Install Nature's Compass on a Minecraft server

Nature's Compass is an item that finds the nearest biome you pick, vanilla or modded, and shows information about it on screen. It runs on NeoForge, Forge and Fabric, and every player needs it on their own game too.

Checked against Nature's Compass 3.3.1 on NeoForge 26.3, October 2026.

What you need

• NeoForge on Minecraft 26.3. The 3.3.1 jar asks for NeoForge 26.3.0.48-beta or newer. Pick 26.3 in JAR Manager and the panel runs the server on Java 25 for you.
• Nothing else. The jar lists no other required mod, and neither does Modrinth.
• Another loader or version? Modrinth has Fabric 2.5.1 for 26.3, NeoForge 3.4.0 and Fabric 2.6.0 for 1.21.1, and Forge 1.12.0 for 1.20.1. The config file name below is for the NeoForge 26.3 build and differs on older ones.

Switch the server to NeoForge 26.3

1. Open JAR Manager, under More in the left rail.
2. Set Server software to NeoForge and Minecraft version to 26.3, then press Apply change.
3. Leave Take a backup first ticked, press and hold Confirm & reinstall, and wait for the console to finish.

Change your Minecraft version or mod loader covers the switch in full.

Install it

1. Open the Mods tab under Content and leave the Modrinth source chip selected.
2. Search for Nature's Compass and press Install.
3. Go to Console, press Start and accept the EULA prompt the first time. The server is ready when the console shows Done.

How players use it

Right-clicking with the compass opens a biome list where a player can search for a biome or read about it. Shift-right-click resets the compass, and while it has no target it points at the world spawn. Once a biome is found, the compass can search for the next one of the same kind, up to a limit you control below.

Change the settings

The server's settings live in naturescompass-local.toml in the config folder, under a General heading. The NeoForge 26.3 mod loader names this kind of config after the mod and adds -local. Open the file in the File Manager, press Save and restart the server. The options most servers change:

• allowTeleport defaults to true. It lets a player teleport to a located biome when they are in creative mode, opped or have cheats on. Set it to false to turn teleporting off.
• maxNextSearches defaults to 25. At 0 the compass always finds only the nearest biome.
• biomeBlacklist is empty by default. Add biome ids such as "minecraft:deep_dark" to stop the compass searching for them. * matches any run of characters.
• defaultXpLevels defaults to 0 and can go up to 3. It is the number of XP levels each search costs. perBiomeXpLevels overrides it for named biomes, with entries like "minecraft:deep_dark,3".
• compassDurability defaults to 0, which means the compass never breaks. A higher number is how many successful searches it survives before it must be repaired.
• maxSamples defaults to 50000. It is the most samples one search may take.

If your server uses a permissions mod, the naturescompass.teleport permission is another way to allow teleporting. It defaults to off.

Common problems

• A biome is never found. The search has a limit. Check biomeBlacklist first, then see whether radiusModifier (default 2500) or maxSamples is too low for how rare the biome is.
• Searches feel heavy. Lower maxSamples, or raise sampleSpaceModifier (default 16). The mod's own comment says lowering that value gives more accurate searches at a higher cost.
• Players cannot join. They need the same Nature's Compass file on NeoForge 26.3. Press Export for players in the Installed view of the Mods tab, then read Join a modded server from your launcher.
• Something else breaks at start. Fix Minecraft mod and plugin load errors walks through reading the log.