Automation: Improved lies in its upgrade philosophy. A Wooden Chopper is slow and limited to a tiny radius, but an Iron Chopper clears a 7x7 area in seconds. Similarly, a Diamond Miner with a fortune upgrade can rival even the most advanced digital miners from other tech mods. The table below illustrates how each tier changes performance:
- Wood – Small range, slow operation, uses solid fuels like coal or charcoal.
- Stone – Slightly larger range, moderate speed, still burns solid fuels.
- Iron – Significant range increase, faster cycles, and the ability to accept RF (Redstone Flux) from external generators.
- Diamond – Maximum range, top speed, RF-compatible, and can be enchanted with specialized upgrades like Fortune, Silk Touch, or Auto-Smelt.
This gradual climb ensures that you never feel overwhelmed. Early on, you manage a handful of coal-fed machines; later, you integrate them into a centralized power grid using conduits and energy cells. The transition from solid fuel to RF is particularly rewarding, as it opens up cross-mod synergy with power generation from mods like Thermal Expansion, Mekanism, or Immersive Engineering.
Getting Started with Progressive Automation: Improved
To begin, you will need to craft a Wooden Machine Frame—the foundational block for all low-tier machines. Combine it with specific tools and materials to create the Chopper, Planter, or any other device. Place the machine down, open its interface, and you will see slots for fuel, tools (like axes for the Chopper), and output. Configure the range using simple plus and minus buttons, then watch it spring to life.
One of the most appealing aspects of this mod is how effortlessly it slots into existing worlds. Because the machines are standalone and do not require a massive infrastructure, you can set up a basic tree farm within your first hour of play. As you gather more resources, craft upgrade kits and apply them by right-clicking the machine. The kit is consumed, and the machine instantly transforms to the next tier, keeping all internal settings intact. This fluid upgrade process eliminates the need to break and replace blocks, saving you time and frustration.
For those who prefer a streamlined experience, this mod can be easily installed via the foxygame.net launcher — a convenient, flexible, and modern Minecraft launcher where you can download mods right from the menu. The launcher handles dependency resolution automatically, so you can jump straight into automating your world without wrestling with file folders or compatibility checks.
Integration with Other Mods
Progressive Automation: Improved shines brightest in modpacks. The machines interact seamlessly with item transport systems like Hoppers, Itemducts, or Conveyor Belts. The RF compatibility at higher tiers means you can power a Diamond Planter using a solar panel array or a nuclear reactor. Even the Killer machine respects fake player kills, which can trigger mob drop events from other mods, making it a valuable tool in complex mob farming setups.
Because the mod is actively maintained on Codeberg, compatibility patches and performance improvements are released regularly. The developer community encourages players to fork and contribute, ensuring the mod evolves alongside the ever-changing Minecraft modding landscape. This open approach has already resulted in better Forge and Fabric support, though the primary version remains Forge for the time being.
Why Choose the Improved Fork Over the Original?
Veteran players might wonder why they should switch from the classic Progressive Automation. The answer is reliability. The original mod, while groundbreaking, suffered from memory leaks, occasional world corruption, and a lack of updates for newer Minecraft versions. Progressive Automation: Improved addresses all these issues. The code has been refactored to reduce tick lag, the GUIs are more responsive, and the internal logic for area scanning has been optimized to prevent server strain.
Additionally, the fork introduces subtle quality-of-life features. Machines now emit redstone comparator signals based on their work status, enabling advanced redstone control. The Planter can now handle a wider variety of seeds from modded crops, and the Miner has configurable blacklists to avoid excavating your base’s floor. These tweaks make the mod feel fresh, even for those who have used the original for years.
Final Thoughts
Progressive Automation: Improved is a masterclass in taking a beloved concept and refining it for the modern era. It respects the player’s time by offering a clear, tangible sense of progression without demanding hours of grinding. The machines are intuitive, the upgrades are satisfying, and the cross-mod compatibility is exceptional. Whether you are building a cozy cottage with automated farms or a sprawling industrial complex, this mod provides the reliable, low-lag automation backbone you need.
If you have ever wished for a way to turn the repetitive chores of Minecraft into a self-running symphony of efficiency, give this mod a try. The Codeberg community is welcoming, and the installation is painless—especially if you use a modern launcher that handles mod management for you. Once you experience the joy of a Diamond Chopper clearing an entire forest while you explore distant biomes, you will wonder how you ever played without it.