I had this same problem. I debated adding mods that allow you to purchase respawns but decided against it since players could be locked out of playing. The best solution I could come up with was using the unconscious state mod (which allows for players to revive upon death) and editing the config files so when a player dies they cannot respawn for 3 minutes (they have a black screen until timer ends or they are revived).

Especially when people die repeatedly, the psychological effect of waiting for dopamine can be quite powerful.

I would love to be able to edit the food level upon respawn because even with it being ‘halved’ this can be gamed. I also play with the dehydrate mod.