Glowing Tools | Torch-Lit Tools Mod

How Glowing Tools Works

Glowing Tools is a small utility mod for Minecraft that fuses a torch with any vanilla tool, turning your pickaxe, sword, axe, shovel, or hoe into a handheld light source. You craft a glowing tool by dropping a torch and the target tool into a crafting grid, and from that point on the item illuminates the area around you while it sits in your hand. Mining dark caves, night farming, and exploring unlit tunnels stop being a constant juggle between your tool and a stack of torches.

Placing and Picking Up Torches

The mod also rethinks torch handling. Sneak and right-click on a solid block to plant a torch straight from your inventory. Sneak right-click on a torch that is already placed and the tool in your hand picks it back up, converting a vanilla tool into its glowing version in the process. It is a quick way to reclaim lighting as you backtrack through a mine.

Enchantments and Durability

A glowing tool keeps the stats of the vanilla tool it was built from. Durability, enchantments, and attack values behave the way you would expect from the base item, with the added bonus that the surrounding blocks light up while you hold it. Note one known quirk the author documents in the source repo, crafting a glowing tool or placing and picking up a torch can reset custom names and enchantment data on that specific item, so enchant your tools after converting them rather than before.

Upgrading to Glowing Netherite

Glowing diamond tools are not a dead end. Drop one into a smithing table with a netherite ingot, the same upgrade path vanilla diamond gear uses, and you get a glowing netherite tool. The higher tier keeps the dynamic lighting and the stronger stats, so your endgame mining setup stays lit without sacrificing durability or damage.

Shaders and Dynamic Lighting Support

The handheld glow does not come from the mod alone. Glowing Tools leans on a dynamic lighting companion to actually illuminate the world. On Fabric that companion is LambDynamicLights, and on Forge it is DynamicLights Reforged. The author has tested the pairing against BSL and Complementary shaders running on Iris, and the lighting effect holds up under both. If you want subtler textures, a legacy resource pack ships with the mod for a less prominent look.

If you run shaders through Iris and have not set it up yet, the Iris install guide walks through the steps.

Installing Glowing Tools

The install path depends on which loader your pack already uses.

Fabric Setup

1. Install Fabric and add Fabric API to your mods folder.
2. Add LambDynamicLights, the dynamic lighting dependency the mod relies on.
3. Drop the Glowing Tools jar into the same mods folder.
4. Launch the game and confirm the mod appears in the mods list.

Forge Setup

1. Install Forge for your Minecraft install.
2. Add DynamicLights Reforged so held items can light the world.
3. Place the Glowing Tools jar in the mods folder.
4. Start the game and verify the mod is loaded.

For the broader workflow of putting mods into a profile, the how to install Minecraft mods guide covers folder locations and common pitfalls.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do enchantments and durability carry over from the vanilla tool?

Yes. A glowing tool uses the same durability, enchantments, and attack values as the vanilla tool it was crafted from. Be aware of the documented quirk where crafting the glowing version or placing and picking up a torch can reset item data, so enchant after the conversion to be safe.

Does the lighting work with shader packs?

It does. The glow is driven by a dynamic lighting dependency rather than the mod itself, and the author has verified it with BSL and Complementary on Iris. Any shader that respects dynamic lighting should behave similarly.

Can I place a torch on any block?

Torch placement follows vanilla rules, so torches only sit on solid, valid surfaces. Sneak and right-click a valid block to plant one from your inventory.

Is a legacy texture available?

Yes. The mod bundles a legacy resource pack with subtler textures if the default glowing look feels too bold for your build style.