Spicing up the early game, without making it tedious
- Sticks are no longer craftable from planks, you get them from leaves and saplings.
- Mining stone drops rocks instead of cobble. In order to craft cobblestone, you'll need clay.
- Andesite, Diorite and Granite drop rocks, too.
- The corresponding blocks are crafted by surrounding a ball of clay with 8 rocks.
- Any 4 will turn into gravel, which can be crafted again into 4 generic rocks. All the cobblestone!
- Mining iron/gold now drops ore rocks, which smelt for one nugget each.
- Tools and armor drop one of their crafting components.
- Enchant tools with Scraping I/II/III to increase the chances it's the GOOD item.
- Enchant armor with Scraping I/II/III to increase the chances it's two instead.
- Drying rack
- Turn meat into jerky: not too nutritive, but highly saturating.
- Turn leather (which really, should be called hide), into tanned leather, for improved armour.
- Craft chainmail pieces with iron nuggets in a diamond shape, then use these diamond pieces to craft chainmail armor!
- Torches can set mobs on fire, but they have a high chance of breaking in the process.