SimpleSmeltery
Have you ever stared at a chest full of nearly broken diamond chestplates and wished you could squeeze just a few more ingots out of them? Or maybe you raided a village and ended up with a pile of useless chainmail armor that only takes up space. SimpleSmeltery solves that problem elegantly. This clever Minecraft add-on lets you toss armor pieces into a furnace and reclaim a portion of the raw materials used to craft them. It is a straightforward, lightweight tweak that makes your survival world feel more resourceful and less wasteful.
What SimpleSmeltery Does
At its core, SimpleSmeltery introduces a recycling mechanic for armor. Instead of letting damaged gear vanish into a black hole, you can smelt it back into ingots or base materials. The mod respects game balance by ensuring you never get a full refund—smelting always yields fewer materials than it took to craft the original piece. This means you still need to mine and explore, but you can stretch your hard-earned resources further.
Smelting Returns for Each Armor Type
The add-on applies a consistent loss formula across all armor classes, with slight variations depending on the material. Here is how the returns break down:
- Diamond Armor: Smelting a diamond chestplate or leggings returns 3 diamonds (a loss of 5 from the original 8). Helmets and boots, which require 5 diamonds to craft, give back just 1 diamond. It is a modest recovery, but every shard counts when you are deep underground.
- Iron Armor: Iron pieces follow a similar pattern. A helmet smelts into 2 iron ingots (a loss of 3), while a chestplate yields 5 ingots instead of the 8 used to make it. This makes iron farms even more rewarding when you combine them with the mod.
- Gold and Chainmail Armor: Both gold and chainmail gear suffer a loss of 2 materials. For example, smelting a gold helmet gives you 3 gold ingots, and a chainmail chestplate returns 6 iron nuggets (since chainmail is crafted from iron nuggets in vanilla). It is a great way to convert unwanted mob drops into usable metal.
- Leather Armor: Leather does not smelt in a furnace. Instead, you must use a crafting table to break down leather armor. The return is always 1 leather less than the original cost—so a tunic (8 leather) gives back 7 leather. This keeps the material relevant without making cow farms obsolete.
How to Install SimpleSmeltery
Getting started with SimpleSmeltery is quick and painless. The add-on is built for Minecraft 1.9 and requires Forge to run. If you are new to modding, do not worry—the process is straightforward. First, make sure you have the correct version of Forge installed for Minecraft 1.9. Then, download SimpleSmeltery from any trusted mod repository. Place the downloaded .jar file into your Minecraft mods folder, and you are ready to go. No complex configurations or dependencies are needed; the add-on works right out of the box.
For players who prefer a streamlined experience, the foxygame.net launcher offers a one-click install option that automatically places SimpleSmeltery into your modded instance and keeps it updated alongside your other add-ons. This eliminates the hassle of manual file management and ensures you always have the right version for your game setup.
Why SimpleSmeltery Belongs in Your Modpack
Many mods add massive factories, complex machinery, or entirely new dimensions. SimpleSmeltery takes the opposite approach—it enhances vanilla gameplay with a single, intuitive feature. It does not bloat your world with new blocks or entities. Instead, it quietly improves the value of every armor piece you encounter. Whether you are a minimalist survivalist or a modpack curator, this add-on fits seamlessly into almost any Forge-based setup.
Perfect for Resource-Scarce Challenges
If you enjoy skyblock, one-block, or other limited-resource maps, SimpleSmeltery becomes a lifeline. Every iron golem drop or rare diamond armor from a zombie can be converted back into building materials. The loss rates are balanced enough that you still need to plan carefully, but you will never feel like you are throwing away precious ingots.
Compatibility and Performance
Because SimpleSmeltery only modifies furnace recipes and adds a crafting table recipe for leather, it is extremely lightweight. It does not introduce lag or conflict with major mods like Tinkers’ Construct or Thermal Expansion. You can safely add it to an existing world without worrying about chunk corruption or ID mismatches. The add-on was created using MCreator, which means its code is clean and focused on a single purpose.
Tips for Getting the Most Out of SimpleSmeltery
To maximize your returns, consider setting up a dedicated smelting array. Hopper-fed furnaces can automatically process damaged armor from a mob farm, turning zombie and skeleton drops into a steady trickle of ingots. Combine this with an item filter that only sends armor pieces to the furnace, and you have a self-sustaining recycling loop. Also, remember that enchanted armor smelts just like unenchanted gear—enchantments are lost, so it is often better to disenchant first if you have a grindstone available.
When you download SimpleSmeltery, you are not just adding a mod; you are adopting a smarter way to play. The add-on respects your time and effort by letting you reclaim value from items that would otherwise be discarded. It is a small change with a big impact on how you manage your inventory and resources.
Final Thoughts
SimpleSmeltery proves that even the simplest ideas can transform your Minecraft experience. By allowing armor to be smelted back into materials, it closes a logical gap in vanilla mechanics and rewards players who think sustainably. The installation is effortless, the performance footprint is negligible, and the gameplay benefit is immediate. Whether you are running a single-player world or a multiplayer server, this Forge add-on for Minecraft 1.9 deserves a permanent spot in your mods folder. Give your old armor a second life—smelt it, save it, and build something new.