How to install Litematica

Litematica is a Fabric mod with a required library, MaLiLib. Files from the schematic generator are built for Java Edition 1.21.4, so the loader, the library, and the mod need to be that version too.

1. Install Minecraft Java Edition and make a profile that can run 1.21.4.
2. Install the Fabric loader for 1.21.4, or create a Fabric instance in Modrinth or CurseForge.
3. Download MaLiLib built for that Minecraft version and Fabric.
4. Download Litematica built for the same version and put both jars in the instance mods folder.
5. Launch a world, press M, and confirm the Litematica menu opens before you download a schematic.

Java first, then Fabric

Install the official Minecraft Java launcher and run 1.21.4 once so the version exists on disk. Bedrock from the store is a different game; it cannot load this mod. The split is explained in Java vs Bedrock.

Fabric is the loader. You can run the Fabric installer and pick Minecraft 1.21.4, then create a launcher profile, or you can click Create instance in the Modrinth App or CurseForge and choose Fabric for 1.21.4. Either path is fine. What fails is mixing them carelessly: mods installed into the global .minecraft/mods folder do not show up inside a CurseForge instance that has its own mods folder. Put MaLiLib and Litematica in the mods folder of the instance you launch.

MaLiLib, then Litematica

Download both from the same place so the versions match. Modrinth and CurseForge each host official files. Filter by 1.21.4 and the Fabric loader. MaLiLib is not optional and it is not included inside the Litematica jar. If you only drop Litematica in, Fabric stops on the missing malilib dependency and you never reach a world. The detail is in logs/latest.log. The crash path is MaLiLib missing.

Do not copy a 1.20.1 or 1.21.1 jar into a 1.21.4 instance because the file name looked similar. Fabric checks the version metadata and skips the jar. Do not put the mods in resourcepacks or shaderpacks. They are not packs.

This guide does not cover a Forge port. The pages on this site assume Fabric plus MaLiLib. If your pack is Forge-only, Litematica from the Fabric files will not load there. Use a separate Fabric instance for schematic building, even if you play other packs on Forge.

Installing into Lunar Client is a different launcher path (Fabric add-on, then both jars in that profile’s Mods tab): Litematica on Lunar Client.

Litematica 26.2 and 26.1

CurseForge’s file list on 2026-07-06 included litematica-fabric-26.2-0.28.3.jar and litematica-fabric-26.1.2-0.27.9.jar. The Modrinth version page listed game versions 26.2 and 26.1.x. Install the jar that matches the Minecraft version you launch, and install MaLiLib built for that same version. This page does not list a 26.3 file.

Schematics from the generator on this site are still data version 4189, Java 1.21.4. A 26.2 Litematica install does not change that. Use the 1.21.4 instance above when you open those holograms.

Prove the menu before you chase files

Start the instance, create or open a world, and press M. The Litematica menu should open. Rebind it in the mod’s hotkey list if M is taken by another mod. If nothing opens, stop and fix the loader before you download a schematic. A missing menu is not a bad .litematic.

Then generate a small build, for example a 13×9×11 oak house, and follow how to import a litematic. The schematics folder is created beside the instance’s saves when Litematica has run at least once. On macOS the vanilla path is ~/Library/Application Support/minecraft/schematics. Third-party launchers use the instance folder instead. If Load Schematics is empty, you used the other folder. The checklist is Litematica not working.

After it loads

Place the hologram, then move it onto your plot. Build with layer mode and easy place. Easy place still spends real blocks. The material list on the generator is the shopping list for that.

Data version 4189 is Java 1.21.4. If you later join a 1.20 server, this client will not connect, and that is a server-version choice, not a broken install. Keep this instance for opening these holograms. Generate prompts with prompt tips so the shape you asked for is the shape the compiler built.

Installing the mod does not put a build on disk. The shapes are on Schematics Minecraft, and the file you save is the Litematica schematics download.

Download only from the Modrinth page and pick the newest build for your Minecraft version: 1.21 and newer had a security flaw fixed in July 2026, see Litematica vulnerability.

After the mod loads, the next job is to paste a schematic in Litematica, which is the hologram placement step.

Not on 1.21.4? The jar and MaLiLib pairs for other versions are in the Litematica download table, with their own guides for 1.20.1, 1.21.1 and 1.21.5. What the mod is and does: Litematica mod.

Reviewed 2026-09-29. Not affiliated with Mojang or Microsoft.