Dungeons have been the core of Minecraft’s adventure aspect ever since they were added in Infdev. Notch and Jeb have improved upon the original idea with Strongholds and Nether Strongholds, but modder Chocolatin took it to a whole new level with his Better Dungeons mod. Not only does it improve the existing dungeons, it adds a lot of randomly generated new dungeons with challenges for the player. From pirate ships to pyramids on the surface, through swamp caves and strongholds under it, to vast cities in the Nether, all populated with new mobs and awesome loot. Let’s take a look at the structures this mod adds.
Siege castles, lookout towers and similar medieval structures spawn on the surface and provide a whole new challenge in your travels. Though they aren’t all completely different and random, the terrain they spawn on provides a different experience with each one. You may find a lonely lookout tower or a sprawling castle. They are populated with armored variations of Minecraft’s vanilla mobs – zombies and skeletons. Although the architecture is simple, they don’t look ugly and won’t ruin your landscape, they do standout so you can’t miss one if it’s nearby. Like when you discover an NPC village, you will be very excited when you spot one in the distance, skeletons guarding it’s walls and iron bars making for scary fences. They aren’t very hard, but the loot isn’t the best either, which is expected for a structure that spawns approximately twice a biome. They are especially useful for turning into bases if you’re exploring far from home.
Pyramids and ancient statues populate the desert. They aren’t very big and have the same color scheme (sandstone, sand) as the desert itself but you can easily spot them if you’re looking for them. They may not look like much above ground, but underneath lies a dangerous labyrinth of obsidian in which a trapdoor is hidden that leads to a boss monster (no spoilers 
). It’s very easy to get lost in the labyrinth and very hard to beat the boss, but rewards will be plentiful after you’ve triumphed.
Strongholds and swamp caves both generate under the surface, and although they are very different, I grouped them together because of it. Strongholds aren’t like their vanilla Minecraft counterpart, and I can’t quite explain them properly. The most simple way would be that they are ravine cities. A couple of buildings (some even above ground) will spawn on the edge of a dangerous ravine with lava. These buildings are populated by the same mobs like siege castles, but the sight of a stronghold, especially if you stumble upon it from below, is even more spectacular than spotting a castle. Even though they don’t pose much of a danger, they are worth seeking out and clearing out for the loot they hold. Swamp caves are a sight to admire. They spawn as a part of caves in spawn biomes. They are very beautiful rooms filled with flowers, vines and pumpkins, and mobs (including wasps) of course. The walls are often filled with ores and there are chests of loot in them.
Pirate ships spawn in oceans. They are small or medium in size and have mobs and a pirate king aboard. They aren’t very challenging or have good loot, but they do look good off the coast so think of them as “free ocean decoration”. Maybe in the future the creator could make them spawn in or near massive pirate coves? I think that would be an awesome addition.
Nether cities, holes and dungeons spawn in the Nether and are quite rare and hard to access and beat. Nether cities are large, incredible cities that spawn in a lake of lava with a lot of different buildings and mobs. Almost every building contains a chest with some sort of good loot, and there are a lot of them, these cities are much bigger than anything else this mod adds or Minecraft villages. Nether holes are holes that bust through the bedrock ceiling and are an awesome sight while the Nether dungeons are just big square dungeons of netherrack with mob spawners and loot inside. Both the cities and the dungeons are quite a challenge because they are usually surrounded by lava which makes it easy to die, but you will be rewarded with exceptional loot if you manage to beat them.
It’s also worth noting that the mod does improve Minecraft’s default dungeons by making them bigger with more rooms and better loot. This mod is very awesome and you should get it right away, it only requires ModLoader and does not overwrite any classes so it should be compatible with 99% of the mods out there. It adds a lot of challenge to Minecraft, and makes adventuring that much fun. Download it here.
The stunning "Better Dungeons" mod,
is this for 1.0.1
If you mean 1.1, it isn’t yet, but it will be soon. Just sit tight.
whens it out?
The mod is already released and updated to 1.1. Just click the link at the bottom of the article to download it.
how do you get this mod?
There is a link at the bottom of the article, and also a dozen times in the comments.
It is for 1.2.5 i think. It is in the yogbox, which is for 1.2.3
Thanks for introducing me to this mod! Really adds a lot to the game.
when will this be updated to 1.1? it looks really interesting and super fun:)
Wow this looks amazing, I can’t wait for the update to this mod so I can use it
when it out 1.1 me want but cant get PLEASE UPDATE!!!
For those who want to play the mod use mc nostalga
This mod is currently working for 1.1 … and it is freaking epic. Though i suggest setting your betterdungeong CONF file to have strongholds spawn at .1 it definately makes the game feel more full with those
How the heck do you down load this bad boy?
The link is on the bottom of the article. It seems people don’t find the link that easily, so I’ll put a full on link at the bottom of the page from now on.
It’s at the bottom of the article, in the text.
Click the provided link to the thread on the forums about this mod. There are instructions on how to install there.
How can I install this mod
Click the link to download, it will take you to a forum thread that has detailed instructions on how to install it.
Thismod is re!ally sick and way easy to find them!!! Thanks
D= I cant find a dungeon on this, do they spawn very much?
They shouldn’t be hard to find. Try making a new creative world and fly around looking for them to check if the mod is properly installed.
Is this, or will this be available for multiplayer?
As far as I know, there are currently no announced plans for multiplayer. You could generate a map in singleplayer and just use it for multiplayer, though.
is this still not planned for multiplayer?
wtf, after i downloaded it i couldn’t enter the game WTF!
I’m going to need more information if you’d like my help. :S
oh… lol i wrote wrong password my bad xD
ok tbh i have no idea how to download this.. form what i can see there is no link?
People keep telling me this, and I have begun putting big, easily spotted links to download in articles.
um i try to download it but the forum cant determine wat topic its in
I tried it and it works fine for me, however here is the link to download the mod for 1.1 in case you’re still having problems:
http://adf.ly/1175906/http://www.mediafire.com/?j2klmwlhi8crw3c
thanx for the help
i flew around in creative mode but i haven’t found any dungeon…
It is installed incorrectly then. Try reinstalling the mod.
It keeps going to a black screen after it says “saving chuncks”. I deleted the META-INF file. I don’t know what to do.
Unfortunately, mod installing is so messed up that your only choice is to start from a fresh minecraft.jar and try again. You did something wrong, you just have to find out what.
Thanks! Now I can play minecraft again!!!
This mod is epic and i want to thank the creator of it.
I’ve never used a mod before, can I still play the game while being connected to the internet? Plus I bought the game, will it screw the game up.( legally speaking)
No, it will not screw up the game unless you install it wrong, but that can be fixed by force updating the game. I suggest you start with the YogBox if you’re new to mods, since it’s the easiest to install:
http://www.mods-for-minecraft.com/yogbox
I downloaded the mod and it allowed me to play. then after about a minute later it sayes saving chunks and crashes. I know I installed it correctly because i found some little people that attack you. what can i do to fix this?
Try lowering your view distance and/or installing Optifine and update Java, this is a known performance issue not related to the mod.
1.1 yet???
The mod was updated some time ago. You can follow the link at the bottom of the article and it will automatically lead you to the updated thread.
My question is, is this mod compatible for Mac? Since I checked the default download link on the forum, but it wasn’t the right file.
I’m sorry but I can’t help you with that, I do not have a Mac nor am I informed about modding on one.
Hey,
Dinamit I keep finding small houses and flat sandstone dungens is that the only thing?
You’re just having a bit of bad luck finding them. There should be much bigger dungeons, the ones I displayed in the article, if you search more.
wow this looks proper cool…. do u need a good RAM to run it though.. minecraft is slow enough on my computer without any mods..??
All mods affect performance a bit, but since this one doesn’t add any new blocks, just new mobs, the impact should be minimal. Feel free to install it and try.
Is it possible to find theese dungeons in your old world or do you have to create a new world?
It is, but you need to explore new areas so that the new generation code kicks in.
What all does this mod need? Does it only need mod loader, or does it have other dependencies like mod loader MP?
Only ModLoader is required.
OK. So do I put the files in the .minecraft folder, or my minecraft.jar?
Into the minecraft.jar using WinRAR or a similar program.
Do you put this in .minecraft or minecraft.jar ?
Into the minecraft.jar, like with most mods.
There is a link at the bottom of the article, and also several times in the comments.
When i am using this mod, my game often crashes :p can someone explain why this happens, and how to fix it?
can you see the houses or dungeons on a map.
And i put it in minecraft.jar but it stil not working
what do I have to do
You can see them on any map normally if they are on the surface.
Did you delete the meta-info folder after putting the files into the .jar files? If not, that’s the reason it’s not working.
Heya, just wanted to say that adblock plus blocks the entire article, that includes text, pictures and all the download buttons. Might make it easier for people to turn it off on this website.
thanx but were can i find the meta-info folder because my brother said there’s no meta-info folder
It’s in the minecraft.jar file, it’s called META-INF, capital letters, can’t miss it.
i really can’t find it
i found it i searched in the wrong WIN-RAR file srry
how do i download better dungeons mod?
There is a link leading to the forum thread where you can find more info, and the download at the bottom of the article. Or you can click here:
http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/746330-10better-dungeons-v081/
I am really confused. I dragged the files into the minecraft.jar, and I could not find any new structures. I even did the same with my .minecraft folder and still, nothing. Are there any incomapabilities (too many items, mo’ creatures)? If not, then what should I do?
There could be incompatibilities, but the only way to test that would be to put the mod in a clean minecraft.jar file.
Nevermind. I got it to work.
hey , ive installed this mod at least a dozen times the proper way and it still will not work , ive watched and mimmicked tutorials and i still cant find any epic dungeons , help me please
First, get winrar, winzip, or 7zip. In the start menu, type %appdata%. Open Roaming, then .minecraft, then the bin. Right click on minecraft and open with the program you downloaded. Get modloader and put it in the minecraft.jar and delete the META-INF folder. Get the better dungeons mod and open it. Drag and drop the folder called Better Dungeons in the .minecraft folder. Next, open the mods folder in the download and open the file with winrar, winzip, or 7zip. Drag and drop all the files from there into the mineraft.jar. If you have anyother mods before this, it probably won’t work.
this looks awesome but do you think this will be in the game? Personally I think that the siege castle is the best out of them all!!! Is this the final version or will there be more places and mobs like a new mob which is a person mob like in the old days were we had the other “Steve”s in the game well like a human mob.
(gosh that took a while)
This will most likely not be implemented into vanilla, at least not in it’s full. Some stuff has been implemented that’s similar to this, but is unrelated to the actual mod.
oh ok but is this the last version or will there be more updates?
Is there any way to install not using the minecraftforum.com? my internet wont let me onto that site.
what is mod loder
Has the mod been updated for 1.2? I know 1.2 just came out, but I really, really want this mod
As with every mod, there is a link at the bottom. Click it. If the thread says [1.2], it is, otherwise wait until it does. Comment N03.
is this 1.2.2
As with every mod, there is a link at the bottom. Click it. If the thread says [1.2], it is, otherwise wait until it does. Comment N04.
Yay!! It’s out for 1.2.3!!!!! =)
Are there any new dungeons for 1.2.3? I saw something in the better dungeons.zip file that was a junglecaves.class file. Does that mean there are jungle caves, because I can’t find any.
this mod works for mac? I’m following the instructions but I got back screen.. I also deleted meta-inf. help me
Did you forget modloader?
I found an interesting floating pirate ship and I think it’s from this mod but might be from another mod in the technic pack… there were a huge amount of pirates and one had a shield… i then started to kill it and then out of nowhere it started teleporting and became invisible. I died
I got de mod installed but the things don’t spawn (ships, castles, volcanos) … idk what to do anymore
Are you sure you did it right?
Crashes at splash. 1.2.4 not supported?
Most likely. Check what version you downloaded, or if the 1.2.4 version is even released.
sounds like an epic mod can you get it for 1.2.5?(:
Yes, the mod has changed name and structure since I wrote this article, but you can still get the mod at the same link with the same features and more new ones!
I found this mod in the yogbox and I love it. What patches do you need to download it? (Modloader,Audiomod,PlayerAPI etc)
LittleDinamit i can’t believe these guys can freakin find the link its right at the bottom are they BLIND! I know there new but cmon its so easy to see it ive got this mod installed no problems at all! Guy’s GIVE HIM A BREAK.
He has got a lot on his plate always doing mod reviews for you people shame on you all!
Little try and have a good time even with these nitwits asking stupid questions your friend Hamburger :<)