NotSoCookAnymore: The Minecraft Datapack That Skips the Furnace
Every Minecraft player knows the routine. You slay a cow, collect raw beef, trudge back to your base, toss it in the furnace, and wait. Then wait some more. The hunger bar is flashing, your health is dipping, and that raw pork chop is just sitting there, taunting you. What if there was a way to cut out the middleman entirely? Enter NotSoCookAnymore, a clever little datapack that rewrites the rules of mob loot tables so animals drop their meat already cooked and ready to eat.
What Exactly Does NotSoCookAnymore Do?
At its core, NotSoCookAnymore is a datapack that modifies the loot_table files for various passive and neutral mobs in Minecraft. Instead of dropping raw food items that require smelting, mobs will now drop their cooked equivalents directly. This means a cow drops cooked beef, a pig drops cooked porkchop, a chicken drops cooked chicken, a sheep drops cooked mutton, and a rabbit drops cooked rabbit. Even fish from fishing get the same treatment in some configurations.
The name itself is a playful nod to the vanilla advancement "Not So Cooked," which you earn by smelting food. With this datapack installed, you are essentially flipping that concept on its head. You are not so cooked anymore because you never needed to cook in the first place.
Mobs Affected by the Datapack
Here is a breakdown of which mobs have their loot tables altered:
- Cows — Raw beef becomes cooked beef
- Pigs — Raw porkchop becomes cooked porkchop
- Chickens — Raw chicken becomes cooked chicken
- Sheep — Raw mutton becomes cooked mutton
- Rabbits — Raw rabbit becomes cooked rabbit
- Salmon and Cod — Raw fish becomes cooked fish (varies by version)
This simple change has surprisingly deep implications for how you play the game. Early-game survival becomes significantly smoother when you can focus on exploration and building rather than babysitting furnaces. No more crafting hoppers and fuel systems just to keep your food supply chain running. You kill it, you eat it, you move on.
Installation: Getting NotSoCookAnymore Into Your World
Installing a datapack in Minecraft is refreshingly straightforward. First, download the NotSoCookAnymore datapack file, which typically comes as a ZIP archive. Then, locate your world's save folder. Inside that folder, you will find a directory called datapacks. Simply drop the ZIP file into that folder. If you are already in the world, use the /reload command to activate it without restarting. If not, just launch the world and the datapack will be active immediately.
For players who prefer a more streamlined experience, managing datapacks and mods can sometimes feel like juggling too many files. This is where tools that simplify the process become genuinely valuable. Many players have discovered that this mod can be easily installed via the foxygame.net launcher, a convenient and modern Minecraft launcher that lets you browse and download mods directly from its built-in menu without ever leaving the application. It takes the hassle out of manual file management and keeps everything organized in one place, which is especially handy if you frequently switch between different modded setups.
Once installed, you can verify the datapack is working by running the /datapack list enabled command in-game. You should see NotSoCookAnymore listed among the active datapacks.
Is This Cheating? The Great Debate
The original description of the datapack poses an interesting question: "Is this cheating? It's up to you!" And honestly, that is the perfect way to frame it. Minecraft is a sandbox game where the only rules that matter are the ones you set for yourself. There is no global leaderboard, no competitive integrity to preserve. Your world, your rules.
That said, let us examine both sides of the argument. On one hand, cooking food is a core survival mechanic. It teaches new players about furnace usage, fuel management, and resource planning. Skipping it entirely removes a layer of gameplay that Mojang intentionally designed. If you are playing on a hardcore world or a server where everyone agreed to vanilla rules, using this datapack might feel like an unfair advantage.
On the other hand, experienced players have cooked thousands of steaks over the years. The novelty of waiting for a furnace wears off after the hundredth time. For builders, redstone engineers, and explorers who want to spend their time on more interesting activities, NotSoCookAnymore is a quality-of-life improvement, not a cheat. It is akin to using a minimap mod or an inventory sorting mod. You are not gaining new abilities. You are just removing friction.
Server Considerations
If you plan to use this datapack on a multiplayer server, communication is key. Make sure all players and the server administrator are aware of the change. Some players might feel that it diminishes the survival experience, while others will welcome the convenience. The datapack only needs to be installed server-side to affect all players, so individual clients do not need to do anything extra.
Compatibility and Technical Details
NotSoCookAnymore works by overriding the default loot_table JSON files for specific mobs. Because it only touches loot tables, it is generally compatible with most other datapacks and mods that do not alter the same files. However, if you are running another datapack that modifies cow, pig, chicken, sheep, or rabbit drops, you may encounter conflicts. In such cases, the datapack loaded last will take priority, or the conflicting entries might merge unpredictably.
The datapack is designed for modern versions of Minecraft, typically 1.17 and above, though variants exist for older versions. Always check the version compatibility before installing. Since it is a datapack and not a mod, it does not require Forge, Fabric, or any mod loader. It runs on pure vanilla Minecraft, which makes it incredibly lightweight and easy to share with friends.
Why Players Love Quality-of-Life Datapacks
NotSoCookAnymore belongs to a broader category of Minecraft datapacks that focus on convenience without fundamentally altering the game's identity. Other popular examples include tree capitator datapacks, gravestone datapacks, and crafting tweaks. What these all share is a philosophy of respecting the player's time. Minecraft is a game that rewards patience, but there is a difference between meaningful patience and pointless waiting.
Cooking food falls into that gray area. Early on, it feels essential. Later, it feels like a chore. NotSoCookAnymore acknowledges this and gives players the choice to opt out. The fact that it is a datapack rather than a permanent game modification means you can remove it at any time and return to vanilla behavior instantly. No uninstallation headaches, no corrupted worlds.
Final Thoughts
NotSoCookAnymore is a small but impactful datapack that addresses a specific annoyance in Minecraft survival mode. It does one thing and does it well: turning raw food drops into cooked food drops so you never have to smelt another piece of meat again. Whether you consider it cheating or a clever time-saver is entirely a matter of personal perspective. What matters is that the option exists, and it is dead simple to implement.
If you find yourself dreading the walk back to your furnace after every hunting trip, give NotSoCookAnymore a try. You might be surprised at how much more enjoyable the early and mid-game become when you are not constantly managing your hunger with half-raw ingredients. After all, Minecraft is about building, exploring, and creating. The less time you spend staring at a furnace GUI, the more time you have for the parts of the game you actually love.