5 best Minecraft mods to make the game more challenging

An echoing forest biome in the Deeper and Darker mod (Image via KyaniteMods/CurseForge)
An echoing forest biome in the Deeper and Darker mod (Image via KyaniteMods/CurseForge)

Although there are certainly plenty of Minecraft mods available to make the game easier, there are just as many that provide an increased challenge. For players who love to ramp up the difficulty of the sandbox survival game, these mods may be worth trying out, at the very least.

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Ideally, these mods are best played in Minecraft's highest difficulties, including Hardcore Mode if available. This will ensure that players encounter a serious challenge when these mods are active. The mods themselves come in many forms, with some creating new in-game mechanics and others presenting new mobs or areas where hostile mobs can be found.

There are tons of challenging mods to enjoy, and this article focuses on a few of the most popular examples in the community.


Excellent mods For Minecraft 1.19 that increase the difficulty of the game

1) Enhanced Celestials

Enhanced Celestials adds three new moon phases, one of which is quite dangerous (Image via Corgi_Taco/CurseForge)
Enhanced Celestials adds three new moon phases, one of which is quite dangerous (Image via Corgi_Taco/CurseForge)

Inspired by fellow sandbox games like Terraria, Enhanced Celestials introduces new special moon phases in Minecraft. While Blue and Harvest Moons provide beneficial effects, there is also a Blood Moon to consider. In this phase, hostile mob spawns are increased substantially, and players cannot sleep to avoid the moon's phase.

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For lovers of Minecraft's Survival and Hardcore Modes, the Blood Moon should make ordinary survival much more challenging. Even well-equipped players can have substantial difficulty with all of the hostile mobs that appear, ratcheting up the challenge substantially.


2) Savage & Ravage

Creeper spores can attack players in Savage & Ravage (Image via TeamAbnormals/CurseForge)
Creeper spores can attack players in Savage & Ravage (Image via TeamAbnormals/CurseForge)

An unintrusive vanilla-friendly Minecraft mod, Savage & Ravage overhauls pillagers and their structures while throwing in a few additional features for good measure. Pillager outposts have been redesigned to be more challenging to defeat, and new types of pillagers have been added (such as firework rocket-firing pillagers). There's also the Griefer mob, which can let loose small Creeper "spores" to detonate near their targets.

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In addition, players can spot new mobs (such as skeleton villagers), and it's also possible to burn Ominous Banners to initiate raids instead of killing pillager captains.


3) Bosses of Mass Destruction

The Void Blossom boss in a lush cave biome (Image via Barribob/CurseForge)
The Void Blossom boss in a lush cave biome (Image via Barribob/CurseForge)

If players are tired of battling the Wither and the Ender Dragon, they can try taking on this mod's various bosses such as the Night Lich, Nether Gauntlet, Void Blossom, and Obsidilith.

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Each of these new bosses is cut from a different cloth compared to the game's vanilla bosses. They all have their own unique mechanics and health/damage values, and some will be more challenging than others.

Overall, the Bosses of Mass Destruction mod should provide a breath of fresh air for lovers of boss fights.


4) When Dungeons Arise

Thornborn Towers, a dungeon introduced in When Dungeons Arise (Image via Aureljz/CurseForge)
Thornborn Towers, a dungeon introduced in When Dungeons Arise (Image via Aureljz/CurseForge)

It goes without saying that dungeons in Minecraft don't quite live up to their name. Players usually have to battle a few hostile mobs, find a spawner block, and deactivate/destroy it. The Dungeons Arise mod is a huge facelift for in-game dungeons, introducing randomly-generated dungeons found in various biomes. These dungeons possess countless dangerous passages that are filled with traps and plenty of hostile mobs.

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Though these dungeons are considerably more difficult to clear, the rewards are often well worth the effort. Minecraft players who love a challenge with a big payoff should consider downloading this mod.


5) Deeper and Darker

Deeper and Darker makes the Deep Dark biome much more dangerous (Image via KyaniteMods/CurseForge)
Deeper and Darker makes the Deep Dark biome much more dangerous (Image via KyaniteMods/CurseForge)

Minecraft's Deep Dark biome was introduced in The Wild Update, and it features the dangerous Warden mob. However, apart from the Warden, there isn't much danger to be found in the biome. The Deeper and Darker mod changes this in a big way by introducing new structures, hostile mobs, and a dimension known as the Otherside, a nod to one of Minecraft's music discs.

Although heading into the Deep Dark is already daunting, the biome becomes even more deadly in the Deeper and Darker mod, so players will want to use the best gear they have access to. This is even more important when traversing into the Otherside realm, where things become even more perilous.