Better Night

Vanilla night is the same brightness every night - a moonless thunderstorm is exactly as bright as a clear full moon. Better Night makes it depend on the moon, the weather, and how long you have been outside.

Pick a preset and close the screen

Vanilla+     barely darker, keeps the extras
Subtle       noticeably dark, still comfortable
Balanced     the default
Dark         torches become equipment
Pitch Black  you will need a light source

Balanced is the default because shipping pitch black is why people uninstall darkness mods.

A clear new-moon night. Dark, but never a black wall.

What changes

• A full moon lights the ground. A new moon barely does anything, and the phases in between follow a real curve rather than eight even steps.
• The moon rises and sets, so a full-moon night is brightest around midnight.
• Rain and thunder kill moonlight. There is no moonlight in a storm.
• Your eyes adjust - about twelve seconds to open up in the dark, and instantly the other way, so a lightning flash blinds you.
• Colour drains at low light. A red flower reads black under moonlight while a blue one still reads blue.

Low cloud lit from behind by the moon.

Meteors and fireflies

Meteors are shared - everyone on a server sees the same one at the same moment, and they survive sleeping and /time set. Fireflies come out over swamps and forests.

Moonrise, with the glow around it.

What it does not touch

• Torches, campfires and lit builds. Only sky light changes.
• Caves, which were already dark.
• Night vision potions.
• The Nether, which only looks like permanent midnight.
• It can never make anywhere brighter than vanilla was.

Related mods

Client-side only, MIT. NeoForge and Fabric for 1.20.1, 1.21.1 and 26.2. Stands down under shaderpacks by default. Free to use in modpacks.