Pitch Dark Hardcore

Pitch Dark Hardcore

A hardcore lighting overhaul that enforces pitch-black darkness, desaturates unlit areas, and limits visibility to a customizable radius around the player.

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855 Downloads
forgeadventuregame-mechanicsutility
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Screenshots

Gameplay

About this Mod

Pitch Dark
Experience true, unforgiving darkness.

Pitch Dark is a hardcore lighting overhaul for Minecraft 1.20.1 Forge, inspired by the classic "True Darkness" mods but with a unique, atmospheric twist. Vanilla Minecraft's nights and caves are often "bright" enough to navigate with your eyes closed—Pitch Dark changes that by enforcing realistic, pitch-black environments where light isn't just a convenience; it's survival.

Key Features
True Black Environments: Unlit caves and moonless nights are now genuinely pitch black. High-gamma settings and "fullbright" cheats are rendered useless by a custom rendering mixin that strips away ambient light in the dark.
Desaturated World (Grayscale): As the light fades, so does the vibrancy. In dark areas, the world loses its color, shifting into a haunting grayscale aesthetic that heightens the sense of dread and isolation.
Personal Visibility Radius: Even in the deepest void, you aren't completely blind. You carry a subtle "internal glow" that allows you to see blocks in your immediate vicinity (default: 5 blocks).
The Wall of Shadows: Beyond your visibility radius lies a wall of impenetrable black fog. No more sniping mobs from the safety of the dark—nothing is visible until it enters your small circle of light.
Customizable Experience
Everything is tunable via the pitchdark-common.toml config file:

Radius: Adjust your personal visibility circle from 0 (total blindness) to 64 blocks.
Intensity: Control exactly how much natural ambient light is stripped from the world.
Compatibility: Designed to work with vanilla rendering. (Note: Shader packs may override some of this mod's custom lighting effects).
Technical Details
Version: 1.20.1
Loader: Forge
Side: Client-side only (can be installed on servers, but only affects players who have it installed).

Available Versions

Pitch Dark Hardcore 1.0.1release
MC 1.20.1, 1.20.2, 1.20.3, 1.20.4, 1.20.5, 1.20.6forge
May 2, 2026
Pitch Dark Hardcore 1.0.0release
MC 1.20.1, 1.20.2, 1.20.3, 1.20.4, 1.20.5, 1.20.6forge
April 24, 2026

How to Install Pitch Dark Hardcore on Your Server

1

Order Server

Order a Minecraft Java server with at least 3 GB RAM (4 GB recommended).

2

Set forge Loader

In the panel under "Egg", select the forge loader and matching Minecraft version (1.20.6).

3

Install Mod

Open the mod browser in the dashboard and search for "Pitch Dark Hardcore". Click "Install" – done! Alternatively, upload the .jar via SFTP to the /mods folder.

Compatibility

Mod Loaders

forge

Minecraft Versions

1.20.6, 1.20.5, 1.20.4 (+3 more)

Server-side

Unsupported

Recommended RAM

4 GB(min. 3 GB)

Frequently Asked Questions

Pitch Dark Hardcore server crashes on startup – what to do?

Most common cause: wrong forge 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 (1.20.6). You can switch loaders with one click in the panel.

Is Pitch Dark Hardcore compatible with forge?

Pitch Dark Hardcore officially supports forge for Minecraft 1.20.6, 1.20.5, 1.20.4. The Mado dashboard automatically detects incompatible loader combinations.

Server lagging with Pitch Dark Hardcore – how to optimize performance?

Recommended RAM: 4 GB (per 8 players). Use /spark profiler to check if Pitch Dark Hardcore 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.

Rent Modded Server

Install Pitch Dark Hardcore with just one click on your server.

Recommended RAM
4 GBab €8/mo
Min. 3 GB | +1 GB pro 8 Spieler
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Details

License
LicenseRef-All-Rights-Reserved
Server-side
Unsupported

Supported Versions

1.20.61.20.51.20.41.20.31.20.21.20.1