FreeMinecraftModels (FMM)

FreeMinecraftModels is a free, open-source Bukkit/Paper model engine and a drop-in alternative to ModelEngine. It turns Blockbench models into a server resource pack, spawns them in-game using display entities (with an armor-stand fallback for older versions/Bedrock), and animates them -- all without client-side mods.

Features

• Blockbench import -- Reads .bbmodel files directly, or the optimized .fmmodel format
• Resource pack generation -- Automatically builds and zips a server resource pack from imported models
• Three entity types -- Static (temporary decorations), Dynamic (living-entity disguises/wrappers), and Props (persistent placed world models)
• Player disguises -- Disguise yourself or other players as a model
• Custom items -- Models with a material: field become placeable/holdable items, with optional Lua scripting
• Lua scripting -- Script props and custom items via the MagmaCore scripting engine
• Menus -- Player-facing craftable-items browser and an admin content/model browser
• Crafting recipes -- Interactive in-game recipe builder for model props
• Mount points -- mount_-prefixed bones become rideable seat positions; spawn a rideable model horse with one command
• Display models -- Place a Blockbench Java Block/Item .json export beside a model for 3D item rendering (1.21.4+), including bow/crossbow draw states
• Oriented hitboxes -- Hitboxes rotate with the model instead of using vanilla axis-aligned boxes
• Furniture shop -- Optional Vault-backed shop for selling props/furniture
• Region awareness -- Optional WorldGuard / GriefPrevention checks before placing props
• API -- Usable as a dependency by other plugins (EliteMobs, BetterStructures, etc.); fires an FmmReloadedEvent so consumers can re-attach models after a reload

Requirements

• Java 21
• A Spigot/Paper server on Minecraft 1.21.4+ (api-version: 1.21.4)
• MagmaCore -- shaded into the plugin jar, no separate install needed

Optional soft dependencies (auto-detected at runtime): WorldGuard, WorldEdit, GriefPrevention, Vault (for the furniture shop's economy), and ResourcePackManager (FMM tells it to reload so it can distribute the generated pack automatically).

Installation

1. Drop FreeMinecraftModels.jar into your server's plugins/ folder and start the server once to generate the data folder.
2. Place your .bbmodel (or .fmmodel) files in plugins/FreeMinecraftModels/models/, then run /fmm reload.
3. Distribute the generated resource pack from plugins/FreeMinecraftModels/output/FreeMinecraftModels.zip, or install Resource Pack Manager to host and serve it automatically.
4. Spawn models in-game, e.g. /fmm spawn static <id>, /fmm spawn dynamic <id>, or /fmm spawn prop <id>.

The data folder also exposes /fmm setup, /fmm initialize, and /fmm downloadall for browsing and installing Nightbreak-managed model packs.

Commands

All commands are under /freeminecraftmodels (alias /fmm).

Command	Description
/fmm	Opens the craftable-items menu; prints info to console
/fmm reload	Reloads the plugin and re-imports models
/fmm spawn <static|dynamic|prop> <model>	Spawns a model as a static decoration, dynamic entity, or placed prop
/fmm disguise <model> [player]	Disguises you (or a target player) as a model
/fmm undisguise [player]	Removes a disguise
/fmm disguiselist	Lists currently disguised players
/fmm mount <model>	Spawns a rideable model horse
/fmm itemify <model> <material>	Gives a placement item for a model, using the chosen material
/fmm giveitem <item>	Gives a defined custom FMM item
/fmm craftify <model>	Opens an interactive recipe builder for a model prop
/fmm admin	Opens the admin content browser
/fmm stats	Shows loaded-model and dynamic-entity counts
/fmm version	Shows the plugin version
/fmm setup / /fmm initialize / /fmm downloadall	Browse / install Nightbreak-managed content

Debug commands also exist (hitboxdebug, locationdebug, bedrockdebug, deleteall).

Permissions

Permission	Default	Grants
freeminecraftmodels.*	op	All commands (includes the children below)
freeminecraftmodels.admin	op	Admin content browser and admin commands
freeminecraftmodels.disguise.self	op	Disguise/undisguise yourself
freeminecraftmodels.disguise.others	op	Disguise/undisguise other players, plus disguiselist
freeminecraftmodels.bypassregionprotection	op	Place props inside WorldGuard regions / GriefPrevention claims
freeminecraftmodels.menu	true	Open the craftable-items menu
freeminecraftmodels.shop	true	Open the furniture shop

Importing and using a model

1. Export your model from Blockbench as a .bbmodel (or use a prebuilt .fmmodel).
2. Drop the file into plugins/FreeMinecraftModels/models/ (subfolders are scanned recursively). You may also place sibling .yml/.json/.png files next to a model -- e.g. a Blockbench Java Block/Item .json export for a 3D display item.
3. Run /fmm reload. FMM converts the model, regenerates output/FreeMinecraftModels/, and rezips it to output/FreeMinecraftModels.zip.
4. Make sure players receive the generated resource pack (manually or via ResourcePackManager), then spawn/disguise/mount using the commands above. The model ID is the file name without its extension.

Special bones/conventions: bones named hitbox and tag_name are treated as collision/nametag anchors; mount_-prefixed bones become rideable seats.

Building from source

FreeMinecraftModels is a Maven project (Java 21). MagmaCore and a few other libraries are shaded in at the package phase.

mvn clean package

The built plugin jar is written to target/FreeMinecraftModels.jar.

API

FreeMinecraftModels can be used as a dependency in other plugins. Do not shade FMM into your plugin -- it must be installed on the server as a standalone plugin.

<repository>
    <id>magmaguy-repo-releases</id>
    <url>https://repo.magmaguy.com/releases</url>
</repository>

<dependency>
    <groupId>com.magmaguy</groupId>
    <artifactId>FreeMinecraftModels</artifactId>
    <version>2.7.0</version>
    <scope>provided</scope>
</dependency>

Links

• FreeMinecraftModels on Nightbreak
• Resource Pack Manager (Spigot)
• Patreon -- support development
• Discord

License

The plugin source code is distributed under the GPLv3 license.

Exported resource-pack contents are licensed under CC0 (no rights reserved) -- free to use, distribute, and modify for any purpose without restriction or attribution.