<p>This study systematically investigated the softening behavior and permeability changes of the ferrous burden with different characteristics by simulating the actual atmospheres of a traditional blast furnace, hydrogen-rich blast furnace, oxygen blast furnace, and hydrogen-rich oxygen blast furnace. The results indicate that the initial softening temperatures for acid pellets, fluxed pellets, high-basicity sinters, and low-basicity sinters under traditional blast furnace atmospheres are 1083°C, 1185°C, 1154°C, and 1107°C, respectively. With the enhancement of the reduction potential, specifically under the hydrogen-rich oxygen blast furnace atmosphere, the initial softening temperatures for acid pellets, fluxed pellets, high-basicity sinters, and low-basicity sinters decrease to 945°C, 1176°C, 1129°C, and 1074°C, respectively. Among them, acid pellets exhibited the largest reduction in initial softening temperature, reaching 138°C. Furthermore, under traditional hydrogen-rich blast furnace conditions, the softening–melting zone narrowed and shifted toward higher temperatures, significantly improving the permeability of the burden layer. Under hydrogen-rich oxygen blast furnace conditions, the initial softening temperature decreased, and the softening–melting zone shifted toward lower temperatures, also resulting in a notable improvement in burden permeability compared to the traditional blast furnace. Analysis of the carbon content in metallic iron from the dripped material revealed that the carbon content under hydrogen-rich oxygen blast furnace conditions was higher than that under ordinary oxygen blast furnace conditions, which led to a decrease in the dripping temperature.</p>