Minecraft is the definitive sandbox experience. A truly open-ended game where every run is deeply personal and unique. Even with the standard version of Minecraft, there’s no limit to the amount of creativity you can exercise, but things get kicked into overdrive with the addition of fan-made mods.
Minecraft is a decade old now, and in that time it has gained a sizable modding community that has built add-ons for every conceivable taste. In theory, through mods, you can turn Minecraft into any genre — from dungeon crawler to farm sim — and add any number of wacky props and NPCs to your world. There are also loads of cosmetic mods that beautify the game world. Truly, mods help make it one of the most customizable games in existence. In this guide, we’ve listed a handful of our favorites that make any game of Minecraft even more unique.
A quick note: most of these are for the PC Java version of Minecraft, and require a download from the Curse Forge. Before downloading any mods, make sure they’re compatible with your version of Minecraft. If not, you may have to find and install a legacy version of the game, which isn’t all that hard to do. There’s a handy guide over on the Mojang site to get you started.
So, without further delay, let’s check out our favorite Minecraft mods.
Agrarian Skies 2
- Game Version: 1.7.1
- Creator: jadedcat
- Download here
Essentially a single player quest-based adventure, Agrarian Skies spawns you on an island with limited resources and a checklist of goals. Opening up the questbook presents you with some basic tasks, like planting a tree and gathering wood, before quickly snowballs into more complex goals. If you’re looking for some direction in your Minecraft games, definitely give Agrarian Skies 2 a look.
Biomes O’Plenty
- Game Version: 1.12.2
- Creator: Forstride
- Download here
Add some significant environmental flavor to your Minecraft games with this mod package. Biomes O’Plenty includes more than 60 new biomes, like tropical islands, overgrown cliffs, fens, bogs, polar deserts, crags and lots more. It also introduces a whole host of new items, fauna, and blocks, making it a great all-in-one download for those looking to inject some impressive variety to run-of-the-mill Minecraft games.
JourneyMap
- Game Version: 1.12.2
- Creator: Techbrew
- Download here
See where you’ve been with this handy mapping mod. JourneyMap adds an interactive map to your game that fills out as you explore. It displays most important terrain features and landmarks, and allows you to place waypoints. You can also export your finished map to a web browser to share with other JourneyMap users or simply reflect on your adventures.
Forestry
- Game Version: 1.7.10
- Creator: _ForgeUser7678633
- Download here
An ecologist’s dream, Forestry adds features to Minecraft centered around renewable energy, farming, and tree breeding. There’s an energy production mechanic, bee breeding, a mail system, and more. If you want to make your Minecraft game a bit more like Stardew Valley or Harvest Moon, download Forestry.
Inventory Tweaks
- Game Version: 1.10.2
- Creator: Kobata
- Download here
Inventory Tweaks offers a host of quality of life improvements over vanilla Minecraft’s inventory management systems. It automatically replaces your tools as they break, and allows you to sort your inventory with just a single click, making this an almost-necessary download for those of us who hate looking at a disorganized inventory.
RLCraft
- Game Version: 1.12.2
- Creator: Shivaxi
- Download here
If Minecraft doesn’t have enough danger for you, download RLCraft for a dose of open-world survival. Dubbed “the hardest Minecraft modpack you’ll ever play” by its creator, RLCraft is basically a giant middle finger to the player. There are new harsh, harmful biomes, dragons, skeletons that can one-shot you, and a ton more. There’s also no punching trees in this mod: you’re going to have to find or build harvesting tools to collect even basic resources. If you’re a sadist who wants to be punished for playing Minecraft, give RLCraft a go.
