Data pack

A data pack or datapack is a collection of data used to configure a number of features of Minecraft. A data pack is either a folder or a .zip file containing a pack.mcmeta file. Data packs are used to define among others advancements, dimensions, enchantments, loot tables, recipes, structures, and biomes (see § Contents for a full list). The definitions of the vanilla features is done using a built-in data pack. Experiments are enabled by adding separate bundled data packs to a world. Similarly, custom data packs can be added to a world to add or modify features and define functions. A datapack can also change/edit terrain.

Data packs can be added to a world during world creation in the Create New World screen in the More tab by clicking the Data Packs button. This menu allows drag-and-drop of data packs from a file explorer. Alternatively, data packs can be added to an existing world by manually placing them in the .minecraft/saves/<world>/datapacks folder of a world.

When adding or modifying a data pack while the world is loaded, changes done to registry tags, loot tables, recipes, advancements, item modifiers, predicates, functions, and structure templates can be loaded using the /reload command. Other features require the world or server to be rebooted for changes to take effect (see § Experimental Settings).