1
Updated 12/4 for Minecraft 1.4.5!
Background / About Me
Spoiler:
This is the collection of the knowledge I've gained installing mods, how to resolve issues with conflicting mods, and how to use launchers.I've been playing Minecraft for about a year and a half. I tried a few mods a long time back, realized what a pain they were to install and decided they weren't worth the effort. Somewhere around Beta 1.7 I discovered the YogBox, which made the process easier, and I messed around with a few mods while waiting for the official 1.0 release. Outside of that, I still was not interested in messing with my JAR files, potentially corrupting my game, and the general frustration that might ensue and the release of 1.0 kept me happy. I spent a lot of time playing on a server with my wife and coworkers, and the process just wasn't streamlined enough to get the server and everybody on it working.
With the release of 1.3.2 and the merge of the Minecraft server and client code bases, I thought it was time to give mods another look. I was surprised to find how much had changed in a year. There are launchers now and I don't have to go muck around in files! This was going to be a breeze.
At first, I just wanted Millenaire. Then I saw the beauty that is Twilight Forest. Look at all those metals in the Metallurgy packs! Oh, and Pam's Combined Mod has all these flowers to pepper the landscape. One mod was no longer enough, I had to have them all.
I wasn't able to find a big picture of the modding landscape, so I began trying things out and learning how it all fit together. I kept an eye on the forums, watching as mods updated to 1.3.2, seeing the errors people were having, and how to fix them. I read about this magical mod called ID Resolver, which would automatically correct ID conflicts. Then it became a challenge to myself to see just how many mods I could run at once.
With the release of 1.3.2 and the merge of the Minecraft server and client code bases, I thought it was time to give mods another look. I was surprised to find how much had changed in a year. There are launchers now and I don't have to go muck around in files! This was going to be a breeze.
At first, I just wanted Millenaire. Then I saw the beauty that is Twilight Forest. Look at all those metals in the Metallurgy packs! Oh, and Pam's Combined Mod has all these flowers to pepper the landscape. One mod was no longer enough, I had to have them all.
I wasn't able to find a big picture of the modding landscape, so I began trying things out and learning how it all fit together. I kept an eye on the forums, watching as mods updated to 1.3.2, seeing the errors people were having, and how to fix them. I read about this magical mod called ID Resolver, which would automatically correct ID conflicts. Then it became a challenge to myself to see just how many mods I could run at once.
Assumptions
Spoiler:
I assume you are familiar with the Minecraft folder structure, and know how to use archiving utilities for your platform.
An archiving program that can open .jar and .zip files. Some mod authors distribute as .rar files, so you may need more than one!
7-Zip (Windows, Linux) or Unarchiver (Mac) - possibly WinRAR (Windows)
Basic knowledge of how to use your file system
Basic knowledge of how use archiving programs
Recommended - MultiMC or MagicLauncher
You will also need to know the default location of Minecraft on your system:
Windows - %APPDATA%/.minecraft
Mac - ~Library/Application Support/minecraft
Linux - $HOME/.minecraft
An archiving program that can open .jar and .zip files. Some mod authors distribute as .rar files, so you may need more than one!
7-Zip (Windows, Linux) or Unarchiver (Mac) - possibly WinRAR (Windows)
Basic knowledge of how to use your file system
Basic knowledge of how use archiving programs
Recommended - MultiMC or MagicLauncher
You will also need to know the default location of Minecraft on your system:
Windows - %APPDATA%/.minecraft
Mac - ~Library/Application Support/minecraft
Linux - $HOME/.minecraft
About Mod Loaders
Spoiler:
A mod loader is at the base of most mods will you find. These do not actually change the game play experience, but instead provide a simple means for modders to program and load their mods into Minecraft. The two commonly used mod loaders are:
Risugami's ModLoader and API (known as "ModLoader" or "ML") << http://www.minecraft...minary-updates/ >>
Forge ModLoader and API ("MCForge," "Forge" or "FML") << http://www.minecraftforge.net/ -- http://files.minecraftforge.net >>
Never load ML & Forge into the same minecraft.jar! This will crash your game!
If you using Forge, you cannot install ModLoaderMP or AudioMod! This will crash your game! All of this functionality is built into Forge.
In most cases, FML will load ML mods without an issue. The mod author will usually note if their mod will not work with Forge.. it never hurts to try, though! (Note, this is not true the other way around: ModLoader will not properly load a Forge mod.)
There are also a few mods out there that do not require a mod loader. In many cases, these mods will be incompatible with other mods that do require one, and most other mods in general. There are exceptions, usually with mods that do not change the content of the game, but instead change the way the game operates (such as OptiFine, mods that alter the HUD, and so on).
A note on MCPatcher: MCPatcher modifies your Minecraft game even when choosing not to install mods. It is not recommended to use MCPatcher with Forge and Forge mods. Forge provides support for 32x32 texture packs, and OptiFine will give you all of the features of MCPatcher.
Risugami's ModLoader and API (known as "ModLoader" or "ML") << http://www.minecraft...minary-updates/ >>
Forge ModLoader and API ("MCForge," "Forge" or "FML") << http://www.minecraftforge.net/ -- http://files.minecraftforge.net >>
Never load ML & Forge into the same minecraft.jar! This will crash your game!
If you using Forge, you cannot install ModLoaderMP or AudioMod! This will crash your game! All of this functionality is built into Forge.
In most cases, FML will load ML mods without an issue. The mod author will usually note if their mod will not work with Forge.. it never hurts to try, though! (Note, this is not true the other way around: ModLoader will not properly load a Forge mod.)
There are also a few mods out there that do not require a mod loader. In many cases, these mods will be incompatible with other mods that do require one, and most other mods in general. There are exceptions, usually with mods that do not change the content of the game, but instead change the way the game operates (such as OptiFine, mods that alter the HUD, and so on).
A note on MCPatcher: MCPatcher modifies your Minecraft game even when choosing not to install mods. It is not recommended to use MCPatcher with Forge and Forge mods. Forge provides support for 32x32 texture packs, and OptiFine will give you all of the features of MCPatcher.
Types of Mods
Spoiler:
If you open your minecraft.jar, you will see a bunch of .class files with random names. These are known as the "base classes" and represent the actual game of Minecraft in it's untouched form. In order to mod Minecraft, changes are made to these base classes. Over time, modding Minecraft has become easier through the use of mod loaders and APIs, and this has led to there being different types of mods you will come across.
JAR Mod - The original way to mod. Before there were any mod loaders and APIs, modders hacked away directly at the game. JAR mods are often used to provide major game changing functionality, as they can affect change deep into the game -- anything in the game is up for grabs. However, JAR mods often result in the most incompatibilities, since if the two mods want to change any of the same things, they will need to edit the same base class, which causes an unresolvable conflict. If you are going to use a JAR mod, plan on it being the only one. These are installed by placing the files directly into your minecraft.jar (hence the name JAR mod.)
APIs - As the number of mods increased, a better means of compatiblity was needed, and so APIs were written. APIs will hook into a base class and give the modder a way to change them indirectly. Since the mods were not overwriting the base classes (and therefore each other). These are also installed into your minecraft.jar, but the mods that use the APIs will generally not conflict.
External Mod (mods folder) - Eventually the APIs grew and grew had enough hooks that mods could be written without touching the base classes at all! With all of the content existing outside of minecraft.jar, conflicts were reduced even further. In most cases, all you will need to do is drop the mod's zip file into the mods folder, and a mod loader and the APIs will take care of the rest.
Core Mod (Forge Only) - The Forge API and FML allow additional means of modifying the base classes indirectly through it's coremods folder. There are only a few of these right now. We will be talking about two of them (Not Enough items and IDResolver) in this guide.
Special Cases (Has additional steps) - There are some mods that have additional steps for installation. Usually this means extracting additional files to the mods or resources folder, but can really be anything. They can fall into any of the categories above. Some mod authors will package their mod in a non-standard way. In some cases, you might have to repackage the mod in order for it to work with one of the launchers. Once you have a good understanding of the types of mods and what their packages look like, you can do this yourself. Otherwise, you will have to use the manual steps to install these.
JAR Mod - The original way to mod. Before there were any mod loaders and APIs, modders hacked away directly at the game. JAR mods are often used to provide major game changing functionality, as they can affect change deep into the game -- anything in the game is up for grabs. However, JAR mods often result in the most incompatibilities, since if the two mods want to change any of the same things, they will need to edit the same base class, which causes an unresolvable conflict. If you are going to use a JAR mod, plan on it being the only one. These are installed by placing the files directly into your minecraft.jar (hence the name JAR mod.)
APIs - As the number of mods increased, a better means of compatiblity was needed, and so APIs were written. APIs will hook into a base class and give the modder a way to change them indirectly. Since the mods were not overwriting the base classes (and therefore each other). These are also installed into your minecraft.jar, but the mods that use the APIs will generally not conflict.
External Mod (mods folder) - Eventually the APIs grew and grew had enough hooks that mods could be written without touching the base classes at all! With all of the content existing outside of minecraft.jar, conflicts were reduced even further. In most cases, all you will need to do is drop the mod's zip file into the mods folder, and a mod loader and the APIs will take care of the rest.
Core Mod (Forge Only) - The Forge API and FML allow additional means of modifying the base classes indirectly through it's coremods folder. There are only a few of these right now. We will be talking about two of them (Not Enough items and IDResolver) in this guide.
Special Cases (Has additional steps) - There are some mods that have additional steps for installation. Usually this means extracting additional files to the mods or resources folder, but can really be anything. They can fall into any of the categories above. Some mod authors will package their mod in a non-standard way. In some cases, you might have to repackage the mod in order for it to work with one of the launchers. Once you have a good understanding of the types of mods and what their packages look like, you can do this yourself. Otherwise, you will have to use the manual steps to install these.
Multiple Mods and Compatibility
Spoiler:
If you're looking to install more than one mod, there are some things you have to watch out for. There are a few types of conflicts you might come across:
Base Class Conflicts - If you are using JAR mods, this is likely to happen to you eventually, and will probably result in a crash. Magic Launcher (below) can be helpful in identifying if your mods will conflict in this way. There is no way to work around a fatal JAR mod conflict.
Block ID Conflicts - Every block in Minecraft has a unique ID number associated with it. If you have two mods that are programmed to use the same ID, Minecraft will crash when it attempts to assign the second block that same ID. If you install a lot of mods at once, you will definitely run into this.
Item ID Conflicts - Similar to blocks, every item has a unique ID number as well. However, Minecraft will not always crash when two different mods use the same item ID; instead, it will just replace the first item. You might not even know you have a conflict!
..but.. do not despair, ID Resolver to the rescue! ID Resolver is a coremod for Forge that will automatically detect and reassign block and item IDs, allowing you to cram dozens of mods into your game. See the ID Resolver section below for more information.
Sprite Index - Minecraft has a limit to the number of sprites that can be indexed by the game. If you install enough mods, you could hit this limit. Forge has a work around by providing an infinite sprite index, however, it is on the modder to use it. There is no way to work around this type of conflict, or to my knowledge, identify which mods are using the most sprites. This is the current thing limiting me from adding additional mods.
Base Class Conflicts - If you are using JAR mods, this is likely to happen to you eventually, and will probably result in a crash. Magic Launcher (below) can be helpful in identifying if your mods will conflict in this way. There is no way to work around a fatal JAR mod conflict.
Block ID Conflicts - Every block in Minecraft has a unique ID number associated with it. If you have two mods that are programmed to use the same ID, Minecraft will crash when it attempts to assign the second block that same ID. If you install a lot of mods at once, you will definitely run into this.
Item ID Conflicts - Similar to blocks, every item has a unique ID number as well. However, Minecraft will not always crash when two different mods use the same item ID; instead, it will just replace the first item. You might not even know you have a conflict!
..but.. do not despair, ID Resolver to the rescue! ID Resolver is a coremod for Forge that will automatically detect and reassign block and item IDs, allowing you to cram dozens of mods into your game. See the ID Resolver section below for more information.
Sprite Index - Minecraft has a limit to the number of sprites that can be indexed by the game. If you install enough mods, you could hit this limit. Forge has a work around by providing an infinite sprite index, however, it is on the modder to use it. There is no way to work around this type of conflict, or to my knowledge, identify which mods are using the most sprites. This is the current thing limiting me from adding additional mods.
Launchers
Spoiler:
Launchers make everything easier. You don't need to go messing with the minecraft.jar or making any backups, trying to remember what mods you installed.. they take care of all the hard work for you.
I highly recommend you use them for all of your mods, and I also highly recommend creating multiple copies of Minecraft for each set of mods you wish to use. This lets you safely switch between worlds without having to worry about world corruption caused by loading the wrong mods. They also provide a console log which can be useful in identifying errors and conflicts. I will explain how to use the two most popular launchers below.
MultiMC << http://forkk.net/MultiMC4/ >>
Magic Launcher << http://www.minecraft...s-options-news/ >>
I highly recommend you use them for all of your mods, and I also highly recommend creating multiple copies of Minecraft for each set of mods you wish to use. This lets you safely switch between worlds without having to worry about world corruption caused by loading the wrong mods. They also provide a console log which can be useful in identifying errors and conflicts. I will explain how to use the two most popular launchers below.
MultiMC << http://forkk.net/MultiMC4/ >>
Magic Launcher << http://www.minecraft...s-options-news/ >>
How to Install Mods
In general, the process goes like this:
- Make a backup!
- Determine if you will you mod your default installation, or create a new one.
- Select a Launcher (or none at all).
- Download and Install Forge or ModLoader (if required).
- Download the mod.
- Read the directions for the mod (determine which type it is).
- Install any prerequisites for the mod.
- Install the mod.
- Test the mod (create a new world, use Creative mode/TMI/NEI to try out blocks/items).
Spoiler:
1. Make a Backup
Copy your default Minecraft directory to a new location. The choice is yours!
2. Create a new copy of Minecraft
Delete your Default Minecraft folder and then force refresh of Minecraft, If you know what you're doing, you can just remove any previously added files from mods, coremods, and config, and remove any other mod-specific directories you have.
Copy the default Minecraft directory to a new location, preserve the .minecraft name.
3. Install your mod loader
Order is important! The first thing you should install is the mod loader. After that, any dependencies you have, and only then the actual mod. If you are using Optifine, it is most likely to be the last thing you install.
Using your archiving program to take the files from the Modloader and drag them into minecraft.jar. Be sure to overwrite the existing files and merge the rest! Delete the META-INF folder from minecraft.jar.
4. Test
Run Minecraft, confirm it worked! Forge will display a nice message for you. You can check the log files as well. See common errors below if you are having a problem.
At this point, it's a good idea to create a copy of your minecraft.jar in case you make a mistake in the future. I recommend this after each change to the minecraft.jar, so that you won't have to start over from the beginning if you make a mistake. I like to rename them with what they are, like minecraft1.3.2-forge4.1.1.jar, minecraft1.3.2-forge4.1.1-optifine.jar, and so on.
5. Install any APIs or other dependencies that go into the jar
PlayerAPI, GuiAPI, etc. You install these the same way as the mod loader, but dragging and dropping the contents of the mod into the minecraft.jar file. A warning about incompatibilities -- if you install two mods that overwrite the same base classes, you will most likely have a conflict and Minecraft will crash. Always confirm Minecraft launches after adding each mod, and create a new copy if it does.
6. Install any coremods
If you are using Forge and require coremods, copy them into the coremods folder now. Again, confirm you can launch Minecraft without a crash.
7. Install your mods
As always, install mods one at a time and be sure to test after each mod is installed!
JAR mods - Like before, using your archiving program to open minecraft.jar and the mod's zip or rar file. If you're installing more than one mod, be sure to make copies of your minecraft.jar after each step.
mod folder - Drop the zip into the mods directory and that's it!
Special Cases - Some mods have you place configuration files or images somewhere the minecraft folder, others have instructions inside of the zip file. Be sure to follow the modder's instructions carefully! Always open and take a look at the contents of the zip before installing, do not assume that the zip file you have downloaded is ready as-is.
Installing mods to a vanilla server always follows the manual steps, using the minecraft_server.jar instead of minecraft.jar. Do not delete META-INF! I am not currently aware of any launchers that handle servers, but if one is out there, please let me know!
1. Make a Backup
Copy your default Minecraft directory to a new location. The choice is yours!
2. Create a new copy of Minecraft
Delete your Default Minecraft folder and then force refresh of Minecraft, If you know what you're doing, you can just remove any previously added files from mods, coremods, and config, and remove any other mod-specific directories you have.
Copy the default Minecraft directory to a new location, preserve the .minecraft name.
3. Install your mod loader
Order is important! The first thing you should install is the mod loader. After that, any dependencies you have, and only then the actual mod. If you are using Optifine, it is most likely to be the last thing you install.
Using your archiving program to take the files from the Modloader and drag them into minecraft.jar. Be sure to overwrite the existing files and merge the rest! Delete the META-INF folder from minecraft.jar.
4. Test
Run Minecraft, confirm it worked! Forge will display a nice message for you. You can check the log files as well. See common errors below if you are having a problem.
At this point, it's a good idea to create a copy of your minecraft.jar in case you make a mistake in the future. I recommend this after each change to the minecraft.jar, so that you won't have to start over from the beginning if you make a mistake. I like to rename them with what they are, like minecraft1.3.2-forge4.1.1.jar, minecraft1.3.2-forge4.1.1-optifine.jar, and so on.
5. Install any APIs or other dependencies that go into the jar
PlayerAPI, GuiAPI, etc. You install these the same way as the mod loader, but dragging and dropping the contents of the mod into the minecraft.jar file. A warning about incompatibilities -- if you install two mods that overwrite the same base classes, you will most likely have a conflict and Minecraft will crash. Always confirm Minecraft launches after adding each mod, and create a new copy if it does.
6. Install any coremods
If you are using Forge and require coremods, copy them into the coremods folder now. Again, confirm you can launch Minecraft without a crash.
7. Install your mods
As always, install mods one at a time and be sure to test after each mod is installed!
JAR mods - Like before, using your archiving program to open minecraft.jar and the mod's zip or rar file. If you're installing more than one mod, be sure to make copies of your minecraft.jar after each step.
mod folder - Drop the zip into the mods directory and that's it!
Special Cases - Some mods have you place configuration files or images somewhere the minecraft folder, others have instructions inside of the zip file. Be sure to follow the modder's instructions carefully! Always open and take a look at the contents of the zip before installing, do not assume that the zip file you have downloaded is ready as-is.
Installing mods to a vanilla server always follows the manual steps, using the minecraft_server.jar instead of minecraft.jar. Do not delete META-INF! I am not currently aware of any launchers that handle servers, but if one is out there, please let me know!
How to install mods with Magic Launcher
Spoiler:
Magic Launcher is great for rapidly testing mod combinations, and great if you only want to maintain one copy of Minecraft. It does support multiple installations, but the setup is not as streamlined as MultiMC. One advantage it has is that it will warn you of JAR mod conflicts. If you are not interested into multiple instances, skip the first two steps.
1. Set up a new instance
Copy your default minecraft directory to a new location. Note, you have to keep the folder name as ".minecraft." I personally have a C:\minecraft\ folder where I keep my installtions, with names like C:\minecraft\1.3.2-millenaire\.minecraft, C:\minecraft\1.3.2-btw\.minecraft.
As with the manual installation, remove any previously added files from mods, coremods, and config, and remove any other mod-specific directories you have.
2. Configure Magic Launcher
In the setup, create a new Configuration. Name is up to you. In the Advanced tab, put the path to your new instance in the "Base folder" field. Next to the minecraft.jar field, click "Select" and browse to this folder, go into bin and select the minecraft.jar.
3. Install your mod loader
In the top section of the "Mods" tab, click "Add." Browse to your Forge or ModLoader zip. It will appear in the list. Don't worry about whether or not the Version column shows up correctly.
Run Minecraft, confirm it worked! Forge will display a nice message for you. You can check the log files as well. See common errors below if you are having a problem.
4. Install any APIs or other dependencies that go into the jar
Just like with the mod loader, click "Add" in the top section of the "Mods" tab, select your zip file, and hit OK. Repeat this process for all of your dependencies.
If you find "Not compatible" in the Status field, you will most likely not be able to use the selected set of mods together. In some cases, this can be resolved by re-ordering the mods. You can do this with the Up and Down buttons. The mod loader should always be first, and OptiFine should always be last.
If you find a number of errors in the Status field, you will most likely run into problems. However, this is not always the case, sometimes the errors are minor and don't result in problems (Forge and OptiFine show this for example). You may also find that these types of conflicts result in some features of a mod being unavailable. It is best to test for yourself and contact the mod author if there are any questions.
5. Install core and external mods
Magic Launcher does not provide an interface for adding coremods or external mods. You will have to copy these to the coremods or mods folder in your minecraft folder as specified by the mod author. The "Manage" button in the bottom half of the "Mods" tab will take you to the main mods folder.
To best identify mod conflicts, install one mod at a time, and do a quick test of the features before moving on. If you find that you do have a conflict, you'll have to remove the file from the mods folder or untick the mod's "Active" box under External Mods.
Magic Launcher will not always display the version number, and will often report "No mods found," however, this is not a problem to worry about.
Magic Launcher is great for rapidly testing mod combinations, and great if you only want to maintain one copy of Minecraft. It does support multiple installations, but the setup is not as streamlined as MultiMC. One advantage it has is that it will warn you of JAR mod conflicts. If you are not interested into multiple instances, skip the first two steps.
1. Set up a new instance
Copy your default minecraft directory to a new location. Note, you have to keep the folder name as ".minecraft." I personally have a C:\minecraft\ folder where I keep my installtions, with names like C:\minecraft\1.3.2-millenaire\.minecraft, C:\minecraft\1.3.2-btw\.minecraft.
As with the manual installation, remove any previously added files from mods, coremods, and config, and remove any other mod-specific directories you have.
2. Configure Magic Launcher
In the setup, create a new Configuration. Name is up to you. In the Advanced tab, put the path to your new instance in the "Base folder" field. Next to the minecraft.jar field, click "Select" and browse to this folder, go into bin and select the minecraft.jar.
3. Install your mod loader
In the top section of the "Mods" tab, click "Add." Browse to your Forge or ModLoader zip. It will appear in the list. Don't worry about whether or not the Version column shows up correctly.
Run Minecraft, confirm it worked! Forge will display a nice message for you. You can check the log files as well. See common errors below if you are having a problem.
4. Install any APIs or other dependencies that go into the jar
Just like with the mod loader, click "Add" in the top section of the "Mods" tab, select your zip file, and hit OK. Repeat this process for all of your dependencies.
If you find "Not compatible" in the Status field, you will most likely not be able to use the selected set of mods together. In some cases, this can be resolved by re-ordering the mods. You can do this with the Up and Down buttons. The mod loader should always be first, and OptiFine should always be last.
If you find a number of errors in the Status field, you will most likely run into problems. However, this is not always the case, sometimes the errors are minor and don't result in problems (Forge and OptiFine show this for example). You may also find that these types of conflicts result in some features of a mod being unavailable. It is best to test for yourself and contact the mod author if there are any questions.
5. Install core and external mods
Magic Launcher does not provide an interface for adding coremods or external mods. You will have to copy these to the coremods or mods folder in your minecraft folder as specified by the mod author. The "Manage" button in the bottom half of the "Mods" tab will take you to the main mods folder.
To best identify mod conflicts, install one mod at a time, and do a quick test of the features before moving on. If you find that you do have a conflict, you'll have to remove the file from the mods folder or untick the mod's "Active" box under External Mods.
Magic Launcher will not always display the version number, and will often report "No mods found," however, this is not a problem to worry about.
How to install mods with MultiMC
Spoiler:
MultiMC makes it very easy to manage multiple installations of Minecraft. The interface is very intuitive, and it will even take care of copying the mods into their directories. It also has a button for installing Forge!
1. Set up a new instance
Click on "New," give it a name. You're done!
2. Install your mod loader
Select your instance and click on "Edit Mods." If you are using Forge, just click the "MCForge" button and select your version! (You should choose the top one - "recommended" - unless your mod requires a specific version). If you are using ModLoader, click "Add" and browse to the zip file.
3. Install any APIs or other dependencies that go into the jar
Still in the "Jar Mods" tab, click "Add" and browse to your dependency mods, or any other mod you wish to install to the JAR.
3. Install core mods (Forge only)
Click the "Coremods folder" and then Add.. browse and add.
4. Install external mods
Click the "Mods folder" tab, then Add. Easy!
If at any time you get a crash, just remove the last mod you added. If the logs don't make it obvious where the conflict is, you can just copy your instance and start systematically changing the configuration until you find the two that do conflict.
MultiMC makes it very easy to manage multiple installations of Minecraft. The interface is very intuitive, and it will even take care of copying the mods into their directories. It also has a button for installing Forge!
1. Set up a new instance
Click on "New," give it a name. You're done!
2. Install your mod loader
Select your instance and click on "Edit Mods." If you are using Forge, just click the "MCForge" button and select your version! (You should choose the top one - "recommended" - unless your mod requires a specific version). If you are using ModLoader, click "Add" and browse to the zip file.
3. Install any APIs or other dependencies that go into the jar
Still in the "Jar Mods" tab, click "Add" and browse to your dependency mods, or any other mod you wish to install to the JAR.
3. Install core mods (Forge only)
Click the "Coremods folder" and then Add.. browse and add.
4. Install external mods
Click the "Mods folder" tab, then Add. Easy!
If at any time you get a crash, just remove the last mod you added. If the logs don't make it obvious where the conflict is, you can just copy your instance and start systematically changing the configuration until you find the two that do conflict.
ID Resolver
Spoiler:
ID Resolver << http://www.minecraft...solver-update-0 >>
If you are trying to cram dozens of mods into your game, then you will want to install ID Resolver as one of your first mods. ID Resolver will resolve most Block and Item ID conflicts for you. ID Resolver requires GuiAPI << http://www.minecraft...ed-gui-toolkit/ >>, which is a JAR mod. ID Resolver itself is a coremod. Once you have these two in place and start Minecraft, you will be presented with a setup menu. I recommend setting "Only Show Conflicts" to true (Otherwise, you will be prompted for every block and item). As Minecraft loads your mods and detects conflicts, ID Resolver will prompt you to resolve them. You can do this manually or one at a time, but the "Resolve all IDs for this mod" is a quick and fairly safe way to get them all in no time.
There are certain cases where a mod cannot have its IDs re-assigned. If you run into a block or ID conflict after using ID Resolver, you should change the priority of the mod being loaded. You will need to remove your existing .minecraft/config/IDResolverknownIDs.properties and let ID Resolver start over. When you get to the mod in question, select the "Raise Priority" button.
ID Resolver has a number of other useful features including being able to view all the blocks and items in the game (a quick way to confirm if a mod loaded its content).
(Note, ID Resolver is still in pre-release for 1.3.2, and the post information has not been updated yet. The download link is buried in the thread, it is here: http://bit.ly/RVYoiS. ID Resolver for 1.4.2 has been posted to the official thread above.)
If you are trying to cram dozens of mods into your game, then you will want to install ID Resolver as one of your first mods. ID Resolver will resolve most Block and Item ID conflicts for you. ID Resolver requires GuiAPI << http://www.minecraft...ed-gui-toolkit/ >>, which is a JAR mod. ID Resolver itself is a coremod. Once you have these two in place and start Minecraft, you will be presented with a setup menu. I recommend setting "Only Show Conflicts" to true (Otherwise, you will be prompted for every block and item). As Minecraft loads your mods and detects conflicts, ID Resolver will prompt you to resolve them. You can do this manually or one at a time, but the "Resolve all IDs for this mod" is a quick and fairly safe way to get them all in no time.
There are certain cases where a mod cannot have its IDs re-assigned. If you run into a block or ID conflict after using ID Resolver, you should change the priority of the mod being loaded. You will need to remove your existing .minecraft/config/IDResolverknownIDs.properties and let ID Resolver start over. When you get to the mod in question, select the "Raise Priority" button.
ID Resolver has a number of other useful features including being able to view all the blocks and items in the game (a quick way to confirm if a mod loaded its content).
(Note, ID Resolver is still in pre-release for 1.3.2, and the post information has not been updated yet. The download link is buried in the thread, it is here: http://bit.ly/RVYoiS. ID Resolver for 1.4.2 has been posted to the official thread above.)
What to do if you have problems
Spoiler:
Always perform a search for your error. Most likely, someone else has come across it. Modders and supporters can get frustrated when the same common issue is posted repeatedly, and sometimes become hostile..
Be aware of your log files, which are usually in default Minecraft folder:
ModLoader - ModLoader.txt
Forge - ForgeModLoader-0.log
If Minecraft crashed, you will find log in .minecraft/crash-reports/ with the date and time.
If you are posting for help, you should always include these. Since they can be quite lengthy, be sure to put logs and crash reports in spoiler tags by typing [spoiler] at the top and [/spoiler] at the bottom.
If you are using a launcher, check the log window. (In Magic Launcher, check the "Show log" button for your instance settings. In MultiMC, go to the main Settings window and select the "Show console.." option from the "Error console" tab.)
Java errors can be daunting, but usually you can identify which mod the problem from the first few lines at the top.
I have found the following posts to be particular helpful in diagnosing and reporting problems with mods:
All about crash reports - http://www.minecraft...sh-reports-101/
How to get good help on the forums - http://www.minecraft...o-ask-for-help/
Common problems with Forge - http://www.minecraft...pic,2429.0.html
Common modding problems - http://www.minecraft...utions-for-132/
Be aware of your log files, which are usually in default Minecraft folder:
ModLoader - ModLoader.txt
Forge - ForgeModLoader-0.log
If Minecraft crashed, you will find log in .minecraft/crash-reports/ with the date and time.
If you are posting for help, you should always include these. Since they can be quite lengthy, be sure to put logs and crash reports in spoiler tags by typing [spoiler] at the top and [/spoiler] at the bottom.
If you are using a launcher, check the log window. (In Magic Launcher, check the "Show log" button for your instance settings. In MultiMC, go to the main Settings window and select the "Show console.." option from the "Error console" tab.)
Java errors can be daunting, but usually you can identify which mod the problem from the first few lines at the top.
I have found the following posts to be particular helpful in diagnosing and reporting problems with mods:
All about crash reports - http://www.minecraft...sh-reports-101/
How to get good help on the forums - http://www.minecraft...o-ask-for-help/
Common problems with Forge - http://www.minecraft...pic,2429.0.html
Common modding problems - http://www.minecraft...utions-for-132/
Conclusion
Check out http://www.minecraft...nd-142-as-well/ and http://modlist.mcf.li/ for up-to-date lists of current mods available for 1.3.2 and later!
