Forgotten Flames

Forgotten Flames is a vanilla+ Minecraft mod that expands how fire, light sources, and forgotten places behave.

In vanilla Minecraft, some blocks such as candles and campfires already have basic extinguishing behavior, while torches and lanterns mostly stay permanently lit. Forgotten Flames builds on that idea by adding extinguishable torches and lanterns, smoldering flames, atmospheric lighting in abandoned structures, configurable world behavior, and optional campfire fuel and cooking mechanics.

Explore darker ruins, decorate abandoned builds, create atmosphere in caves, manage campfires more carefully, or bring old places back to life one flame at a time.

Features

Extinguishable Light Sources

• Extinguish supported light sources with an empty hand
• Relight extinguished light sources with vanilla ignition items
• Supports regular torches and wall torches
• Supports soul torches and soul wall torches
• Supports lanterns and soul lanterns
• Supports redstone torches and redstone wall torches
• Extinguished redstone torches do not provide redstone power
• Open torches can be affected by water and drop their extinguished variants
• Lanterns are protected from water because they are closed light sources
• Extinguished variants are not directly craftable
• Vanilla-style visuals designed to fit naturally into Minecraft

Smoldering Flames

Torches do not have to disappear into darkness instantly.

When extinguished, supported torches can briefly enter a smoldering state before becoming fully extinguished. This makes flames feel more natural and gives recently abandoned areas a stronger atmosphere.

Forgotten Places

Forgotten Flames can also affect selected abandoned and ancient structures.

Some forgotten locations may contain a mix of lit, extinguished, and dormant smoldering torches. These places feel like they once had life, light, and purpose — but now only traces of the past remain.

Affected structures can include abandoned mineshafts, dungeons, strongholds, desert pyramids, jungle temples, trail ruins, ruined portals, and ancient cities.

Villages are intentionally left unchanged because they are inhabited places and should keep their normal vanilla lighting.

Campfire Fuel

Campfires can optionally burn for a limited time.

When the fuel system is enabled, players can refuel campfires with vanilla fuel items such as sticks, planks, logs, coal, charcoal, and coal blocks. Different fuel items add different amounts of burn time, and campfires go out when their fuel runs out.

Soul campfires are infinite by default, making them a natural permanent fire option.

Fuel values, maximum burn time, relighting behavior, and infinite campfire options can be adjusted in the config.

Campfire Cooking

Forgotten Flames can also make campfire cooking more interactive.

Food cooked on a campfire no longer has to instantly drop when ready. Instead, cooked food can stay on the campfire until taken by hand. If left too long, it can become burnt. If left even longer, it can become charred remains.

Burnt food can still be eaten, but it may cause negative effects such as nausea, hunger, or poison. Charred remains are not edible and are mostly the result of leaving food in the flames for too long.

Cooking and burning pause when the campfire goes out, then continue when the campfire is refueled and relit.

Configuration

Forgotten Flames includes a generated config file.

Most major systems can be enabled, disabled, or adjusted, including:

• Torch behavior
• Lantern behavior
• Smoldering flames
• Forgotten Places structure changes
• Campfire fuel
• Campfire cooking
• Fuel values and limits
• Infinite campfire behavior
• Relighting behavior

In singleplayer, the config is created automatically for the world. Server owners can adjust the config for multiplayer worlds.

Vanilla+ Design

Forgotten Flames is designed to feel like a missing extension of Minecraft rather than a large content overhaul.

The mod uses familiar vanilla interactions, vanilla ignition items, and vanilla-style visuals. It does not add complicated machines, GUIs, or unrelated progression systems. Instead, it makes fire and light sources feel more physical, more atmospheric, and more connected to exploration.

Gameplay Notes

Use an empty hand to extinguish supported light sources.

Use vanilla ignition items such as flint and steel or fire charges to relight them.

Open torches can be affected by water. Closed lanterns are not washed away by water, keeping their behavior more logical and vanilla-friendly.

When campfire fuel is enabled, campfires require fuel to keep burning. When campfire cooking is enabled, food can remain on the campfire after cooking and may burn if left unattended.

The new campfire systems do not depend on random tick speed.

Current Version

The current version expands Forgotten Flames beyond simple torch extinguishing.

The mod now includes a configurable fire and lighting system with smoldering torches, atmospheric forgotten structures, optional campfire fuel, and optional campfire cooking mechanics.

The goal is to keep the mod lightweight and vanilla-friendly while making fire, darkness, ruins, and campfires feel more alive.

Recommended For

• Vanilla+ survival worlds
• Atmospheric building
• Ruins and abandoned structures
• Adventure maps
• Immersive modpacks
• Players who want more control over lighting
• Players who want campfires to feel more survival-oriented
• Modpacks that want deeper fire and exploration mechanics without heavy progression systems

Modpacks

You may include Forgotten Flames in modpacks as long as credit is given and the original project page is linked.

Requirements

• Minecraft 1.21.x
• NeoForge

For multiplayer, install the mod on both the server and the client.