The original lantern and soul lantern recipes in Minecraft have always felt a bit off—using 8 iron nuggets for a single light source never quite made sense, especially when compared to the cost of torches or other lighting options. For players trying to decorate large builds or create detailed pathways, the high iron cost made lanterns more of a luxury than a practical option.
That’s why I created this data pack for my own SMP server, reducing the iron nugget requirement to just 4 while keeping the crafting balance fair and immersive. After seeing how well it worked in our world, I decided to share it with the community, so others can enjoy a more accessible and sensible way to craft lanterns without compromising the gameplay experience.
I love building and the use of lanterns. Before this, I would explore POIs to steal the lanterns there instead of crafting 90% of the time, especially early game.
