The best Minecraft mods 2025 - enrich your game

Minecraft mods - Two characters on a hill with animals
(Image credit: Mojang)

There are a lot of different Minecraft mods out there and it can be overwhelming to know where to begin. Start out by thinking about what you'd like to improve in Minecraft. Are you looking for something that will improve the user interface or do you want to change how the game feels overall via a horror mod? Maybe you want to improve the visuals in a way that needs more than just the best Minecraft texture packs.

Whatever your plans, I'm here to help with a look at the best of the best Minecraft mods. They're all easy to add either locally or via the best Minecraft server hosting, so you can be gaming in no time.

Take a look below to see what I've picked out. Be ready to be in awe at how different Minecraft can feel depending on the mods you install.

The best Minecraft mods 2025

Best Minecraft Mods: Just Enough Items

Just Enough Items screenshot.

(Image credit: Just Enough Items)

Crafting new items is a key part of Minecraft but the standard way of doing so isn’t the easiest. If you’re sick to death of looking on a different screen (or your phone) for a recipe, install Just Enough Items. It adds a neat-looking interface to your inventory so you can easily look up recipes for any item, including those from installed Minecraft mods. Is it the most exciting mod? Not really but it’s a huge time saver and will make your Minecraft time much more convenient.

Best Minecraft Mods: RLCraft

RLCraft screenshot.

(Image credit: RLCraft)

Want an entirely different Minecraft experience? Check out RLCraft. It promises to be hard but rewarding with the name being short for Real Life Craft. Survival is tough so it won’t appeal to anyone seeking something cozy but it’s impressive. It includes a thirst bar, the need to pay attention to temperature and your heart levels, and there are plenty of new mobs too. It also has a cool RPG skills and perks system so at least you stand half a chance of surviving. If you feel like you’ve had your fill of regular Minecraft, RLCraft will shake everything up for the better.

Best Minecraft Mods: BetterEnd

BetterEnd screenshot.

(Image credit: BetterEnd)

Turning the game into a whole new thing, Minecraft mod BetterEnd adds 24 new biomes into the End with each biome providing its own atmosphere, mobs, and general unique style. There are new blocks and items along with new mechanics like Infusion Rituals, and it all comes together to be pretty special. Even the sky has a new look to it and it’s perfect if Minecraft is feeling a little tired to you at this stage.

Best Minecraft Mods: Sodium

Sodium screenshot

(Image credit: Sodium)

Sodium isn’t an exciting Minecraft mod but it could well end up being your favorite while it ticks along in the background. It’s a powerful rendering engine and optimization mod that is guaranteed to improve performance and graphical quality. It won’t change how the game looks but it will improve your FPS and the stability of your session. If you have lots of mods installed or your PC needs some assistance, this is the easiest solution.

Best Minecraft Mods: OptiFine

OptiFine screenshot.

(Image credit: OptiFine)

If you’ve scooped up some great Minecraft shaders and texture updates, and your PC is starting to feel it -- get OptiFine. It helps Minecraft run faster and look better thanks to its full support for HD textures, shaders, and dynamic lighting. Minecraft can still look pretty gorgeous and mods like OptiFine help a lot with this side of things.

Best Minecraft Mods: AppleSkin

AppleSkin screenshot.

(Image credit: AppleSkin)

Eating food is necessary and more complicated than you might think in Minecraft. With AppleSkin, you can see exactly how much nutrition you’re gaining when using any foodstuff. That means you can plan in advance when it comes to what food you should be eating and when. It does so through a cute addition to the HUD so you can easily see what will be satiating for you.

Best Minecraft Mods: When Dungeons Arise

When Dungeons Arise screenshot.

(Image credit: When Dungeons Arise)

Want to turn Minecraft into a dungeon-crawling experience? Check out When Dungeons Arise. It’s a dungeon generator that places dungeons randomly on your worlds and gives you plenty to explore. It’s risky business, of course, because plenty of foes are generated too but the rewards can be worth it and it’s certainly thrilling stuff. Many of the structures are gorgeous to look at too.

Best Minecraft Mods: Aquaculture 2

Aquaculture 2 screenshot.

(Image credit: Aquaculture 2)

Everyone loves fishing, right? Seemingly every game features a fishing system these days and Aquaculture 2 enhances Minecraft’s fishing. There are over 30 new fish to catch with the option of doing so with a rod or while swimming in the wild. Besides new rods, there’s new bait and you can customize fishing lines and bobbers. Each biome type has new types of fish so there’s plenty to do here for those cozier moments.

Best Minecraft Mods: Epic Dungeons: A Roguelike Journey

Epic Dungeons screenshot.

(Image credit: Epic Dungeons.)

For a more roguelike experience, check out Epic Dungeons: A Roguelike Journey. We’re all used to the procedural generation that makes Minecraft different every time but Epic Dungeons: A Roguelike Journey adds to that by providing procedurally generated dungeons where you can fight harder mobs, avoid traps, and find some neat loot. It feels different every time and all the better for it.

Best Minecraft Mods: Pixelmon

Pixelmon screenshot.

(Image credit: Pixelmon)

For Pokemon fans or anyone who likes the concept of monster-catching, there’s Pixelmon. It gives you the chance to capture creatures in Minecraft, battle with them, trade them, and breed them -- just like in a Pokemon game. It matches the mechanics of the beloved games while having the Minecraft magic too. If that sounds like heaven to you, you need to run and not walk towards this mod.

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Jennifer Allen
Contributor

Jennifer is a roving tech freelancer with over 10 years experience. Having graduated from Swansea University with a degree in Media and Communication Studies, and later with a diploma from Staffordshire University with a post graduate diploma in Computer Games Design, she's written for a huge number of publications, including T3, FitandWell, Top Ten Reviews, Eurogamer, NME and many more. 


Her main areas of interest are all things B2B, smart technology, wearables, speakers, headphones, and anything gaming related, and you'll find her writing everything from product reviews to buying guides and hunting down the latest coupon codes to save you money. In her spare time, she enjoys the cinema, walking, and attempting to train her pet guinea pigs. She is yet to succeed.

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