Mods have been integral to Minecraft's history and have grown alongside the game. The first few mods started as basic and quickly became an essential aspect of the Minecraft community. Over time, mods became advanced and pushed the boundaries of possibilities.
Mod packs add a ton of mods together that are usually correlated and aim to create a connected experience. Each mod pack dramatically changes the vanilla gameplay, and gives different progression, with new content to last hundreds of hours, if not more.
Minecraft: 7 Best Modpacks, Ranked
Players who want the essential modpacks for Minecraft don't have to look much further than the following examples.
This list will capture different unique mods that give a different experience for players and don't include mod packs that throw in everything but the kitchen sink.
5 Permafrost
Modpack Experience: Hardcore & Survival
- Modpack Link: Permafrost
- Mod Count: 139
- Downloads: 158,991
Taking place in a dead world, Permafrost throws players into a frozen ice-age world that turns Minecraft into a challenging experience. Players have around 200 quests and a main story that slowly gives information about why the world entered its permanent frost. Surviving in this permafrost will require players to constantly stay on their toes and use scarce resources to their advantage.
The mod pack creator added a lot of care to adding rich lore through the quests and item descriptions, similar to how Dark Souls explains much of its lore. Permafrost includes a mix of magic and tech mods that are handpicked to match the mod pack's story. Gamers will also enjoy the included soundtrack made from many of C418's works.
This hardcore experience will give players lots of challenging moments and minibosses, and give each player a unique story based on their decisions. The questbook is an excellent guide that helps players stand on their feet and learn to thrive in the difficult Permafrost world.
4 Dimension Zero
Modpack Experience: Dimensional Exploration & Combat
- Modpack Link: Dimension Zero
- Mod Count: 211
- Downloads: 166,003
Out of the blue, the world was plunged into all kinds of natural disasters, and it caused the boundaries of dimensions to rupture. Portals and rifts have opened up, creating new areas full of unique monsters. Spatial distortions are common in these newly added dimensions, and odd occurrences occur frequently due to the rupturing of dimensional boundaries.
The mod pack is a hardcore experience that gives an enjoyable experience for players who like a challenge. Alongside the hardcore experience, the mod pack also provides a story that is explained alongside a questing system to aid player progression. With a mix of tech, lots of magic, and RPG-style mods, players are given an arsenal to fight against the new dimensions.
The mods have been adjusted to fit within the mod pack, such as adjusting weapon and magic damage to better suit the newly added mobs. Players can gain additional permanent health to stand a better fighting chance against the dimensional rifts that open up every 5 nights.
3 TREPIDATION
Modpack Experience: Horror & Combat Focused
- Modpack Link: Trepidation
- Mod Count: 203
- Downloads: 13,280
Minecraft doesn't stand out for its deep combat, but Trepidation has done an amazing job of doing the impossible. Drawing inspiration from Hades, Dark Souls, and Doom, this mod pack transforms Minecraft into a panic-inducing experience. Players first spawn in the nether and must fight through several dimensions and slay the ender dragon, all while on a time limit.
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Before reaching the final dimension, players have 4 dimensions to conquer. Mobs are scary and harder to face, as they now have improved AI that makes them more challenging and are given new abilities such as manipulating blocks, dodging, and using unique abilities.
To help players in this challenge, the mod pack vastly reworks the movement in Minecraft by adding faster sprinting, mid-air dashing, wall climbing, and double jumping. Combat is now enhanced with new animations, mechanics, and a new selection of weapons to play with.
The mod pack page mentions a few content warnings worth looking at before playing the mod pack.
2 Encrypted_
Modpack Experience: Automation & Chemistry
- Modpack Link: Encrypted_
- Mod Count: 307
- Downloads: 152,979
Moving away from dimensions and combat-focused mod packs, Encrypted takes a unique turn on Minecraft and places players in a simulation where they must escape back to reality. With tech and magic mods, players will learn to build automated machines to create factories.
Encrypted has a unique focus on chemistry and gives players the freedom to create whatever machinery their hearts desire. Players spawn in a large empty simulation room, giving players complete freedom to build and break their way out of the simulation.
Motivated by a clear goal, this mod pack aims to see how players will master chemistry, magic, and tech to progress. Gamers with a fascination for chemistry must give Encrypted_ a try as it plays a large role in this mod pack.
1 Cottage Witch
Modpack Experience: Relaxed & Witchy
- Modpack Link: Cottage Witch
- Mod Count: 321
- Downloads: 148,325
While many mods in this list are focused on giving the player a challenge, this mod pack offers a more laid-back experience and gives players a wide array of possibilities to pursue. Players can pursue building and decorating, fiddling with magic and machinery, exploring or cooking, and farming.
The mod pack has a cottage core witchy vibe that remains consistent throughout its mod selection. Exploration is made fun with the addition of new biomes and mobs, which add life to the overworld. Cottage Witch offers an in-game quest system that offers no story but is excellent at helping players progress in the mod pack.
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The quest system gives incentivizing rewards to keep players motivated to explore new mods. This mod pack is excellent for players new to modded Minecraft and still manages to offer lots of depth for experienced players.
Minecraft
- Released
- November 18, 2011
- Developer(s)
- Mojang
- Platform(s)
- 3DS, Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Wii U, PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PS Vita, Xbox One, Xbox 360
- Genre(s)
- Sandbox, Survival