Not Enough Packs
If you have ever tried to make an add-on mod override a texture, block model, or recipe from a parent mod, you have probably run into one of the most frustrating limitations of the Fabric ecosystem. Fabric API bundles every mod's resources and datapacks into one massive, unordered pile, and the order in which files get requested is effectively random. Not Enough Packs exists to solve exactly that problem, giving modpack creators and tinkerers precise control over which mod wins when two of them touch the same asset.
What Not Enough Packs Actually Does
Under vanilla Fabric API, all mods contribute to a single "big ball of mud" resource and datapack. Because there is no guaranteed load order, an add-on mod cannot reliably override a parent mod's texture, block model, or recipe. Not Enough Packs for Minecraft "explodes" that combined pack back into its individual pieces, so every mod becomes a separate, visible entry in the resource pack and datapack lists. Once separated, you can drag them into whatever order you need, and the game respects that ordering.
The mod does not change any other rules of how resources or datapacks behave. It simply makes the ordering explicit and stable instead of hidden and unpredictable.
Key Features at a Glance
- Each mod's resources and datapacks are exposed individually instead of merged into one blob.
- Manual ordering lets an add-on mod override a parent mod's textures, models, and recipes.
- An optional setting (disabled by default) automatically sorts mods by their dependency graph.
- Resource pack order is saved to and read from options.txt after the first generation.
- Datapack order is stored in the world's saved data, so it persists per save.
Automatic Dependency Ordering
The automatic ordering option is worth highlighting. When enabled, Not Enough Packs arranges mods according to their declared dependencies, which is usually the order you would want anyway: libraries and parent mods first, add-ons after them. This requires more invasive changes to both Fabric and Minecraft internals to preserve that ordering, which is why it is opt-in rather than the default behavior.
Supported Versions and Loaders
Not Enough Packs is built specifically for the Fabric loader and targets modern Minecraft releases in the 1.19 through 1.21 era, with builds maintained for the most popular 1.20.x and 1.21.x versions. Because it patches deep into Fabric's resource handling, always match the mod build to your exact Minecraft version rather than assuming a nearby release will work. If you run a pack on multiple game versions, keep a separate copy of the mod for each one.
How to Install Not Enough Packs
Installation follows the standard Fabric workflow. First, confirm you are running a Fabric profile for the correct Minecraft version. Then place the matching Not Enough Packs jar into your mods folder alongside Fabric API, since this mod depends on it. Launch the game once so the resource pack list can be generated, then open the resource packs screen and reorder entries as needed. For datapacks, load into a world and adjust the order through the datapack screen, which writes the sequence into that world's saved data.
If you would rather skip manual file juggling, the foxygame.net launcher offers a one-click install path for Not Enough Packs, pulling the correct build for your selected Minecraft version straight into the right folder. Its built-in add-on catalog also handles version compatibility checks and auto-updates, so your ordering setup keeps working after a game patch without you hunting down a new jar.
Why Ordering Matters for Modpacks
Anyone building a curated modpack knows the pain of a texture pack add-on silently failing because the base mod loaded last. With Not Enough Packs, that conflict becomes a solvable configuration issue rather than a mystery. You can ship a pack where a compatibility patch reliably overrides a recipe, or where a resource add-on always wins over its parent, and the result stays consistent across machines because the order is stored in options.txt and world data rather than recalculated randomly each launch.
Final Thoughts
Not Enough Packs is a small utility with a narrow, technical purpose, and it fills that purpose extremely well. If you only run a handful of unrelated mods, you will likely never notice it. But the moment you start layering add-ons over parent mods, or maintaining a modpack where load order decides whether things work, this mod turns an unreliable coin flip into a setting you control. Download Not Enough Packs, set your order once, and let Fabric behave the way you always expected it to.