DeceasedCraft

A Forge zombie-apocalypse modpack that replaces Minecraft's terrain with a hand-built modern city, then layers firearms, infection, hordes, quests and tech progression over the wreckage.

1M+ Downloads by TqLxQuanZ

About DeceasedCraft

The DeceasedCraft modpack drops Minecraft into a procedurally generated modern city and asks you to survive it. The buildings are hand-built rather than randomly assembled, the streets are full of things that used to be people, and progression runs through looting apartment blocks and offices instead of mining down to bedrock. It is a Forge modpack for Minecraft Java Edition, led by TqLxQuanZ with city work by _C70_, and it is distributed through CurseForge.

Before you install anything, there is one fact worth having up front, because it decides which file you should download.

The current release is an open beta that cannot be finished

The current public build is Beta 5.10.17, released on 17 July 2026 for Minecraft 1.20.1. It is not a finished pack, and the developers are unusually direct about it: the beta, in their words, cannot be completed.

The reason is structural. DeceasedCraft's city is divided into five hand-crafted districts, and two of them (the Wasteland and the Abyss) are not in this build. Those districts hold the endgame, so the high-tier gear that would normally be the reward for reaching them is absent too. You can play this beta for a long time and enjoy it; you cannot reach the end of it.

5.10.x is the open beta for v6.0, a complete overhaul that is still in development. That carries a second consequence people miss: the developers say they will try, but give no guarantee that a beta world will be compatible with the final v6.0 release. Treat a beta save as something you may eventually have to leave behind.

5.10.17 or 5.5.5?

The project keeps an older branch alive precisely because of the above, and points to it directly: if you would prefer a more complete experience, the official advice is to download v5.5.5 instead. That version runs on Minecraft 1.18.2 and includes the endgame content the current beta is missing.

The trade is straightforward:

  • 5.10.17, Minecraft 1.20.1: the current beta of the v6.0 overhaul. Newer districts and reworked weapon systems, active development, no endgame, no guaranteed save compatibility.
  • 5.5.5, Minecraft 1.18.2: the older branch, complete through its endgame, but not where the new work is going.

If you want to see what DeceasedCraft is becoming, take the beta. If you want a run with a finish line, take 5.5.5. Both are Forge, and they are not interchangeable: a 1.20.1 client cannot join a 1.18.2 server, and a world from one will not open in the other.

The city is the content

World generation is where this pack earns its identity. DeceasedCraft builds its cities with The Lost Cities, but the structures are not that mod's defaults: more than sixty buildings were made by hand for this pack, then distributed across five districts that grow more dangerous the further you get from where you started.

That arrangement does most of the design work. Loot is spread across more than eight hundred loot tables tied to the places you search, so exploring further is how you get better equipment, and better equipment is what makes the next district survivable. Enemies scale with distance from your starting area, which turns "should I push one district further out?" into the question the pack keeps asking you. There is no Nether and no End, and no plans to add either: the city is the whole map.

One practical note the project makes itself: if you do not spawn in a medium or large Suburb Residential District, consider generating a new world. Your starting district shapes the early game far more than an ordinary Minecraft seed would.

Combat, infection and the horde

Fighting here is not vanilla combat wearing new textures. There are over a hundred weapons including firearms, twenty-plus armour sets spread across four progression tiers, and fifteen or more special zombie types that do rather more than walk at you. Damage is tracked per body part, so where you get hit matters as much as how often.

Two systems supply most of the pressure. Infection can turn one bad fight into a lost character, since bites carry a chance of infecting you, though it is curable. And a custom horde system sends waves at you on a timer tied to how long you have been playing, meaning safety is temporary by design, not something you can permanently build your way out of.

Quests, tech and staying alive

Progression is not left for you to invent. Eight or more NPCs carry quests and a written backstory, trading is unlocked through those quest lines rather than being available from the start, and a quest book tracks the route. Alongside it sits a skill tree that levels through the actions it governs, and a parkour system that is as much a combat tool as a way of getting around.

The technology side runs on Create and Immersive Engineering, which is also how vehicles get built. Underneath everything are the survival layers: a diet system that turns food into buffs, plus thirst, temperature and seasons. None of these is especially deep alone. Together they are the reason a DeceasedCraft base ends up being a supply operation rather than a room with a bed in it.

Memory, Embeddium and the Distant Horizons Edition

DeceasedCraft is heavy, and the official figures reflect it. For the current beta the minimum allocation is 5GB for singleplayer and for a client, and 8GB for a server. The recommended figures are 8GB for singleplayer and client, and 10GB or more for a server.

There is a separate Distant Horizons Edition of the same 5.10.17 build, which adds Distant Horizons for long-range terrain rendering. It is not the standard download and most players do not need it. Its recommended allocation is higher (10GB for singleplayer and client, 12GB or more for a server), and the project warns it will most likely need a powerful PC to hold a playable frame rate. Nothing more specific than that is published, so treat anyone quoting you an exact GPU requirement with suspicion.

For rendering, Embeddium ships inside the pack, and the developers ask directly that you do not add OptiFine. Shaders are encouraged if your hardware can take them, with Complementary named specifically. Worth keeping straight: shaders are a visual upgrade rather than a performance one, and allocating more memory will not raise your frame rate either.

Playing with other people

Multiplayer has one recommended route. A server pack is published alongside each client build, and hosting it is what the developers advise. LAN play is explicitly not suggested: not impossible, but they report enough performance problems and bugs with it that they steer people to a server instead.

The server pack is not a client. It deliberately leaves out the client-side optimisation mods, and launching it as your game is one of the most reliable ways to end up with a broken install. If you are hosting through an online provider, turn on command blocks: some of the pack's features, multiblocks and vehicle spawns among them, depend on it.

Install it with a launcher, not by hand

DeceasedCraft is a modpack, not a mod, and that changes the whole procedure. A single mod is a file you drop into a folder, the process our guide to installing Minecraft mods covers. A modpack is a pinned list of mods plus the pack's own configuration, and DeceasedCraft's configuration matters more than most: the developers ask that you install through a proper launcher precisely because those client configs are what stop the pack's many client-side mods fighting over keybindings. Assembling it by hand from individual downloads is not a supported route.

Pick the right file

Every official file lives on the DeceasedCraft CurseForge project, credited to TqLxQuanZ, and the Download section on this page lists them side by side so you can tell them apart before clicking. Choosing the wrong one is the most common mistake:

  • DeceasedCraft_Beta-5.10.17: the normal client. This is the one most people want.
  • DeceasedCraft_Beta_DH_Edition-5.10.17: the Distant Horizons client, for long-range rendering on strong hardware.
  • Server packs: for hosting only, published in both the normal and Distant Horizons variants.

If you would rather play a version that has an endgame, choose v5.5.5 for Minecraft 1.18.2 instead of any of the above.

Installing the client

  1. Settle which file you want in the Download section first, then open the CurseForge app, or another launcher that can install from the CurseForge catalogue, and search for DeceasedCraft.
  2. Check the project is credited to TqLxQuanZ, then pick the exact version you mean to play: 5.10.17 for 1.20.1, or 5.5.5 for 1.18.2.
  3. Let the launcher install Forge along with the pack. Do not install Forge yourself beforehand, and let the launcher supply the Java runtime rather than hunting for one.
  4. Raise the allocated memory before the first launch: 5GB is the documented minimum, 8GB is recommended, and 10GB if you chose the Distant Horizons Edition.
  5. Launch it, and give the first world generation time. Building a city takes noticeably longer than ordinary terrain.
  6. If you do not spawn in a medium or large Suburb Residential District, consider generating a new world before you settle in.

Hosting a server

  1. Take the server pack that matches your client exactly from the same Download section: the same version, and the same edition if you are using Distant Horizons.
  2. Allocate at least 8GB, with 10GB or more recommended, and 12GB or more for the Distant Horizons edition.
  3. On a hosted provider, switch on Enable Command Blocks, or multiblocks and vehicle spawns will not behave.
  4. Have everyone connect with the matching client build.

Three things not to do

Do not launch the server pack as your game: it is missing the client optimisation mods. Do not add OptiFine, because Embeddium is already in the pack and the developers report OptiFine causes problems. And do not rely on LAN for multiplayer, which they advise against.

Download DeceasedCraft

Release status VersionMinecraft version LauncherReleased Download
Beta 5.10.17Latest versionRelease 1.20.1 Forge Download
v5.5.5Release 1.18.2 Forge Download

FAQ

Is DeceasedCraft a mod or a modpack?

A modpack. DeceasedCraft is a curated collection of mods, configuration and hand-built content assembled into one Forge installation for Minecraft Java Edition, not a single mod you can add to an existing setup. That is why it has to be installed through a launcher rather than dropped into a mods folder.

Is DeceasedCraft finished, or still in beta?

The current 1.20.1 build, Beta 5.10.17, is an open beta and the developers state plainly that it cannot be completed. The Wasteland and Abyss districts are not present, which means the endgame and the high-tier gear tied to those areas are unavailable. It is very playable; it just has no ending yet.

Should I play 5.10.17 or 5.5.5?

Play 5.10.17 on Minecraft 1.20.1 if you want the current version of the pack and the v6.0 overhaul work in progress. Play v5.5.5 on Minecraft 1.18.2 if you want a complete run; the project itself recommends 5.5.5 to anyone who would prefer a more complete experience. They are separate branches, and worlds and servers do not transfer between them.

How much RAM does DeceasedCraft need?

For the current beta the documented minimum is 5GB for singleplayer and for a client, and 8GB for a server. The recommended allocation is 8GB for singleplayer and client, and 10GB or more for a server. The Distant Horizons Edition asks for more: 10GB for singleplayer and client, and 12GB or more for a server. Allocating beyond what is recommended does not improve your frame rate.

Can I use OptiFine or shaders with DeceasedCraft?

Not OptiFine. The developers ask directly that you do not use it, because Embeddium is already included to do the same job and OptiFine causes problems alongside it. Shaders themselves are encouraged if your hardware can handle them, and Complementary is the pack that gets named specifically. Shaders change how the game looks, not how fast it runs.

Why can I not find the Wasteland?

Because it is not in the current beta. The Wasteland and Abyss districts are absent from 5.10.17, so no amount of exploring will turn one up. Older write-ups that describe the Wasteland as finished are referring to the 1.18.2 branch, where that content does exist. If the Wasteland is what you came for, play v5.5.5.

What is the Distant Horizons Edition?

A separate build of the same 5.10.17 release that includes Distant Horizons, which renders terrain far past the normal view distance. It is offered as its own client and its own server pack, it is not the standard download, and the project warns it will most likely need a powerful PC to stay playable. Most people should start with the normal edition.

What is the difference between the client pack and the server pack?

The client pack is the game you play. The server pack is what you run to host, and it deliberately omits the client-side optimisation mods, so launching it as your game gives you a degraded and unstable install. They are separate downloads on the same project page, and they need to match each other in both version and edition.

Can I play DeceasedCraft with friends?

Yes, but host a server rather than opening a world to LAN. The developers advise against LAN because of reported performance issues and bugs, and publish a server pack for this purpose. If you host through an online provider, enable command blocks: some pack features, including multiblocks and vehicle spawning, rely on them.

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