Vanilla Expanse

< VANILLA EXPANSE >

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📝 Changelog

Latest version:

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Preview4dev2 (Pre-release) now published!

From Oct 20, 2026 updated at October 23, 2026

Hello everyone, another status update on Vanilla Expanse.

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The first preview4 was not good enough. As the last step before the full release, its performance was disappointing, so I did the release again, properly. This is preview4dev2, our biggest tuning version ever, especially in configs and parameters.

I spent this round profiling the pack end to end, watching where the memory goes, and acting on it. Some things were removed, some were rebuilt, and a long list of configs was adjusted until the numbers looked right.

The promise stays the same. If your machine can run vanilla, it can run this.

The full release is next.

This is the whole changelog:
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[v0.5.12preview4dev2] Vanilla Expanse

Preview version. Tested but might not perfectly work on any computer.

The first release of preview4 was not a success. As the version right before the full release, its overall performance was far from what I wanted, and I was not willing to just patch forward. So I did the whole release again, properly. This is preview4dev2, the largest version we have ever shipped in terms of tuning, especially configurations and parameters.

The biggest work in this version is not new content. It is a deep audit of memory and performance across the entire pack. I profiled the full instance, found out where the memory actually goes, and tuned or removed what was causing trouble.

What changed

Removed Legendary Monsters. It is a real memory hog, and it also conflicted with Tectonic's high mountains. Removing it can cause some things in existing worlds to be lost, but for balance reasons I still think this is the right call, and it will stay removed (unless the author improves that).

Updated NeoForge to 21.1.262.

Updated AsyncParticles and more.

A long list of config adjustments across the pack.

Known issues

This version removed a biome mod (datapack) named "Blooming Biosphere" which greatly changed the world generation. I will not do that again in future versions, but this time I recommend updating, because that datapack caused issues in world generation, mostly terrain features that I don't think are very necessary.

Old worlds from before this preview line are not guaranteed to load. Back up before updating.

If you are on preview4, or if you are waiting for the full release and want to keep playing on your world, you might want to wait for the full release. And I will try my best to make sure everyone can update from preview4dev2 to the release version!

Filowxy
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History news

Preview 4 (Pre-release) now published!

From Sep 30, 2026 updated at October 7, 2026

Hello everyone, another status update on Vanilla Expanse.

Only one preview stands before the full release now. Preview 4 (or pre-release) is coming within the next 7 days. Preview 3 stays up until then.
Preview4 is now published as the latest version.

Preview 4 (or pre-release) is the last stop before release, and it stays true to what this pack has always been about: getting a big pack to run well.

Finally, WE ARE HERE, the last preview version, preview4 is waiting for your explore and test!

Greatly improved performance.

Minor improvements in stability.

Cleaned up some redundant mods from preview3.

More mods and improvements are presenting!

Fixed the world entering bug (may) caused by world weaver.

Known issue: entering old worlds may be unstable right now. In some cases, loading can hang or misbehave. The source is still being tracked down, and WorldWeaver is the current suspect. If it does turn out to be the cause, BetterNether may be temporarily removed until things are stable again. We tried to fix this in preview4, and there might have less issues like this.

Tested, but might not perfectly work on any computer. If there is anything off, tell me. It has always been the players who drive it forward.

Filowxy

Full release still on hold — Preview 3 is here

From Sep 19, 2026updated at Sep 23, 2026

Hello everyone, another status update on Vanilla Expanse.
The full release still holding, but previews keep rolling:

Preview 3 is here!

It will build on Preview 2 with:

• Better rivers. Water now reads by depth — shallow runs lighter, deep runs darker — and rivers carry more life under the surface, with new fish and underwater finds.

• A large wave of mod updates. A big part of the pack moves to its newest builds, bringing the usual round of fixes and improvements with it.

• Plus the smaller stuff: new ambient touches, more creatures, and quality-of-life fixes across the board.

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v0.5.12 release slightly delayed — Preview 2 is here

From Sep 9, 2026
updated at Sep 11, 2026

Hello everyone, heres a status update on Vanilla Expanse.
Why the release version is delayed is because there is an conflict between WorldWeaver and highly concurrent game loading that mixin in v0.5.12. I've filed an issue upstream so until that's resolved, holding the full release is the safer call. Sorry about the wait.
Preview is published now! It builds on Preview 1 with:

• Small fixes and upgrades over Preview 1

• Slightly faster startup. The game window appears in ~20–30 seconds, and you reach the title screen about a minute after that. (may be differ beacause of different devices)

• Major performance boost when moving fast. flying over fresh terrain is much smoother now, and the pack holds up far better in extreme cases. (in test environment)

• Baleced things from create

• Even lower average runtime memory usage. (still recomended to locate 6.5GB memory)

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Enjoy the Preview Program!

Try new features before release. Preview builds are tested but may be
unstable — and may not be compatible with older worlds.

Scroll to the end for more performance config. (Important!)

Optimized for 20+ FPS on Low-End Hardware:

• 375+ Mods

• Minimum 6.5GB RAM

• Shader-Ready (need to open in setting)

• NeoForge 1.21.1

Every path in Vanilla Expanse leads somewhere real and meaningful, and switching course never throws your work away. You can go deep in one direction or wander between many. The pack gives you all the time and room to do it your way. If one route doesn't suit you, the others will still take you where you want to go.

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💡 Note: This is not an optimization pack. It won't be faster than vanilla. The goal is to keep 350+ mods as playable and stable as vanilla on the same hardware.

Vanilla Expanse is a large vanilla-plus modpack built around one thing: getting a big pack to run well.

It’s been profiled, tuned, and stress-tested to make sure it can stay playable on hardware that struggles with packs much smaller than this one.

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⚡ Why Try It

✓ It’s built to stay playable, not just look impressive.

✓ 375+ hand-picked mods with no unnecessary bloat. (If there is, tell me.)

✓ World generation that expands vanilla instead of replacing it.

✓ Quality-of-life changes that save time without taking over the game.

✓ Shader support that stays performance-conscious.

✓ NeoForge 1.21.1 for stability and long-term support.

If you want a pack that adds a lot without turning Minecraft into another unrecognizable thing, that's the goal here.

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🎯 Performance: Why This Pack Exists

I built and tested Vanilla Expanse with performance as the priority.

On a Ryzen 7 8845H with Radeon 780M integrated graphics computer, it holds 20+ FPS in normal gameplay on mid- to low-end systems. It load chunks partly smooth even when you're flying fast over newly generated terrain. Otherwise, mining, building, exploring, and fighting all stay smooth.

Shader support has also been tuned carefully so you can use it without the usual framerate collapse.

For memory, 6.5GB to 8GB RAM is the recommended range. I’ve personally tested it at 6.5GB with aggressive chunk generation, and it stays stable without out-of-memory crashes.

Results may vary across different machines, so 6.5GB is the safer recommendation for most players.

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🏔️ A World Worth Exploring

Every dimension gets attention, and the philosophy stays the same: expand it, not to replace it.

New biomes sit alongside vanilla ones without feeling out of place. New mobs fit into Minecraft’s ecosystem rather than clashing with it. New blocks and materials are integrated into existing building palettes.

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✨ Quality of Life That Respects Your Time

Vanilla Expanse includes some quality-of-life improvements which is the kind of additions that reduce busywork without playing the game for you.

That means better inventory and storage management, smarter crafting and recipe browsing, and visual improvements calibrated for performance.

These are the kinds of mods that make Minecraft easier to live in, not easier to beat.

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💾 Before You Launch

Memory Allocation
Set your allocated RAM to 6.5GB–8GB.

• Below 6.5GB → degraded performance, possible crashes
• Above 8GB → diminishing returns

Recommended JVM Arguments
Paste the tuned JVM arguments into your launcher.

-XX:+UnlockExperimentalVMOptions -Xms6020m -Xmx6020m -XX:MetaspaceSize=1280m -XX:MaxMetaspaceSize=1280m -XX:ReservedCodeCacheSize=384m -XX:MaxDirectMemorySize=512m -XX:+UseG1GC -XX:MaxGCPauseMillis=150 -XX:SoftMaxHeapSize=5500m -XX:G1ReservePercent=15 -XX:G1PeriodicGCInterval=300000 -XX:+G1PeriodicGCInvokesConcurrent -XX:+UseStringDeduplication -XX:+ParallelRefProcEnabled -XX:+PerfDisableSharedMem -Dneoforge.ignoreVersionCheck=true -XX:G1MixedGCLiveThresholdPercent=90 -XX:G1HeapWastePercent=3 -XX:G1ConcRefinementThreads=8 -XX:G1MixedGCCountTarget=4

### This modpack uses TISAM for downloading optional mods. In v0.5.12preview1 is now unused because some bugs. It will be reused when newest version is allowed to publish.

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📎 Ready?

Vanilla Expanse is for players who want a big modpack without a big performance hit.
If that’s what you’re looking for, allocate 6.5GB RAM and jump in!

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Vanilla Expanse has been