New Minecraft Bedrock add-on changes have brought them close to mods for Java Edition

Minecraft Java has always had a better modding scene than Bedrock Edition. This is because players have so much more freedom when adding content to Java, whereas any Bedrock content was limited to what was possible within the tools Mojang gave creators. However, a recent Mojang announcement has brought new potential to Bedrock modding.

This announcement covers the newly released add-on feature found within the Minecraft Marketplace. Detailed below is exactly what was mentioned in the announcement, along with a breakdown of what addons are and what this might mean for Bedrock modding's future.

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Mojang announces add-ons to Minecraft Bedrock Edition

In a community post made on February 20, 2024, Mojang announced the addition of add-ons to Bedrock Edition.

To celebrate the addition of add-ons to Bedrock Edition, Mojang also announced that some of the first add-ons in the store would be free. These include the Gravestone add-on, which stores players' items in a gravestone upon death; the Hiker's Friend add-on, which adds handheld lanterns and sleeping bags; and the All the Wool add-on, which adds hundreds of wool colors.

The other free add-ons include the Another Furniture add-on, which, as the name suggests, adds furniture that can be used to decorate Minecraft survival bases and creative builds; the More TNT! add-on, which gives players access to new and powerful TNT types; and finally, the Spark Pets add-on, which adds 10 new pets to Minecraft. The best of which are the baby T-Rex and the capybara, for sure.

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What are add-ons?

The addons page in the marketplace (Image via Mojang)

Add-ons are best described by Mojang themselves in a pop-up shown to players the first time they launch Bedrock with add-ons in the Minecraft Marketplace.

They are pieces of content created by trusted game partners that are then tested by Mojang before being put out to players. Creators can use add-ons to add custom items, blocks, mobs, recipes, and more to the game.

Add-ons can be combined however the player wants, though changes to the same asset will use a hierarchy system to determine load order. Players can also turn add-ons on and off on a world-by-world basis rather than having content-pack-specific worlds. The automation of the installation process through the marketplace means that add-ons are easier to install than Java Edition's mods.

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What does this mean for Minecraft Bedrock players?

This is inarguably a step closer to Java-style mods on Bedrock. The fact that they can be enabled and disabled at will in a manner so similar to mods implies that we are slowly moving closer to parity between the extra content made for the two games.

While they will never have the exact same modding potential due to differences in monetization and coding language, Mojang has inarguably made a step in the right direction with add-ons. Hopefully, this addition will lead to something of a Bedrock modding renaissance.