Improved Archaeology (Random Archaeology)

How the Archaeology Loot System Works

The Improved Archaeology addon adds hidden loot to almost every block in the game. When you break a block, there’s a chance to find something extra—but most of the time, you’ll get nothing. This system is designed to make mining, digging, and exploring more exciting, without being overpowered.

Key Points:

1. Block-Dependent Loot:

• The type of block you break determines what kind of items you might find.
• For example, breaking dirt can give seeds or bones, breaking stone can yield minerals, and breaking nether blocks might drop rare Nether materials.

2. Chance-Based System:

• Every block broken has a small chance to drop loot. In the default setup, about 5% of the time a drop will occur.
• This means most blocks will give nothing, keeping discoveries special and exciting.

3. Rarity Tiers:

• Loot is organized into four tiers of rarity: Common, Uncommon, Rare, Legendary.
• Each time a block drops an item, the system randomly picks a rarity based on weighted probabilities:
• Common: 75% of drops
• Uncommon: 18%
• Rare: 6%
• Legendary: 1%
• This ensures that rare and powerful items remain hard to find.

4. Random Item Selection:

• Once a rarity tier is chosen, a single random item from that tier is given to the player.
• This randomness keeps the exploration and mining experience unpredictable and rewarding.

5. Non-Biome Dependent:

• Loot depends only on the type of block, not the biome.
• For instance, dirt in a jungle and dirt in a plains biome use the same loot table, but special blocks like red sand or jungle logs can add biome-specific flavor naturally.

6. Encourages Exploration:

• Because different block types have different loot pools, players are incentivized to explore caves, forests, the Nether, and the End.
• From mundane seeds to legendary treasures like diamonds or elytra, each block could hold a surprise.

Loot Tables Explained

Each block type has its own pool of items that can drop when mined or broken. Remember: every block has an 95% chance to drop nothing, so only about 5% of blocks will yield loot. When a drop occurs, the rarity is randomly determined:

• Common (75% of drops) – Most likely, basic items.
• Uncommon (18% of drops) – Less frequent, more valuable items.
• Rare (6% of drops) – Harder to get, usually valuable or semi-rare items.
• Legendary (1% of drops) – Extremely rare, very powerful items.

1. Dirt & Related Blocks

Blocks: dirt, grass, coarse dirt, rooted dirt, podzol, mycelium, mud, moss blocks, moss carpet.

Common (75%)
Seeds, wheat, bones, string, torches, leather, coal, iron nuggets, flint, feathers, paper, clay balls, bricks, sugarcane, rotten flesh, spider eyes, bamboo, gunpowder, arrows.

Uncommon (18%)
Carrots, potatoes, books, gold nuggets, ink sacs, candles, item frames, prismarine shards, amethyst shards, rabbit hides, phantom membranes.

Rare (6%)
Lanterns, raw iron, raw gold, nautilus shells, glowstone dust, glow ink sacs, flower pots, campfires, resin bricks, sculk blocks and veins.

Legendary (1%)
Diamond, emerald, heart of the sea, netherite scrap, echo shard.

2. Stone & Rock

Blocks: stone, cobblestone, andesite, granite, diorite, tuff, deepslate, gravel.

Common (75%)
Flint, coal, copper nuggets, iron nuggets, sticks, torches.

Uncommon (18%)
Amethyst shards, lapis lazuli, redstone, gold nuggets, prismarine crystals.

Rare (6%)
Diamond, emerald, raw gold, raw iron, copper ingots.

Legendary (1%)
Netherite scrap, nether star, trident.

3. Nether Blocks

Blocks: netherrack, basalt, blackstone, nether bricks, soul sand, soul soil, magma blocks, crimson nylium, warped nylium.

Common (75%)
Nether wart, magma cream, bones, gold nuggets, glowstone dust.

Uncommon (18%)
Blaze rods, ghast tears, quartz, soul torches.

Rare (6%)
Nether bricks, ancient debris, netherite scrap, glowstone blocks.

Legendary (1%)
Nether star, wither skeleton skull, netherite ingot.

4. End Blocks

Blocks: end stone, purpur blocks, end stone bricks.

Common (75%)
Chorus fruit, popped chorus fruit, ender pearls.

Uncommon (18%)
Shulker shells, amethyst shards.

Rare (6%)
Eye of ender, obsidian.

Legendary (1%)
Dragon egg, elytra.