CurseForge · Minecraft mod
Surface Samples
A small mod that adds surface mineral indicators, intended to be used with worldgen mods that add large deposits of ore to your world.
Quick answer
Which Surface Samples release should I use?
Surface Samples surfacesamples-0.2.0.jar targets 1.21.1 with NeoForge. The project page does not say whether this file belongs on the client, dedicated server, or both. No extra mods listed for this file.
Where it goes
Is Surface Samples required on the client, server, or both?
The project page does not say whether this file belongs on the client, dedicated server, or both.
The source does not explicitly classify this release as client-only or server-only.
What else does Surface Samples surfacesamples-0.2.0.jar need?
surfacesamples-0.2.0.jar. Change the file and its required mods may change too.
This file does not list any required mods. Do not add a library just because a different file uses it.
1 extra mod was pulled in by another dependency. Indented rows show who needs each one. We only count dependency files that match this setup. A file for another loader does not fill the gap.
Before you install it
Add Surface Samples without breaking your instance.
Built for Surface Samples surfacesamples-0.2.0.jar. Pick another file and the loader, install side or required mods may change.
- 01
Stick to this file
Use surfacesamples-0.2.0.jar. It targets 1.21.1 with NeoForge; another release may have different loader, side or dependency requirements.
- 02
Bring the mods it needs
This file does not list any required mods. Do not add a library just because a different file uses it.
- 03
Put it on the correct side
The project page does not say whether this file belongs on the client, dedicated server, or both.
- 04
Pick the file you checked
Use the “Get this file” button beside surfacesamples-0.2.0.jar. It opens that exact file at the source.
About this project
What does Surface Samples add?
Surface Samples

Surface Samples is a simple mod to do a simple thing: add small indicator blocks that worldgen mods can use as markers for ore deposits. I created this with EnderLanky's fantastic Large Ore Deposits mod in mind, but you can use it with any mod that allows you to specify blocks as markers. You could even use them solely as decoration for creative builds. The samples drop nuggets of their respective ores when right-clicked or destroyed, and are waterloggable, and snowloggable with Snow! Real Magic.
THIS MOD DOES NOT IMPACT WORLDGEN, FOR THESE TO APPEAR NATURALLY YOU WILL NEED A WORLDGEN MOD LIKE LARGE ORE DEPOSITS.
There are ore samples for all vanilla ores, including nether variants for gold, quartz, and netherite. There is also a flint sample that drops one flint, for use in modpacks that over-rely on flint RNG. I've also included a non-nether variant of quartz, which by default drops Sky's Overworld Quartz shards.
Currently, there are also samples for the following mods' ores:
- Create
- Immersive Engineering
- Mekanism
There are blockstate variants for sandy and red sandy environments, these live under the flavour blockstate; the values are stony, sandy, and red_sandy Large Ore Deposits now has configs for Surface Samples by default!

It also adds in four other blocks:
- Crystallised redstone, which is a concentrated block of redstone that acts as a hybrid between a redstone block and redstone ore
- Glowquartz, which is intended to be used as an early-game alternative to glowstone
- Polished glowquartz, which has a different look and a higher light level
- Glowquartz lamp, a redstone lamp equivalent
Intermediary items have been added for glowquartz, crystallised redstone, and andesite samples (since having a small sample drop an entire block felt strange).
All blocks and items have Create integration out of the box.
To change the drops of the samples, you can use a datapack, targeting data/surfacesamples/loot_table/blocks
This mod was created for a private SMP I am setting up, and so will likely get intermittent updates, but feel free to suggest changes or ore samples you'd like to see on the github issues page, I'll try to get to them one way or another :)
Inspiration from this mod stems from oitsjustjose's Geolosys and Vintage Story's ore samples.
This is my first venture into minecraft modding, I hope you like it as much as I do :3

If you want to use this in a modpack be my guest! It'd be polite to credit me, but don't feel like you have to. If you use it in a video though, I'd appreciate credit. And if you use it to make something even cooler, show me!
Attribution/Credits:
- Large Ore Deposits for inspiring me to make this mod in the first place
- Quartz sample textures taken from Sky's overworld quartz
- Snippets of code from Kaupenjoe's fantastic tutorial series
- Zinc ore texture from Create
- Andesite chunks, glowquartz shard, and crystallised redstone shard textures adapted from Malcomriley's Unused Textures
- Glowquartz & crystallised redstone block textures also assembled from malcomriley's item sprites
- Sample pickup behaviour inspired by Geolosys and Vintage Story
- Sample model inspired by Vintage Story
- Uranium, Alumin(i)um, Silver, and Nickel textures taken and modified from Immersive Engineering with permission from BluSunrize
- Lead, Osmium, Flourite, and Tin ore textures taken and modified from Mekanism
Regarding Creativity
I do not and never will use AI in my creations. The code, models, and artwork in this may not be perfect, but they are mine, as are any modifications I've made to the sources listed above.
Project description from CurseForge.
Pick your setup
Surface Samples by Minecraft version and loader
Choose the version and loader you play, then open the matching release.
1.21.1
1 loader buildCheck the dependencies, then try the file in a copied instance before changing a world you care about.
Recent files
Surface Samples versions and loaders
surfacesamples-0.2.0.jar
20 Oct 2026
surfacesamples-1.21.1-0.1.2.jar
22 Jun 2026
Looking for an older file? The official CurseForge project page is in Resources.