Minecraft Java modding is about to get a lot easier and more interesting

Mojang announced a big change is coming to Minecraft: Java Edition, one that could make it a whole lot easier to make mods and perhaps make them more exciting.

While Minecraft has a long history of modding and there's some truly massive mods out there, the game has been using obfuscation to make it more difficult to pick it apart. Something that is quite normal in the software industry as one tool in the box to protect games. But, that's now going to change as they're completely removing the obfuscation!

From the announcement:

For a long time, Java Edition has used obfuscation (hiding parts of the code) – a common practice in the gaming industry. Now we’re changing how we ship Minecraft: Java Edition to remove obfuscation completely. We hope that, with this change, we can pave a future for Minecraft: Java Edition where it’s easier to create, update, and debug mods.

When? Quite soon actually. They said the first snapshot after the full Mounts of Mayhem launch will no longer obfuscate the code.

It will take time for modders to catch up with the changes, since everything will be so open now and a lot of tools were built with the obfuscation in mind but it will make it massively easier in the long-run.

This is a genuinely great move. I'm excited to see what happens next for modders.

However, the cynic in me says this suggests that it's a step towards Mojang eventually retiring Minecraft Java and going all-in on the modern Minecraft: Bedrock Edition (which doesn't have Linux support). Hope I am wrong on that though, but having two entirely separate versions is likely not something the higher ups at Microsoft want to continue forever.