Mods greatly expand the gameplay of Minecraft. Each mod will allow a certain level of customization. So by applying multiple mods, the extra content can make it feels like a completely different game. If you play Minecraft, chances are you’re going to want to install some of these mods. You’ll need to know how to install mods, solutions to problems that can occur during installations, the effects mods have on your Minecraft worlds, which mod is conflicting with another, etc. This is the Installing Mods Tutorial for Minecraft, containing answers to all your questions, walking you step by step through the process of Minecraft modding.
Before continuing, we have to inform to mod at your own risk. Modding can literally break your game for various reasons. Whatever you find on our website or any other modding sources, make sure that you understand them fully. If you mod Minecraft, there is a possibility of getting banned, breaking your game client, or even the worlds that you play in. Asking for help from Mojang or Microsoft will do you no good since they don’t support modding.
It is recommended that you back up your worlds before modding.
Do these first before modding:
- You’ll need something to unzip archives. Winzip and WinRAR are easy to get and use.
- Make sure you can report to the manufacturers if the mod won’t work.
- Understand the installation process of the mod.
- Which mods or tools required for the intending mod.
There are mods that come with their own installation guides. However, after going through our guide, you won’t need them. By applying our instructions, you won’t run into any trouble while modding Minecraft.
There’s a file named Minecraft.jar located in your game folder. Basically, this file contains data and information that runs Minecraft. Installing any mods will alter this file, which means some mods can cause disastrous results. Every time an official patch is released, the Minecraft.jar file will be updated, and all your mods will break. Because of this, for every version of the game, there will be a corresponding version of the mod.
Sourcing the mods is just as crucial as knowing how to install them. Some links might contain malware that can steal your account. Wherever you find the mod, make sure that it has the link to the creator. Check out comments from others for safety.
Back up data
This is important no matter what you do. You should do this before installing any mods.
The best way to do this is just make a copy of your entire Minecraft folder. Then, if the mod goes bananas, just uninstall the mod, and copy the untouched folder back to the original source.
Installing Mods with Old Launcher
This is what you’ve come for. Mod installing can be easy or tricky, depending on which mod you’re going for. Some mods will require certain other mods or tools to be installed before hand. You should go through the information provided by the publisher to know whether it requires other mods or function as a standalone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWn7NF3u1fA
For older versions of Windows, from 95 up to XP, follow these steps:
- Click the Start button.
- Click Run…
- Enter %appdata%/.minecraft.bin into the command prompt.
- This will open your Minecraft folder. Now, unzip Minecraft.jar.
- Find the META-INF folder in the list of folders and files. Delete it.
- Copy your mod and class files into the folder where you found META-INF.
There are some mods which will require you to copy content to somewhere else, like the resources or config folders. Just follow the specific instructions which come with the mod and it should work fine.
For newer versions of Windows, from Vista to 10, follow these steps:
- Click the Start button.
- Go to C:/Users/(Your username)/Appdata/roaming/.minecraft.
- Open the bin and you will see Minecraft.jar. It may just appear as Minecraft.
- Again, open the .jar file with an archival tool as outlined above.
- Unlike above, you won’t be deleting anything. Just move your mod files into this folder and you should be on your way.
There is a method for modding Minecraft on a machine using Mac OS as well:
- Go to Applications, then Utilities. Open the terminal.
- Input the following lines, exactly as they appear here.
cd ~ mkdir mctmp cd mctmp jar xf ~ /Library/ApplicationSupport/Minecraft/bin/Minecraft.jar
- Now, slip out of the terminal to move your mod files into the mctmp directory. Then resume the terminal.
rm META-INF/MOJANG_C.* jar uf ~ /Library/ApplicationSupport/Minecraft/bin/Minecraft.jar ./ cd .. rm ~rf mctmp
On the Mac, it might be trickier, but if you specifically follow the instruction above, you can move your mod files over and implement them into Minecraft easily. Whereas, the same process on a Linux system is actually much easier. Just follow these steps:
- Go and look for ~/.minecraft/bin/.
- Once you’ve found this directory, press Ctrl+H to see hidden files and folders
- You can also accomplish this through the console, by typing Is ~a ~/.
- Find the bin directory in your Minecraft folder.
- From here, the steps are the same as above. Open Minecraft.jar with an archival tool and move the mods you want into the folder. Extract them and you’re ready
As you can see, the process for installing mods is different between operating systems, even on similar ones. If you follow these directions, you should be able to install any mod without worrying about crashes, glitches or other undesirable performance issues. Remember, the preceding methods are only viable when installing mods with the older Minecraft launcher.
Installing Mods with New Launcher
For the newer launcher, follow these steps to get your mods installed:
- Open your launcher and make sure that you have the correct version of game and mod.
- Click the Edit Profile button near the bottom left corner of the window.
- Open the game directory, then go into the folder labeled “version”.
- Rename the folder with the appropriate version to make it clearer. For example, if you need Minecraft 1.8.1, rename 1.8.1 to 1.8.1_Modded, or something like that.
- Open your modded folder and rename your .jar and .json files the same way.
- Open that .json file with a text editor and find the line regarding the id. Just add “_Modded” after the version number.
- Using an archival tool, open your mod’s class files and move them into the .jar you’ve renamed, then delete META-INF like usual.
- Restart your launcher and click Edit Profile again. This time, under the Use Version… tab, select your modded version.
- Play the game!
This might be more difficult than using the older launcher, but there are programs available which automatically install mods for you, requiring very little input to get the job done. These will be covered later.
Resolving Crashes
It is possible that you can experience crashes and issues even though you have execute your modding to perfection. It is useful to know how to handle a bug. If your game crashes after installing a mod, do these:
- Run Minecraft in its command line mode so you can get a stack trace and identify the issue.
- Go ahead and post this trace on the mod creator’s website or on some support forum.
- Hopefully someone with more knowledge about the subject than you can help you from here.
It’s a shame that there is no real support for modding. Welp, at least you made a backup. Just replace the corrupted folder with the untouched and everything will be back to normal.
Removing Mods
You would want to remove some of your mods at some point due to an upgrade, performance issue, or confliction. The best way to do this is by using Modloader and erase your unwanted mods with a few clicks. Alternatively, you can just restore your Minecraft version, or force an update to revert your Minecraft.jar file to the most recent version.
Mod Managers
Modloader, MC Forge, and MCPatcher are 3 of the best mod managing tools recommended by Minecraft players. With these, you won’t have to dig through your game folder for the mods.
Utilities exist to alter Minecraft in other ways as well, like by restoring it to its basic form without reinstallation or extra downloads. BlackScreenFix is probably the best tool around for quickly restoring your Minecraft client.