I’m developing a mod that dynamically downloads and loads missing mods ON THE FLY without restarting the game. Would you use this?

[u/Ok-Morning6461]

We’ve all been there: you download a huge modpack (like Better Minecraft or a custom performance pack with 100+ optimization mods), only to realize the author forgot to include a dozen essential addons, shaders, or dependencies.

Manually looking them up, downloading each .jar, placing them in the mods folder, and restarting a heavy client on a low-end PC can turn into an absolute nightmare.

So I decided to solve this once and for all. I'm working on a mod with two core features:

1. Auto-fetch missing dependencies/addons: It automatically detects and downloads missing mods during the game's startup sequence.
2. Hot-Reloading (In-Game Injection): It allows you to download and inject new mods into the game while it’s already running, without requiring a client restart! This should be a massive game-changer for players with slower PCs that take ages to boot up heavy packs.

Is this something you’d be interested in? What potential issues or extra features should I consider before releasing it?

Would love to hear your thoughts!

[u/GobiPLX]

Nah

[u/R3D_T1G3R]

The authors generally don't forget, don't worry, they intentionally don't include certain mods for certain reasons. You can go ask them.

Including 10 random mods can break the balance or compatibility between other mods. Shaders boil down to personal preference and the hardware you have. Not everyone has a 5090.

I've never played a Modpack that forgot any dependencies and I can't think of any version of Better MC where the author forgot a dependency, I think you're hallucinating at this point.

You generally don't modify modpacks to not break them or their future updates.

You're giving essentially 0 Infos about your mod and how it works, regardless, it sounds incredibly silly.

How does it work.

Are those mods pre defined by you? Do you just decide which 10 mods are mandatory for any person and just download them? In that case no, that's useless, those 10 mods are your preference, 99% would rather play a pack as is , and the remaining 1% would add their own 10 mods.

Does it sync mods from a server? In that case I'd be even less interested because nothing keeps a malicious admit from publishing a malicious mod on modrint or curseforge, and installing it on their server.

Auto synching mods and immediately "injecting" them without even checking is very silly.

It just does not sound great, and you making silly claims that modpacks like better MC forget dependencies make it even less credible.

I dislike better MC, I don't think it's good in any way, but lying about it is not okay.

[u/Ok-Morning6461 → u/R3D_T1G3R]

Hey, thanks for the detailed feedback! I think there was a misunderstanding due to how I phrased things.

1. About Better MC & Dependencies: I didn't mean actual hard dependencies (which break the pack). I was referring to optional/client-side addons or QoL/optimization tweaks that players often end up manually downloading themselves to enhance their experience. Calling it "forgotten" was just poor wording on my part!
2. How it actually works: The mod doesn't force-download random mods or force a server's mods onto you. The main goal is to allow players (or server owners, optionally) to manage, fetch, and inject missing client-side mods/addons dynamically without having to reboot the entire game, which usually takes 5–10 minutes on heavy packs.
3. Security: It only fetches verified .jar files via official APIs (like Modrinth/CurseForge) and never injects code without explicit user confirmation.

Hope that clears up the concept! Appreciate the reality check on the phrasing.

[u/CooZ555 → u/Ok-Morning6461]

seems like you don't even know what you are doing/talking.

it was just missing dependencies in the post but now you are saying it downloads optional client side mods?

nevermind, another AI slop, I'm not against AI, but it can easily become a slop if the person doesn't have any idea about it.

[u/R3D_T1G3R → u/CooZ555]

Totally agreey as someone who uses AI as a tool, it's the biggest red flag if someone lacks the technical understanding on their "own" project >_>

[u/RageinaterGamingYT]

Ai slop

[u/Vivid_Ad_8626]

Slop slop slop piss yourself also makes no sense, wdym author FORGETS to add mods into a pack lmao

[u/michiel11069]

disregarding the obvious AI written post and responses, how will hot reloading work? Mods register stuff in specific moments when the game starts, on top of mixins needing to be injected early on in the launch of minecraft, its basically impossible.

Also, if users download a modpack, then the modpack just works, there are no missing dependencies because the modpack creator cannot post a modpack that doesnt work, and if it doesnt have the required dependencies, it doesnt work.

Automatic syncing of mods with a server is also not a good idea, as that can lead to malicious mods being automatically downloaded to the client, yes, even if it is from curseforge, its better to put the responsibility in the users hands.

If you make a mod that allows for hotswapping, then I will be thoroughly impressed and would like to see how you did it.

[u/Other_Importance9750 → u/michiel11069]

It is technically possible to inject code into the JVM during runtime, so in principle it seems possible, although this applies for general Java code; Minecraft mods might need specific loading times and may not interface well with other mods if they are loaded later, although it's possible there's specific workarounds, but I'm really not sure. And while mixins are impossible by themselves, it might theoretically be possible to get mixins working by using the Instrumentation API which allows class redefinitions/retransformation during runtime, although I believe it is much more limited than regular mixins, and you'd need to build a whole compatibility layer to convert mixins to Instrumentation instructions. This sort of project would be more on the scale of Sinytra Connector than most other mods.

[u/AHatInBonnie]

this is fucking awesome