Since 2010, users have been waiting on the official plugin API for Minecraft, which is a system promised by Mojang that would simplify the process of adding modifications to all versions of the game, through Minecraft add-ons.
Although regular computer edition users will have to wait a little longer, Pocket Edition players (including those on the iOS, Android, Windows 10, Gear VR, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV platforms) can enjoy it now. Last October, Mojang released Alpha version .16 on all Pocket Edition platforms. Along with a ton of new features, it introduced some early aspects of the long-awaited plugin API, with official support for making ‘add-ons’ which change the game’s look and mob behavior.
Mojang has published two examples of Minecraft add-ons that you can download and they have even provided instructions which explain how to install them. This offers a good start, but if you want to make your own add-ons, then be sure to continue reading.
Before you Begin
Here is Mojang’s video introduction to add ons:
First off, you don’t need any experience with Java or C++ (the programming languages the game predominantly uses) to make Minecraft add-ons. Instead, add-ons are broken into two parts. The first part is a behavior pack and the second is a resource pack. Our focus in this article will be on the behavior packs. First, download the vanilla pack .zip file here and extract it somewhere to access its contents.
Making Minecraft Add-Ons
Let’s look inside of the new vanilla pack.
What you should see in the Vanilla pack
The pack_icon.png is the icon for your behavior pack. We will just leave it as the default for now.
Pack_manifest.json is a file that we do need to edit, so open it up. The important lines here are 3, 4, and 10. Line 4 is pretty simple; just change the quote to whatever you want to name your pack. Lines 3 and 10 are different. Basically, you need to replace the UUID’s in the quotes with something else. To do that, visit this site. Replace the UUID on line three with what the site generates. After that, refresh the site and replace the UUID on line 10 with the new one generated by the site. Once you do that, you are done with this file.
Editing an Entity with Add-Ons
Now let’s open up the entities folder, which contains the data that directs the behavior of mobs. Inside of it there should be a ton of other JSON files which contain the behavioral attributes for each mob. Pretty much everything except the icon is a JSON file, so you should get used to seeing a lot of them.
For example, here’s something relatively simple: since creepers aren’t dangerous enough, we shall make them explode as soon as they see you and make them deal extra damage. Open up the creeper.json file and look inside.
As you read it, you should see “minecraft:explode” near the top. Between the {} brackets are the attributes for the explode component. As the name implies, this is what gives it its normal explosion. Change the explode “fuseLength” from “1.5” to “o.1” and the “power” from “3” to “10”. This should make things more interesting. Save the file once you make these changes. Meaner creepers are now at your fingertips.
Implementing your Changes
Actually loading the pack depends on which platform you are playing on. Everyone has to zip the entire pack folder however (on Windows: Right-click, “Send to” and choose “Compressed (zipped) folder”) and rename it to “YouPackName.McPack”. Make sure that the ending is no longer .zip but .McPack. This applies to both behavior and resource add-ons. Once you do this, check the instructions here (you will have to scroll down past the samples). For example, MCPE iOS requires you to make the file accessible on your device, possibly with a cloud-sharing/Dropbox URL or email attachment, and then open the file with Minecraft PE when prompted. It will then be imported and accessible through the Behavior Pack Tab, allowing you to apply them to your worlds. .McWorld files are similarly imported world folders which contain add-ons.
Hopefully you now have an installed behavior pack. If it didn’t work, you can ask for help in the comments.
The more tutorials and information, the better you can understand add-ons, so here is another to look at!
You may be wondering where to go from here. The Minecraft Wiki has a massive list of attributes (components) and covers how to add them to entities.
Although this add-on feature isn’t as powerful as full modding, nor does it deliver the full, promised plugin API across all platforms, it allows you to do a ton of customization with ease and gain a basic understanding of the code ‘behind the scenes’ of some of your favorite mobs, such as the custom mobs on Empire Minecraft. What new mob variant can you create?
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