Build Your First Add-On in 5 Minutes [Minecraft Bedrock Add-on Tutorial #1]

What is an Add-on?

Add-on (Bedrock add-on) is a downloadable, shareable package format. Through a set of programming interfaces, it lets players add custom gameplay beyond the vanilla game in Minecraft, including:

• Custom content: entities, blocks, items, biomes, structures, and UI.
• Three main parts:
  1. Resource pack: controls visuals.
  2. Behavior pack: controls behaviors.
  3. Scripts: control logic.

---

Tooling

This tutorial does not use VS Code or other complex coding tools. We use the official add-on editor instead.

• Tool type: browser-based editor (MCTool), suitable for Windows and mobile.
• URL: https://mctools.dev/

---

Start your first project

1. Create a project: after entering the site, click “Create an add-on”.
2. Name the project: for example, MyFirstAddon.
3. Storage choice:
   • Browser: stored in cache.
   • Local: pick a folder on your disk.
4. Mode switch: to simplify, click “Settings” and change the editor preference to Lite mode to hide advanced features for now.

• Left: file explorer.
• Top: action menu bar.
• Center: main editor area.
• Dashboard: project name, author, and description.

---

Script logic: Hello World

The core logic for an add-on lives in a Game Logic script file (such as main.ts).

1. Core concept: Tick

• Minecraft uses ticks for timing, usually 20 ticks per second.

• The mainTick function in the script is the main loop that keeps running with the game.

2. Implementation

In main.ts (a TypeScript file), you can create a loop with recursive calls.

• Code sample:

import { world, system } from "@minecraft/server";

function mainTick() {

    world.sendMessage("Hello World");
  system.run(mainTick);
}

system.run(mainTick);

• Result: once the add-on loads and you enter the world, the chat will print “hello world” every second.

---

Export and test

After finishing, import the project into the game for testing.

1. Export methods:
   • Download Ad: exports a .mcaddon file.
   • Test (export world): exports a flat world with the add-on (.mcworld), which is the easiest way to test.
2. Import into the game: double-click the exported file. Minecraft will start and show “Import started”.
3. Enable check: in the world “Behavior Packs” settings, make sure the pack is enabled.
4. Expected result: once you enter the world, “hello world” spams in the top-left. That means it worked.

---

Tip

• Import failed? Try the editor “Import World” button and pick the file again.
• Entry point: main is the entry for the add-on. After loading, it runs all contents inside.

---

Wrap-up: This is just the first step of add-on development. Once you grasp export and script execution, you can move on to more advanced custom content.