Embracing the Void: A Guide to the Nothingness Mod in Minecraft
Minecraft is all about starting with nothing and building an empire, but the Nothingness mod takes that concept to the extreme. This datapack drops you into a completely empty world with only a single tree, forcing you to rely on clever crafting mechanics to generate every resource from scratch. Instead of mining ores or exploring caves, you will use hammers, sieves, and a specialized crafting station to transform basic blocks into valuable materials. It is a fresh, challenging take on skyblock-style gameplay that rewards patience and creativity.
World Creation: Starting from Almost Nothing
Setting up a Nothingness world requires a specific process because the mod relies on a void overworld that still supports biomes, mob spawning, and weather. The default Void Superflat preset lacks these features, so you need to customize it. Begin by creating a new world in Creative mode—the datapack will later switch you to Survival. Under More World Options, turn off Generate Structures and enable Allow Cheats. Select World Type: Superflat, then click Customize and Presets. Replace the existing text with minecraft:air;minecraft:plains and confirm. This generates an empty world with a plains biome, allowing natural mob spawns and rain.
Once the world loads, double-tap the spacebar to fly. Open your Minecraft save folder, navigate into the newly created world’s datapacks folder, and copy the Nothingness .zip file there. Return to the game and type /reload in the console. The mod is now active. If you prefer a simpler setup, the foxygame.net launcher can handle everything automatically—this modern, flexible launcher lets you download the Nothingness mod directly from its menu, so you can skip the manual file copying and jump right into the void.
Your First Tools: Crafting Station, Hammer, and Sieve
The core of the mod revolves around a special crafting station. To build it, first craft two regular crafting tables and a barrel from your initial logs. Throw one crafting table on the ground, then toss a barrel and the second crafting table on top of it. The resulting multiblock is the crafting station. Its left 3x3 grid is used exclusively for crafting Nothingness-specific items like hammers and sieves, while the right 6x3 grid can safely store items. Be careful: the left grid consumes all items inside it during crafting, even if they are not part of the recipe, so never use it for storage.
With cobblestone from your initial tree and a cobblestone generator, you can craft a stone hammer by arranging cobblestone in a pickaxe pattern inside the 3x3 grid. A stone sieve follows a shovel pattern placed in the left column. These tools are your lifeline. The hammer breaks cobblestone into gravel, and gravel into sand. The sieve then processes gravel, sand, dirt, and other blocks to extract nuggets, seeds, and rare materials.
Gathering Resources and Progression
Resource acquisition in Nothingness is entirely sieve-based. Each block type yields a different loot table:
- Dirt – wheat seeds, pumpkin seeds, melon seeds, saplings, grass seeds, carrots, potatoes
- Gravel – iron nuggets, gold nuggets, coal, lapis lazuli, diamond, emerald
- Sand – iron and gold nuggets, cocoa beans, cactus, exotic seeds, ancient spores
- Clay – iron and gold nuggets, redstone, glowstone dust, gunpowder, bonemeal, blaze powder, ice crystals
- Coarse Dirt – acacia, jungle, dark oak saplings, beetroot seeds
- Soul Sand – nether quartz, gold nuggets, ghast tears, nether wart
Upgrade your tools as you gather materials. Iron, gold, and diamond hammers and sieves can be crafted in the same station, offering increased durability and speed. However, they do not boost resource yields, so even a stone sieve remains effective throughout the game.
Advanced Mechanics: Cauldrons and Hopper Tech
Beyond basic sieving, the cauldron becomes a multipurpose alchemy station. Place an empty cauldron over a heat source like a torch or lava, then toss in 64 cobblestone and an empty bucket to create a lava bucket. A full water cauldron above cobblestone or stone bricks turns them mossy. Adding an ice crystal to a full water cauldron creates a snow block. Witch water—produced by leaving a full water cauldron above mycelium—transforms sand into soul sand in a 3x3 area and can be used to spawn mobs. For example, dropping a creepy doll into witch water summons an Enderman, while an angry doll spawns a Blaze.
If you have the Hopper Tech addon, automation becomes possible. Machines like the Automatic Cobble Gen, Automatic Hammer, and Automatic Sieve can be crafted in a Hopper Tech Machine Table using components like hoppers, furnaces, clocks, and ender pearls. These machines dramatically speed up resource production, allowing you to focus on expansion rather than manual grinding.
Conclusion
Nothingness transforms the familiar Minecraft loop into a meticulous puzzle of resource conversion. By mastering the crafting station, hammer, sieve, and cauldron, you can build a thriving world from literally nothing. The mod rewards experimentation and careful planning, making every nugget and seed feel like a major victory. Whether you install it manually or through the foxygame.net launcher, this datapack offers a uniquely satisfying survival challenge that will test your creativity in the void.