Mods/Cheating

Hacking is altering software in order to make it work in a way not originally intended. This is not be confused with 'Cracking' or Black Hat hacking - the process of defeating of security devices in computer networks or software copy protection. For more on the difference between types of hacking, see this article.

In Minecraft, hacking refers to using a memory editor in order to alter the variables which the Minecraft Java runtime, or standalone application is storing on your computer. This allows you to do virtually anything, including access blocks not usually available (such as a Monster Spawner).

Alpha/Beta
Note: All Cheats in Beta appear to be patched on SMP


 * 1) Open Minecraft and start a new game or load a saved game.
 * 2) Open Cheat Engine (Windows) or Game Conqueror (Linux).
 * 3) Select process 'javaw.exe' near the bottom ('java' for Linux). (Please note: If you have downloaded the standalone, select 'Minecraft.exe' from the list instead.)
 * 4) Get at least 3 of some block type in your quick slot.
 * 5) Start a new search and search for that quantity.
 * 6) Drop an item (Q).
 * 7) Search for the new value.
 * 8) Drop another (or pickup the old one, doesn't matter).
 * 9) Search for the new value. You should only have a few now. Repeat until you only have ONE entry.
 * 10) Double click to add entry.
 * 11) If you wish to change the quantity of your items, simply double click the value in the bottom pane and change it to what you wish (not higher than 65000)
 * 12) To change the item type, right click the new entry and choose 'Browse this memory region'.
 * 13) Exactly 8 bytes to the right of the block's quantity is the block's type. Compare with the hex values found here.
 * 14) To change the type, copy the decimal value from the data values page, double click on the type in the memory viewer, select 2 bytes, and paste. You can do this for items (e.g. Ingots) as well as blocks.

Here is a video going through the process

Classic

 * 1) Open Cheat Engine (Windows) or Game Conqueror (Linux).
 * 2) Select process 'javaw.exe' near the bottom ('java' for Linux). (Please note: If you have downloaded the standalone, select 'Minecraft.exe' from the list instead.)
 * 3) In minecraft, make sure you have the first block in your UI as stone.
 * 4) Scan for the exact value 1.
 * 5) Go to minecraft and change the first block in the UI to cobblestone.
 * 6) Scan for the exact value 4.
 * 7) Go to minecraft and change the first block back to stone.
 * 8) Repeat step 4.
 * 9) This should yield one or two addresses. Pick one (or both) and change the value to one of the following material values from this list.

Inventory Editor Method

 * 1) Open INVedit (found here)
 * 2) To make an inventory, Open a world's inventory by using the load button, or create a whole new inventory by clicking the new inventory button (both located at upper left of the window).
 * 3) Choose what item you want on the right of the window and drag it into a item slot. Then click select the item, and at the top right, change the quantity and/or its damage. You can also use this to stack unstackable items, such as food or tools.
 * 4) On the right side of the save button is a arrow pointing down, hold the mouse over the arrow and a list of all of your worlds. Save to .

Notes:
 * 1)  is the world that you're saving the inventory to.
 * 2) You can't inventory edit while a world is loaded in game. You need to be at the Minecraft title screen, World select, or have Minecraft shut down.

Health
Even with peaceful mode set, it is easy to fall into lava and die, losing all your hard earned valuable in the process. Luckily, it is very easy to hack your health to become truly invulnerable.

Method 1

 * 1) Open Minecraft.
 * 2) Open Cheat Engine and select javaw.exe.
 * 3) Get your number of hearts, and double it, adding one if you have a half heart (full hearts = 20), and start a new search in CE with this value.
 * 4) Get hurt a bit, or heal a bit, and recalculate your HP. Enter this value for the next search.
 * 5) Repeat until one value remains. Double click to add.
 * 6) Either set to a very high value (~34567), or set to 20 and freeze.
 * 7) Enjoy (near) invulnerability.

Here is a video going through the process.

NOTE: If you freeze your value, do not enter/leave The Nether, this will move the address where you HP is stored, possibly leading to data corruption and crashed games. Also, you won't be invulnerable anymore. You can re-do the above hack while in The Nether, though, and it works fine.

Method 2

 * 1) Open an inventory editor, such as INVedit.
 * 2) Put any type of armor on the player.
 * 3) Set the damage to something low like -34567.
 * 4) Save it to a world.
 * 5) Open the world you saved it to.
 * 6) Enjoy (near) invulnerability.

NOTE: If you wade in lava or fall off of something, then close the game and reload it, you may be dead.

Unbreakable Tools
A unbreakable tool is a tool that will never wear down or break from being used.

Method

 * 1) Open Minecraft.
 * 2) Open Cheat Engine and select javaw.exe.
 * 3) Equip a tool that is in perfect condition.
 * 4) Find a block that is used by that tool (i.e. stone for a pickaxe, dirt for a shovel).
 * 5) Destroy the block with the tool and search for a value of 1 in CE.
 * 6) Do this again destroying another stone block and search for 2.
 * 7) Repeat until you have only one address left.
 * 8) Edit the value to something like -30000 and enjoy. You can now close Cheat Engine as these changes will persist (even across saves).

Here is a video going through the process.

Note: This can also be done by using an inventory editor and changing the "Damage" value to a negative number when the tool is selected.

Cube of destruction (CoD)
A cube of destruction is actually a n*n*n cube of tnt, that has been frozen on the TNT state and will never change back to air until the JVM changes block addresses.
 * 1) Open minecraft and load/start a new game.
 * 2) Collect a few of any block type (dirt recommended) and place your cube (any size, any shape).
 * 3) Open Cheat Engine and select javaw.exe at the bottom of the process list.
 * 4) Select size 'Byte'.
 * 5) Search for the value of the type of block you used (3 for dirt, find other data values if you used another block type).
 * 6) Destroy the cube.
 * 7) Return to CE, and search again for value '0'.
 * 8) Reconstruct the cube at the same exact spot.
 * 9) Search again for the block's value.
 * 10) Repeat placing, filtering for block type, destroying, and filtering for 0 until only a few items are on the list (i.e. 8 for a 2*2*2 cube), then select the values and click the red arrow.
 * 11) Set the values to 46, and then freeze.
 * 12) In game, whack a few of the TNT and run.
 * 13) You will die unless you hacked your health. Before respawning, un-freeze the values, and respawn to see the damage.

There is a video showing the how to do the hack here.

There is a video better showing the effects here.

Changing Blocks Already Placed
(Namely bedrock)

Changing a block already placed in the world is very similar to creating a cube of destruction in that you are trying to find a block that has been placed and changing its type to something else.
 * 1) Open Minecraft and load/start a new game.
 * 2) Collect a few of any block type (such as torches because they don't occur naturally and therefore there are fewer of them to sort through) and place it on top of the cube you are trying to change.
 * 3) Open Cheat Engine and select javaw.exe at the bottom of the process list.
 * 4) Select size 'Byte'.
 * 5) Search for the value of the type of block you used (50 for torches, find other data values if you used another block type).
 * 6) Destroy the block.
 * 7) Return to CE, and search again for value '0'.
 * 8) Place the block at the same exact spot.
 * 9) Search again for the block's value.
 * 10) Repeat placing, filtering for block type, destroying, and filtering for 0 until only one item is on the list, then select the values and click the red arrow.
 * 11) Start a new search the same way but for the data value of the block you want to change (7 for bedrock) and repeat searching for the number several times to weed out the values that change.
 * 12) There will be a long list of results, but it is sorted, so scroll down to the group of addresses addresses close to the one you already have (i.e. only the last bite is different) add them to your list and change its value to what you want (3 for dirt so you can destroy it).

There is a video going through a similar process here.

Consequences
Trying to do this can result you in getting banned/kick/ipbanned in multiplayer servers, though the server will know when you're cheating/hacking. It will display "Cheat detected: Tile type" and will reset everything back to normal, so it only works in Single player. It should be noted that hacking is only feasible in single player mode, and attempting it on a multiplayer server can result in the software kicking you from the server. Hacking in Multiplayer is severely frowned upon, aside from the rare exception.