How to Install Minecraft Mods for Windows

Minecraft Updates — November 2, 2012, 10:14 AM - 9,864 Views

How to install mods in Minecraft 1.6.2:

Requirements

• Minecraft 1.6.2 (it will be nice if you have a fresh copy)
• Minecraft Forge (optional, if you using mods based on Forge)
• Risugami ModLoader (optional, if you are installing modloader mods)
• WinRAR (a powerful archive explorer, allows you to edit JAR/ZIP/RAR files extensions)
• Backups (always backup your ./minecraft folder, no matter how tiniest change you make)

Now that you have latest running copy of the game, you can follow the steps below:

Installation Guide

For Forge Mods:

Mods based on Forge are easy to install once you have the API after that all you have to do is to Drag n drop.

Download the latest installer of Minecraft Forge (it comes with .jar extension). Run the installer and click [OK]. Then it will prompt you “Successfully installed Forge client profile” etc.

Now you need to Run the Minecraft Launcher, from the right dropdown menu, select Forge profile. Enter your username and password and click [Login]. It will download the necessary files and start Minecraft. You need to do this step or Forge will not install properly. Close the game after that.

Go to Run or Open Start Menu and type %appdata%/.minecraft and press Enter. You will see a folder named Mods open it. Put the mod zip file into that folder, don’t extract it.

Now, Start Minecraft again using the Forge profile. Click the [mods] from menu. You’ll see a list of installed modifications including the one you just added.

For Vanilla Mods:

Installing Vanilla mods can be a little bit tricky and time consuming only once but then then its easy.

Download any vanilla mod that is compatible with your Minecraft version. In my case, I downloaded XRay mod.

Now you need to open the Minecraft installation directory so you can put X-Ray mod files into the jar. Go to Start Menu > type %appdata%/.minecraft/versions and press Enter key.

We are not permitted to directly go to 1.6.2 folder and put the files into 1.6.2.jar because new launcher will overwrite everything. So, we have to create a new profile (duplicate) of original files and rename them so the launcher treats them differently.

Now, From the versions folder. Create a copy/duplicate of “1.6.2″ folder and paste on the same folder. Now rename the duplicated folder to any name. I renamed it to, xray.

Open “xray” folder you will see 2 files, 1.6.2.jar and 1.6.2.json. You need to change their names.

• Rename 1.6.2.jar to xray.jar
• Rename 1.6.2.json to xray.json

Open xray.json with any text editor, change the “id”: “1.6.2″ to ”id”: “xray”.

Now open xray.jar file with WinRAR including the Xray mod zip file that you downloaded.

Drag and drop the contents of Xraymod.zip file to Xray.JAR file. Delete/remove META-INF folder from the JAR. 

Now Open Minecraft Launcher, click [New Profile] button enter any name. From the “Use version” drop down menu, select release xray and click Save Profile.

Now from profile selection, select the profile you just created, login your account and run the game. Create a new world or join a multiplayer server to test your mod installation.

For ModLoader Mods:

You need modloader to use such mods. Follow Vanilla mod instructions mentioned above and install Risugami ModLoader first.

Go to Start Menu, type %appdata%/.minecraft/ and hit enter. Open mods folder, put any mod zip file that uses modloader as a base mod.

For Base Mods:

You need to edit the JAR of either Minecraft Forge or Modded Jar (refer to Vanilla instructions) then put copy the .class files.

Forge Jar file can be found in [/.minecraft/versions/1.6.2-Forge9.10.0.###]

Modded JAR is duplicate of original 1.6.2.jar but renamed, it is created/duplicated during installation of Vanilla mods.

How to install mods in Minecraft 1.5.2:

BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO INSTALL MODS, BACKUP YOUR SAVES! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Step 1: First, you have to download a Minecraft Mod of your choice. You can use google to find mods, or you can search the Minecraft Forums.

Step 2: Now, you have to open your minecraft.jar file. This can be found here: C:\Users\(insert computer name here)\AppData\Roaming\.minecraft\bin. It can also be found by searching for “%appdata%” in your start menu. Once you have searched for “%appdata%,” you have to follow the same path as stated above.

Step 3: Open your minecraft.jar with Winrar by simply dragging the .jar into Winrar.

Step 4: Open the .zip/.rar/folder of your mod and drag and drop the contents into the minecraft.jar. Sometimes some contents must be entered in different places besides just the main minecraft.jar directory. Before this step, you should check the original post of the mod to know where to put the appropriate files. An example of this sort of mod is the Mo’ Creates Mod by Dr Zhark.

Step 5: Delete the META-INF folder in the minecraft.jar. Close minecraft.jar.

Step 6: Open Minecraft and play!

If your mod doesn’t work properly or you get a black screen at the Minecraft startup:

Step 1: Delete your minecraft.jar found here “C:\Users\(insert computer name here)\AppData\Roaming\.minecraft\bin”.

Step 2: Open Minecraft, let it auto-update so your .jar can be restord.

Step 3: Attempt to re-install mod (If you want).