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Needed Essentials project artwork

CurseForge · Minecraft modpack

Needed Essentials

A lightweight Fabric modpack for Minecraft 1.21.10 focused on performance, quality-of-life, and subtle visual improvements. Everything you actually need, nothing you don’t.

Choose a version Pick your version below, then grab the matching file.

Quick answer

Which Needed Essentials release should I use?

Updated last month
Latest stable file Needed Essentials 1.5
Game version 1.21.10
Loader Fabric 0.17.3

Needed Essentials 1.5 is a complete pack release for 1.21.10 with Fabric 0.17.3. Install it as its own launcher instance. If the creator publishes a separate server file, make sure it names this exact pack release. 47 mods in this pack file.

Pack setup

How should I set up Needed Essentials for players and a server?

Use Needed Essentials 1.5 as the pack version. Install the pack as its own launcher instance. The creator’s listing does not name a separate server file, so check the release notes before setting up a dedicated server. Do not upload the ordinary client folder blindly.

Client instance Install Needed Essentials 1.5
Dedicated server setup Match Needed Essentials 1.5
Pack loader Fabric 0.17.3

A pack is a matched client and server setup, not one mod with an install-side label. Keep its release, loader, manifest and overrides together.

Referenced mods 47
Client only 15
Server only 0
Not labelled 32

These numbers come from the pack file you chose. “Not labelled” means we don’t know which side it belongs on—not that it is safe everywhere. The file count is not a RAM estimate.

What are the server requirements for Needed Essentials?

Needed Essentials 1.5. Change the pack release and its contents or setup may change too.

47 mods in this pack file

The selected pack release is Needed Essentials 1.5. That file is for Minecraft 1.21.10 with Fabric 0.17.3. It contains 47 mod projects. The creator’s listing does not name a separate server file. Check their notes before using one, and do not upload an ordinary client folder or rebuild the pack mod by mod. A file count cannot tell us the right RAM, CPU or storage; size the server for the players and world you actually run.

About this project

What kind of pack is Needed Essentials?

🧱 Needed Essentials (Fabric 1.21.10)

Needed Essentials is a client-side Fabric modpack that includes all the essential mods I personally use when playing vanilla Minecraft.
It doesn’t try to change the core gameplay — it just makes Minecraft smoother, clearer, and more enjoyable to play.

Whether you’re in single-player or exploring servers, this setup adds the small quality-of-life improvements and visual tweaks that make vanilla feel complete.


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I am not officially endorsed or sponsored by Pebblehost


✨ Features

💡 Visual & Interface Improvements

Clean, modern visuals and helpful overlays that blend perfectly into vanilla:

  • Iris Shaders – Brings full shader support
  • Lamb Dynamic Lights – Dynamic lighting for held or dropped light sources
  • Skin Layers 3D – Adds subtle depth to player models
  • Dark Loading Screen – Simple and sleek loading visuals
  • Advancement Screenshot - For remembering random moments
  • Just Zoom – Smooth zoom (OptiFine-style)
  • Resource Gamma Utils – Adjustable brightness control
  • Remove Reloading Screen (RRCF) – Disables the resource pack reload screen

🛠️ Quality of Life

Small tweaks that make every session feel smoother:

  • AppleSkin – Shows hunger and saturation
  • Controlling – Searchable keybinds
  • Mouse Tweaks – Better inventory management
  • Light Overlay – Highlights spawnable areas
  • Durability Tooltip – Displays item durability
  • Pick Up Notifier – Item pickup pop-ups
  • Shulker Box Tooltip – Hover to view contents
  • Enchantment Description – Explains enchantments
  • Jade – Detailed block/entity information
  • Searchables – Improved search system
  • World Play Time – Shows total time played
  • Litematica – Handy building and planning tool
  • Not Enough Animations – Smoother player motion
  • Prickle – Small but useful client tweaks
  • Screenshot Compression - For saving memory because why not
  • Lazy Language Loader – Faster language switching

⚙️ Optimisation Mods

Not the main focus, but helps everything run smoothly:

  • Sodium + Sodium Extra – FPS and visual performance
  • Lithium – Optimises game logic
  • Ferrite Core – Reduces memory usage
  • Entity Culling – Only renders visible entities
  • Dynamic FPS – Saves resources when out of focus
  • Bad Optimisation + Fast IP Ping – Extra client performance tweaks

🧩 Libraries

Includes all required Fabric libraries and APIs such as:

  • Fabric API
  • Cloth Config
  • Architectury
    …and others needed for full compatibility.

🎨 Recommended Visual Setup

Resource Packs

  • Faithful 64x – Higher-res textures that stay true to vanilla
  • Low on Fire – Reduces the on-screen fire overlay
  • Aimz Crosshair – Clean, minimal crosshair
  • Slightly Improved Font – Smoother, more readable text

Shader Packs

  • Bliss Shaders – Soft, realistic lighting
  • Complementary Shaders (Reimagined & Unbound) – Balanced realism and smooth visuals
  • Solas Shader – Deep, cinematic colours and effects

💬 About

This pack isn’t meant to overhaul Minecraft - it’s simply my personal essentials setup for a better vanilla experience.
Every mod here is client-side and server-friendly, so you can join any vanilla or plugin-based server without issues.


My go-to setup for the perfect vanilla Minecraft experience.

Project description from CurseForge.

Mods in Needed Essentials 1.5

Open any mod on Modpacks.ch to check its files and dependencies.

advancementscreenshot-1.21.10-5.2.jar SHA-1 87798c8b0027794d4fc3a723e74f6d5ffbbb570c · CurseForge file 7079805 · Project link unavailable Side not labelled
anvianslib-fabric-1.21.10-1.4.jar SHA-1 1ae6ad4d2c09f466fce1722b3e88cdcc54a9d3d5 · CurseForge file 7120756 · Project link unavailable Side not labelled
appleskin-fabric-mc1.21.9-3.0.7.jar SHA-1 a95d28e65583081b13e3c980690ee54042a5ed74 · CurseForge file 7075567 · Project link unavailable Side not labelled
BadOptimizations-2.4.1-1.21.10.jar SHA-1 1afd5c9c6a1d5970285d1b08af1fa6c7585842dc · CurseForge file 7338626 · Project link unavailable Client only
chat_heads-1.2.0-fabric-1.21.9.jar SHA-1 676dda820664ea8146de8bd0d172df160d5d6046 · CurseForge file 7455440 · Project link unavailable Side not labelled
collective-1.21.10-8.13.jar SHA-1 ed4d3673937e96d377de77bccd6dfbaadabd6d59 · CurseForge file 7148972 · Project link unavailable Side not labelled
Controlling-fabric-1.21.10-28.0.2.jar SHA-1 ace0dea512824afb5870e3222fec6cfa291bf411 · CurseForge file 7092613 · Project link unavailable Side not labelled
cwb-fabric-3.0.0+mc1.21.5.jar SHA-1 b663eb9a8238be3cd71173e39b6f9d01d0948c1d · CurseForge file 6381090 · Project link unavailable Side not labelled
dark-loading-screen-1.6.17.jar SHA-1 833530221ec133154f8db6ad4aa28e6549180d44 · CurseForge file 6679948 · Project link unavailable Client only
durabilitytooltip-1.1.6-fabric-mc1.21.jar SHA-1 c7a5028c90993934b0604c69fe63d33c951e8640 · CurseForge file 6833277 · Project link unavailable Side not labelled
dynamic-fps-3.11.3+minecraft-1.21.9-fabric.jar SHA-1 9eacdde04b501a0a9d0bd4366436836c38e68e79 · CurseForge file 7413047 · Project link unavailable Client only
enchdesc-fabric-1.21.10-21.10.2.jar SHA-1 548da2488a5af05220ea431b3b4a74c026a05281 · CurseForge file 7336140 · Project link unavailable Client only
entityculling-fabric-1.9.5-mc1.21.10.jar SHA-1 4c866322b6c5e0781bbf709d3216381de234ee89 · CurseForge file 7396699 · Project link unavailable Side not labelled
fabric-api-0.138.4+1.21.10.jar SHA-1 0345c20b71007521a25b393091adeb45328d7c57 · CurseForge file 7343486 · Project link unavailable Side not labelled
fast-ip-ping-v1.0.8-mc1.21.10-fabric.jar SHA-1 fa87eb64e5cebad5d64a9500111c52bc5415a148 · CurseForge file 7317275 · Project link unavailable Side not labelled
ferritecore-8.0.2-fabric.jar SHA-1 5ea50634ed19a5e10acb46258bab0c1ee20f64ca · CurseForge file 7177133 · Project link unavailable Side not labelled
ForgeConfigAPIPort-v21.10.1+mc1.21.10-Fabric.jar SHA-1 1335a32984357a39d9c8cf5faba9e9b5c3e1f80d · CurseForge file 7213628 · Project link unavailable Side not labelled
iris-fabric-1.9.7+mc1.21.10.jar SHA-1 f96d48791a372edb0fa3adfc80848c4f27eae737 · CurseForge file 7351304 · Project link unavailable Client only
Jade-1.21.9-Fabric-20.0.5.jar SHA-1 1007888435ef4ce9334798217634a6a03dac1eaf · CurseForge file 7056475 · Project link unavailable Side not labelled
jei-1.21.10-fabric-26.2.0.30.jar SHA-1 2841e44fea85bf70ffbf820d7e6231e0d63a2690 · CurseForge file 7361872 · Project link unavailable Side not labelled
justzoom_fabric_2.1.2_MC_1.21.10.jar SHA-1 ef9d1cffe56c401b4403268b368d3c9b3a8d6e21 · CurseForge file 7112096 · Project link unavailable Side not labelled
konkrete_fabric_1.9.13_MC_1.21.10.jar SHA-1 b6d89fe7f542c7f05bb6a7a4c6573225f255a284 · CurseForge file 7109230 · Project link unavailable Side not labelled
lambdynamiclights-4.8.7+1.21.10.jar SHA-1 4ea9988c083f1e16182e6042ab55de414bfbbaff · CurseForge file 7306491 · Project link unavailable Side not labelled
lazy-language-loader-0.3.9.jar SHA-1 6c253c3b2c35339f6c3bd0c5b16d3f4cc05bdff8 · CurseForge file 7052613 · Project link unavailable Client only
light-overlay-1.3.0-1.21.9-1.21.10.jar SHA-1 a40264f1a57a2df95e81a0c3e00d974f9e98f0fb · CurseForge file 7173524 · Project link unavailable Client only
litematica-fabric-1.21.10-0.24.3.jar SHA-1 45f850b6915e7f32a74fea749dbeae062f6d657c · CurseForge file 7153509 · Project link unavailable Client only
lithium-fabric-0.20.1+mc1.21.10.jar SHA-1 7d44f5da9c690bbf1bd6d65c1acc81db5cf7f8c6 · CurseForge file 7219262 · Project link unavailable Side not labelled
malilib-fabric-1.21.10-0.26.3.jar SHA-1 11488594330f0e83fa4368739e4bbdb5ba792baa · CurseForge file 7130809 · Project link unavailable Client only
morechathistory-1.3.1.jar SHA-1 b4337ef9dc0a6cdf31d8f3df68a6542f64f3625e · CurseForge file 5286193 · Project link unavailable Client only
MouseTweaks-fabric-mc1.21.9-2.29.jar SHA-1 e6816dd7a2f61deca930c6787a04b74afb91249f · CurseForge file 7071305 · Project link unavailable Client only
notenoughanimations-fabric-1.11.1-mc1.21.10.jar SHA-1 6a41b82242366df45ef4dfc4d4dfa260a3f30812 · CurseForge file 7325379 · Project link unavailable Side not labelled
PickUpNotifier-v21.10.0+mc1.21.10-Fabric.jar SHA-1 e7c1615578a4f72fef8ae9f5ef21ce1739e2770e · CurseForge file 7084256 · Project link unavailable Side not labelled
Ping-Wheel-1.12.1-fabric-1.21.10.jar SHA-1 bc1e4fcbbcfa6729d257a69d2e8626f9029c242e · CurseForge file 7409967 · Project link unavailable Side not labelled
prickle-fabric-1.21.10-21.10.2.jar SHA-1 2e0fc39bc1aa65a1a609d1bc9d03965078ee13cb · CurseForge file 7083710 · Project link unavailable Side not labelled
PuzzlesLib-v21.10.8+mc1.21.10-Fabric.jar SHA-1 a47fd39ca6e9cf6ec9cb57d52af67ace8656c454 · CurseForge file 7279083 · Project link unavailable Side not labelled
resource_gamma_util-fabric-1.21.10-1.3.0.jar SHA-1 a963e61d4eb168f0ba9a04b51f63893d1e253c7b · CurseForge file 7081961 · Project link unavailable Side not labelled
rrls-5.1.12+mc1.21.9-fabric.jar SHA-1 e70e5bd05c2fcc81a023c3bca72098c62a855448 · CurseForge file 7138326 · Project link unavailable Side not labelled
screenshotcompression-1.21.10-1.1.jar SHA-1 0ba49e7c7b4b0fa5f422ede0bf2a48c833482ed3 · CurseForge file 7079243 · Project link unavailable Side not labelled
Searchables-fabric-1.21.10-1.0.2.jar SHA-1 8280f0f5421ff13de052a413b88dadef7a50b540 · CurseForge file 7104728 · Project link unavailable Side not labelled
shulkerboxtooltip-fabric-5.2.13+1.21.10.jar SHA-1 32df583306873245b06ba5f1f34fb7f02e7f7655 · CurseForge file 7305186 · Project link unavailable Side not labelled
skinlayers3d-fabric-1.10.1-mc1.21.10.jar SHA-1 4cb5ca17ecde2cb6b69a533014b188c2fd1bdec2 · CurseForge file 7322375 · Project link unavailable Side not labelled
sodium-extra-fabric-0.7.1+mc1.21.10.jar SHA-1 c5243648eda711f87febe22f0ecbe86323541b1c · CurseForge file 7249736 · Project link unavailable Client only
sodium-extra-fabric-2.6.2.jar SHA-1 a95ed06a30d5c021d91d3184837276e1babcd16f · CurseForge file 7098910 · Project link unavailable Client only
sodium-fabric-0.7.3+mc1.21.10.jar SHA-1 1c3ffa862d9fa4479abf67a88527907d60237248 · CurseForge file 7207593 · Project link unavailable Client only
spark-1.10.152-fabric.jar SHA-1 85ae54dace1d468d8cbcfac88bb7c31ff7852530 · CurseForge file 7094483 · Project link unavailable Side not labelled
supermartijn642configlib-1.1.8-fabric-mc1.21.jar SHA-1 8427e42f1db8ea7b4b6c21cc94bfcfa398f0ff63 · CurseForge file 5546988 · Project link unavailable Side not labelled
worldplaytime-1.2.4-1.21.10-FABRIC.jar SHA-1 d400cfaab6b5649f3f317ee565abc373ac797b70 · CurseForge file 7140847 · Project link unavailable Client only

Pick your setup

Needed Essentials by Minecraft version and loader

Choose the version and loader you play, then open the matching release.

1 available setups

Made local changes? Try them in a copied instance before touching a world you care about.

Recent files

Needed Essentials versions and loaders

6 of 6 releases match

Looking for an older file? The official CurseForge project page is in Resources.