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General questions

Essential is a quality of life mod that boosts Minecraft Java Edition to the next level. It provides various features and enhancements to improve the Minecraft gameplay experience.The source code is made publicly available to demonstrate Essential’s commitment to transparency with users and the broader community.
The source code is available under a source-available license (not open source) to:
  • Allow users to audit the code for security and transparency
  • Enable verification that official releases match the published source code
  • Build trust with the community by demonstrating what the mod does
  • Let users confirm authenticity of distributed binaries
While you can view and compile the code, you cannot modify, use, or distribute it.
No. The Essential Mod license does not permit you to:
  • Use any code or assets from Essential, even for personal use
  • Use the source code as a reference in new projects
  • Incorporate any part of Essential into other projects
All rights to the code are reserved by ModCore Inc. (Essential).
Yes, as of January 22, 2025, you can create unmodified forks of the repository. However, you cannot:
  • Modify the forked code
  • Distribute your fork
  • Use the fork for anything other than auditing and verification

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Building and development

Before building Essential, you must have:
  • Java Development Kits (JDKs) for Java versions 21, 17, 16, and 8
  • Java 21 (or newer) as your default Java version
  • Git with submodule support
No additional tools are required - Gradle will be automatically installed via the gradle-wrapper included in the repository.
To build all of Essential for all Minecraft versions:
./gradlew build
To build for a specific Minecraft version:
./gradlew :<version>-<loader>:build
For example, for Minecraft 1.12.2:
./gradlew :1.12.2-forge:build
The first build may take 10 minutes to an hour depending on your system and internet connection.
After building, Essential jar files are located in:
versions/<MC-Version>/build/libs/
You’ll find two types of jar files:
  • pinned_ files - Made available via Modrinth/CurseForge
  • Regular files - Downloaded by in-game update functionality and the Essential Loader
This repository uses git submodules, which are references to other git repositories. You need to initialize them after cloning:
git submodule update --init --recursive
Or clone with the --recursive flag:
git clone --recursive <repository-url>
Run git submodule update --init --recursive every time after you pull a new version.
It’s highly recommended to use the gradle-wrapper scripts (./gradlew on Linux/Mac or gradlew.bat on Windows) instead of a local Gradle installation. This ensures you’re using the exact same version as the official builds.Essential cannot guarantee that older or newer Gradle versions will work or produce bit-for-bit identical output.

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Verification and trust

You can verify Essential files by:
  1. Building the mod from source yourself and comparing files
  2. Checking the GitHub Actions run checksums
  3. Using SHA-256 checksums to verify files in your .minecraft folder
See the Verifying checksums section of the README for detailed instructions.
Every Essential release is built twice:
  1. Internal CI - Fast build with integration tests and uploads
  2. GitHub Actions - Public build from source to verify bit-for-bit identical output
The second build downloads jars from Essential’s infrastructure and confirms they match the publicly built versions, ensuring transparency and authenticity.
If you believe a distributed version of Essential Mod doesn’t match the official version from the repository, email:[email protected]This helps Essential resolve discrepancies and ensure community trust in their products.

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Support and resources

For assistance with the repository or the mod, use the dedicated channels in the Essential Discord.Additional resources:
Essential creates several types of files:
  • mods/ - Container files (small) or pinned files (large) containing full Essential
  • essential/ - Main Essential jar downloaded by the loader
  • essential/libraries/ - Extracted library dependencies
  • essential/loader/ - Loader stage files for launching Essential
Each file type can be verified against the source code. See the README for detailed verification instructions.
  • Essential Container - A thin mod that downloads Essential on first launch. Found on essential.gg/download
  • Essential Loader - The system that actually loads Essential, split into stages and platforms
Container files don’t include Essential itself, while pinned files (on Modrinth/CurseForge) include a specific Essential version.

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