Add-on

**This feature is exclusive to  *Bedrock Edition*.**

**Add-ons** are the first step toward bringing customization to all editions of *Minecraft* and are officially supported by Mojang/*Minecraft*. Currently, add-ons are supported only on *Bedrock Edition* platforms, which includes also the Windows 10, Gear VR and Fire TV Editions. They currently allow players to transform the look of their worlds and change the behavior of mobs. They are accomplished by behavior packs. The documentation provided on these pages is officially supported and endorsed. It was provided by the *Minecraft* development team in order to assist the community.

Behavior Packs often occur in combination with Resource Packs and can change the *behavior* of creatures, blocks, and even the player. In newer versions of the game, new content can also be added without overwriting old content, such as, but possibly not limited to, new blocks, items, biomes, particles, and mobs. There are two types of behavior packs: one type modifies old content (these add-ons are modifications of a few creatures, blocks, or modes of operation, without changing the game goal or character), and one type adds new content (these add-ons change the game by adding new content without overwriting existing content; add-ons can include mini-games, adventure maps, new items, creatures, bosses, and structures).

Add-ons are also often used in maps for the Minecraft Marketplace, as they simply add new Objects and other things. All add-ons needed for the map are automatically downloaded and integrated into the world after purchase, when downloading. The add-ons can be used in other maps, but it always depends on the developer if he/she allows this.
It is also to be noted that the marketplace is the only ***official*** add-on market, but there are add-on websites that have community made add-ons by non-minecraft partner developers, and that those add-ons are not just piracy versions of existing marketplace packs, but original work (most of the time).

## Reference guides

Important documentation pages:

* Addons JSON Documentation
* Animation JSON Documentation
* Block JSON Documentation
* Command Documentation
* Entity JSON Documentation
* Features JSON Documentation
* Item JSON Documentation
* Molang Documentation
* Recipe JSON Documentation
* Particle JSON Documentation
* Volume JSON Documentation

## Tutorials

* Getting Started with Add-on Development
* Introduction to Resource Packs
* Introduction to Behavior Packs
* Entity Modeling and Animation

## Templates

Newest Official (1.20.30)

* Vanilla Resource Pack files (1.20.30)
* Vanilla Behavior Pack files (1.20.30)
* MINECON 2018 New Entity Sample Resources
* MINECON 2018 New Entity Sample Behaviors
* Particles Example Pack

Newest Beta (beta 1.20.40.22)

* Beta Resource Pack files (beta 1.20.40.22)
* Beta Behavior Pack files (beta 1.20.40.22)

Script Engine Example Packs

* Minecraft Scripting Mob Arena Demo
* Minecraft Scripting Turn-Based Demo
* MINECON 2019 G2Crafted Tools Sample Resources
* MINECON 2019 G2Crafted Tools Sample Behaviors

## History

Since the early development of the original *Java Edition* of Minecraft, there have been plans to implement an official way for developers to add and change content in the game. Plans for official game customization date back to July 5, 2010, with the Modding API planned after the release of Java Edition Alpha v1.0.1\_01. It was then stated to be released in Beta 1.8. The Modding API was then rebranded as the Plugin API, with the release originally stated to be planned for 1.3, then for 1.4, and then it was accidentally stated by Curse that it would be implemented in 1.5.

At MINECON 2012, Mojang shared their vision for the future of the Plugin API. The API was to be developed by the Bukkit team and intended to simplify the modding and downloading process, although containing a slightly limited feature set. After initially publishing a developer website (http://dev.minecraft.net) and GitHub page, these were both taken down within a year.

Developers on numerous occasions have mentioned that many changes made in the game's code were in preparation for the Plugin API, including Dinnerbone on July 29, 2014, Grum at the "The Minecraft Team - Behind the Scenes" panel on July 5, 2015 and Dinnerbone again on October 19, 2015 while working on the loot tables for Java Edition 1.9. A user replied "I think an official "we're working on it" would really help a lot" to which Dinnerbone replied, "We're working on it."

On August 12, 2016, Searge tweeted: "There will be news about the API at Minecon. I'll talk about the things I'm working on and what our plans are. But no more details for now." The next day it was confirmed by Grum to be for Pocket Edition and at MINECON the plan and roadmap for the development of Add-Ons were outlined.

Minecraft introduced an experimental Physically Based Rendering (PBR) pipeline in 2023. It is designed for use with Deferred Lighting and Ray Tracing. This feature enables precise modeling of surface details and scene illuminators, ensuring a consistent lighting model throughout the day. Leveraging PBR and the innovative Deferred Lighting pipeline provides enhanced creative control over scene mood and lighting conditions.

## See also

* Data pack
* Bedrock Functions

## References

1. ↑ "Add-Ons: What's in a name?"
2. ↑ "Minecraft Add-Ons: Customize Your Experience"
3. ↑ Server scripting
4. ↑ Back in the office, and some words on 1.7 and 1.8!
5. ↑ "Re-decided on the whole "mods" vs "plugins" thing. Again. It's really definite this time; it's probably still "plugins"!" – @Dinnerbone (Nathan Adams) on X, March 27, 2012
6. ↑ "The Future of Minecraft: what lies ahead for the all-conquering sandbox game?" – PC Gamer, November 11, 2012
7. ↑ "No" – @jeb\_ (Jens Bergensten) on X, September 13, 2012
8. ↑ "I'm not sure where people are getting this from, but we never said that the API is in 1.5 in either of our panels (1.5 one or API one)" – @Dinnerbone (Nathan Adams) on X, November 25, 2012
9. ↑ https://youtu.be/1uTl3aWEvEA
10. ↑ **Modding API:** Bukkit Developing API
11. ↑ "Still working on that command library, today I'm trying to tackle automatic help/usage generation. But first, test cases. So many test cases" – @Dinnerbone (Nathan Adams) on X, October 8, 2014
12. ↑ "The idea is that it would take care of autocomplete, parsing, error handling, usage generation etc for you. Ultimately for the API,of course" – @Dinnerbone (Nathan Adams) on X, September 29, 2014
13. ↑ "Been working on this for the past 2 weeks, it's a command registration, dispatching and handling system." – @Dinnerbone (Nathan Adams) on X, September 29, 2014
14. ↑ "Re-re-discussing the naming. What do you guys think it should be? "Mod" or "Plugin" - this being something that you just drop into a folder." – @Dinnerbone (Nathan Adams) on X, March 27, 2012
15. ↑ **Modding API:** Curse Interview with Jeb (Part 1)
16. ↑ **Modding API:** Curse Interview with Jeb (Part 2)
17. ↑ "The big issue I have with calling them mods is that there will still be actual mods modifying the game files, not really compatible." – @Dinnerbone (Nathan Adams) on X, March 27, 2012
18. ↑ **Modding API:** Modding API
19. ↑ "Good idea. Fortunately, almost everything I've been doing for the past few years is for the plugin API :)" – @Dinnerbone (Nathan Adams) on X, July 29, 2014
20. ↑ https://youtu.be/ZtOLw1LAarE&t=45m4s
21. ↑ "And all I'm saying is that these very things that make the game so much easier to modify are \*huge\* steps towards an API." – @Dinnerbone (Nathan Adams) on X, October 19, 2015
22. ↑ "I think an official "we're working on it" would really help a lot." – @FrozenDroid on X, October 19, 2015
23. ↑ "We're working on it." – @Dinnerbone (Nathan Adams) on X, October 19, 2015
24. ↑ "There will be news about the API at Minecon. I'll talk about the things I'm working on and what our plans are. But no more details for now." – @SeargeDP (Michael Stoyke) on X, August 12, 2016
25. ↑ "the MCPE on, would be nice to say that too." – @\_grum (Erik Broes) on X, August 13, 2016

## External links

* Provide feedback for add-ons
* Add-ons information on Minecraft.net
* Add-ons on CurseForge
* Minecraft.net blog post on different pack types
* Add-ons on FMCPE
* Add-ons on MCPEDL
* Add-ons on MCPECUBE
* Add-ons on ModBay