How to add add-ons to existing Minecraft Bedrock worlds

Minecraft finally has an official way of adding add-ons. This long-awaited feature is perhaps more exciting than the upcoming mobs and items in the 1.21 update. These add-ons let you add different items, mobs, and even new mechanics to the game without the need to install any mod or any third-party mod launcher. The process of getting them is simple and takes only a few clicks.

Here’s where to get different add-ons and how to add them to your Minecraft world.

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How to add add-ons in Minecraft

Minecraft Spark Pets add-on (Image via Mojang Studios)

One of the most exciting things about these add-ons is that you can add them to a new world as well as your existing Bedrock world. First, you need to get the add-ons to add them.

Thankfully, since these are official add-ons, you don’t need to scour through different websites. All you need to do is head to Minecraft Marketplace and click on the "New" tab, where all the new add-ons are shown.

Some of the add-ons are free, whereas some of them are paid. Pick whatever you like and click download. That’s all needed to get them. This process is especially easy for console players.

With all the add-ons downloaded, go back to the main menu and select the world you want the add-ons to be; you can select a previous world or start with a completely new one. Click on the button with the pencil icon to change the setting of the particular world.

Activating the add-ons in the world setting (Image via Mojang Studios)

Scroll down to find the "Resources Packs" tab, where you can find all the downloaded texture packs, skins, and add-ons. Find the add-on you want to add to the game and click on it to activate it.

Like the activation process, if you want to disable the add-on, click on it again to bring the deactivate option. That’s all you need to do to activate or deactivate the add-ons in a new Minecraft world or an existing one.

Getting the add-ons in your Realms world requires the same process. Go to the Realms tab and click on the pencil icon next to the world you want to add the add-ons. Again, find the "Resource Packs" or "Behavior Pack" tab and activate the add-ons.

If you cannot see the add-ons in the Resource Packs tab even after downloading it, then a game restart should fix the issue. Once the add-on has been downloaded and installed, you should see a message about the add-on when your world finishes loading.

Note that this is an add-on and not a mod. Mods are different from add-ons in many aspects and often require complicated installation processes.

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That’s the entire process of getting the add-ons in your world. Note that adding these add-ons will disable achievements, so it's better to add them to a copy of your existing world.