No Random Scute

A data pack for Minecraft Java 1.21.9 – 26.2 that stops armadillos from shedding armadillo scutes on their own. The brush becomes the only way to get one — using the vanilla mechanic, unchanged.

What it changes

In vanilla, every adult armadillo drops a scute by itself every 5–10 minutes, whether you are there or not. Build a pen, walk away, come back to a pile of scutes. The brush exists specifically to harvest scutes, and it is the more interesting way to do it — but there is no reason to ever pick one up.

This pack removes the automatic drop, and nothing else.

Armadillo scutes stay exactly as obtainable as before — they just cost you a brush and a walk to the savanna instead of a timer. Wolf armor becomes something you went and got.

Installation

1. Download no-random-scute-1.0.0.zip.
2. Drop the zip into <your world>/datapacks/ — don't unzip it.
3. Join the world, or run /reload if you are already in it.

On a server the path is the same: <world folder>/datapacks/. Nothing is needed on the client, and there is no resource pack.

It is safe on existing worlds and can be removed at any time: armadillos already in the world are affected the moment the pack loads, and go back to vanilla the moment it is taken out. Nothing is written to the world save.

NOT supported versions

1.21.8 and older are not supported: brushing an armadillo was hardcoded back then rather than driven by its own loot table, so the two behaviours could not be separated as cleanly.

Compatibility

The only conflict is with another data pack that also overrides data/minecraft/loot_table/gameplay/armadillo_shed.json — for example one that makes armadillos shed more often, or shed something else. If two packs write the same file, the one loaded last wins; order them with /datapack enable <name> first|last.

Anything that changes brushing, wolf armor, or armadillo behaviour in other ways will work alongside this pack.

License

MIT — see LICENSE. The pack icon is drawn from scratch by tools/make-icon.ps1; no Mojang assets are redistributed.