You're standing on a tiny patch of dirt. There’s a tree, maybe some grass, and a whole lot of nothingness stretching out into the void. This is ATM10 To the Sky. If you’ve played any skyblock iteration before, you know the drill: wood is life. But in this specific pack—built on the bleeding edge of Minecraft 1.21—there’s a humble cube that honestly carries the entire early game on its back. I’m talking about the All the Mods 10 To the Sky charcoal block.
It’s easy to overlook. It’s just charcoal, right? Wrong.
In a world where you can't just go mining for coal in a cave, your fuel economy is everything. Most players waste hours babysitting individual pieces of charcoal in a furnace. That’s a rookie move. The charcoal block is your first real step toward automation and thermal efficiency. It’s the difference between waiting for a single iron ingot to smell and actually being able to walk away from your computer to grab a coffee without your progress stalling out.
The Math Behind the Burn
Let’s get into the nitty-gritty because the numbers actually matter here. A single piece of charcoal burns for 80 seconds (smelting 8 items). A charcoal block, crafted from nine pieces of charcoal, doesn’t just burn for nine times that amount. In most modern modpacks, including ATM10, the burn time is significantly incentivized.
Think about it.
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If you’re using a standard vanilla-adjacent furnace, that block is giving you 800 seconds of burn time. You're getting a "bonus" Smelt. Instead of 72 items, you're hitting 80. While that might seem small when you're just starting, think about the scale. When you start sieving crushed sky-resources and hitting those early-game bottlenecks, every single percentage point of efficiency counts.
Getting Your First Blocks Without Losing Your Mind
You need wood. Lots of it. In ATM10 To the Sky, you'll likely start with the Force Growing mechanics or simple bone meal spamming. Once you have a decent tree farm—even a manual one—you need to stop smelting logs into charcoal one by one.
The All the Mods 10 To the Sky charcoal block is your storage solution too. Chest space is a premium. You’re dealing with limited wood, limited iron for hoppers, and limited space to put stuff. Condensing your fuel into blocks isn't just about burn time; it's about not having sixteen double chests full of black lumps.
Here is how the workflow usually goes for the pros:
First, get a Crook. Use that to get silkworms. Get string. Get a bed. (Actually, get a bed immediately so you don't deal with Phantoms in the void, which is a nightmare). Once the "survival" part is handled, build a 2x2 spruce tree. These giant trees yield the most wood per sapling. Take that wood, shove it into a furnace, and immediately craft your first charcoal block.
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Beyond the Furnace: Why the Charcoal Block Matters for Modded Tech
ATM10 isn't just about vanilla smelting. We’re talking about GregTech (if you're brave), Mekanism, and Thermal Series.
Many early-game power generators, like the Stirling Generator or the Heat Generator from Mekanism, accept charcoal blocks. This is huge. A charcoal block provides a steady, long-term power draw. If you’re trying to run a basic Metallurgic Infuser, you don't want the power to flick off every 30 seconds because a single charcoal piece ran out. The All the Mods 10 To the Sky charcoal block provides a buffer. It’s like a battery made of burnt wood.
Also, let's talk about the "All the Ores" aspect. This pack loves its custom recipes. Often, compressed versions of items are required for mid-tier crafting components. While charcoal blocks are primarily fuel, they also serve as a foundational element for decorative blocks or even early-game pigment if you're into the aesthetic side of skyblock building.
Common Mistakes People Make with Charcoal in ATM10
Honestly, the biggest mistake is not automating the wood-to-charcoal pipeline fast enough. People get stuck in the "manual grind" phase.
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- Using individual charcoal for torches instead of the block for mass-smelting.
- Forgetting that some mods in the pack allow you to "double smelt" or use "sawdust" to increase yield.
- Not using a Hopper. Seriously. A single chest, a hopper, and a furnace fueled by a charcoal block can process your entire first haul of sieved ore chunks while you’re out expanding your platform.
Another thing? Don't forget the Charcoal Pit. Depending on which specific sub-mods are active in the current 1.21 build of ATM10, there are often ways to create charcoal in bulk without using a furnace at all. If you can create a charcoal pit, you’ll be swimming in enough material to make stacks of charcoal blocks in minutes.
The Path to Infinite Fuel
Eventually, you’ll move past the charcoal block. You’ll get to lava generators, or maybe solar, or the inevitable star-power of the late game. But for those first 10 to 20 hours? The charcoal block is your best friend. It represents the transition from "homeless guy on a floating rock" to "industrial tycoon of the void."
It’s reliable. It’s cheap. It’s efficient.
Next time you’re looking at a stack of logs, don't just make planks. Make a furnace. Make some charcoal. Craft that All the Mods 10 To the Sky charcoal block. Your future self, who isn't standing around waiting for iron to melt, will thank you.
Actionable Insights for Your ATM10 Run
If you want to maximize your early game right now, do these three things:
- Prioritize Spruce: Grow 2x2 spruce trees as soon as you get the saplings. The wood volume is unparalleled for charcoal production.
- Compress Immediately: Never store loose charcoal. Always craft them into blocks to save space and gain that slight burn-time efficiency.
- Hopper Feed: Set up a simple vertical "auto-smelter" using three chests and two hoppers. Fuel the bottom with charcoal blocks and let it run in the background while you work on your quest book.
- Check for "Tiny" Charcoal: Some versions of the pack include "Tiny Charcoal." Don't let these clutter your inventory; use them for torches and save the big blocks for the heavy lifting.
Getting your fuel situation under control is the first real "win" in any skyblock. Once you aren't worried about the lights staying on, you can actually start playing the modpack.