Free mod for Minecraft Java Edition, built on Forge
Small Ships Mod replaces the little rowing boat with real ships. Raise the sails, fill the hold, bring your crew aboard and cross the ocean on a vessel that carries momentum like the real thing.
Cog. Single mast, square sail. The steady first ship for exploring coastlines.
About the mod
Small Ships Mod is a Minecraft Java Edition mod by talhanation that adds historical ships you can build, sail and live on.
Vanilla boats hold two players and nothing else. Small Ships Mod gives you proper vessels with masts, sails, oars, storage and room for a crew. Each ship has its own handling, so a heavy brigg feels different from a nimble galley.
It fits naturally into survival worlds, medieval or Viking builds, pirate servers and modpacks that need a way to travel and trade across the ocean.
Features
Vanilla boats get you across a lake. These ships get you across an ocean with your crew, your cargo and your cannons.
Open and close sails in stages. Ships build speed, drift through turns and glide to a stop.
Every ship has storage. Haul ores, crops and building blocks between bases in one trip.
Bring friends, villagers or animals aboard. One player steers while the rest ride along.
In newer versions, arm your ship and fight with broadsides on the open sea.
Row the galley or drakkar through rivers and harbours where sails struggle.
Put your own banner designs on the sails so your fleet is recognisable from afar.
Benefits
Small Ships Mod changes how you plan, build and travel. Here is what you gain.
Cross oceans in one trip instead of building endless bridges or tunnels.
Move a full load of resources between bases without dozens of trips.
Travel as a crew, run trade routes and stage naval battles with friends.
Harbours, trading towns and Viking villages finally have ships to match.
One file in your mods folder. No new world or special setup needed.
How it works
Do these in order and match every version number. Most players are sailing within ten minutes.
Open the launcher and note the exact Java Edition version you play, for example 1.20.1. Every file you download must match it.
Download the Forge installer for that version from the official Forge site, run it, choose "Install client" and launch the Forge profile once.
Use the Download Mod button to get the file directly from the official GitHub repository by talhanation.
Windows: press Win + R and enter %appdata%\.minecraft. macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/minecraft. Open or create the mods folder.
Place the mod's .jar file in mods, start Minecraft with the Forge profile, and confirm Small Ships appears under Mods.
Why choose it
There are other ways to put ships in Minecraft. Here is where Small Ships Mod stands out.
Ready-made ships you can craft and sail immediately. No block-by-block building or physics tuning.
Each ship is modelled on a real vessel, so it suits medieval, pirate and Viking worlds.
Ships are regular entities, so the mod stays easy to run alongside modpacks and shaders.
| Option | How ships work | Difficulty | Choose it if |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Ships Mod | Ready-made historical ship models | Easy | You want ships that just work and look the part |
| Valkyrien Skies + Eureka | Turns your own block builds into moving ships | Harder | You want to design every ship block by block |
| Create contraptions | Mechanical moving structures | Harder | You enjoy engineering and tech builds |
| Vanilla boats | Two-seat rowing boat | Easy | You only need to cross a lake |
Player feedback
The install guide got the mod running on my first try. I had been putting the wrong file in the mods folder for an hour.
Our server switched from vanilla boats to briggs for trade runs between towns. Cargo trips are now the best part of the week.
Clear comparison of the four ships. I built a galley for my river base and it was exactly the right call.
Gallery
Four hulls, each based on a real historical ship. Select an image to view it larger.
Small Ships Mod is a Minecraft Java Edition mod by talhanation that adds sailable historical ships: the Cog, Brigg, Galley and Drakkar. Ships carry passengers and cargo, move with sails or oars, and in newer versions can carry cannons.
Yes. The mod is free to download from its official sources: the GitHub repository, CurseForge and Modrinth. You never need to pay for it or enter personal details to get it.
It has been released for several Minecraft versions, starting from 1.16.5. Always pick the file whose name matches your Minecraft version exactly, and check the official download pages for the newest release.
Yes, it is built as a Forge mod. Install the Forge version that matches your Minecraft version first, then add the mod to your mods folder.
Right-click the ship to board it and use your movement keys to steer. Sails and other ship actions have their own key binds; find them under Options, Controls, Key Binds in the Small Ships category.
Yes. The server and every player must install the same version of the mod, otherwise you will see a mismatched mod list error when joining.
Download Small Ships Mod, drop it in your mods folder and launch with Forge. The ocean is waiting.
From the guide
Practical walkthroughs for installing, sailing, fighting and fixing problems.
Most problems come from a version mismatch or the wrong file. Work through these checks in order.
Read moreHow it fits into a modpack, and how it differs from physics-based ship mods like Valkyrien Skies.
Read moreHulls wear down from collisions and combat. Here is how to keep them sailing and what to do when one breaks.
Read moreContact
Send us a message and we will get back to you. For bugs in the mod itself, report them on GitHub so the author sees them.
