Glenn’s Gases adds a more realistic mining experience to Minecraft. The mod puts 13 gases in the game that are both beneficial but can also be very volatile and dangerous. The world just got a bit more nerve wracking as you’ll now have more to worry about than just zombies or creepers.

The gases range in quality and attributes. Coal dust appears when mining coal and can be explosive around open flames (torches). Chlorine gas will rust iron ore and slowly break down iron armor. Red gas is the only naturally occurring explosive gas that doesn’t need to be mined first. Dust happens after stone is mined and can be mostly harmless unless you mine large amounts, then suffocation can occur. And another gas introduced has a bit of an opposite effect than the other gases: Black Damp. It extinguishes fire but it can also cause suffocation if it fills the room you’re in.

You’ll need to harness the gas you find with a pump system. You want to create a gas collector that sucks in the gas and a pipeline to a tank and furnace. Every 15 blocks, though, you’ll need to add a gas pump just as you would a repeater. The furnace is a great addition because it eventually burns hotter than normal furnaces so smelting is much faster. And even cooler is you can smelt diamonds from blocks of coal!

The key to making sure your system works is by having an “including sampler” of the gas you want to be collected. You craft the sampler and take some of the gas you want. Then right click it on both the collector and the pump. This should allow both pieces to gather the desired gas so it can be collected in a tank and used by a furnace.

Since gases are now found in pockets throughout your world, you’ll need to take precautions with your lighting. You’ll need to have many lanterns handy to avoid explosions or fires. You can either load a lantern with a torch, gas bottle, or with glowstone dust. The torch will burn a little lighter than normal. The gas will eventually run out. And the glowstone will be permanent and brightest.

This mod aims to take survival mode to the next level. Adding real mining hazards to the game gives the player a whole new difficulty to encounter. It does add an immense learning curve but offers valuable lessons in proper mining safety and skills. There’s a lot more information on how this mod works and how to get started on the wiki page here.

This mod also requires an API found here.