Understanding Grave Protection, Timers, and Item Loss

Graves are not permanent. Two separate timers govern them, and knowing both prevents losing your gear.

The two timers

• Protection timer: for a short period after death, other players cannot open your grave. You can always access your own grave during this window.
• Decay timer: after a longer period, the grave breaks on its own and everything inside is destroyed.

The exact durations are set in the mod's config file, so they differ between worlds and servers. Ask your server admin or check the config if you need the real numbers.

What this means in practice

• In single-player, the protection timer is irrelevant — only the decay timer matters. If you die far from home, decide immediately whether the trip is worth it.
• On a server, the protection window is your head start. After it expires, any player can loot the grave, so treat the trip as urgent.
• PvP deaths may be handled differently depending on configuration; some setups disable graves entirely during player combat, meaning no grave spawns at all.

Practical habit

After reading the death coordinates in chat, write them down or screenshot the message. Chat scrolls away, and the grave gives no second announcement when it is about to expire.