Borax/Lime/Chalk/Marble for leather is waaaaaaay too hard to find.

[LadyWYT]

1 minute ago, Zane Mordien said:

Also avoid pine trees. If they spawn in pine trees I've never seen it.

Funny you say that, because half the ones I find seem to be in pines.  I think it depends on where the pine trees are though. If it's a mixed forest, there's probably a good chance of finding bees in there. Forests that are exclusively pine though tend to either be in dry regions, or colder regions, neither of which will spawn bees.

[Zane Mordien]

It is Crazy, I've found so many bees and never ever in a single pine tree. I feel like I would have just accidentally found one in my hunt for resin. For me its always a maple tree where I find them. 

[MKMoose]

1 hour ago, LadyWYT said:

9 hours ago, Discipline Before Dishonor said:

Bees have driven me crazy before, I literally had a world where there wasn't a single forgetmenot or daisy for what seemed like hundreds of miles, I literally quit that world because I couldn't even find a forest suited to bee generation lol. Apparently those flowers, along with specific trees indicate bee viability, but if you don't see those flowers, they can't spawn there

To my knowledge, bees just require a warmish climate without too much rainfall in order to spawn, as well as a tree or something to spawn in. The flower type doesn't matter--the plant just needs to count as a flower in order for the bees to use it. 

It's not that bees only spawn when there are certain flowers or trees nearby; it's that plants, just like bees, have specific climate requirements to spawn. If a tree's or flower's requirements overlap strongly with bees, then finding those plants can be an indication that bees may spawn in the area as well, though this is only really reliable for temperature as it has less significant local variations.

Bees require the following conditions:

• yearly average temperature: 5 - 35 deg. C (temperate climates are on the lower end of this range, so it's possible to find them on default spawn parameters but preferable to move south when searching),
• rainfall: 0.35 - 0.95 (either common or very common in the character panel),
• forest: 0.25 - 1 (basically anything resembling a forest is good enough).

 

9 hours ago, Discipline Before Dishonor said:

Apparently those flowers, along with specific trees indicate bee viability, but if you don't see those flowers, they can't spawn there

Notable tells that a location is somewhere in the correct temperature range (but not necessarily correct rainfall and forestation levels) include:

• crimson maple, walnut, redwood, cypress (both) - all of these trees never generate outside of the 5-35 temperature range,
• catmint, forget me not, wild daisy, and golden poppy - all of these flowers also never generate outside of that temperature range.

Do keep in mind, though, that a place having none of these plants does not mean that bees can't spawn there. Many plants spawn in very narrow conditions, and they may appear in places where bees actually can't spawn, even though the temperature is correct. There is no clear, unambiguous indicator that bees can spawn in an area (unless maybe if you get a perfect combination of plants in a small area, but I don't even know if it's actually possible), and all the plants are little more than a rough indication that you are in the right climate. They don't have to be present for bees to spawn, and their absence doesn't prevent bees from spawning.

And lastly, if you find yourself wanting to be absolutely sure whether bees can spawn in a place or not, the generation parameters (yearly average temperature, rainfall, forest, as well as other stuff which is irrelevant in this context) can be checked for your location using the command /wgen pos climate.

Edited December 6, 2025 by MKMoose

[Discipline Before Dishonor]

2 hours ago, LadyWYT said:

If that one isn't your fancy, you might try out Ancient Tools. It adds a different leatherworking option that does not require lime or tannin, plus several other fun little things.

https://mods.vintagestory.at/ancienttools

Yes and no. Landform Scale governs the size of mountains, plains, and other features. Biomes are a lot trickier though, as they're governed by latitude, temperature, rainfall, and forest coverage. I don't think there's really a way to make them bigger, as much as there are ways to make certain climates more prominent.

 

To my knowledge, bees just require a warmish climate without too much rainfall in order to spawn, as well as a tree or something to spawn in. The flower type doesn't matter--the plant just needs to count as a flower in order for the bees to use it. 

If you're having trouble locating bees, the Buzzwords mod can help you find them. https://mods.vintagestory.at/buzzwords

Only reason I say that about the bees is that the wiki entry for wild bees says you should look for those specific flowers and certain trees too, because they're markers for the appropriate climate for bees to spawn in. It specifically says to seek forgetmenots and daisies, among other things

[dakko]

4 hours ago, MKMoose said:

rainfall: 0.35 - 0.95 (either common or very common in the character panel),

Common and Very Common cover 0.45-0.90 rainfall -- Uncommon and a tiny bit of Almost All The Time are also suitable for bees.

Edited December 6, 2025 by dakko

[MKMoose]

3 minutes ago, dakko said:

Common and Very Common cover 0.45-0.90 rainfall -- Uncommon and a tiny bit of Almost All The Time are also suitable for bees.

Right, I kind of missed that, thank you. Although, keep in mind that if you ever find yourself wondering "can bees spawn here?", you'd generally prefer not to risk the chance and be in a common or very common area.

Edited December 6, 2025 by MKMoose
Spelling

[dakko]

8 minutes ago, MKMoose said:

Right, I kind of missed that, thank you. Although, keep in mind that if you ever find yourself wondering "can bees spawn here?", you'd generally prefer not to risk the chance and be in a common or very common area.

There is only a small portion of the uncommon range that is not suitable for bees, so the risk is pretty low (it's my preferred area to settle and I've had no trouble finding bees).

[dakko]

Perhaps one solution to the borax/lime/chalk/marble issue could be to provide a worldgen option for stone-type at/near spawn; default could be "random." Many people restart over and over again until they get the stone they want. Why not make it more convenient?

Btw, @Discipline Before Dishonor, thank you for mentioning the BetterProspecting mod.

[Scorpixel]

2 hours ago, dakko said:

Perhaps one solution to the borax/lime/chalk/marble issue could be to provide a worldgen option for stone-type at/near spawn; default could be "random." Many people restart over and over again until they get the stone they want. Why not make it more convenient?

Btw, @Discipline Before Dishonor, thank you for mentioning the BetterProspecting mod.

It's only slightly annoying to have to restart a dozen times to find a world that won't ask you to travel thousands of blocks for mid-tier progression stuff, the issue is for people that do not know they have to.

How many times do new players start their first world, have fun for some time, struggle to understand why they just can't get leather and the like, then get told "too bad your world's bricked, better have six hours of free time to maybe find some in a random direction or abandon all your progress for a new save"

No one's asking for a starter chest with a stack of obsidian, resin, ebony seeds, a hive and Disneyworld yearly pass. I really cannot grasp why leather, a midgame common gear material, has to be so tightly tied to spawn rng.

[TJ Pepler]

Tiny mod idea, 1) Create a new bucket, call it the 'pot to piss in' 2) Player can 'use' bucket once every few hours 3) Bucket fills barrel eventually 4) Urine replaces lime water in leather working process just like real life 5) Profit

[LadyWYT]

16 hours ago, TJ Pepler said:

Tiny mod idea, 1) Create a new bucket, call it the 'pot to piss in' 2) Player can 'use' bucket once every few hours 3) Bucket fills barrel eventually 4) Urine replaces lime water in leather working process just like real life 5) Profit

https://mods.vintagestory.at/naturescall

[Maelstrom]

On 12/6/2025 at 9:43 AM, Zane Mordien said:

@Discipline Before Dishonor I had so much frustrations with finding bees at first. Nowadays I find them all the time with no issues. 

IMO the first thing they should do to find bees is turn off the music and put on headphones. Also avoid pine trees. If they spawn in pine trees I've never seen it.

In my first long term world (1.14 spawn) I found bees about 3,000 blocks from home.  Then clearing some pine trees <100 blocks from home I was suprised when honeycomb suddenly appeared in my inventory.   Pesky things had spawned about 15-20 blocks up and out of earshot.  By that time I had my fenced off apiary humming like a well oiled drif... machine.

[Maelstrom]

On 12/6/2025 at 7:53 AM, Mowdan said:

I need a source of lime too but it is winter and I don't want to go too far out. Not sure how I even look for it, is it just on the surface or do you need to did past some rock? Does opening more mine shafts give you a chance to find? Or do you just travel out to see it on the surface?

Like all other rock strata rocks will appear on the surface if it is the top rock strata.   It could be the second layer of rock if there's multiple layers of sedimentary rock above the igneous rock layer.  If you are looking for lime (chalk also breaks down into lime) the best way to find it is pick a direction and run for a day or two.  If you haven't found it, return home, rinse and repeat picking a different direction.

[freelikegnu]

It's been my experience that I will find nearly everything I need after repairing a few translocators.  Often I will be teleported far away to an area with a different climate as well and new resources, traders, etc.  I realize that getting to the point of fixing these generally requires fighting some horrors, but you can use terrain (particularly water) to greatly tip the advantage in your favor (even if you have minimal or no armor and only stone weapons).  Many TLs can be also found very close to the surface if you poke into every cave you encounter.    

[OBAMFSpike]

What's truly ludicrous is having to throw away perfectly good brains that are used for nothing while having to dig up something out of rock when the skull being tossed already contains required commodities for tanning hides. 

 

[LadyWYT]

14 minutes ago, OBAMFSpike said:

What's truly ludicrous is having to throw away perfectly good brains that are used for nothing while having to dig up something out of rock when the skull being tossed already contains required commodities for tanning hides. 

 

You should look up the Ancient Tools mod 

[Loosebearings]

I feel like there should be an easier, less luck dependant way to process leather. Lye is another alkali solution historically used in leather making similar to limewater able to be processed from ash. Maybe lye (or something similar) could be added as an early game option for leather. The process should of course be time consuming and hard to scale up to keep balance, yet it wouldn't be dependant on how lucky your spawn is since you can get wood ash almost everywhere. Then mining lime could be for the mid-late game when if you really need to get your leather production going.

[Vexxvididu]

I cleared the resonance archives yesterday!  The path to and from the place included whole mountains of chalk!  Made me think of all the people I know of who've struggled to find it.  I also finally found Bauxite on this trip.  I think it's just the intended design of the game that sometimes you have to travel far to find something.

...though I still have some things I've never found out in the world, such as bees and lead.  I DID find some galena in the Archives though!

[LadyWYT]

1 hour ago, Loosebearings said:

Lye is another alkali solution historically used in leather making similar to limewater able to be processed from ash. Maybe lye (or something similar) could be added as an early game option for leather.

Might I introduce you to this mod? https://mods.vintagestory.at/show/mod/25902

Very fun mod that adds this function, as well as other goodies to play with.

There's also this mod as well: https://mods.vintagestory.at/ancienttools

It adds an alternate leatherworking process based on Native American techniques, as well as several other useful little things.

1 hour ago, Vexxvididu said:

I think it's just the intended design of the game that sometimes you have to travel far to find something.

Pretty much. I've had a couple of maps that were missing a key resource for the late game, like borax or bauxite. It doesn't happen very often, but when it does I usually figure out a workaround involving stuff I don't typically use(like seashells and linen sacks). I'll also tend to go start the main story around that time as well, rather than keep looking for the missing material. Given how farflung the locations tend to be, there's a decent chance I'll find a lead on the material while charting a course to the story location.

[dakko]

5 hours ago, LadyWYT said:

Might I introduce you to this mod? https://mods.vintagestory.at/show/mod/25902

Very fun mod that adds this function, as well as other goodies to play with.

omg, the mod I never knew I needed! 

There is also a more basic version that omits the other goodies: Soap and Lye @Loosebearings

[Zane Mordien]

7 hours ago, LadyWYT said:

Might I introduce you to this mod? https://mods.vintagestory.at/show/mod/25902

Very fun mod that adds this function, as well as other goodies to play with.

There's also this mod as well: https://mods.vintagestory.at/ancienttools

It adds an alternate leatherworking process based on Native American techniques, as well as several other useful little things.

Pretty much. I've had a couple of maps that were missing a key resource for the late game, like borax or bauxite. It doesn't happen very often, but when it does I usually figure out a workaround involving stuff I don't typically use(like seashells and linen sacks). I'll also tend to go start the main story around that time as well, rather than keep looking for the missing material. Given how farflung the locations tend to be, there's a decent chance I'll find a lead on the material while charting a course to the story location.

I just beat my head on the keyboard until I find the resource. Bauxite is the one that leads me on long runs more than limestone or borax. 

[Loosebearings]

13 hours ago, Zane Mordien said:

I just beat my head on the keyboard until I find the resource. Bauxite is the one that leads me on long runs more than limestone or borax. 

On my first world I found limestone fairly easily, yet no borax or bauxite. But on the world I have with my friend I've found borax and bauxite while travelling south to settle down.

It seems like a world can't have all three.

[ShadowsEdge]

~ DBD
Borax you can find "bits" you can find on the ground. Similar to finding copper bits, brown coal bits, etc. If you find them on the surface, there will be some directly below by digging & then mining within 20 blocks down. Problem is, Borax bits look EXACTLY like quartz bits... so you might have just ran by several already.
Have a pickaxe & prospecting pick along so you can do an area search. If it gets down to "trace" amounts, best to move on.  Unless you're like me and JUST GOT TO HAVE THOSE LAST 5. Once you become aware of what you're looking for, you see them everywhere. Especially, ESPECIALLY when hunting... or running from a bear.
~ Zane
Bee's take a few years to spring up when you 1st start. If you're lucky you might fined 1 but headphones & turned up sound settings help. after about the 4th year, they were EVERYWHERE. I'm getting 3 to 10 combs every time I go out and wander now, (6th year).

[Ravensblade]

I think borax is just quite weird. The only good thing it's in sedimentary rocks so you don't need to dig to deep. I established whole base to dig tunnels in grid in area with 0,5% of it. Funny how i find no borax but i found Zinc and Tin even when it was minuscule amounts on pick.

Randomly why hunting for food i fund lead ore bit, and when mining lead i checked if i mined everything and there it was - Borax around 100 of it, in chunk with minuscule amount.

Limestone is actually quite easy - i just use traders for it if i see none of it when scouting. I believe Commodities Trader have them, and when they have it, it's quite a amount. As for leather i may be wrong on it but bear fur generates a lot more (2 or 3 times) scrapped hide per limestone then others.

Edited 5 hours ago by Ravensblade

[marmarmar34]

My solution is hop in random caves looking for ruins. There's been instances where crates had limestone or ores that I was looking for. If you find a translocator, it's like 2 ruins for the price of one! That, and the new region may have exactly what you need!