Pollution of the Realms

"Pollution of the Realms" is a mod that introduces blocks of carbon and sulfur emissions from the combustion of various fuels.

These blocks are created around fuel burning sources, rise into the air and accumulate in the clouds. If unchecked, they will affect plants, animals and players in several ways (see "Negative effects" below).

This mod introduces the problem of environmental pollution and encourages modpack makers and players to seek various paths to mitigate the consequences. There are methods provided within the mod itself to do this, but the intent in designing the mod was to encourage flexible solutions when combined with other mods.

REQUIRES ForgeEndertech library

For best results, use with Advanced Chimneys

Supported mods

Key Features

• Visible carbon, sulfur and dust blocks of varying density level
• Dynamically generated clouds of pollution that travel with air current
• Soil pollution from spilled oil and oil products
• Acid rain and water pollution
• Clouds of dust around grinding and crushing machines
• Venting devices to manage pollution and dust clouds
• Reduced visibility when the smog accumulates too much
• Damaging impact on trees, plants, crops, grass, farmland, players and animals
• Explosive underground gas pockets (generated by LODs) (1.12 requires this config)
• Ability to add your own custom pollutants
• Full customization via config files, including the ability to add your own configs for fuels and emitters
• Fully compatible with Tinkers' Construct, Immersive Engineering, Create, Galacticraft, Baubles, Dynamic Trees... (see full list)

Addons

• More (Custom) Pollutants (by Max92306)
• Pollutant Pump (by Bright_Spark)
• Infinite Pollution Filter (by Th3_Equalizer, PierKnight100 and Matpac)

Videos

• Quick Overview in Absolute Immersive Pack

Sources

Negative effects

• Staying in the emission block without protection leads to suffocation and death
• Animals born in polluted chunk have base health reduction

Filters

To prevent harmful emissions from entering the atmosphere or greenhouse, place filters on top or in the middle of the chimney pipe.

Each filter can protect against one pollutant and requires filling with filter material, as well as cleaning from byproducts to operate. You can fully automate this process with the help of hoppers.

The hopper on any side-face of the filter loads it up with materials. The hopper attached to the bottom extracts all byproducts.

Note that you can use one single hopper attached to the bottom of the entire chimney/filter/pump pipe to collect byproducts from all the filters above.

Each filter also generates a descending redstone signal from 15 (when empty) to 0 (when full). This can be used to control the connected pumps or to activate an alarm, when the filter is full.

Cleaning and Protection

You can clean up the pollution with a special tool - the vacuum tube.

There's three types of vacuum tubes: iron, golden and diamond, that perform better as one would expect.

Note that emissions can't be stored in the inventory (you wouldn't want to get all your stuff smoky and gunky, would you?), so a vacuum bag will be required, with similar capacity upgrades per material.

• Put on the bag and take the tube in your hand.
• Aim at the pollution blocks, and hold the right mouse button to vacuum-clean. 

Crafted vacuum bags are equipped with a sulfur filter that can be refreshed on an anvil using wool (2 pieces). Additional filters for carbon or dust can be installed using leaves or paper (2 pieces).

As pollution levels increase, harmful effects will grow as well. To protect yourself, you may need to craft a respirator (each type has a different durability).

Crafted respirators are equipped with carbon and sulfur filters. Dust filter can be installed on an anvil using paper.

Note that a vacuum bag or respirator picked from the creative inventory provides no filters, so you have to install them manually. The same goes for respirators from compatible mods.

Purification

Protecting yourself with a respirator is a good thing when you're at work, but wearing it all the time, especially at home, is not the best idea.
If you want to breathe freely without the need to wear protective equipment, you can surround your place with air purifiers to provide a constant supply of clean air to your lungs.

The air purifier consists of two blocks: a filter and a pump. To operate, it must have access to air from both sides and the filter must be loaded. White particles above the filter indicate that it is functioning.

Each working purifier generates pollutant free air around it within specified radius (by default - 8, 16 and 32 blocks for - iron, golden and diamond filter, respectively). The effect decreases from 100% (next to the purifier) ​​to 0% (at a distance >= filter radius). The effects of several air purifiers are summarized.

So if you want to create a safe zone with 100% clean air, you need to cover it with purifies with a distance less than or equal to the filter radius between them.

Aerometer could be a good supplement in finding weak spots in your protected area.

The purifier can also be used for cleaning polluted water bodies.  In that case, the pump must be submerged under water, and the filter must be one block above the water surface, filled with filter material and not covered by any block. Splashing water particles above the filter indicate that the purifier is working.

Confined spaces

Special care should be taken if you place the source of emissions within a confined space, as this can lead to suffocation or even an explosion.

To prevent fatal consequences make sure of providing a good ventilation, using chimneys, vents and pumps.

Every pump could maintain 4 independent ventilation lines up to 16 blocks in length each (connected from the side) and one chimney pipe (connected to the top).

Greenhouses

Despite the fact that carbon emissions are poisonous for animals and players, they are vital for plants, as they absorb carbon during photosynthesis to take energy for growth.

You can benefit from that by planting crops in areas contaminated with carbon, or by building greenhouses and pumping carbon into them.

Chimneys

To prevent spread of emissions around the furnace, you can place chimneys next to it.

You may need to place additional chimney pipes if your furnace generates too much emissions.

If the chimney is covered by solid block and emissions have no way to go, they will accumulate and subsequently explode.

Repairs

Modpacks

• Feel free to use the mod in any modpacks.
• You are allowed to use it without asking for permission.

"Pollution of the Realms" is a comprehensive environmental mod that simulates realistic pollution mechanics within Minecraft. It introduces visible emission blocks of carbon, sulfur, and dust particles generated from the combustion of various fuels. These pollutants rise into the atmosphere, accumulate in cloud formations, and travel with air currents, creating a dynamic and immersive environmental system.

Core Mechanics

The mod simulates three primary pollution pathways: atmospheric emissions from fuel combustion, soil contamination from oil spills, and acid precipitation. If left unmanaged, accumulated pollution causes cascading ecological damage, affecting plant growth, animal behavior, crop yields, and player health. This creates meaningful environmental consequences that encourage proactive pollution management.

Purpose and Design Philosophy

"Pollution of the Realms" introduces authentic environmental challenges to modpacks while remaining flexible and mod-agnostic. While the mod includes built-in mitigation tools, its design intentionally encourages creative solutions through integration with other mods. This approach rewards both individual problem-solving and collaborative modpack design.

Key Features

• Visible pollution layers - carbon, sulfur, and dust blocks with varying density levels that accumulate and obscure visibility
• Dynamic atmospheric systems - pollution clouds that travel realistically with simulated air currents
• Multi-source contamination - soil pollution from oil spills; dust clouds around grinding and crushing machinery; explosive underground gas pockets (requires: Large Ore Deposits)
• Environmental degradation - acid rain and water pollution; reduced visibility; damage to trees, crops, grass, farmland, and living entities
• Pollution management - venting devices (requires: Advanced Chimneys) and filtration systems to mitigate emissions and dust
• Customization and extensibility - full config-file support for custom pollutants, fuel types, and emission sources; seamless compatibility with popular tech mods
• Balanced gameplay - encourages sustainable practices without forcing a single solution
  • Minimize long-term harm - players manage pollution rather than ignoring it, so their world doesn't become increasingly damaged over time
  • Balance resource use with consequences - burning fuel for energy is useful, but players must account for the pollution it creates
  • Encourage planning and systems thinking - instead of just building a furnace and moving on, players design filtration, ventilation, or pollution-removal systems
  • Reward thoughtful building - players who set up proper chimneys, treatment devices, and emission controls avoid explosions, plant death, and visibility loss
  • Preserve world health - sustainable play means crops stay fertile, animals survive, visibility remains good, and water stays clean

REQUIRES ForgeEndertech library