Yeah you can just choose what Material you start with, including Stuff that expands your Inventory. Why make the physical Bodies depend on difficulty Setting, if you can just give people Items that make Life easier.
Codewise “Difficulty” will not exist, there is no arbitrary “Difficulty”-Value that gets checked by things, you literally only get starting Material, Location and Abilities (depending on what you or the Server Owner decide), and from there you go do your thing.