Litematica is a free, open-source, client-side schematic mod for Minecraft: Java Edition. It lets you save any area of a world as a schematic file, load that file in any other world as a translucent hologram, and rebuild the structure block by block — guided by an automatic material list and an error-checking tool called the Schematic Verifier. It runs on the Fabric mod loader, requires the companion library MaLiLib, and never needs anything installed on a server.
Quick Facts
| What it is | A client-side schematic (blueprint) mod for Minecraft: Java Edition |
| Developer | masa (GitHub: maruohon); versions for Minecraft 1.20.5+ are maintained by sakura-ryoko on the official project |
| License | LGPL-3.0-only — free and open source |
| Platform | Minecraft: Java Edition on PC (Windows, macOS, Linux), via the Fabric loader |
| Requires | MaLiLib (the author’s library mod, matched to your game version). Fabric API is not required |
| Latest release | 0.29.1 for Minecraft 26.3 (see the latest version tracker) |
| File format | .litematic — it can also load legacy .schematic files and vanilla structure .nbt files |
| Price | Free |
| Editions not supported | Bedrock, Pocket Edition, console — there is no official version for them |
The Four Concepts That Explain the Whole Mod
Schematic. A file that describes a structure: every block, its position and its state, saved from a selected area of a world. Litematica’s native format is the .litematic file, stored in the schematics folder of your Minecraft directory. Schematics are how builds travel — from a creative test world to your survival base, or from another player’s download to your screen. Our schematics library guide covers finding and using them.
Placement. When you load a schematic, Litematica creates a placement: the hologram instance sitting in your world. You can move, rotate and mirror it before building, split it into sub-regions, and control exactly which parts render. The placement is a projection only — until you place real blocks, the world itself is unchanged.
Material List. The mod counts every block the schematic needs and tracks what you have already placed, in a menu and in an on-screen HUD. For survival players this is the killer feature: it turns “gather stuff for the castle” into an exact shopping list, down to the last stair.
Schematic Verifier. A scanner that compares the finished area of the real world against the schematic and lists every missing, extra or wrongly placed block. For redstone and technical builds — where one wrong repeater delay breaks the machine — it is the difference between hoping and knowing.
Two supporting features round out the toolkit: render layers, which show one horizontal slice of the hologram at a time so tall builds stay readable, and Easy Place, which speeds up manual placement against the hologram. Creative-mode helpers (paste, fill, replace) exist too, but they are secondary to the survival workflow.
What Litematica Is Not
Three boundaries keep expectations honest. First, Litematica does not build for you in survival: there is no built-in printer or auto-builder, and automatic placement exists only through separate third-party add-ons. Second, it is not a world editor like WorldEdit — it edits nothing; it informs everything. Third, it is not a Bedrock or mobile app; it is a Java Edition PC mod, and anything sold under its name for phones is fake.
Is Litematica a Cheat Mod?
The fair answer is: it is a guide, and context decides. Litematica runs entirely on your client and, in survival, gives you information only — a projection, a list, a checker. It cannot conjure blocks, and on a server it needs no permission and no server-side install. That said, servers set their own rules: some restrict or ban schematic mods in competitive or economy settings, and assistive features like Easy Place can interact with anti-cheat systems. The mod is a tool; whether a given use is allowed is a question for the rules of the world you are playing in. For the download-safety side of the story, see Is Litematica safe?
Who It Is For
Litematica is for anyone who has ever asked “how do I build that in my world?” — survival players recreating a favourite build, technical players reproducing redstone machines exactly, and communities moving a design from a creative test world into a shared survival server. If that sounds like you, the getting started guide takes you from install to a finished first build.
A Brief History
Litematica began, in its author’s words, as an alternative to the older Schematica mod for players who did not want Forge on their client. It has followed Minecraft’s modding eras ever since: LiteLoader builds in the 1.12 days, Rift for 1.13.2, and Fabric from 1.14 onwards, which remains its home today. In recent years the maintenance story changed hands without changing address — masa stepped back from the newest versions after Minecraft 1.20.5, and sakura-ryoko has maintained the current builds on the same official project since, keeping the mod current through the game’s new version-numbering era (the current release targets Minecraft 26.3). That continuity is a large part of why “Litematica” became the generic word for this whole category of tool.
In practice, three uses dominate. Players recreate builds they admired — a house from a video, a farm from a tutorial — in their own survival worlds. Designers prototype in creative, then use Litematica as the bridge that carries the finished design into a survival server. And technical players reproduce redstone machines exactly, leaning on the verifier to prove the copy is perfect. Different goals, same loop: save, project, gather, build, verify.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Litematica free?
Yes. Litematica is free and open source under the LGPL-3.0 license. It is distributed through Modrinth and CurseForge, and its source code is public on GitHub.
Does Litematica work in survival mode?
Yes — survival is its main use case. It shows a hologram of the build, tracks the materials you need, and verifies your work, while you place every block by hand from your own inventory. It also works in creative, where extra helpers like paste are available.
Do I need to install anything on my server to use Litematica?
No. Litematica is a client-side mod: it runs only on your own game, and the server needs no mod, plugin or configuration for the hologram, material list and verifier to work.
What Minecraft versions does Litematica support?
The official project maintains builds for current Minecraft versions — the latest is 0.29.1 for Minecraft 26.3 — and a long back catalogue for older versions down to the 1.12 era. Each build needs the MaLiLib version made for the same game version.
Next Steps
New to the mod? Start with the step-by-step guide, grab the files from the download hub, and find a first project in the schematics library.