Item Despawn To What

ItemDespawnToWhat

Let items about to despawn quietly transform into something else before they disappear.

Chicken rotting into rotten flesh? Eggs hatching into chickens? Saplings planting themselves? — All fully customizable.

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What This Mod Does

In vanilla Minecraft, dropped items on the ground disappear naturally after a while.
This mod lets you define custom conversion rules that trigger just before items despawn.

You can configure conversions through a GUI or config files, and attach optional conditions to each rule.

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Three Conversion Types

| Type | Description |
|——|————-|
| Item → Item | Spawns a new item drop when the source item despawns |
| Item → Entity | Spawns an entity when the source item despawns |
| Item → Block | Places a block nearby when the source item despawns |

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Combinable Trigger Conditions

All conditions are optional. Leaving a condition blank means no restriction. When multiple conditions are set, all of them must be satisfied for the conversion to trigger.

| Condition | Description |
|———–|————-|
| Dimension | Only triggers in specified dimensions (e.g. Overworld, Nether, End) |
| Outdoor | No opaque blocks between the item and the sky above it |
| Surrounding Blocks | Checks all six adjacent directions; supports block IDs or block tags (prefix with #) |
| Catalyst Items | Requires a specific item drop to be in the same block space; optionally consumed |
| Inner Fluid | Requires the item’s block to contain a specific fluid (supports waterlogged blocks); optionally consumed |
| Result Limit | Caps the number of existing conversion results within a radius to prevent infinite accumulation |

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Getting Started

Visual Configuration GUI

This mod includes an easy-to-use rule editor GUI.

How to open it:

• Keybind: Unbound by default — assign one in Options → Controls
• Command: /conversion_config edit (requires OP permission or singleplayer)
• Main Menu Button: Top-right corner of the game’s main screen

If you prefer editing JSON directly, config files are located in .minecraft/config/itemdespawntowhat/.

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Defining Conversion Rules

Common Fields

| Field | Description | Default | Constraints |
|——-|————-|———|————-|
| item | Registry ID of the source item | — | Required |
| result | Registry ID of the conversion result | — | Required |
| conversion_time | Seconds the item must remain on the ground before converting | 300 | 1 – 300 |
| result_multiple | Output quantity multiplier per conversion | 1 | At least 1 |
| dimension | Restricts the conversion to a specific dimension | (no restriction) | — |
| need_outdoor | Whether the item must be in an outdoor (sky-exposed) location | false | — |
| surrounding_blocks | Block conditions for all six adjacent directions | (no restriction) | Supports tags |
| catalyst_items | Required co-located item drop condition | (no restriction) | — |
| inner_fluid | Required fluid condition in the item’s block | (no restriction) | — |

Item → Entity Only

| Field | Description | Default |
|——-|————-|———|
| result_limit | Max number of the same entity type allowed nearby; skips conversion if exceeded | 30 |
| entity_age | Age of the spawned entity (negative values produce babies) | -24000 |

Item → Block Only

| Field | Description | Default |
|——-|————-|———|
| radius_limit | Maximum radius for outward block placement | 6 |
| block_of_item | When enabled, automatically uses the block form of the source item (source must be a block item) | false |

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Saving & Reloading

In the GUI:

• Click Add to Cache to queue up more rules
• Click Apply to File to save all cached rules to disk

Then run in-game:

/conversion_config reload

This hot-reloads the config without restarting the server.

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Configuration Examples

Chicken → Rotten Flesh (200 seconds, no conditions)

{
  "item": "minecraft:chicken",
  "result": "minecraft:rotten_flesh",
  "conversion_time": 200
}

Egg → Chicken (Overworld only, on a hay bale)

{
  "item": "minecraft:egg",
  "result": "minecraft:chicken",
  "conversion_time": 5,
  "dimension": "minecraft:overworld",
  "surrounding_blocks": {
    "down": "minecraft:hay_block"
  },
  "result_limit": 30
}

Sapling → Auto-planted (on dirt, must be outdoors)

{
  "item": "minecraft:oak_sapling",
  "result": "minecraft:oak_sapling",
  "block_of_item": true,
  "conversion_time": 30,
  "need_outdoor": true,
  "surrounding_blocks": {
    "down": "#minecraft:dirt"
  }
}

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Notes

• Conversion time is capped at 300 seconds, matching vanilla’s maximum item lifetime. This mod does not modify the natural despawn timer — to extend it, pair this mod with something like Custom Item Despawn Duration.

• Returned items and death drops are excluded from conversion checks. Items returned after a failed conversion, and items dropped on player death, must be picked up and re-thrown before re-entering the conversion pipeline.

• Catalyst items cannot be the same as the source item — such a config will be rejected at load time.

• Item → Item conversions cannot use the same item as both source and result, to prevent infinite conversion loops.

• To find item IDs: Press F3 + H to enable advanced tooltips. Hover over any item and its registry name will appear at the bottom of the tooltip.

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Multiplayer

• Config files are stored server-side and automatically synced to connecting clients.
• The hot-reload command requires OP permission.
• The config GUI and keybind are only available in singleplayer or on a local server.