Architectury Loom

Architectury Loom is a Gradle plugin for building Minecraft mod development environments across several mod loaders. It is best suited to developers maintaining projects for more than one loader; its broad toolchain support is appealing, but its experimental status calls for caution.

Overview

Based on FabricMC Loom and described as a ForgeGradle replacement, Architectury Loom brings Fabric, Forge, NeoForge and Quilt development into one Gradle setup. That breadth can simplify a project that targets multiple loaders, while developers focused on a single toolchain may not need the extra coverage. It supports Minecraft 1.14.4 and newer, dependency management and artifact packaging.

The project is experimental, and issues may arise. It is a better fit for developers comfortable working with an evolving tool than for teams that need a more predictable foundation. The project invites users to discuss Loom on Discord and directs issue reports to its issue tracker.

Key features

• Loader coverage: Fabric, Forge, NeoForge and Quilt support makes Loom relevant to multi-loader development rather than tying a project to one ecosystem.
• Mapping options: Yarn, Official Mojang Mappings and MCP give developers a choice of naming conventions. That flexibility helps accommodate project preferences, though teams still need to settle on mappings for their work.
• Decompiled sources: Fernflower and CFR generate source code with comments, giving mod developers another way to inspect Minecraft code in a development environment.
• Forge and NeoForge conversion: Version 1.17 adds an API for converting access wideners to access transformers, a targeted capability for projects using those toolchains.
• Gradle integration: Loom supports Gradle 8.1 and newer. Existing projects on older Gradle versions cannot use it without meeting that minimum.

Pricing

Architectury Loom is free and open source under the MIT license. Its free plan costs nothing and includes the experimental project, support for Gradle 8.1 or newer, and documented support for IntelliJ IDEA and Visual Studio Code. There are no paid tiers or trial to weigh against the free offering.

Platforms

Loom supports Linux, macOS and Windows. Its documented IDE support is limited to IntelliJ IDEA and Visual Studio Code; other IDEs are not tested or supported, so developers using a different editor should not assume an equivalent setup.

Who it's for

Choose Loom if you build Minecraft mods for multiple loaders and want mapping choices, decompiled sources, dependency management and artifact packaging within a Gradle development environment. It is less suitable for teams that cannot accommodate experimental software, developers on Gradle earlier than 8.1, or users who rely on an IDE outside IntelliJ IDEA and Visual Studio Code.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Four supported loaders: Fabric, Forge, NeoForge and Quilt make one plugin a plausible foundation for multi-loader projects.
• Choice of mappings and decompilers: Three mapping options and two decompilers give developers control over how they work with Minecraft sources.
• Free and MIT-licensed: There is no subscription cost or paid tier to budget for.

Cons

• Experimental status: The project warns that issues may arise, which is a material risk for teams seeking a stable development base.
• Specific requirements: Gradle 8.1 or newer and support limited to two documented IDEs narrow the setup options.

Alternatives

Browse Minecraft Mod Development Tools for more options in the category. Choose ForgeGradle if you want the tool Loom is positioned to replace, or Fabric if your focus is the Fabric loader rather than a plugin spanning four loaders. Quilt Loom is another free, MIT-licensed Minecraft modding tool; consider it when you want to compare a Quilt-oriented option. Gradle is the open-source build system underneath this kind of workflow, not a substitute for Loom's loader and mapping support.

IntelliJ IDEA is an IDE, with a free core for Java and Kotlin and a paid Ultimate subscription, so it is an editor choice rather than a direct replacement for Loom. Visual Studio Code is another free option that runs on Linux, macOS, Windows and the web, and is among Loom's supported IDEs. Eclipse IDE is free and open source if you prefer that IDE, though Loom does not document support for it. Blockbench is free to use for any type of project and runs on desktop, mobile and web; choose it when that broader platform availability matters more than Loom's Gradle-based mod development workflow.

Verdict

Architectury Loom is a strong candidate for Minecraft mod developers who need one Gradle plugin across Fabric, Forge, NeoForge and Quilt. Its free, open-source model and mapping and decompilation choices make it useful for cross-loader work, but developers who need a more predictable tool or an IDE beyond IntelliJ IDEA and Visual Studio Code should look elsewhere.