The Many Ways to Mod Minecraft

Minecraft is one of the most malleable games around, allowing for a fully customised experience through the use of simple feature changes. Whether you want the same vanilla experience with a new coat of paint, different ways to progress, or want more features, Minecraft can accommodate for many of these changes.

Now, there are all sorts of ways to change the game, from simple aesthetic modifications all the way up to new features and mechanics. These can be categorised into 5 different groups, and I will go over all the different ways the game can be tweaked and how each one changes up the game.

Texture/Resource Packs

If you have been playing Minecraft in the early days, you would have been more familiar with the concept of Texture Packs. Unlike modern day Resource Packs, Texture Packs were just that: a package of modified textures, and nothing more. Texture Packs allowed for not just a block’s texture to change, but the resolution. Minecraft’s textures are in a 16px resolution, but a Texture Pack can increase this to 32px or above, even 128px. That is to say, 16px is not the lowest it can go, with some going as low as 8px, or even less than that.

As Minecraft has evolved, the term Texture Pack was phased out in favour of Resource Pack. Reason being, Minecraft was becoming more and more modular, allowing for more features to be tweaked. Make a block’s shape different, make more than one texture for a block, make everything sound like Villagers, who knows. If it is an asset, it can be altered.

The most popular instance of a Resource Pack is actually built right into Minecraft - the Legacy Textures. Minecraft has been around for a very, very long time, and many players have adopted the charm of the older textures that the new ones don’t fit their gaming experience. So, to keep that in mind, the older textures were retained and turned into a Resource Pack you can set up in a single click.

Minecraft with a variety of Resource Packs. From left to right, top to bottom - Vanilla, Faithful 32x, Painterly, BDCraft 128x.

That is not to discount the many Resource Packs that many players are familiar with. Names such as Painterly, BDCraft, and Faithful often float around discussions of Texture and Resource Packs, and for good reason. For many early players, those looking to get started with tweaking the game, or simply those with an artistic talent, Resource Packs are a simple way to change the look of the game.

Datapacks

Introduced after 1.13, Datapacks became quite the gamechanger in modifying the game without Mods. This evolution of the game also brought with it more data-driven features. Where crafting 9 Dirt into a Diamond was one a mod, it became nothing more than a single JSON file.

There’s far more to a Datapack than just changing recipes. It allows for grouping blocks, items, and entities into a defined group, allows for different items to be dropped by blocks, entities, or in loot chests, as well as creating new advancements. A Datapack can even change how the very world around you generates, or for the most daring of creators, create an entire world from nothing.

All I need is a bit of Diamond, and all I did was make them a little more accessible!

It’s understated how powerful Datapacks are. The game can be changed in so many ways without the use of Mods. Check it out for yourself - your modding journey could even start here with a simple collection of datapacks. Change the game with just a few files.

Shader Packs

For some people, changing the textures of the game isn’t enough. Some may find the game simply looks bland or dated, and while true enough, it simply is an older game. How do people make the game look a little more modern? With a Shader Pack, that is.

Now, why am I calling them Shader Pack and not Shaders? It’s because Minecraft has Shaders, too, but they don’t behave in ways that most people believe. Things like the End Portal or using Spectator Mode to look through the eyes of certain mobs all use a Shader. The term Shader Pack is best used to describe packs like Complimentary or Sildur’s, since they are a collection of Shaders that vastly change how the game looks.

Using a Shader Pack can drastically change the look and feel of the game. From left to right - Vanilla (no Shader Pack), Sildur’s Vibrant Visuals, and Complimentary - Unbound.

It has been a trending topic lately. Shader Packs were once synonymous with Optifine, and with the advent of mods such as Iris and Oculus, Shader Packs have been getting more accessible to less experienced users or even modded users who find Optifine breaks certain mods. Not to mention Mojang’s own announcement of Vibrant Visuals, bringing their own polish to the game.

Of course, Shader Packs can have their own difficulties setting up. For one, a Shader Pack requires a loader, such as Optifine or a mod such as Iris or Oculus. They aren’t as quick to set up like a Resource Pack or Datapack. Shader Packs can also be graphically demanding, requiring a powerful PC to run. As such, Shader Pack are slightly more advanced ways to mod the game. That is, for now.

Plugins

Did you know many vanilla servers are actually running some form of Plugin server? While many people simply want to get together with a few friends to play the game, others have more ambitious plans. Plugins can help accommodate this by providing more tools for servers.

Through the use of plugins like Dynmap, we can get multiple views of a world from a web browser. Here, we can view a world’s cave system.

Trading, management tools, better multiplayer functions, these are what Plugins are good for. They allow for simple tweaks to the game without the weight that Mods introduce. You may even find some of the most handy Mods are available as Plugins, allowing for a seamless experience between a more or less modded experience.

Plugins can also help with connecting Bedrock players to your Java server. Through the use of the Geyser plugin, it’s possible for players to join on a separate edition of the game. It’s invaluable when you or someone else has the wrong edition of Minecraft.

Mods

We’ve modified the visuals, the data, and the functions of the game, but is that enough? Of course not, it’s time to go into the limitless power of Mods. This is where we start looking into new features integrated into the game, from adding new blocks and items to new dimensions, and all manners of tech and or magic.

Unlike Plugins or Datapacks, Mods are not restricted to what tools are provided. In fact, Mods can add whatever tools they need in order to run. This is thanks to Mod Loaders such as Forge, NeoForge, Fabric, and more. With this, Mods can work closely with the base game’s own features and logic, then make them work in unlimited ways.

Through the use of Mods, we can explore beyond the bounds of the vanilla game. From left to right, top to bottom - The Aether, The Undergarden, Bumblezone, Twilight Forest, Gaia Dimension, and Voidscape.

The most popular way to play Mods in the modern era is through the use of Modpacks. These gather up a collection of mods and turn them into a tailored experience. These can be as simple as a kitchen sink - a gathering of all sorts of mods - or something more grand, like a themed adventure pack, a challenge pack, or a pack built around a single mod.

It doesn’t stop there for Mods. There are mods such as KubeJS and FTB Quests that can bring their own form of customisation to the table and much more. Mods are also their own feature, meaning that other modifications such as Resource Packs, Datapacks, and Shader Packs can be introduced to the game, creating a Minecraft experience that’s almost unrecognisable. With thousands of mods out there, who knows how else the game can be modified.

Making Minecraft your way

It is thanks to all these ways that Minecraft can be modified that the game can be experienced by all kinds of players. From those that want a new coat of paint to suit an aesthetic, to those that want the game to work in new ways, all the way up to a Minecraft with unlimited potential, the game can be fully customised.