The main goal of Ethological! is to bring a natural living ecosystem to the minecraft world, one update at a time! Currently sheep, cows, pigs, and chickens will form herds to graze and drink on their own schedules, will sleep through the night as a group, reacting to weather, threats, and the people who feed them. Make your animal pens feel like wild pastures that are truely alive!
Hunger & thirst — animals seek food and water individually and only eat when hungry; added troughs / chicken feeders to keep large groups fed.
Sleep & shelter — animals sleep during the night, sheltering from the rain, thunder, noisy players and nearby monsters can disturb rest.
Herds — groups follow an alpha, scattering from threats, taking turns as lookouts during the night.
Babies — have a longer growth period and love to play; will nurse from and follow their mother.
Familiarity — hand-feeding the same animal will make it acustom to you.
Pasture life — grazing that wears down grass, dirt that can re-green again, chickens will peck dropped seeds.
Config — tune each species and comfort options in the server config
Sheep · Cows · Pigs · Chickens
Stock a pen with a trough or chicken feeder and watch a herd settle into a routine
Hand-feed a cow a few times, then walk quietly nearby while it sleeps
Spook a flock and watch them stream away together
Leave seeds for chickens; watch calves nurse when hungry
Wait out a thunderstorm — sleepers wake, and animals hunt for cover
Next update: bringing behaviors to horses, donkeys, and mules. And introducing a richer predator behavior system for wolves and foxes, so hunting pressure makes herds flee, and shelter matter more.
Long-term: bring this ecology to all passive mobs, deepening each species until Minecraft’s animals feel like a living ecosystem.
Requires NeoForge. Feedback appreciated!
