Minecraft players can customize their games using a plethora of add-ons or mods, depending on which version they’re playing.
Players on Bedrock Edition will primarily use add-ons, which can be purchased for real-world money in the marketplace. Players on Java Edition will use mods that they can dig around for, mostly at no cost.
Using add-ons in Minecraft Bedrock Edition
Those playing on the Bedrock edition on consoles or through Windows can grab add-ons directly through the marketplace. There are add-ons that come free with a Realms Plus subscription, with all other packs costing real-world money (via Minecraft Coins), which can be bought in the store directly.
Keep in mind that some add-ons, like texture packs, can be applied directly to your existing Worlds or Realms, but some that change the nature of the game a lot will require you to make a new Realm or World. World packs, like Aquatic Life, will require making a new World for that add-on.
Using mods in Minecraft: Java Edition
Java Edition users of Minecraft will need Java installed. After doing that, you’ll need to download the version of Minecraft Forge that matches your server version. A full list of Minecraaft Forge versions can be found here. Double-click the .jar file that downloads to install Forge.
Java Edition mods can be found all over the place via websites like Curse Forge. Simply click “download” on the mod you want and move it into your mods folder.
The mods folder will be located on the drive you installed Minecraft on, in a folder you can find through clicking “users,” your Windows name, “App Data,” “Roaming,” and then “.minecraft.” If there’s no folder named “mods” in there, you can make one and just drop your downloaded mods in.
To play with the mods you’ve installed, you’ll simply need to select “forge” from the list of available builds on the Minecraft Java Edition client.