Resource packs

Exporting

You never have to export to test a pack. Pushing to a linked player never produces a file you have to handle, so export is for taking the pack elsewhere: a launcher, a server host, a friend, a marketplace listing.

What you can export#

Export	File	When you'd pick it
Java pack	`.zip`	The ordinary Resource Pack. Goes in `resourcepacks`, or to a server host
Bedrock pack	`.mcpack`	The same assets converted for Bedrock. Double-click to install

Both are built on demand from what's currently in the editor. There's no build step to remember and nothing to re-upload between edits.

Animations don't survive a Java export

In the Java .zip, animations and bones are stored as extra fields on the model JSON. Vanilla ignores fields it doesn't recognise, so the pack is perfectly valid and the model just sits there, static; playback needs our plugin. The Bedrock .mcpack is the opposite, since Bedrock has native keyframe animation and they convert into the real thing. See Animations.

Installing it#

The Java .zip goes in your resourcepacks folder:

# Windows
%APPDATA%\.minecraft\resourcepacks
 
# macOS
~/Library/Application Support/minecraft/resourcepacks
 
# Linux
~/.minecraft/resourcepacks

A server serves it the ordinary way, from server.properties, and that needs nothing of ours installed. A Bukkit, Spigot or Paper plugin can do the same through the resource pack API, if you'd rather send it per player or swap it at runtime. The .mcpack installs itself when opened.

There's no runtime dependency on us in any exported file. It keeps working if you never open the Studio again, animated models excepted.