Active Version Policy: I build 1 JAR for 1 Version. I only update and maintain the latest active Minecraft version (e.g. when 26.3 is released, 26.2 is retired). No backports or legacy version maintenance. Please do not ask.

The Vanilla Problem: In vanilla Minecraft, bats are purely cosmetic, chaotic, ambient entities that offer no interactive value to the player's world. They fly aimlessly, spawn in complete darkness, and drop absolutely nothing, rendering them essentially useless.

Better Bats changes this foundation. It integrates bats into the ecosystem as active, social, and symbiotic neighbors. They group into coordinated swarms, seek shelter from the sun, fertilize crops, hunt insect pests, circle lanterns, and panic dynamically when loud events disrupt their sleep.

Bats no longer fly in erratic, individual patterns. They organize into cohesive swarms using the DasikLibrary flocking strategy. Witness groups of bats moving together in coordination through cave corridors.

Forget wasting bone meal. While roosting upside down in the dark, bats slowly accumulate guano. Every 10 minutes, they drop guano to fertilize soil and crops far below.

During the night, bats are attracted to bright artificial light sources. They break from their swarms to circle lanterns and torches, simulating the hunting of insects attracted to the glow.

Bats are natural allies in pest management. They will aggressively dive-bomb and one-shot crawling pests that enter their vicinity.

Caves are quiet for a reason. Loud noises (sprinting players, block mining, explosions) nearby will wake sleeping bat swarms instantly, sending them into a frantic, high-speed scatter and resetting their guano timers.

Better Bats is fully compatible with multiplayer environments. The flocking and guano algorithms run entirely server-side, ensuring vanilla clients can connect without issues.

The mod works out of the box with zero setup.

• Global Template: config/better-bats.json (Sets defaults for new worlds)
• In-Game: Use /gamerule better-bats:[rule_name] for core settings.
  • bat_swarm_size: Max bats allowed in a single flock. (Default: 5)
  • bat_guano_threshold: Ticks required for a roosting bat to drop guano. (Default: 12000)
  • bat_pest_control: Enables/disables hunting of silverfish and endermites. (Default: true)
  • bat_alignment: Strength of matching velocity direction with the swarm (0-100). (Default: 5)
  • bat_cohesion: Strength of pull towards the swarm's center of mass (0-100). (Default: 5)
  • bat_separation: Strength of collision avoidance from neighboring bats (0-100). (Default: 10)

For the best experience, we recommend installing:

• Collapsible Game Rules: Prevents the GameRules menu from becoming cluttered.

1. Install Fabric API.
2. Install DasikLibrary.
3. Download better-bats-1.1.1+build.4.jar and place it in your mods folder.

If you enjoy Better Bats and the Vanilla Outsider philosophy, consider fueling the next update with a coffee!