How to install a resource pack

Want Minecraft to look different without changing how it plays? That’s what a resource pack does. It replaces the art, and it can also replace sounds, the font, and parts of the menus. It doesn’t change the rules, and it doesn’t need a mod loader (for mods, see Best Minecraft mods). A shader is a different download: that zip changes the light and goes in a different folder. Also, Java and Bedrock don’t share pack files.

I play a modded Create pack through the Modrinth App, so I’ll cover that folder too. A zip dropped in the official launcher’s .minecraft does nothing for a Modrinth instance. Below you’ll find the right file type and folder for your setup.

The file in your downloads

A .zip A .mcpack The server asked A shader zip

Leave the zip closed. Options, Resource Packs, Open Pack Folder, then move it from Available to Selected.

Java

Open Minecraft on the profile you play. Choose Options, then Resource Packs, then Open Pack Folder. That button opens the folder this profile loads. Drop the .zip in and leave it closed. Go back to the game. The pack should be on the left, under Available. Move it to the right, under Selected, and press Done. The game reloads.

On our Create instance that button is inside the Modrinth profile, not Latest Release. The launcher row that starts NeoForge is the row whose folder you want.

The Minecraft wiki says a pack is either that zip or a folder, and that pack.mcmeta is the file that identifies it. It has to sit at the root. If you open the zip and the first thing inside is another folder, the game is looking at the wrong level and the list stays empty. macOS sometimes expands a download into a folder. That folder is valid when pack.mcmeta is directly inside it. An extra folder around the pack is the failure.

You can also drag the zip onto the Select Resource Packs screen. The wiki says the game copies it into the folder for you.

If you type the path instead of using the button, the official launcher uses one directory:

• Windows: %appdata%\.minecraft\resourcepacks
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/minecraft/resourcepacks
• Linux: ~/.minecraft/resourcepacks

The name is resourcepacks, one word. CurseForge, the Modrinth app, and Prism keep a separate folder inside the instance. The button from inside that instance is the path that matches the profile. A zip dropped in the official launcher’s folder does nothing for a Modrinth or CurseForge profile.

More than one pack can be selected. The wiki’s order is the bottom of the Selected list loads first, and each pack above it replaces the art both of them contain. The higher pack wins where they overlap. A pack that only changes the font belongs above a pack that changes every block.

Press F3+T to reload resource packs without leaving the world. The debug-hotkey page on the wiki names that combo Reload Resource Packs. On some laptops the debug key is Fn+F3, then T.

Bedrock

A Bedrock pack arrives as .mcpack or .mcaddon. Open the file. The wiki says Minecraft imports it into the game, and you do not have to find the folder first. Then open Settings, then Global Resources, and move the pack from My Packs to Active. That applies it everywhere. Edit World, then Resource Packs, keeps it on that one world. The wiki says global resources sit above the packs stored on a world, so a global pack wins where they overlap.

Consoles do not take a loose file. A phone opens the download with Minecraft, then uses the same Global Resources screen.

A Java zip left in a Bedrock folder is still a Java pack. The two editions do not read each other’s files. If a double-click does nothing, the file was not handed to Minecraft. Open it again from the download list. Guides disagree on the typed Windows path for a manual copy, so the import is the step to trust.

I play Java, so I haven’t tested a Bedrock import myself. The wiki steps above are the official path.

When the art does not change

Selected is what turns a Java pack on. Active is what turns a Bedrock pack on. A file that only sits in the folder is installed and still off.

A pack made for another Minecraft version can show a warning. The textures it includes still load. A block the pack never drew stays on the default art. Match the version named on the pack’s own page before you treat a warning as a broken zip. Our pack is 1.21.1. A pack drawn for 1.16 will leave Create blocks on the default art.

A pack that says it needs OptiFine still uses this folder. Connected textures, the glass that joins, need OptiFine or Continuity. That split is OptiFine vs Sodium. I run Sodium + Iris on NeoForge. The rest of the art shows without either connected-texture mod. A resource pack that brings its own core shaders will not show those while a shader pack is enabled. Ordinary textures still will.

A server can ask you to download its pack when you join. Accepting the prompt is the install for that server. A world can also carry its own resources.zip, and the wiki says that copy is not sent to players who join over LAN.

If you are about to change the mods folder, copy the instance first — keep a modded world from breaking. A resource pack is art. A missing Create jar is a save.

Related: Minecraft guides, What Minecraft server hosting is, PC builds, Java snapshot news.

Common questions

How do I install a resource pack in Minecraft Java?

Go to Options, Resource Packs and click Open Pack Folder. Drop the zip file in without unzipping it, then move the pack from Available to Selected.

How do I install a resource pack in Minecraft Bedrock?

Open the .mcpack or .mcaddon file and Minecraft will import it automatically. Then turn it on under Settings, Global Resources, or in your world's Resource Packs.

Do Minecraft resource packs need mods?

No. Resource packs work in vanilla Minecraft. Some features like connected textures need OptiFine or Continuity, but the rest of the pack loads without mods.

Why isn't my resource pack showing up in Minecraft?

It's probably in the wrong folder or wrapped in an extra folder. Use Open Pack Folder from the profile you play, and make sure pack.mcmeta sits at the top level of the zip.

Can I use two resource packs at once?

Yes. Put both on the Selected list; the pack higher on the list overrides the one below wherever they change the same textures.