You can make free mods for Minecraft, but you cannot charge money for them, and Mojang won't take ownership of your mod — but you also can't make it a commercial product.
This analysis describes what Minecraft's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology
This provision establishes the operational framework for third-party mod development by permitting creation while restricting commercial monetization models. It preserves creator ownership, which affects the intellectual property structure of the mod ecosystem.
Modders cannot monetize their creations directly, which limits the economic upside for significant creative labor invested in building Minecraft modifications.
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"You can create mods for Minecraft. You may not sell mods or charge money for creating them. Mods must be free. If you publish a Minecraft mod, you cannot transfer ownership or control of the mod to us.— Excerpt from Minecraft's Minecraft Usage Guidelines
1) REGULATORY FRAMEWORK: This provision engages copyright law (17 U.S.C., EU Directive 2001/29/EC) regarding derivative works, as mods built on Minecraft's engine may be considered derivative works subject to Mojang's IP rights. EU P2B Regulation (EU 2019/1150) applies to the extent modders operate as business users of the Minecraft platform. 2)
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This provision establishes the operational framework for third-party mod development by permitting creation while restricting commercial monetization models. It preserves creator ownership, which affects the intellectual property structure of the mod ecosystem.
Modders cannot monetize their creations directly, which limits the economic upside for significant creative labor invested in building Minecraft modifications.
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