Getting More Mileage from Your Furnaces with the Some Coal Mod
Minecraft’s vanilla fuel system is straightforward: you toss coal or charcoal into a furnace, smelt eight items, and move on. But what if you need a fuel that lasts longer, burns hotter, or comes from unexpected sources? The Some Coal mod answers that call by introducing two new types of coal-like materials and their compact block forms. Whether you are automating a super-smelter in the Overworld or setting up a remote outpost in the Nether, these additions give you flexible options to keep your furnaces running without constant refueling.
What the Mod Adds at a Glance
Instead of overhauling the entire fuel economy, Some Coal stays focused. It injects four new items into the game:
- Blaze Coal – a fiery Nether resource that smelts 20 items per piece.
- Sugar Charcoal – a renewable, plant-based fuel made from sugar cane, smelting 4 items.
- Block of Blaze Coal – a compact storage block that smelts a whopping 200 items.
- Block of Sugar Charcoal – a block form that smelts 40 items, perfect for bulk storage.
All of these fuels work in standard furnaces, blast furnaces, and smokers, seamlessly integrating into your existing setups. The mod respects vanilla balance while offering meaningful upgrades for players who enjoy tinkering with resource processing.
Blaze Coal: Tapping into the Nether’s Heat
Blaze Coal is the heavy hitter of the mod. To obtain it, you need to venture into the Nether and mine Blaze Coal Ore. This ore generates naturally in Netherrack, often near lava pockets, so pack your fire resistance potions. Once mined, the ore drops Blaze Coal directly, ready to use.
A single Blaze Coal burns for 4,000 ticks – that is 20 items smelted, compared to the 8 items from regular coal and the 12 items from a blaze rod. This makes it incredibly efficient for long smelting jobs. The crafting recipe for the Block of Blaze Coal is identical to the vanilla block of coal but uses Blaze Coal instead: fill a 3x3 crafting grid with 9 Blaze Coal pieces. The resulting block stores a massive 36,000 ticks of fuel, smelting 200 items in one go. For large-scale smelting arrays, this block reduces the number of hopper-fed refills dramatically.
Sugar Charcoal: Sweet, Simple, and Renewable
Not every player wants to battle blazes for better fuel. Sugar Charcoal offers a peaceful, farm-friendly alternative. The process is elegantly simple: take sugar cane and smelt it in a furnace. That is it. No complex crafting grid, no rare ingredients. Each sugar cane cooks into one Sugar Charcoal, which burns for 800 ticks – enough to smelt 4 items.
While that might seem modest, the real advantage is renewability. With an automatic sugar cane farm powered by observers and pistons, you can generate a steady stream of fuel without ever mining a single coal ore. This is especially handy in the early game or on multiplayer servers where coal may be scarce. You can also compress 9 Sugar Charcoal into a Block of Sugar Charcoal, which burns for 7,200 ticks and smelts 36 items. It is a tidy way to store excess cane-based fuel and keep your furnaces topped up.
Where the Mod Shines in Survival Gameplay
The Some Coal mod does not just add items; it reshapes how you think about fuel logistics. Here are a few scenarios where it truly stands out:
- Nether Base Smelting: Since Blaze Coal Ore spawns in the dimension you are already exploring for ancient debris, you can set up a furnace array right in your Nether fortress and fuel it entirely with locally mined Blaze Coal. No need to ferry coal from the Overworld.
- Super-Smelter Efficiency: In a massive automatic smelter with dozens of furnaces, using Blocks of Blaze Coal as the primary fuel cuts down on refill cycles. You can smelt an entire double chest of cobblestone into stone with just a few blocks.
- Early Game Sustainability: Before you find a reliable coal seam, a small sugar cane farm can provide all the Sugar Charcoal you need for cooking food and smelting iron. It is a low-effort, high-reward setup that grows while you do other tasks.
While setting up your smelting operations, you might find it convenient to manage mods and their dependencies through a modern launcher. For instance, the foxygame.net launcher lets you install mods like Some Coal directly from its built-in menu, keeping your game versions organized without digging through folders. That kind of flexibility makes experimenting with new fuel types even smoother.
Fuel Values at a Glance
To help you plan your smelting, here is a quick comparison of burn times:
- Regular Coal / Charcoal: 1,600 ticks (8 items)
- Sugar Charcoal: 800 ticks (4 items)
- Blaze Coal: 4,000 ticks (20 items)
- Block of Coal: 16,000 ticks (80 items)
- Block of Sugar Charcoal: 7,200 ticks (36 items)
- Block of Blaze Coal: 36,000 ticks (200 items)
Notice how the Block of Blaze Coal outperforms everything else by a wide margin. It is the ultimate late-game fuel block, while Sugar Charcoal blocks are a solid mid-tier option for farms that produce excess cane.
Installation and Compatibility
Some Coal is a Forge mod, so you will need the Minecraft Forge mod loader installed for your game version. The mod is lightweight and does not alter core game mechanics, which means it plays nicely with most other content mods, including tech packs and biome overhauls. Always check that you are using the correct mod file for your Minecraft version – the mod has been updated through several iterations, with version 1.2 introducing the block forms. Place the mod’s .jar file into your mods folder, and the new ores and recipes will appear automatically.
Crafting Recap
Here is a quick reference for the key recipes you will use:
- Sugar Charcoal: Smelt Sugar Cane in a furnace.
- Blaze Coal: Mine Blaze Coal Ore in the Nether (drops itself).
- Block of Sugar Charcoal: Fill a 3x3 crafting grid with Sugar Charcoal.
- Block of Blaze Coal: Fill a 3x3 crafting grid with Blaze Coal.
There is no complicated shaping or special workstations needed. The mod respects vanilla crafting logic, so you can jump right in without a guide.
Conclusion: A Small Change with Big Impact
The Some Coal mod might sound modest, but its additions solve real problems in survival Minecraft. Blaze Coal gives Nether explorers a powerful native fuel source, while Sugar Charcoal transforms an otherwise decorative plant into a renewable energy backbone. The block variants amplify these benefits, making bulk smelting less tedious and more rewarding. If you have ever wished for a fuel that bridges the gap between a single coal and a full block of coal, this mod delivers exactly that – with a dash of Nether heat and a hint of sugarcane sweetness. Give it a try, and you might never look at a furnace the same way again.