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Getting Started with Forge

This is a simple guide to get you from nothing to a basic mod. The rest of this documentation is about where to go from here.

From Zero to Modding

  1. Obtain a Java 8 Development Kit (JDK) and a 64-bit Java Virtual Machine (JVM). Minecraft and MinecraftForge both compile against Java 8 and as such should be used for development. Using a 32-bit JVM will result in some problems when running the below gradle tasks. You can obtain one from AdoptOpenJDK.
  2. Obtain the Mod Development Kit (MDK) from Forge's files site.
  3. Extract the downloaded MDK into an empty directory. You should see a bunch of files along with an example mod placed in src/main/java for you to look at. Only a few of these files are strictly necessary for mod development, and you may reuse these files for all your projects. These files are:
    • build.gradle
    • gradlew.bat
    • gradlew
    • the gradle folder
  4. Move the files listed above to a new folder. This will be your mod project folder.
  5. Choose your IDE:
    • Forge only explicitly supports developing with Eclipse, but there are additional run tasks for IntelliJ IDEA or Visual Studio Code environments. However, any environment, from Netbeans to vim/emacs, can be made to work.
    • For both Intellij IDEA and Eclipse, their Gradle integration will handle the rest of the initial workspace setup. This includes downloading packages from Mojang, MinecraftForge, and a few other software sharing sites. For VSCode, the 'Gradle Tasks' plugin can be used to handle the initial workspace setup.
    • For most, if not all, changes to the build.gradle file to take effect, Gradle will need to be invoked to re-evaluate the project. This can be done through 'Refresh' buttons in the Gradle panels of both of the previously mentioned IDEs.
  6. Generating IDE Launch/Run Configurations:
    • For Eclipse, run the genEclipseRuns gradle task (gradlew genEclipseRuns). This will generate the Launch Configurations and download any required assets for the game to run. After this has finished, refresh your project.
    • For IntelliJ, run the genIntellijRuns gradle task (gradlew genIntellijRuns). This will generate the Run Configurations and download any required assets for the game to run. If you encounter an error saying "module not specified", you can either edit the configuration to select your "main" module or specify it through the ideaModule property.
    • For VSCode, run the genVSCodeRuns gradle task (gradlew genVSCodeRuns). This will generate the Launch Configurations and download any required assets for the game to run.

Customizing Your Mod Information

Edit the build.gradle file to customize how your mod is built (the file names, versions, and other things).

!!! important

**Do not** edit the `buildscript {}` section of the build.gradle file, its default text is necessary for ForgeGradle to function.

Almost anything underneath the // Only edit below this line, the above code adds and enables the necessary things for Forge to be setup. marker can be changed. Many things can be removed and customized there as well.

Simple build.gradle Customizations

These customizations are highly recommended for all projects.

  • To change the name of the file you build - edit the value of archivesBaseName to suit.
  • To change your "maven coordinates" - edit the value of group as well.
  • To change the version number - edit the value of version.
  • To update the run configurations - replace all occurrences of examplemod to the mod id of your mod.

Building and Testing Your Mod

  1. To build your mod, run gradlew build. This will output a file in build/libs with the name [archivesBaseName]-[version].jar. This file can be placed in the mods folder of a Forge enabled Minecraft setup or distributed.
  2. To test run your mod, the easiest way is to use the run configs that were generated when you set up your project. Otherwise, you can run gradlew runClient. This will launch Minecraft from the <runDir> location along with your mod's code in any source sets specified within your run configurations. The default MDK includes the main source set, so any code written within src/main/java will be applied.
  3. You can also run a dedicated server using the server run config or via gradlew runServer. This will launch the Minecraft server with its GUI. After the first run, the server will shut down immediately until the Minecraft EULA is accepted by editing run/eula.txt. Once accepted, the server will load and can be accessed via a direct connect to localhost.

!!! note

It is always advisable to test your mod in a dedicated server environment if it is intended to run there.