Item Guide · Charms of Keeping & Life
Charm of Keeping Twilight Forest Guide: Every Tier and the Charm of Life
This Charm of Keeping Twilight Forest guide shows what each tier saves when you die, where charms drop, how to upgrade them and how the Charm of Life compares to a Totem.
Last checked: October 31, 2026 · Works for 1.21.1 and 26.1.2 builds
Quick Answer
A Charm of Keeping in Twilight Forest saves part of your inventory when you die. Tier I keeps your armor, offhand and the item in your hand. Tier II adds your whole hotbar. Tier III keeps everything. The charm is used up on death and your items come back when you click Respawn. A Charm of Life is different: it stops the death from happening at all.
What does the Charm of Keeping do, tier by tier?
The charm only has to be somewhere on you: main inventory, hotbar, offhand or a Curios charm slot. When you die, the mod checks for the highest tier first and uses only one charm. If you carry a Tier III and a Tier I, the Tier III is spent and the Tier I stays with you.
| Charm | Armor + offhand | Item in hand | Full hotbar | Main inventory | How to get |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charm of Keeping I (Common) | Yes | Yes | No | No | Structure chests, Maze Slimes |
| Charm of Keeping II (Uncommon) | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | 4 x Tier I, or Fancy Well chests |
| Charm of Keeping III (Rare) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 4 x Tier II (16 Tier I in total) |
Curios bonus. If Curios is installed, any tier of Charm of Keeping also keeps every item in your Curios slots, such as rings, belts and backpacks.
Charm of Life: the charm that cancels death
The Charm of Life triggers the moment you would die. Instead of the death screen, you stay alive with some health and a few effects. It also works when the keepInventory game rule is on, so it is useful on any server.
Charm of Life I
Sets your health to 4 hearts and gives Regeneration I for 5 seconds. Enough to step back from a mob, not enough to keep fighting a boss.
Charm of Life II
Restores you to full health and gives Regeneration IV, Resistance I and Fire Resistance, each for 30 seconds. Craft it from 4 Charms of Life I.
If you hold both tiers, the Tier II is used first. There is no Tier III Charm of Life.
Where to find twilight charms
You cannot craft a charm from raw materials. Every charm starts as a Tier I item from loot. These are the places that hand them out most often:
- Lich Tower. Room and grave chests can hold Tier I Keeping and Life charms. Good early source while you prepare for the Lich fight.
- Fancy Wells. The well chests are the only chests that can give a Charm of Keeping II directly. They can also hold a Charm of Life I.
- Hollow Hills, Tree Caches, Fallen Trunks and ruin basements. Small, common spots that are quick to loot.
- Labyrinths. Dead-end, room and vault chests in the swamp maze. See the Minoshroom and Labyrinth guide for the layout.
- Maze Slimes. The small slimes in Labyrinths have a 1.5% chance to drop a Charm of Keeping I when a player kills them. Each level of Looting adds 0.5%.
- Later structures. Knight Stronghold, Dark Tower and Aurora Palace chests also roll Tier I charms.
Crafting charm upgrades
All charm upgrades are shapeless recipes. Put four charms of the same tier anywhere in the crafting grid.
- 4 Charm of Keeping I make 1 Charm of Keeping II.
- 4 Charm of Keeping II make 1 Charm of Keeping III.
- 4 Charm of Life I make 1 Charm of Life II.
Should you upgrade? Four Tier I charms protect you through four deaths. One Tier III protects you once. Early on, when you die often and carry little, keep them separate. Upgrade to Tier III before long trips into the Highlands or the Final Castle, where one death can cost a full inventory of rare loot.
How the charms interact with keepInventory, graves and caskets
Most charm questions come from servers and modpacks. Here is what the mod’s code actually does in each case.
| Situation | What happens |
|---|---|
| keepInventory is on | Charms of Keeping do nothing and are not used up. Charms of Life still trigger. |
| Creative or Spectator mode | No charm triggers. |
| You die with nothing in the protected slots | That tier is skipped and the charm is not spent. |
| You log out on the death screen | Kept items are stored in your player data and come back when you click Respawn. |
| You carry a Keepsake Casket | The charm keeps its share. Everything else goes into the casket, which is placed where you died. |
| A graves mod is installed | The charm pulls its items aside before items drop, so grave mods usually only collect the leftovers. Test once in your pack, since grave mods differ. |
| You die in the Twilight Forest | Items return wherever you respawn, even back in the Overworld. |
Kept without a charm. Phantom Helmets, Phantom Chestplates and Dark Tower keys are always kept on death, charm or not. Do not waste a Tier I charm just to protect Phantom armor from the Knight Stronghold.
Charm of Life vs Totem of Undying
Both save you from a killing blow, but they work in different ways. A Totem of Undying must be in your main hand or offhand. A Charm of Life works from any inventory slot.
| Totem of Undying | Charm of Life I | Charm of Life II | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where it must be | Main hand or offhand | Anywhere on you | Anywhere on you |
| Health after | Half a heart | 4 hearts | Full health |
| Effects | Regeneration II 45s, Absorption II 5s, Fire Resistance 40s | Regeneration I 5s | Regeneration IV, Resistance I, Fire Resistance, 30s each |
| Source | Evokers, Woodland Mansions and Raids | Twilight Forest chests | 4 x Charm of Life I |
If you hold a totem, it fires first, because vanilla checks the totem before the death event the charm listens for. Keep the totem in your offhand for boss fights and let the charm sit in your inventory as a backup. With both, you can survive two lethal hits in a row.
Mistakes players make with charms
Crafting Tier III too early
You lose four deaths of protection for one. Wait until your inventory is worth it.
Expecting the charm to stack
Only one Charm of Keeping is used per death, the highest tier. Extra charms do not add more slots.
Relying on Tier I for hotbar loot
Tier I keeps only the selected hotbar slot. Scepters and food in other slots will drop.
New to the mod? Start at the Twilight Forest mod guide, then follow the progression guide to see which structures to loot for charms first. Get the mod from its official CurseForge page.
Common Questions
Does a Charm of Keeping work if I die in lava?
Yes. The charm saves its items before anything drops, so the protected items are never thrown into the lava. Items it does not cover will drop and burn as usual.
Can I use a Charm of Keeping more than once?
No. Every charm is single use. It is removed when it triggers, and a Tier III does not turn into a Tier II afterwards.
Do charms work in multiplayer for other players?
Each charm only protects the player carrying it. You cannot share one charm across a team, so loot extra Tier I charms for everyone before a group boss fight.
Does the Charm of Keeping work outside the Twilight Forest?
Yes. Charms work in every dimension, including the Overworld, the Nether and the End, as long as the Twilight Forest mod is installed.
Can I put a charm in a Curios slot?
Yes. With Curios installed, all Charms of Keeping and Charms of Life fit the charm slot and still trigger from there. A Keeping charm also saves every equipped Curios item.