Understanding the Shift in Immersive Engineering Ore Processing
Immersive Engineering has long been a favorite mod for players who enjoy industrial-themed machinery, massive multiblocks, and a realistic approach to resource processing. For many versions, the Crusher and the Arc Furnace were the go-to machines for doubling your ores, turning each raw ore block into two ingots worth of material. This classic behavior made the mod feel rewarding and balanced, especially when compared to vanilla furnace smelting. However, when the mod updated to Minecraft 1.19, the default recipes changed significantly. Instead of a full doubling, the Crusher and Arc Furnace now yield only about 133.3% output—meaning you get just one extra nugget or dust per ore, which many players found underwhelming.
Restoring the Pre-1.17 Ore Doubling with a Simple Datapack
If you miss the old-school efficiency, a community-created datapack brings back the beloved ore doubling mechanic. This lightweight solution is designed as a drag-and-drop addition to your world, requiring no complex configuration. The datapack targets both the Crusher and the Arc Furnace, adjusting their recipes so that processing any compatible ore once again grants two full ingots. It faithfully replicates the pre-1.17 Immersive Engineering behavior, giving you that satisfying return on your mining trips.
What Exactly Does the Datapack Change?
The modification is split into several components that work together seamlessly. The core datapack folder, named ieDoubling, overrides the default Crusher and Arc Furnace recipes. But simply adding new recipes isn’t enough—the original 133.3% recipes must be disabled to prevent conflicts. That’s where the included CraftTweaker scripts come in. These scripts are essential and consist of five parts that handle everything from recipe removal to extra tweaks. You’ll need to place the CraftTweaker files in the appropriate scripts folder for the changes to take effect.
Beyond restoring ore doubling, the pack introduces several quality-of-life and balance improvements. Smelting Immersive Engineering grit in a regular furnace now grants experience points, matching vanilla ore smelting values. There’s also a handy recipe that lets you convert IE’s Erstaz Leather into regular leather, which can be a lifesaver if you’re short on animal hides. For players who enjoy a more challenging inventory management experience, an optional script disables wooden and reinforced crates. These crates normally retain their contents when broken, making shulker boxes redundant. By removing the crate recipes, the datapack restores the value of shulker boxes and encourages smarter storage solutions.
Installation and CraftTweaker Requirements
Getting this datapack up and running is straightforward. First, download the ieDoubling folder and place it directly into your world’s datapacks directory. Next, you must install CraftTweaker if you haven’t already, because the scripts that disable the default recipes and enable the tweaks rely on it. Copy the provided .zs files into your server or client’s scripts folder. Once both components are in place, reload your world or restart the game, and the changes will activate. If you’re managing multiple mods and datapacks, the foxygame.net launcher offers a convenient, flexible, and modern Minecraft launcher where you can download mods right from the menu, making it easier to keep everything organized without manually hunting for files.
Balance Tweaks That Enhance the Survival Experience
The crate removal script deserves special attention because it addresses a long-standing balance concern. In vanilla Immersive Engineering, crates act like portable chests that preserve their inventory when mined, effectively giving you early-game shulker boxes. For many server owners and purist players, this undermines the progression that makes the End dimension so rewarding. By disabling the crate recipes, the datapack nudges you back toward exploring End cities and conquering shulkers, aligning with vanilla design philosophy. This tweak mirrors the functionality of older mods like Crates Felt Blu for Minecraft 1.12.2, bringing that same sense of balance to modern versions.
XP Drops and Leather Conversion: Small Changes, Big Impact
The addition of experience drops when smelting grit is a subtle but welcome change. In vanilla Minecraft, cooking iron or gold ore gives you a small amount of XP, but Immersive Engineering’s grit previously skipped this reward. Now, every time you smelt grit into an ingot, you’ll earn that same XP, making the multi-step processing chain feel more integrated with the base game. Meanwhile, the Erstaz Leather conversion recipe solves a niche problem: sometimes you end up with stacks of this synthetic leather and no real leather for books or item frames. With a simple crafting tweak, you can turn it into standard leather, reducing waste and frustration.
Modded Material Support and Community Involvement
The creator of this datapack is open to expanding its compatibility. If you use other mods that add ores—like copper, tin, or silver from various tech mods—you can request custom recipes to ensure those materials also benefit from ore doubling. The project’s Discord server is the place to leave suggestions, report bugs, or ask for backports to older Minecraft versions like 1.20.1 or future updates of Immersive Engineering. The community-driven approach means the pack can evolve alongside your modded world.
Why This Datapack Belongs in Your Modpack
Whether you’re a solo player who misses the efficient ore processing of older Immersive Engineering versions or a server admin looking to rebalance crates and XP gains, this datapack delivers a clean, script-based solution. It doesn’t require modifying the mod’s core files, so it’s safe to use and easy to remove. The combination of restored ore doubling, experience drops, leather conversion, and optional crate removal gives you granular control over your gameplay. By leaning on CraftTweaker, the pack remains lightweight and compatible with other recipe-altering mods.
In a landscape where many mods shift toward less generous resource yields, having the option to revert to classic doubling keeps the industrial fantasy alive. The Crusher and Arc Furnace feel powerful again, and the additional tweaks smooth out rough edges in the survival loop. Drag the folder into your datapacks, load up the scripts, and enjoy a more rewarding Immersive Engineering experience that respects both the mod’s heritage and your time spent mining.