Datapacks in Minecraft allow you to make changes to the gameplay without installing third-party modifications. They can be used to add new mechanics, change game rules, and automate commands. In this tutorial we will look at the process of creating your own datapack, customizing its structure and adding functional commands.

Creating the foundation of a datapack

The first step is to create a folder that will contain all datapack files. You can choose any name, but it should be clear, especially if you plan to work with several datapacks in the future.

After that it is necessary to create an important file pack.mcmeta, which will contain the main information about the datapack. To do this, open a text editor and paste the following code into it:

{

  { “pack”: {

    { “pack_format”: 8,

    { “description”: “datapack description”

  }

}

After writing the code, the file should be saved with the name pack.mcmeta. It is important to select the “All files” type when saving to avoid automatically adding the .txt extension. After that, a new directory named data should be created in the datapack folder - it will store all game data.

Creating functions in the datapack

To add commands to the datapack you need to create function files. Another directory with an arbitrary name is created inside the data folder. Then in it you need to create a subfolder functions - this is where the files with Minecraft commands will be located.

Each function is a separate text file with the extension .mcfunction. In it you can write any commands that will be executed in the game. For example, if you create the file example.mcfunction and add the command give @a diamond 1 to it, then after executing this function all players will be given a diamond.

To save the file, select the “All files” type and specify a name in the format file_name.mcfunction.

Automatic execution of commands

To execute commands automatically when loading the world or with a certain periodicity, you should use special files load.json and tick.json.

If you want the function to run every time the world is loaded, you create a minecraft directory in the data folder and add the tags and functions folders inside it. A new text file load.json is then created containing the following code:

{

    { “values”: [

        “folder_name:function_name”.

    ]

}

This file should be saved in JSON format, selecting the “All Files” type when saving.

If you want the function to be executed automatically every few milliseconds, create a similar tick.json file with the same content, but with a different name. After adding this file, the corresponding function will be executed constantly, which can be useful for creating game mechanics that require frequent updates.

Connecting the datapack in Minecraft

After completing all the settings, the datapack needs to be added to the game. To do this, its folder is copied to the saves/world_name/datapacks directory. After starting Minecraft, you can check if the datapack is loaded using the /datapack list command. If the datapack is active, it will appear in the list of installed datapacks.

To manually enable it, you can use the /reload command, which updates all active datapacks without having to restart the game.