11 Awesome Minecraft Mods You Have Never Heard Of

These awesome Minecraft mods are unique and have a ton of potential to do well in the modding community for years to come.
These awesome Minecraft mods are unique and have a ton of potential to do well in the modding community for years to come.

The Minecraft modding community houses some of the most diverse video game mods on the market. Taking a gander at the offerings on Planet Minecraft and the Minecraft Forums is like digging a hole straight down — you never know what's going to show up at your feet!

You've never seen Minecraft mods like these!

There are a few mods that escapes no ones ear, such as the almost mandatory FPS booster and HD support mod Optifine or the popular Too Many Items mod. We aren't here to rehash everything you already know. Today we are examining awesome Minecraft mods that you may have never heard of before.

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Antique Atlas

Interesting Map Mod

Minecraft Version: 1.5.2 - 1.7.10

Mod Download: Planet Minecraft

Antique Atlas is a unique Minecraft map mod that serves to one-up the the Vanilla Minecraft maps without going the total mini-map route. You can set your own map markers on it to show the location of your house and other interesting places, but this map mostly serves to show the location of biomes. There's even a compatibility patch that you can find on the mod page to add color and Biomes O'Plenty support!

This map isn't going to update when you build, however, so it's biggest appeal is really the aesthetic. I mean look at it, it is such a beautiful map! The Antique Atlas Minecraft mod makes you feel like a proper explorer!


Zelda Sword Skills

Combat and General Overhaul Mod

Minecraft Version: 1.6.4 - 1.7.10

Mod Download: Planet Minecraft

Zelda Sword Skills is a mod that completely overhauls Minecraft to be a bit more like The Legend of Zelda. The Zelda Sword Skills mod is a huge fan-service to the franchise that not only adds exciting new skills for combat, but practically puts Zelda-goggles on the Minecraft world.

Learn and master many Sword Techniques, collect the pendants of virtue and uncover the swords of legend, find and utilize unique Zelda items to help you through your adventure in the new world of Minecraft.

While this mod does require Forge to work properly, any Zelda fan would be doing themselves a major disservice by passing this up. Zelda Sword Skills even has a second mod you can use to add even more Zelda items, just in case you weren't quite satisfied with the selection of the base mod. What's even better is that it is all compatible with Antique Atlas!


Build Faster

Minecraft Easy World Edit Mod

Minecraft Version: 1.8

Mod Download: Planet Minecraft

Build Faster adds 8 new tools to Minecraft that can edit the world around you in epic proportions. This is essentially World Edit without having to memorize a bunch of complicated text commands. Minecraft Forge is also required to make this one work properly.

This mod is a must have for Creative Mode junkies.


Doggy Talents

Wolf AI Customization Mod

Minecraft Version: 1.7.2 - 1.8

Mod Download: Planet Minecraft

Have you ever wanted your wolves to be smarter, or have personality? Do you want your dogs to level up and play certain rolls around your base? Look no further.

The Doggy Talents Minecraft mod makes using wolves as pets infinitely more useful than they are in Vanilla Minecraft. You can take over the world with loyal dogs by your side, without having to worry about them dying unnecessarily anymore.

Suddenly wolves look like a good idea for defending your base.


Mo' Bends

Additional Animations Minecraft Forge Mod

Minecraft Version: 1.7.10

Mod Download: Planet Minecraft

Easily the most popular Minecraft mod on this list, Mo' Bends is a relatively new mod that's picked up a lot of traction in the modding community of late. It is no secret that Minecraft's animations are a bit . . . simple. Mo' Bends adds new, smooth animations to make Minecraft's blocky charm feel much more alive.

At the time of writing, only the player animations are fleshed out at all, with just a few basic mob animations begun. This mod is stunning so far and we can't wait to see how it turns out when the developers are finally finished with it. Definitely a mod worth keeping on your radar.


Ragdoll Corpses

Death Animation Mod

Minecraft Version: 1.7.10 - 1.8

Mod Download: Planet Minecraft

Do you enjoy the corpse physics in The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim? How about in Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition? If you find ragdoll corpse physics amusing, then you might enjoy this Minecraft mod.

Ragdoll Corpses is very early in development and at the time of writing only includes the corpses of Pigs and Zombies. This mod is gaining popularity rather speedily and its easy to see why. The mod isn't totally ready for normal use yet, but it's a good one to keep on your radar. The mod author even said they are planning to add support for Mo' Bends!


Gender Mod

Female Models Minecraft Forge Mod

Minecraft Version: 1.8

Mod Download: Planet Minecraft

Notch once wrote a long post about how he feels Minecraft isn't a world where different genders exist. The fact that Steve even exists throws that entire claim off the rails, but it caught a lot of fire nonetheless. Minecraft is obviously geared towards relating to male players, and hasn't done a lot until recently to relate to the many females who can't get enough of the game.

If you're tired of the default meshes and just want to see regular human gender in the game, then look no further. Pixeli's Gender Mod for Minecraft 1.8 is a superb mod that not old adds playable female meshes, but it also adds children meshes as well as mixing up the existing cast of Zombies.

Whatever your reasons, this is a fantastic mod and deserves more attention than it's getting. The 1.7.10 version is a little buggy at times but the 1.8 works just fine, so use the latest version if you can.


World Overhaul Mod

Playstyle Overhaul Minecraft Forge Mod

Minecraft Version: 1.8

Mod Download: Planet Minecraft

The World Overhaul Mod aims to bring new playstyles to Minecraft. It doesn't add much in the way of challenge, but it adds a bunch of new items and classes to make your journeys in Minecraft your own. You don't have to be running around wielding a sword anymore if you don't want to.

This is just a fun mod to dink around in if you're bored of the Vanilla gameplay. This is the coolest overhaul mod exclusive to Minecraft 1.8 available so far, and it's only going to get better from here. Go check it out, they just added a demolition class!


PlotSquared

Plot Generator and Manager Bukkit Plugin

Minecraft Version: 1.5 - 1.8

Mod Download: Planet Minecraft

PlotSquared is similar to the popular Bukkit plugin, PlotMe, in that it makes Plots for you to build in. However, PlotSquared has an incredible amount of customization for their plots and has all sorts of doo-dads that makes this fun and useful to use even if you aren't playing with your friends. It is a server plugin, however, so you would need to inject it into a server if you wanted to run it on your own world.

The amount of plot customization in this server plugin is truly admirable and it's worth a look if you are or plan on running a server.


Blockybox

External World Management Application

Minecraft Version: 1.8

Mod Download: Planet Minecraft

Blockybox is an application that popped up very recently that aims to be the ultimate world backup and sharing tool for all of Minecraft. Just one look at their website shows how serious they are, but as of the time of writing this program is very much in Alpha. You can't even get the release of the mod application on the official website yet.

This is an external application to be used in conjecture with Minecraft, and in no way modifies your game. This tool is used to easily edit, preview, backup and delete your worlds manually. It will even generate a world preview while you are playing in that world. No world backup tool gets more advanced than this.

Until Blockybox gets out of Alpha however, I suggest you use this application with caution. It looks promising though, so toss another one on the radar.


Portable Minecraft Launcher

Minecraft on the Go Application

Minecraft Version: All

Mod Download: Planet Minecraft

This is a simple application that you can use to take Minecraft with you anywhere you go on a flashdrive. It takes the newest Minecraft Launcher from Mojang and compresses the install to all fit on your portable storage device instead of spreading out and making itself cozy on your computer.

The newest Minecraft Launcher even installs Java, so you'll have it with you on your flashdrive no matter where you go. Nifty little application here for those who like to bring their Minecraft worlds with them, no matter where they go.


What Overlooked Minecraft Mods Do You Use?

New Minecraft Mods crop up on the internet every single day, with a few diamonds in the rough hidden all over the place. What mods do you use for Minecraft? Got any gems that we may have overlooked? Let us know in the comments!


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Author
Autumn Fish
Autumn is a freelance writer that grew up on GameFAQs walkthroughs trying to suss out how to get through her favorite PC and Nintendo games. These days she's a capable game pioneer, mapping out guides and tips so players of all skill levels can join in on the fun.