NapNodes
Free tool · Minecraft Java

Minecraft recipe generator

Put the ingredients on the table, choose what comes out and download the datapack: a .zip you upload to the server, and the recipe works for everyone, without mods. The .json comes out in the format your version understands, just like the game's own recipes. Everything happens in your browser.

Examples:

Type the item's name or ID and pick it from the list (all 1600 items of 26.3 are there). For “any wood” or “any wool”, a tag with a hash: #minecraft:planks, #minecraft:wool. Modded items, with their namespace: create:brass_ingot.

Goes in data/my_server/recipe/saddle.json inside the datapack:

{
  "type": "minecraft:crafting_shaped",
  "key": {
    "A": "minecraft:leather",
    "B": "minecraft:string",
    "C": "minecraft:iron_ingot"
  },
  "pattern": [
    "AAA",
    "B B",
    "C C"
  ],
  "result": {
    "id": "minecraft:saddle"
  }
}

How to install it on the server

  1. Download the datapack and don't unzip it: Minecraft reads it as a .zip, with pack.mcmeta inside, at the root.
  2. In your server's panel, under Files, open the world folder (world, unless you changed level-name) and then datapacks. If it doesn't exist, create it, and upload the .zip there.
  3. Press Restart. With the server running you can also type minecraft:reload in the console: on Paper it reloads the datapacks without touching the plugins.
  4. Check it's active with datapack list: file/recipes-….zip has to show up. If it doesn't, read the startup console: the warning says which file fails.

There's more detail, and what to do if it won't load, in the guide on how to install datapacks on a server.

Shaped or shapeless

A shaped recipe is made by putting each ingredient in its place, like the saddle in the example. The generator trims the empty rows and columns around it, as the game's recipes do: a 2×2 recipe can be made in any corner of the table and in the inventory too. A shapeless one only asks for the ingredients, wherever they are; if you repeat one, it has to be placed as many times as it appears. The stonecutter takes a single ingredient and can give several items.

One datapack holds as many recipes as you like: “Add another recipe” saves the current one and clears the table, and when you download they all go together, each in its own .json.

Not sure of an item's ID? Look it up in the Minecraft item IDs list. And if your datapack needs its pack.mcmeta for another version, the pack.mcmeta generator has every format number.

Frequently asked questions

I copied a recipe from a video and it doesn't work. Why?

Because the format changed. Since 1.21.2 ingredients are written plainly ("minecraft:stick") and not as {"item": "minecraft:stick"}; since 1.21 the folder is recipe and not recipes; and since 1.20.5 the result uses "id" and not "item". A recipe in another version's format gives no error in chat: it simply doesn't exist. The warning shows up in the server console at startup, with the recipe's name.

Do I need mods or plugins?

No. Datapacks are part of Minecraft itself: they work on Vanilla, on Paper and on the modded servers that support them. Players don't have to install anything; the recipe lives on the server.

Can I change a recipe that's already in the game?

Yes: use minecraft as the namespace and the game recipe's name as the name (for example, saddle or torch). Yours replaces it. If you only want to add another way of making an item, use your own namespace and both will work.

What is a tag like #minecraft:planks?

A group of the game's items. With #minecraft:planks, the slot accepts any planks (oak, spruce, cherry…); with #minecraft:wool, any wool. Tags rarely change, but if an old version doesn't have one, the recipe won't load.

What about furnace recipes?

They aren't in the generator: the cooking time changed in the 26.x versions and we'd rather not give you a recipe we haven't checked. The crafting table and the stonecutter, on the other hand, come out just like the game's own recipes.

Does it work on Bedrock?

No. Bedrock uses behavior packs, with a different format. This is for Minecraft Java.

Don't have a server yet?

NapNodes has a free Minecraft server, no card needed, with Files to upload your datapacks and the console to check them. And if you want to play without queues and with the server always on, the plans have RAM reserved just for you and each machine's load on show at /en/status.

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