1

Follow

pack.mcmeta fields to prefer custom translations over vanilla

There are many resource packs that use custom localizations to add new items or mobs into the game, whether for a custom map or just for fun. The file pack.mcmeta should have new fields for fallbacks.

Vanilla example:
{
  "pack": {...},
  "language": {
    "general_fallback": "vanilla",
    "it_it": {
      "fallback": "minecraft:es_es"
    },
    "scn": {
      "fallback": "minecraft:it_it"
    }
  }
}

Vanilla would have "general_fallback": "vanilla", meaning that en_us.json from the vanilla pack would be used. "vanilla" here is hardcoded to mean "en_us.json from the default pack".

Hypotetical scenario: a new update is dropped, Spanish is at 100% but Italian is still at 80%. The remaining 20% of strings, when playing in Italian, would show in Spanish rather than English.

In the same scenario, all the untranslated Sicilian strings would show the Italian ones, rather than English. If some of those strings were missing, you'd play in a mix of Sicilian, Italian and Spanish with no English texts.

This could make the game understandable for people who only speak languages from a single family but don't speak English. For an Italian player who only speaks Italian and doesn't know English, understanding "Protégete con una parte de la armadura de hierro." is easier than understanding "Protect yourself with a piece of iron armor". Compare it to the actual Italian translation: "Proteggiti con una parte di armatura di ferro."

This could then be customized using resource packs. More examples below.

Registered User shared this idea

• October 21, 2025 19:21
• Report a Concern

Please sign in to leave a comment.

• 1

  Registered User commented

  Comment actions Permalink

  • October 21, 2025 19:24
  • Edited
  • Report a Concern
  • Comment actions Permalink

  Complex custom pack example:

  {
    "pack": {
      ...
    },
    "language": {
      "general_fallback": "pt_br",
      "scn": {
        "fallback": "minecraft:es_es"
      },
      "it_it": {
        "fallback": "minecraft:fr_fr"
      }
    }
  }

  In this pack, I have:
  • "Ruby" in English,
  • "Rubi" in Brasilian Portuguese,
  • "Rubí" in Spanish and
  • "Rubis" in French
  for all the iron items and blocks.

  Supposing that "Ruby" strings for Sicilian, Italian and Romanian were missing in this pack, rather than having:
  • scn show "Ferru",
  • it_it show "Ferro" and
  • ro_ro show "Fier"
  (basically the vanilla words for "Iron"), I'd have:
  • "Rubí" (from Spanish) for Sicilian,
  • "Rubis" (from French) for Italian and
  • "Rubi" (from Brasilian Portuguese, which is set as the generic fallback) for Romanian (which isn't defined).

  Every other language would behave like Romanian, having "Rubi" from pt_br rather than the words "Eisen", "Järn", "Jern", "Hekuri" and so on from that same vanilla locale or the vanilla English word "Iron" itself. This can be useful to make a pack intended for Brasilians be language-proof for other players in Brasil that don't play in pt_br.

  A German-speaking player from Brasil would see "Picareta de Rubi" rather than "Iron Pickaxe" with a pack like this enabled, which would still be wrong (it should be "Rubinspitzhacke", but this wasn't defined by the creator of the pack) yet it would reflect more what is being shown by the game.