Modular Drones in FTB Evolution 2
FTB Evolution 2 1.4.0 ships version 1.3.2 · First seen in 1.0.2
Modular Drones is a mod in FTB Evolution 2 1.4.0, where it is version 1.3.2. Build a custom drone to follow you around and help you out. (Summary from the mod's Modrinth page.)
Modular Drones guide for FTB Evolution 2
Last verified for FTB Evolution 2 v1.4.0 on Oct 16, 2026 · text last changed Oct 16, 2026
- Sections
- 5
- Recipes shown
- 6
- Items named
- 6
Every recipe and number here was checked against FTB Evolution 2 1.4.0, read from the running game on Oct 17, 2026.
What is Modular Drones?
1 part
Modular Drones lets you build your own personal drone out of regular Minecraft blocks, then shrink it down and carry it as a small item. Once you equip it, the drone hovers alongside you, fighting off enemies, mining next to you, collecting dropped loot, lighting up dark caves, and more.[1]
The blocks you build with decide what your drone can do. You can stack abilities to get a companion that fits the way you play.[1]
- Rotors keep the drone in the air.[1]
- A dispenser gives it ranged attacks.[1]
- A beacon unleashes a powerful beam.[1]
- A magnetic lodestone makes it a tireless loot collector.[1]
Nothing is locked in forever. You can re-materialize your drone later to edit it, so you can keep tweaking the design until you are happy with it.[1]
In this pack
This pack includes Modular Drones 1.3.2. It has been in the pack since version 1.0.2 or earlier.[2]
Modular Drones is a fork of rearth's Buddy Drones, which was made for the CurseForge "The Future" modjam. It has since gone its own way with new features, balance changes and improvements.[1]
How do you get started with Modular Drones?
4 parts
Modular Drones lets you build a personal drone out of regular Minecraft blocks, shrink it into a small item and carry it with you. Once you equip it, the drone hovers alongside you. Your first job is to make the pieces you need to build one, so here they are in order.[1]
First: make Assembly Frames
Start with the Assembly Frame. This is the spot where you build your drone, and one craft gives you 6 of them.[3][4]
Crafting Shaped
| Smooth Stone | Smooth Stone | Smooth Stone |
| any log | Iron Ingot | any log |
| Smooth Stone | Smooth Stone | Smooth Stone |
Recipe id: drones:crafting/_frame
One craft makes 6 Assembly Frames.
Next: make the Drone Assembly Controller
Next comes the Drone Assembly Controller. Its in-game tooltip says it is used to create a modular drone: you place it next to an assembly frame, then build your drone on that frame.[4]
Crafting Shaped
| Smooth Stone | Smooth Stone | Smooth Stone |
| any log | Iron Ingot | any log |
| Redstone | Repeater | Redstone |
Recipe id: drones:crafting/_controller
Then: make rotors
The blocks you build with decide what your drone can do, and rotors are what keep it in the air. The pack has recipes for the Wooden Rotor and the Advanced Rotor, so craft one before you build.[1][3]
Crafting Shaped
| any plank | Stick | any plank |
| Stick | Copper Ingot | Stick |
| any plank | any plank | any plank |
Recipe id: drones:crafting/_woodrotor
Crafting Shaped
| Iron Ingot | Stick | Iron Ingot |
| Stick | Copper Ingot | Stick |
| Iron Ingot | Iron Ingot | Iron Ingot |
Recipe id: drones:crafting/_ironrotor
The pack also has crafting recipes for the Ion Thruster and the Drill.[3]
Crafting Shaped
| Iron Ingot | Stick | Iron Ingot |
| Stick | Diamond | Stick |
| Iron Ingot | Iron Ingot | Iron Ingot |
Recipe id: drones:crafting/_ionrotor
Finally: build and assemble
- Place the controller next to an assembly frame.[4]
- Build your drone on that frame from regular blocks. Rotors keep it airborne, and other blocks add abilities: a dispenser gives ranged attacks, a beacon unleashes a powerful beam and a magnetic lodestone makes it collect loot.[1][4]
- When assembly works, the game tells you the drone has been added to your inventory. If something is wrong, it asks you to check your drone configuration.[4]
How does Modular Drones work?
4 parts
Modular Drones is about building a custom drone out of regular blocks, shrinking it into an item and carrying it with you. The sources show how that works, so here is what they confirm.[1]
Building a drone
You build your drone out of regular Minecraft blocks, then shrink it down and carry it as a small item. Once you equip it, it hovers alongside you. It can fight enemies, mine next to you, collect dropped loot and light up dark caves.[1]
The blocks you use decide what the drone can do. You can stack abilities to get a companion that fits how you play.[1]
The build starts with the Drone Assembly Controller and the Assembly Frame. The controller's tooltip says it is used to create a modular drone: place it next to an assembly frame, then build your drone on that frame.[4]
Crafting Shaped
| Smooth Stone | Smooth Stone | Smooth Stone |
| any log | Iron Ingot | any log |
| Redstone | Repeater | Redstone |
Recipe id: drones:crafting/_controller
The Drone Assembly Controller, which you place next to the frame.
Crafting Shaped
| Smooth Stone | Smooth Stone | Smooth Stone |
| any log | Iron Ingot | any log |
| Smooth Stone | Smooth Stone | Smooth Stone |
Recipe id: drones:crafting/_frame
One craft makes 6 Assembly Frames.
When assembly works, the game tells you the drone has been added to your inventory. If something is wrong with the build, it asks you to check your drone configuration.[4]
A finished drone can always be re-materialized for editing later, so you can change your design and perfect it.[1]
Thrusters and rotors
Rotors keep the drone in the air. This mod's data sorts its flying blocks into low, medium and strong thruster tiers, and these tiers all feed into the general thruster tag.[1][5]
- Low tier: the Wooden Rotor.[6]
- Medium tier: the Advanced Rotor.[7]
- Strong tier: the Ion Thruster.[8]
Crafting Shaped
| any plank | Stick | any plank |
| Stick | Copper Ingot | Stick |
| any plank | any plank | any plank |
Recipe id: drones:crafting/_woodrotor
Wooden Rotor, the low tier.
Crafting Shaped
| Iron Ingot | Stick | Iron Ingot |
| Stick | Copper Ingot | Stick |
| Iron Ingot | Iron Ingot | Iron Ingot |
Recipe id: drones:crafting/_ironrotor
Advanced Rotor, the medium tier.
Crafting Shaped
| Iron Ingot | Stick | Iron Ingot |
| Stick | Diamond | Stick |
| Iron Ingot | Iron Ingot | Iron Ingot |
Recipe id: drones:crafting/_ionrotor
Ion Thruster, the strong tier.
Blocks that give abilities
The mod reads vanilla blocks as well as its own. Here is what the sources confirm.[1]
- A dispenser gives the drone ranged attacks. The mod's arrow launcher tag contains the vanilla dispenser.[1][9]
- A beacon unleashes a powerful beam. The mod's beam source tag contains the vanilla beacon.[1][10]
- A magnetic lodestone makes the drone a tireless loot collector. The mod's pickup tools tag contains the vanilla lodestone.[1][11]
- The Drill is the only block in the mod's mining tools tag.[12]
- Magma blocks and cacti are listed in the mod's melee damage tag.[13]
The Drill, the block in the mining tools tag.
Wearing the drone
The finished item is called the Pocket Drone. Its tooltips say to equip it in the head slot to use it, or in an accessory slot. The mod's drone slot tag contains the Pocket Drone.[4][14]
Unverified The sources here show no config files for this mod in the pack, and there is no in-jar guidebook to read. Exact values such as how strong each thruster tier is are therefore not shown here.
How do you progress through Modular Drones?
3 parts
The clearest progression in Modular Drones is the thruster ladder. The mod sorts its thruster blocks into low, medium and strong groups, and each step up is a stronger rotor or thruster you craft.[6][7][8]
Thruster tiers
- Low tier: the Wooden Rotor is the only block in the low thruster group.[6]
- Medium tier: the Advanced Rotor is the only block in the medium thruster group.[7]
- Strong tier: the Ion Thruster is the only block in the strong thruster group.[8]
The general thruster tag collects the low, medium and strong groups, and it also lists an ultra group.[5]
Crafting each thruster
Crafting Shaped
| any plank | Stick | any plank |
| Stick | Copper Ingot | Stick |
| any plank | any plank | any plank |
Recipe id: drones:crafting/_woodrotor
The first rung: the Wooden Rotor, the low tier thruster.
Crafting Shaped
| Iron Ingot | Stick | Iron Ingot |
| Stick | Copper Ingot | Stick |
| Iron Ingot | Iron Ingot | Iron Ingot |
Recipe id: drones:crafting/_ironrotor
Step up to the Advanced Rotor for the medium tier.
Crafting Shaped
| Iron Ingot | Stick | Iron Ingot |
| Stick | Diamond | Stick |
| Iron Ingot | Iron Ingot | Iron Ingot |
Recipe id: drones:crafting/_ionrotor
The Ion Thruster is the strong tier.
Building blocks and tools
Beyond thrusters, the pack has in-pack recipes for the Drone Assembly Controller, the Assembly Frame and the Drill. The frame recipe gives you 6 Assembly Frames per craft.[3]
Crafting Shaped
| Smooth Stone | Smooth Stone | Smooth Stone |
| any log | Iron Ingot | any log |
| Smooth Stone | Smooth Stone | Smooth Stone |
Recipe id: drones:crafting/_frame
Each craft makes 6 Assembly Frames.
Crafting Shaped
| Smooth Stone | Smooth Stone | Smooth Stone |
| any log | Iron Ingot | any log |
| Redstone | Repeater | Redstone |
Recipe id: drones:crafting/_controller
The Drill is the mod's listed mining tool block.
What changed in Modular Drones between versions?
1 part
FTB Evolution 2 1.1.0 ships Modular Drones version 1.3.2. The mod has been in the pack since FTB Evolution 2 1.0.2 or earlier, so you are not looking at a recent addition.[2]
Modular Drones 1.3.2
The one change the mod's own changelog gives for 1.3.2 is about how your drones treat piglins. Drones no longer attack piglins or zombie piglins that are currently passive. They will engage them once they become hostile, just like Endermen.[15]
Unverified The sources here include no pack changelog entries for this mod, so whether any FTB Evolution 2 release changed Modular Drones values or recipes is not shown. Earlier Modular Drones versions are not covered by the sources either.
Sources
- Modular Drones project page (modrinth) · official mod data
- FTB Evolution 2 1.1.0 mod list · pack file
- FTB Evolution 2 1.1.0 recipe dump: recipes making Modular Drones items · pack recipe dump
- drones names, screen text and descriptions (English lang file) · official mod data
- data/drones/tags/block/thruster.json (drones's jar) · official mod data
- data/drones/tags/block/low_thruster.json (drones's jar) · official mod data
- data/drones/tags/block/medium_thruster.json (drones's jar) · official mod data
- data/drones/tags/block/strong_thruster.json (drones's jar) · official mod data
- data/drones/tags/block/arrow_launcher.json (drones's jar) · official mod data
- data/drones/tags/block/beam_source.json (drones's jar) · official mod data
- data/drones/tags/block/pickup_tools.json (drones's jar) · official mod data
- data/drones/tags/block/mining_tools.json (drones's jar) · official mod data
- data/drones/tags/block/melee_damage.json (drones's jar) · official mod data
- data/drones/tags/item/slot/drone.json (drones's jar) · official mod data
- Modular Drones 1.3.2 changelog · changelog
Where this guide comes from
Written from what FTB Evolution 2 itself ships: its files and recipes, the in-game guidebooks and the mods' own pages. Every statement links to the source it came from, and the numbers are checked against the pack before publishing.
Guide last verified Oct 16, 2026.
Report wrong info
Version in each release
9 releases, first in 1.0.2
| FTB Evolution 2 | Version | Jar | Where it came from |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.4.0 Oct 17, 2026 | 1.3.2 | drones-neoforge-26.1.2-1.3.2.jar | From the published release |
| 1.3.2 Oct 16, 2026 | 1.3.2 | drones-neoforge-26.1.2-1.3.2.jar | From the published release |
| 1.3.1 Oct 15, 2026 | 1.3.2 | drones-neoforge-26.1.2-1.3.2.jar | From the published release |
| 1.3.0 Oct 14, 2026 | 1.3.2 | drones-neoforge-26.1.2-1.3.2.jar | From the published release |
| 1.2.2 Oct 13, 2026 | 1.3.2 | drones-neoforge-26.1.2-1.3.2.jar | From the published release |
| 1.2.1 Oct 12, 2026 | 1.3.2 | drones-neoforge-26.1.2-1.3.2.jar | From the published release |
| 1.2.0 Oct 12, 2026 | 1.3.2 | drones-neoforge-26.1.2-1.3.2.jar | From the published release |
| 1.1.0 Oct 10, 2026 | 1.3.2 | drones-neoforge-26.1.2-1.3.2.jar | From the published release |
| 1.0.2 Oct 8, 2026 | 1.3.2 | drones-neoforge-26.1.2-1.3.2.jar | From the published release |
"From pack files" means the list came from the pack's own files; "from the published release" means ForgeBase read the jars of the release itself.
Comments and tips
Loading comments...