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Trowel & Error

A spiritual successor to Torojima's abandoned Buildhelper wands, rebuilt from scratch as a set of mason's trowels for Minecraft 1.21.11.

NeoForgeForge
Loaders
NeoForgeForge
Downloads on Modrinth
101
Followers on Modrinth
0
versions
9
Updated
October 9, 2026Oct 9
Published
in 2026
CopyPaste — Copy/Paste Trowel ready to paste with wireframe preview. · swipe

At a glance

Runs on NeoForge and Forge
For Minecraft 1.21.11, 26.1.1–26.3 …
Works on either side — install it in the game, on the server, or both
Latest version — 1.0.0 from October 9, 2026
License GPL-3.0-or-later — free
Where it's needed
In gameoptionalOn serveroptional

Works both in the game and on the server — install where you need it

Game versions1.21.1, 1.21.11, 26.1.1–26.3

Trowel & Error

An unofficial, from-scratch spiritual successor to Torojima’s wonderful but abandoned Buildhelper wands — rebuilt for Minecraft 1.21.11 (Forge) and reimagined as a full set of builder’s tools.

If you ever begged for a Buildhelper update, this is the mod those threads were waiting for. Every wand you loved has been recreated, plus many new quality-of-life tools the original never had.

This is an unofficial continuation. All credit for the original concepts goes to Torojima. Written entirely from scratch and not affiliated with the original author.

The Tool Belt

Building Trowels

  • Fill Down / Random Fill Down Trowel – Creates support columns that fill straight down
  • Gap Fill / Random Gap Fill Trowel – Fills empty space with a block (or random variants)
  • Exchange / Random Exchange Trowel – Replaces one block type with another across a region
  • Cube Digger Trowel – Configurable shape (Square / Circle / Diamond), depth 1–6, and ore-sparing mode
  • Copy-Paste Trowel – Copy a structure and paste it with rotation + live wireframe preview
  • Air Trowel – Quickly clear large areas
  • Fire Trowel – Utility / combat tool
  • Undo Trowel – Reverses the last action (stores up to 10 actions per world)

Fluid Tools

  • Water Fill Ladle & Lava Fill Ladle – Fill a selected region with fluid
  • Drain Ladle – Removes water and lava from a region
  • Sponge Mop – Instantly clears a large volume of fluid (perfect for ocean monuments)
  • Water Hose & Lava Hose – Sprays a line of fluid in the direction you’re looking (sneak for flowing fluid)

Crafting

All tools now have crafting recipes and appear in the recipe book. Click here to see the recipes.

Controls

  • G (rebindable) – Open Cube Digger options while holding the digger
  • Most tools use right-click (sneak for alternate modes)
  • Two-point selection tools: right-click to set point A, then point B

Requirements

  • Minecraft 1.21.11
  • Forge 61.x
  • Client + Server friendly

Credits

Torojima — for the original Buildhelper.

Built with love, spite, and an unreasonable tolerance for API refactors by Emmery Chrisco.

Found a bug or have a tool idea? Drop it in the comments!

Author's Tools

Minecraft Manager 2.0 — Lightweight desktop manager for toggling mods, shaders, resource packs, and automated world backups without extra launcher fluff.

FAQ

How to install Trowel & Error?

Install NeoForge for your Minecraft version, download Trowel & Error for the same version and loader, put the file into the mods folder and launch the game with the loader profile.

Which Minecraft versions does Trowel & Error support?

Trowel & Error has builds for Minecraft 1.21.1, 1.21.11, 26.1.1–26.3.

Is Trowel & Error needed on the server?

Works on either side — install it in the game, on the server, or both

License and source
GNU General Public License v3.0 or laterfree to use and share; changes to the mod itself must be published under the same license
Original — Modrinth↗Files unchanged, verified with SHA-512Is this your mod? For rights holders

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