Features
Everything Tribulation does to make your world progressively more dangerous.
Scaling Axes
Mob stats are boosted by three independent axes that combine multiplicatively per attribute. Each axis produces a factor that gets added to the mob's base stat via attribute modifiers.
Time (Player Level)
Your playtime accumulates ticks (default: 72,000 ticks = 1 hour per level). Max level is 250. Every mob spawned near you uses your level to compute a time factor per stat: min(level * rate, cap).
Distance from Spawn
Beyond startingDistance (default: 1000 blocks), every 300 blocks adds 0.1 to the position bonus. Caps at 1.5. Only applies to health, damage, armor, and toughness.
Height (Y-Level)
Deviation from Y=62 by 30 blocks adds 0.1. Supports both positive and negative height scaling. Caps at 0.5.
Distance and height are optionally excluded in non-Overworld dimensions. Time scaling applies everywhere.
Scaled Mob Types
21 vanilla hostile mobs have individually tuned scaling rates and caps for six attributes. Each mob can be toggled on or off independently.
| Mob | Health Rate/Cap | Damage Rate/Cap | Speed Rate/Cap | Armor Rate/Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zombie | 0.010 / 2.50 | 0.015 / 3.75 | 0.0012 / 0.30 | 0.032 / 8.0 |
| Skeleton | 0.010 / 2.50 | 0.012 / 3.00 | 0.0012 / 0.30 | 0.020 / 5.0 |
| Creeper | 0.008 / 2.00 | 0.010 / 2.50 | 0.0012 / 0.30 | 0.016 / 4.0 |
| Spider | 0.008 / 2.00 | 0.012 / 3.00 | 0.0020 / 0.50 | 0.016 / 4.0 |
| Cave Spider | 0.006 / 1.50 | 0.010 / 2.50 | 0.0020 / 0.50 | 0.008 / 2.0 |
| Endermite | 0.005 / 1.25 | 0.010 / 2.50 | 0.0024 / 0.60 | 0.0 / 0 |
| Silverfish | 0.005 / 1.25 | 0.008 / 2.00 | 0.0010 / 0.25 | 0.0 / 0 |
| Drowned | 0.010 / 2.50 | 0.014 / 3.50 | 0.0012 / 0.30 | 0.024 / 6.0 |
| Husk | 0.011 / 2.75 | 0.015 / 3.75 | 0.0012 / 0.30 | 0.032 / 8.0 |
| Stray | 0.010 / 2.50 | 0.012 / 3.00 | 0.0012 / 0.30 | 0.020 / 5.0 |
| Pillager | 0.010 / 2.50 | 0.014 / 3.50 | 0.0012 / 0.30 | 0.024 / 6.0 |
| Vindicator | 0.012 / 3.00 | 0.020 / 5.00 | 0.0012 / 0.30 | 0.032 / 8.0 |
| Witch | 0.008 / 2.00 | 0.008 / 2.00 | 0.0008 / 0.20 | 0.016 / 4.0 |
| Wither Skeleton | 0.012 / 3.00 | 0.016 / 4.00 | 0.0012 / 0.30 | 0.024 / 6.0 |
| Guardian | 0.010 / 2.50 | 0.014 / 3.50 | 0.0010 / 0.25 | 0.020 / 5.0 |
| Hoglin | 0.014 / 3.50 | 0.016 / 4.00 | 0.0012 / 0.30 | 0.024 / 6.0 |
| Zoglin | 0.014 / 3.50 | 0.015 / 3.75 | 0.0012 / 0.30 | 0.024 / 6.0 |
| Ravager | 0.016 / 4.00 | 0.014 / 3.50 | 0.0008 / 0.20 | 0.032 / 8.0 |
| Piglin | 0.010 / 2.50 | 0.014 / 3.50 | 0.0012 / 0.30 | 0.024 / 6.0 |
| Zombified Piglin | 0.010 / 2.50 | 0.015 / 3.75 | 0.0012 / 0.30 | 0.024 / 6.0 |
| Bogged | 0.010 / 2.50 | 0.012 / 3.00 | 0.0012 / 0.30 | 0.020 / 5.0 |
Rate = stat gain per player level. Cap = maximum total factor from the time axis alone. Follow range and toughness are also scaled per-mob (see config for full values).
Tier-Gated Abilities
At five tier thresholds, mobs unlock special behaviors beyond raw stat boosts. Each ability can be individually toggled.
| Tier | Level | Abilities Unlocked |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | 50 | Zombie reinforcements, Creeper shorter fuse, Hoglin knockback resistance |
| Tier 2 | 100 | Skeleton sword switch, Spider/Cave Spider web placing, Drowned trident upgrade, Piglin crossbow |
| Tier 3 | 150 | Zombie door-breaking, Spider crop trampling, Wither Skeleton sprint, Zoglin fire resistance |
| Tier 4 | 200 | Skeleton flame arrows, Husk Hunger II, Wither Skeleton fire aspect, Vindicator damage resistance |
| Tier 5 | 250 | Zombie sprinting, Creeper charged chance (25%), Spider leap attack, Zombified Piglin aggro range |
Zombie Variants
Zombies have a chance to spawn as special variants with distinct visual and mechanical differences.
Big Zombie
10% chance. Scaled up 1.3x in size with +10 bonus health and +2 bonus damage, but 0.7x movement speed. A lumbering tank.
Speed Zombie
10% chance. 1.3x movement speed but -10 health. Fast and fragile — ambush predator behavior.
Boss Scaling
Boss mobs (Ender Dragon, Wither, Elder Guardian, and any entity in the c:bosses tag) use a separate, gentler scaling formula.
Formula
Time factor: level * bossTimeFactor / maxLevel. Distance uses bossDistanceFactor. Height scaling is skipped entirely for bosses.
Defaults
Max factor: 3.0x. Time rate: 0.3. Distance rate: 0.1. Combined factor capped at bossMaxFactor. Works in all dimensions.
Death Relief
When you die, your player level decreases by 2 (configurable). This provides a natural difficulty rubber-band: dying frequently keeps your level in check, while surviving pushes the ceiling higher.
- Default reduction: 2 levels per death
- Cooldown: 6,000 ticks (5 minutes) between reductions
- Will not reduce below
minimumLevel(default: 0) - Can be disabled entirely
Shatter Shards
Rare item drops from scaled mobs that let you intentionally lower your difficulty level.
- Drop chance: 0.5% per scaled mob kill (configurable)
- Only drop when player is at level 25+ (configurable)
- Consuming a shard reduces your level by 5
- Applies mild debuffs: Slowness II, Mining Fatigue II, Weakness II for 10 seconds
Hardcore Hearts Opt-in
Disabled by default. When enabled, each death permanently reduces your maximum health.
- Lose 2 half-hearts per death (configurable: 1–20)
- Minimum health floor: 2 half-hearts (1 heart)
- Restore hearts using Heart Fragment items (+2 half-hearts each)
- Crafted from 4 Shatter Shards + 1 Golden Apple
- Admin command to restore/reset hearts
Soul Inventory Opt-in
Disabled by default. When enabled, your inventory is destroyed on death unless items carry the Soulbound enchantment.
- Enchantment ID:
tribulation:soulbound - Configurable to use any external enchantment ID
- Option to also destroy XP on death
- Respects the vanilla
keepInventorygamerule when configured - Forces meaningful gear decisions — you cannot protect everything
Modded Mob Support
Tribulation automatically scales any modded mob that extends Monster (hostile mob base class).
- Applies zombie-equivalent health and damage scaling only (no speed/armor changes)
- Can exclude entire mod namespaces via
excludedNamespaces - Can be overridden with full-ID entries in the scaling map for fine-tuning
- Toggled via
unlistedHostileMobs.enabled
Extra XP & Loot
Scaled mobs reward more experience to compensate for their increased difficulty.
- XP multiplied by the mob's scaling factor, up to 2.0x (configurable)
- Optional extra loot drops (disabled by default): each killed mob has a chance to drop an additional copy of its loot table
Global Stat Caps
Hard ceilings on the total factor applied to each attribute, preventing infinite scaling regardless of axis combination:
| Attribute | Default Cap | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Health | 4.0x | Maximum health multiplier from all axes combined |
| Damage | 4.5x | Maximum damage multiplier |
| Speed | 0.5x | Maximum speed bonus (additive to base) |
| Armor | 2.0x | Maximum armor value multiplier |
| Follow Range | 1.5x | Maximum detection range multiplier |