Extended Vanilla Endgame (EVE)

Keeps Minecraft exactly vanilla until the endgame. No new ores, no new mobs, no changed mechanics — until you've beaten the Ender Dragon era and start crafting upgrade cores. Then your netherite tools and armor can grow to +1 through +10, with costs that double every level.

Upgrade Cores

The Upgrade Core +1 is crafted from one each of diamond, iron, gold and emerald block in the corners, crying obsidian on the edges, and a netherite ingot in the center.

Every higher core is simply two cores of the previous tier combined (shapeless, no extra items). The cost doubles every level — a +10 core is worth 512 +1 cores. That's the grind.

Upgrading

In the smithing table: Upgrade Core +N + your +(N-1) item + a per-level catalyst:

Level Catalyst Level Catalyst +1 Iron Block +6 Netherite Ingot +2 Emerald Block +7 Netherite Block +3 Gold Block +8 Enchanted Golden Apple +4 Diamond +9 Nether Star +5 Diamond Block +10 Heavy Core

Each level grants (cumulative): +1 attack damage · +1 armor · +0.5 armor toughness · +20% mining speed · +25% durability. Enchantments and damage are preserved.

Upgradable: all netherite tools, helmet, leggings, boots, the Winged Netherite Chestplate, and a plain sponge. (Item tag eve:upgradable, extendable by datapacks.)

The Chestplate Gate

A plain netherite chestplate cannot be upgraded. First craft a Wing Smithing Template (nether star + 4 netherite ingots + 4 phantom membranes), then smith it with your chestplate and an elytra into the Winged Netherite Chestplate: full netherite protection and elytra flight, and the only chestplate that accepts +N upgrades.

The Absorbing Sponge

Upgrade a plain sponge (Core +1 + sponge + iron block) into an Absorbing Sponge — a sponge that drinks lava as well as water, upgradable up to +7.

It behaves like a vanilla sponge, with two twists:

• Reusable. It sits dry until liquid first touches it, absorbs once, and turns wet. Breaking it always drops the dry sponge back — with its tier — so you can place it again and again. To absorb a second time, just break and re-place it.
• Lava and water radii grow on alternating levels (lava always reaches a smaller radius than water): from water 6 / lava 3 at +1 up to water 12 / lava 9 at +7.

The Absorbing Sponge item is fireproof, so it survives a swim in the lava it's meant to drink.

Requirements

• Minecraft 26.1.x, Fabric Loader ≥ 0.19.3, Fabric API, Java 25
• Needed on both client and server

Known limitations

• The Wing Smithing Template still reuses a vanilla texture
• Elytra wings don't render on your back while gliding with the winged chestplate — flight itself works fine

Source: github.com/MrCloudy2/extended-vanilla-endgame