Data packs are one of the easiest ways to customize Minecraft. They allow you to add in things like custom structures, commands, and behaviors to Minecraft without external mod loaders like Forge. However, finding high-quality data packs that work as expected can be extremely difficult. For this reason, we created this list of the best data packs for Minecraft.
Minecraft Data Packs List
Vanilla Tweaks
Vanilla Tweaks is a collection of hundreds of data packs. There are Minecraft data packs for everything you could dream of with Vanilla Tweaks, from utility to mobs to general survival. Truthfully, we could create an entire list of data packs from just Vanilla Tweaks. It's also worth mentioning that Vanilla Tweaks data packs are usually kept up-to-date meaning they quickly update to new versions of Minecraft.
All Mob Heads
All Mob Heads does what the name implies – it makes all mobs in Minecraft mobs drop their heads when they are killed. This includes all kinds of cool custom mob heads like heads for bees, cows, and chickens, but also more traditional mob heads you may expect like skeletons and zombies. You can also do some cool things using the heads like summon some special monsters!
Your Inventory Shrinks Every 3 Minutes
This data pack is honestly very cool. You start with all 36 of your inventory slots. Then, every three minutes you lose one inventory slot. The goal is to defeat the ender before you have no more inventory slots left. In total, you will have 108 minutes to do this before you have no more slots in your inventory to store any items. Can you beat this challenge data pack?
Upgrade Overworld
This data pack wants to take vanilla overworld biomes and take them up a notice. It starts by adding in an old-growth birch forest. This new biome has much larger trees than vanilla Minecraft birch biomes. The trees are also more spread out giving the biome a more open feel which I happen to really enjoy. There are also more flowers and lower growth setting an awesome tone in this biome!
Backpack
Backpack mods are some of the coolest mods you can get in Minecraft, and this data pack adds a backpack to Minecraft without any mod loaders. You can easily craft multiple backpacks, wear them as your chest armor, and use it to extend your inventory and store more items.
Minecraft Beach Update
Beaches in Minecraft have a lot of room for improvement. That is where the Minecraft Beach Update data pack comes in. It adds in crabs, seagulls, palm trees, seashells, and more. In my opinion, the palm trees alone make this data pack awesome, but the fact it adds in crabs and seagulls takes it to the next level. This data pack will make your beaches awesome!
Awesome Dungeons
One of the coolest things that data packs for Minecraft can do is add new things to explore in your world. Awesome Dungeons does this by adding in 12 different dungeons/structures to the overworld for you to discover. There are also extensions for the Nether and The End if you want to take your exploration up a notch in all worlds.
Entity Construction
There aren't too many building-based data packs out there. However, Entity Construction is one. It allows you to construct entity buildings using summon eggs. These builds can be teleported, and since they are entities have some really cool features like being able to be built above world height.
Plush Pets
Data packs are an awesome way to make exploring more fun. Plush Pets does this by adding over 40 player-head-sized pets to mineshaft and spawner chests. These pits will sit still or follow you depending on what you want them to do. If you want more Plush Pets, you can breed them!
Take It Slow
This is a data pack that penalizes you for going too fast in Minecraft. If you run or try to move around really fast, you will get debuffs. If you walk slowly, you will get buffs that make Minecraft easier and things more enjoyable. You could say that this data pack will force you to stop and take things slow.
Health Indications
Health Indications is a simple data pack for Minecraft that allows you to see a mob's health above their head. This is great as you know exactly how much health they have left. You will also get damage indicators with this data pack. With damage indicators, you will be able to see exactly how much damage is being done when you attack a mob.
Special Mobs
Special Mobs adds custom mobs to Minecraft that will spawn naturally in their respected biomes. From barbarians to knights to robbers, there are tons of different mobs that will test your skills. You can also spawn in the mobs if you want to check them out using a chat command as well.