Customize Your Minecraft Experience By Installing A Creeperload Of Mods
You've been developing your Minecraft world for a while. You have a full set of diamond armor, a field full of pumpkins and watermelons by your lake castle, and you just defeated the Ender Dragon. But reaching the end is not necessarily the end. If you want to enjoy your skills and maximize your gaming experience, you can easily add a few or a dozen mods.
Veterans of the game will remember how difficult it was to add mods to Minecraft in the early days. The process is manual and time consuming. I wasted days, if not weeks, of my teenage years searching the web for the latest versions of unknown mods, waiting for downloads, and rooting config files. Today, thanks to modern editing platforms, everything is automated.
Whether you're trying to learn how to install Minecraft mods for the first time, or just need a refresher, this guide will help you find the best user-made add-ons or mods for the beloved sandbox game. However, if you run into a guard in total darkness, you're on your own.
Install CurseForge
There are plenty of mod platforms out there, like Technic Launcher and Feed The Beast, but I prefer CurseForge. It's one of the easiest to use and has a variety of mods and decks that are perfect for your gaming dreams. CurseForge is free for Windows, Mac and Linux and you can install it directly from your browser.
After installation, CurseForge will ask you to select a game for mods and add-ons. Now you want Minecraft , but the platform includes mod options for other popular games like The Sims 4 , World of Warcraft , and Elder Scrolls .
Create your own modpack or install it to play
The mod pack is exactly that: a pack with many mods. When video game mods came out, players didn't want to be limited to using just one at a time, so they started using several at a time. CurseForge offers thousands of ready-made modpacks for quick installation, and you can browse modpacks and their descriptions in the Browse Modpacks section. There you can search for specific mod packs using keywords, or filter by game version and category, such as magic, sci-fi, or technology. If you really want to play with just one model, that's an option too. Find it in Browse Modpacks or create a mod pack by following the steps below.
To create your own modpack with a unique set of mods, click Create Custom Profile at the top right of the CurseForge window. The profile name is your modpack name. After setup, you need to select the game version. Note that user-developed mods take time to reach the latest versions of Minecraft . At the time of writing, most mods have been updated to at least version 1.12.2. If you have a specific mod or mods, you can search for the latest version online or in the CurseForge desktop app and select the version of Minecraft that best suits your needs.
After creating your modpack, it's time to add some mods. Click on the three vertical dots next to the orange " Play " button and select the puzzle piece called "Add more content" from the drop-down menu. The puzzle piece icon on the right will take you to the same page. Here you can search mods by name and sort them by version and update category. When you find what you want to add, click the Install button. Continue installing mods until you are satisfied with the scope.
Be careful not to add more than the computer can handle. A computer designed for gaming might be able to handle hundreds, but older or lighter laptops may only be able to handle 15 to 20 at a time without crashing.
You can also add resource packs and textures in the Add More Content panel under Resource Packs . This changes the game's graphics, including the lighting and appearance of blocks, items, and mobs. You'll find colorblindness and resource packs that make the game more realistic, with customizations like rounded text, shadows, and translucent windows.
When you're ready to add mods and play, exit the add more content window and hit the orange play button. This will open the Minecraft launcher. Make sure you are using the Java version . In the lower left corner where your version of Minecraft is, you will see the name of your modpack. Press the green power button as usual. You will receive a message warning you that your mode may not support the latest security features (such as parental controls, community guidelines, and chat moderation). If there is no problem, go ahead and click Activate .
That's it - you've just created and launched your modpack. Enjoy your game! If you want to play with friends, read on.
Share your modpacks with friends
If you want to play Minecraft mods with friends in multiplayer, they will need to install your modpack on CurseForge. You can easily send them to download and install the modpack by following the instructions below.
To export your modpack, click the three vertical dots next to the orange Play button in CurseForge, and select Export Profile .
You'll end up in an export window where you can rename files, choose a version (optional) and which files to include (the default should work fine). Then click the orange " Export " button and it will be saved to the file location of your choice.
Your modpack will be saved as a zip file that you can email to a friend, as a link to a cloud drive, on iMessage if you both have macOS, or through some other method of file sharing.
If the modpack.zip file is too large or you have a slow internet connection, we recommend saving it to a USB drive or recreating it on a friend's CurseForge account using the steps repeated in the previous section.
[Related: 4 Reasons Why You Should Keep Your Old USB Drive]
In the Create Custom Profile window to name your modpack and select your game version, you may see an option at the top or called Import Pre-Built Profile . Once your friend has the zip file, they can click on the entry inside the sentence and upload the zip file from their computer. This will create a duplicate CurseForge that they can use to play alone or on a modified multiplayer server.
Note that if you are playing multiplayer, all players must have the same mod. If players add or remove mods from their pack, the game will prevent players from accessing the server due to incompatibility. You don't want to lose the new dimension with your friends because one of you lost the mod.
