
No Free Deaths: Better keepInventory
Lose XP and hunger with keepInventory. Stops players abusing death as a free reset, but without the punishment of losing all their stuff 😌
Screenshots

About this Mod
Adds consequences to dying with keepInventory. Players don't abuse death as a free teleport and hunger reset mechanic when they have no reason to.
Features
- Can be disabled per-player by admins
- Players will respawn at half hunger
- Players lose some or all XP on death
- Players lose Curse of Vanishing items on death (requires 1.20.5+)
- Not enabled by default: Players will respawn with less health
- Does nothing if
keepInventoryis disabled - Pick whether players recover all their XP
Opt-out
Players can be opted out of the consequences if they would prefer a more relaxed
gaming experience. Per-player opt-out means everyone can play how they want
to. An admin must be the one to run the command.
/execute as USERNAME run function no_free_deaths:cmd/opt_out
Configure
Every penalty for death can be toggled individually:
/function no_free_deaths:cmd/toggle_drop_xp
/function no_free_deaths:cmd/toggle_curse_of_vanishing
/function no_free_deaths:cmd/toggle_respawn_hunger_penalty
NOT ENABLED BY DEFAULT
/function no_free_deaths:cmd/toggle_respawn_health_penalty
The percentage of levels lost on death is set automatically when the data pack is loaded and will not be changed unless it is manually updated. It's a bit verbose, but can be changed to a custom amount e.g. 90 to lose 90% of levels.
/scoreboard players set .drop_percentage no_free_deaths.drop_xp.settings 90
Instead of dropping a portion of your XP, you can run the following command to toggle dropping as many experience points as it would take to get you from 0 levels to your current level. Enabling "drop XP in full" means players will always drop all their XP, but it can be entirely recovered.
/function no_free_deaths:cmd/toggle_drop_xp_in_full
This data pack enables keepInventory the first time it is loaded. If keepInventory is disabled after that, it will not be re-enabled on load.
Available Versions
How to Install No Free Deaths: Better keepInventory on Your Server
Order Server
Order a Minecraft Java server with at least 3 GB RAM (4 GB recommended).
Set datapack Loader
In the panel under "Egg", select the datapack loader and matching Minecraft version (1.21.8).
Install Mod
Open the mod browser in the dashboard and search for "No Free Deaths: Better keepInventory". Click "Install" – done! Alternatively, upload the .jar via SFTP to the /mods folder.
Compatibility
Mod Loaders
Minecraft Versions
1.21.8, 1.21.7, 1.21.6 (+21 more)
Server-side
✓ RequiredRecommended RAM
4 GB(min. 3 GB)Frequently Asked Questions
No Free Deaths: Better keepInventory server crashes on startup – what to do?
Most common cause: wrong datapack version or insufficient RAM. Check the server log (latest.log) for "OutOfMemoryError" or "Mixin" errors. With Mado Hosting: ensure at least 3 GB RAM is allocated and the loader matches the mod version (1.21.8). You can switch loaders with one click in the panel.
Is No Free Deaths: Better keepInventory compatible with datapack and fabric and forge and neoforge and quilt?
No Free Deaths: Better keepInventory officially supports datapack, fabric, forge, neoforge, quilt for Minecraft 1.21.8, 1.21.7, 1.21.6. Note: Forge and Fabric mods are NOT cross-compatible – pick one loader and stick with it. The Mado dashboard automatically detects incompatible loader combinations.
Server lagging with No Free Deaths: Better keepInventory – how to optimize performance?
Recommended RAM: 4 GB (per 8 players). Use /spark profiler to check if No Free Deaths: Better keepInventory consumes the most tick time. Common fixes: reduce server view-distance to 8-10, install "performant" or "starlight" as supplementary mods on Forge. With Mado Hosting, your server runs on NVMe SSDs with dedicated CPU cores for minimal latency.
Similar Mods
Rent Modded Server
Install No Free Deaths: Better keepInventory with just one click on your server.