Datapacks allow you to play a customized version of Minecraft, without having to use Forge or Fabric. And Minecraft 1.18.1 isn’t shy to some interesting data packs. This list will cover 20 of the latest and best data packs for this version of the game.
If you don’t know how to install Datapacks in Minecraft, then follow our Datapack Guide. It works for if you’re creating a new world, or wanting to add Datapacks to an existing world.
Custom Hearts
Our first Datapack changes Minecrafts health system, and you’ll only start with a single heart. To unlock more, you’ll need to complete some quests, which can be seen at the top of the screen. The first will ask you to kill 10 Villagers, and doing so will provide you with another heart.
Each heart also has abilities of their own, and some abilities will allow you to see all nearby mobs when taking damage, take no fall damage or equip you with a Miner Helmet, which lights up the surrounding area. Some of the quests involve killing Creepers, mining Obsidian or killing Blazes.
Moonblade
The Moonblade is a new Sword which can be obtained by combining 10 Diamond Blocks, 10 Enchanted Golden Apples and a Diamond Sword, so it’s pretty expensive. After hitting an enemy with the Sword, they’ll be given the Slowness and Weakness effects. By right clicking an enemy, you can send out a bolt of Lunar Energy, which marks them instead. If you then sneak and right click that target, you can dash towards them.
If you press Q to throw the Moonblade, then it will launch outwards swinging, hitting any enemies in its path before returning to you, like a Boomerang. Even when you’re just holding the Sword, you’ll be given the Speed, Resistance and Night Vision buffs.
Better Underwater Ruins
You can use this Data Pack to expand on Minecrafts aquatic features. Occasionally, you’ll come across new locations underwater, which look like different ruins, with some even feeling like small cities. There’s gonna be lots of hostile mobs in these locations, like Skeletons, Guardians and Drowned.
Of course, there’s also going to be lots of loot, so you’ll definitely want to bring Night Vision and Water Breathing Potions when exploring. The pack does include new loot tables too, so you’ll often come across Chests being themed when it comes to their contents, such as Prismarine, Coral or Food Chests.
Minecraft Explosion Rebuilder
Minecraft Explosion Rebuilder is really fun to use. When an explosion goes off in your world, such as by TNT, Creepers or Wither Skulls, the damage they caused will be repaired after a few seconds.
It’s quite satisfying to watch the blocks slowly come back too. Even if you have a Chest with items in it and it explodes, it will be rebuilt, with all the items back inside. So you might want to use this on a server if you’re playing with friends, so that griefing is prevented.
Necromancer
Necromancer allows you to summon minions, who are the undead. To start, throw a Book and a Skeleton Skull on top of eachother, to give yourself the Necromancer book. Inside the book, you can see that you can summon the likes of Skeletons, Zombies and Husks, as well as custom mobs like the Frozen Archer, Fallen Hero and Dragon Slayer.
You can throw the required items on the ground, and summon them from the book. They’ll fight alongside you, and use their weapons to take out anything you attack. At any time, you can recall creatures, or decompose them, which causes them to die.
Ender Expansion
If you want to improve on the End Dimension, then try out the Ender Expansion pack. There’s a lot included, with the biggest changes coming with the new biomes. You can find places like the Amethyst Forest, Warped Marsh, Shattered End, the Flesh Tundra and more. The End should look a lot more colorful in general, with lots of new terrain, trees and blocks spread throughout the dimension.
When it comes to the Dragon fight, you can expect it to be a bit harder, as the fight takes place at a bigger height. There’s 2 more Dragon Crystals, and the Dragons health is also doubled. The pack also implements new End Cities, which dramatically increases the size and design of them, which is a major improvement.
Mob Heads
With this Datapack, there’ll be over 360 different mob heads added to your world. They represent all creatures in the world, like Creepers, Villagers, Parrots and more. When you kill a creature, it will have a small chance of dropping its head. Although you can change the settings yourself, so that they can always drop.
The reason that there’s so many is because of all the different variants of Villagers and Zombie Villagers, who have different skins depending on the biome they spawn in. But either way, collecting these heads and displaying them is going to be a great addition to the game.
Spellbound Weapons
Spellbound Weapons adds 16 new weapons to Minecraft, consisting of Swords, Daggers, Staffs, Bows and Crossbows. They have different ways of being obtained, as some can be dropped by mobs, and most of them have small chances of spawning in Chests. Like other Datapack weapons, they have different effects.
Some examples are the Blazing Sword, which will cast out a line of fire. The Bone Wand will allow you to summon Bone Blocks from thin air, which could be good for escaping bad situations. And the Blowgun will allow you to deal Poison damage to hit targets.
Zombie Apocalypse Pack
The Zombie Apocalypse pack will make major changes to Zombies. Firstly, there’s lots of different types they can spawn as, which includes the Brute, Mutant, Protector, King, Chaser and Builder. Some of them have unique abilities, like the Builder who will actually place blocks to bridge towards you. Or the King, who will give stat boosts to all other Zombies in a hundred block radius.
From now on, Zombies will also pick-up items, break down doors and have a chance of spawning with boosted stats. So you can expect to find them with extra Speed or Damage. They’re gonna be a lot more of a threat, instead of slowly walking towards you like they normally do.
Enhanced Jewelry
To get started with this pack, you should craft the Jewelry Station from 3 Iron Ingots, an Iron Block, 2 Yellow Wool and 1 Red Wool. Before you can work with it, you’ll need to collect Gems, which can be obtained by killing mobs, mining different blocks or searching Chests inside of locations like Villages.
You’ll also need to craft the base items from either Iron, Gold or Copper. These items are Bracelets, Rings and Necklaces. There’s 7 different Gems, and when combined with your Jewelry, they can give effects like increased movement speed, jump height or damage over time.
Extended Fishing
With Extended Fishing installed, you can expect to catch a lot more items when fishing than you normally would. There’s over 50 added items from vanilla Minecraft, and it includes the likes of Enchanted Items, Horse Armor, Feathers, String, Leather Items, Shields and more.
Interestingly, there’s different rarities for the items you catch too, so it’s not exactly overpowered. There’s also a chance to catch a school of fish, or Fishing Crates. If you open a Fishing Crate, you might find a lot of loot.
Grappling Hook
Now, you can craft a Grappling Hook from an Ender Pearl and Tripwire. It’s a pretty simple pack. When you hold the Grappling Hook, you can right click to fire it, and you’ll be pulled towards the block. It doesn’t move too fast, as it prevents you from taking any fall damage, and the range isn’t too far either.
Run Faster on Grass Paths
Another simple pack is Run Faster on Grass Paths. It increases your movement speed over path blocks. Overall, it’s a great feature, and something most of us wouldn’t mind seeing added to regular Minecraft, as it really gives you an incentive to path between locations.
Five Nights at Freddy’s Concept
You’ll be able to add some of the characters from Five Nights at Freddy’s with this Datapack. It includes Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Vanessa, and you’ll be given spawn eggs when you type the reload command.
Their first mode is performance mode, and allows you to place them on powered Note Blocks, which gives them some cool static animations. If you place them on Soul Soil, then they’ll enter haunted mode. Throughout the day, they’ll stand still, but during the night, they’ll hunt and attack. They have some special attacks, like Chica will throw Potions of Hunger at you. Bonnie will strum his guitar when he’s close, which will send you into the air. Luckily, you can cancel these animations by attacking at the right time.
I think the scariest part of haunted mode is when the animatronics crawl through 2 block high gaps to chase you. They all have a chance of spawning naturally. Vanessa can be traded with for some Plushies, which can be placed down for decoration.
Easy Rope Ladders
Easy Rope Ladders also adds a really useful feature. When a Ladder is placed down, you can throw more Ladders at it, which turns it into a Rope Ladder.
It’s very useful, as these Rope Ladders don’t need to be resting against another block, and you can also throw entire stacks at once to speed up the process. It’s going to be great for exploring, especially in the new Caves and Cliffs update.
Amethyst Golem
The Amethyst Golem is a new creature which can spawn in the Dripstone Cave Biome, and it’s hostile. You’ll want to be very careful around it, as it deals a lot of damage, and has lots of health too. It has 2 different attacks, as it can do direct hits, or summon Amethyst Crystals below you which deal damage.
If you kill the Golem, then you’ll receive the Amethyst Core. This can be combined with a Trident to turn it into an Amethyst Wand, which you can use to damage enemies in a 8 block radius with Amethyst Crystals. It’s also worth noting that it doesn’t work on undead enemies.
Beekeeper
The Beekeeper is a new Villager who you’ll find spawning naturally in Villages, and they even come with a new structure, which is the Apiary. Like with other Villagers, you can trade with the Beekeeper to trade items like Honey, Flowers and Bee Nests.
They also sell Populated Beehives, a new type of Beehive which comes already with Bees. You can turn regular Villagers into Beekeepers by placing down a Beehive and having them interact with it.
Ravager Jockey
Ravager Jockey allows you to ride Ravagers. To get started, you’ll need to get a Goat Horn, which can be dropped from Goats. You’ll also need to craft a Rabbit on a Stick from a Fishing Rod and a Raw Rabbit.
When you interact with a Ravagers back, you’ll be able to ride them. Be careful, as it might be difficult, because they can still attack as you get close. Using the Rabbit on a Stick, you can control the direction of the Ravager, and the Goat Horn plays a cool sound and tells the Ravager to attack.
Better Interior
Better Interior gives access to quite a few useful mechanics, and you’ll need to craft the Carpenting Table from 4 Planks and 2 Sticks to get started. The first item is the Posing Armor Stand. It has arms, so can also be equipped with holdable items. When you get close enough, you can press Shift to change the pose, through 15 different presets. There’s also Dolls, which can be posed too, and they’re smaller versions of Armor Stands.
If you place either of these items on a Lodestone, then they’ll rotate towards the player. If you throw a Splash Potion of Invisibility onto it, then the base will become invisible. Likewise, you can throw Splash Potions of Invisibility onto Item Frames to achieve the same effect. There’s also Fixed Paintings inside the Carpenting Table, and these allow you to choose any painting you’d like, without relying on the luck factor.
Ladder Cart
Ladder Cart allows your Minecarts to go up Ladders, completely vertical. It’s incredibly useful, and works on all your cart types. You’ll no longer need to build long complex rail systems, and it’s also going to save you a lot of Iron Ingots in crafting recipes.
