Contrasting Curses

📕 Adds a collection of 20 unique curses spread across all types of equipment equally with interesting tradeoffs crafted in to encourage interaction with cursed gear. While all curses are generally negative, some may have useful niche applications or specific buffs when playing around them.

🪄 This datapack was made to support and balance out the enchantment systems in modpacks in an unobtrusive style. Contrasting Curses is best experienced alongside the Sneaky Curses mod and was made to support it and give cursed gear some love, rather than constantly avoiding it in fear of Curse of Binding!

➕ All curses are limited to single levels by default, however, most curses stack and support multiple levels if given with commands or other mods! If you'd like to play with leveled curses, please also install the addon Contrasting Curses: Leveled.

Curses

Enchantment	Items	Description
Curse of Exclusivity	Many Enchantable	Prevents the addition of any exclusive enchantments 1
Curse of Expenditure	Bows/Crossbows	Adds a 33% chance to consume an additional arrow 2
Curse of Misfire	Bows/Crossbows	Arrows have a 20% chance to misfire on the ground 3
Curse of Gluttony	Anything	Inflicts occasional hunger pangs 4
Curse of Elder's Wrath	Tools	Inflicts occasional mining fatigue when mining 5
Curse of Channeling	Tridents	Occasionally strikes the holder with lightning in rain 6
Curse of Insomnia	Head Equipment	Nightmares have a chance to spawn when sleeping 7
Curse of Snapping	Fishing Rods	Fish have a 15% chance to snap off the line
Curse of Unluck	Fishing Rods	Decreases fishing treasure chances 8
Curse of Ignition	All Weapons/Tools	Ignites block and mob item drops 9
Curse of Gigantism	Equipment	Increases the size of the wearer
Curse of Dwarfism	Equipment	Decreases the size and reach of the wearer
Curse of Purity	Anything	Prevents the addition of any other curses
Curse of Gravity	Maces	Increases the holder's gravity 10
Curse of Abyssborne	Armor	Buffs the wearer when underground, otherwise debuffs Effects include protection, armor, damage, speed, haste 11
Curse of Astralborne	Armor	Buffs the wearer when near the clouds, otherwise debuffs Effects include protection, armor, damage, speed, haste 11
Curse of Trampling	Boots	Tramples crops, plants, and suspicious blocks when worn
Curse of Vulnerability	Ranged Weapons, Shields, Spyglass	Attacks received deal extra damage while using the item 12
Curse of Headwind	Elytra	Headwinds have a chance to kill momentum while flying
Curse of Burden	Chest/Leg Armor	Modifies the wearer's movement speed by inventory fill 13

Additional Notes

1.  Ex: Cursed pickaxes can't get fortune/silk touch, cursed armor can't get any protection, etc.
2.  Modification to the Infinity enchantment done for expected compatibility
3.  Misfired arrows become client-desynced until they hit the ground, this is a Minecraft bug with updating projectile motion
4.  10% chance per enchant every 30s held/equipped, removing several hunger haunches
5.  Applies 10-30s of mining fatigue 1-2 roughly every stack of blocks hit
6.  Chance doubled when thundering
7.  30% chance to spawn a monster nearby or awaken the player from a nightmare
8.  -2 fishing luck (Luck of the Sea III adds +3)
9.  Items burn up over 3 seconds, but can still be retrieved safely
10.  Does not affect the Mace's damage calculation
11.  Effects are player-only, the world is split into 3 sections at y-levels 45 & 160,
    buffs are applied within the correct section, removed outside it, and doubly removed in the opposing section
12.  Shields still block damage, however, damage received before and immediately after shield activation is increased
13.  Movement speed modifier is calculated as follows: (10 - slots) * 1/2 * (enchantment instances + total levels) %

Questions

How do I install and use this datapack?

Simply place the datapack zip file in the datapacks folder of your world and rejoin. You can also drag it into the datapacks screen during world creation, just make sure to enable it on the right side. Alternatively, you can use any global datapack loader mod or the mod packaged version!

Does this support enchantment description mods?

Yes! Simply place the datapack zip file in your resourcepacks folder and enable it in-game!

read more

Does this work in multiplayer?

All features should work in multiplayer! Some enchantments may also work on mobs.

Are any vanilla enchantments changed?

The Infinity enchantment is the only vanilla file overridden for compatibility with Curse of Expenditure.

How can these curses be obtained?

There are no special ways added to obtain curses, they can be found on vanilla gear, books, and trades naturally generated.

Will you support other versions?

I am interested in adding overrides to support newer versions! Older versions prior 1.21 will not be supported.

Is this datapack optimized?

I pay close attention to optimization in my datapacks, it should not affect performance or cause issues in most modpacks or servers!

Are any mods explicitly supported?

• All enchantment description mods
• Wetland Whimsy (suspicious mud)
• Wan's Ancient Beasts (suspicious red sand & ice)
• Tide 2 (snapping curse)

Let me know if there are any other mods you would like support for.

License

Feel free to play, stream, or showcase this pack so long as visible credit is given.
This project can be packaged into any server or modpack so long as significant modifications are disclosed.
Do not redistribute or reupload this pack or its source code without permission.
Please link to one of the official pack pages instead of redistributing files.

Copyright © 2026 RoarkCats.
All rights reserved.