Status: Active development. This mod is playable and stable enough to release, but it is still being actively expanded and tuned. Expect new sounds, new creatures, and balance changes in future updates. Feedback is very welcome.
Brings the world to life with realistic ambient wildlife audio that reacts to where you are, what time it is, and what season you're in. As you explore, you'll hear distant songbirds at dawn in forested areas, crows calling through the midday heat, hyenas whooping across the desert at dusk, wolves howling on cold winter nights, frogs and crickets singing in warm wet evenings, bats and dripping water deep underground, and much more — all randomized in volume, timing, and position so no two moments sound the same.
This mod runs entirely on the client. It does not need to be installed on a server, and the server does not need to know it exists. Each player installs it independently and hears their own ambient soundscape. It is safe to use on any multiplayer server.
Every 2 seconds the mod checks your current position and reads the world's climate data — temperature, rainfall, and forest density — along with the current time of day and season. It then compares those values against each configured sound group and plays sounds from any groups whose conditions are met. Sounds are placed at a randomized distance and direction around you (15–50 blocks away) to give the impression of wildlife nearby but out of sight. Volume is intentionally varied using a curve that biases most sounds toward the quieter end, with occasional closer-sounding calls to keep things feeling alive without being intrusive.
| Group | Biome | Time | Season |
|---|---|---|---|
| Songbirds & Cardinals | Warm, some vegetation | Dawn – Afternoon | All |
| Mourning Doves | Mild, any biome | Dawn – Morning | All |
| Loons | Cool, wet, open water | Dawn, Morning, Dusk, Night | All |
| Crows & Ravens | Anywhere | Morning – Afternoon | All |
| Crows in Flight | Anywhere | Dawn – Dusk | All |
| Owls | Cool, forested | Dusk – Night | All |
| Barn Owl Screeches | Temperate, any biome | Dusk – Night | All |
| Wolves | Cold, forested | Dusk – Dawn | Autumn, Winter, Spring |
| Wolf Pack | Cold, forested | Dusk – Dawn | Autumn, Winter, Spring |
| Hyenas | Hot, dry, open | Dusk – Dawn | All |
| Spring Peepers | Cool, wet | Dusk – Dawn | Spring |
| Summer Frogs & Crickets | Warm, wet | Dusk – Night | Summer |
| Frog Chorus | Warm, wet | Dusk – Dawn | Spring, Summer |
| Autumn Crickets | Cool, moderate rainfall | Dusk – Dawn | Autumn |
| Cicadas | Hot, forested | Morning – Afternoon | Summer |
| Squirrels | Warm, some vegetation | Morning – Afternoon | All |
| Woodpeckers | Temperate, forested | Dawn – Afternoon | Spring, Summer, Autumn |
| Flies | Near gnat swarms (proximity) | Any | All |
| Group | Where | Time | Season |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cave Drips | Underground (low skylight) | Any | All |
| Falling Stones | Underground | Any | All |
| Bats | Underground | Any | All |
| Cave Rustling | Underground | Any | All |
82 audio files across 22 sound types:
- Cardinals / Songbirds — cardinal_call 1–4, songbird_call 1–4
- Mourning Doves — mourning_dove 1–2
- Loons — loon_call 1–7
- Crows — crow_call 1–3
- Crows in Flight — crow_flight 1–4
- Ravens — raven_call 1
- Owls — owl_hoot 1–3
- Barn Owl Screeches — owl_screech 1–4
- Wolves — wolf_howl 1–3
- Wolf Pack — wolf_pack 1–4
- Hyenas — hyena_laugh 1–2, hyena_whoop 1–2
- Frogs — frog_croak 1–3
- Frog Chorus — frog_chorus 1–4
- Crickets — cricket_chirp 1–3
- Cicadas — cicada_buzz 1–3
- Squirrels — squirrel_chitter 1–3
- Woodpeckers — woodpecker_peck 1–3
- Flies — fly_buzz 1–4
- Cave Drips — cave_drip 1–4
- Falling Stones — cave_stone 1–4
- Bats — bat_screech 1–4
- Cave Rustling — cave_rustle 1–4
All commands are typed into the chat window.
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
.son status |
Shows your current temperature, rainfall, forest density, time of day, season, and which sound groups are eligible at your location. Use this to diagnose why certain sounds aren't playing. |
.son on |
Enables the mod (on by default) |
.son off |
Disables all ambient sounds |
.son vol 0.5 |
Sets a master volume multiplier from 0.0 to 2.0. Default is 1.0. Use this to globally scale sounds up or down. |
.son reload |
Hot-reloads soundgroups.json without restarting the game. Useful if you are tweaking the config file. |
.son nearby [radius] |
Lists entity types within the given radius (default 30 blocks) and the distance to the nearest of each. A diagnostic tool for checking what's around you. |
Run .son status and check the output. If your rainfall is 0.00 and forest density is 0.00, you are in a desert or arid open biome — only crows by day and hyenas at night will play there, which is intentional. Move to an area with some vegetation or moisture and you will hear a richer soundscape.
The file assets/soundsofnature/config/soundgroups.json inside the mod zip controls everything. You can edit it with any text editor to adjust:
- Which sounds play and how often
- Temperature, rainfall, and forest density thresholds
- Time of day and season restrictions
- Volume range and pitch variance
Use .son reload in-game after saving your changes so you don't need to restart.
To add new sounds, place .ogg files (OGG Vorbis format, 44100 Hz, stereo) into the sounds/ambient/ folder and reference them in the config.
Good sources for free wildlife audio:
- freesound.org — large library, filter by CC0 licence
- xeno-canto.org — Creative Commons bird recordings
- Zapsplat — free sound effects with attribution
Convert any audio to OGG Vorbis stereo 44100 Hz before adding. A quick ffmpeg command:
ffmpeg -i input.wav -ar 44100 -ac 2 -c:a libvorbis -q:a 5 output.ogg
I am not a developer — I am a hobbyist who built this mod through vibe coding with the help of an AI assistant. The mod is in active development, so expect ongoing changes. Feedback and improvements are welcome.