CluckNet
by hijimasa
CluckNet is a Forge transportation mod that sends network packets by having chickens carry them between blocks, following RFC 1149 IP over Avian Carriers.
What it does
Two blocks, a Packet Sender and a Packet Receiver, are placed with a walkable route between them, and a message is written into the sender's interface using a book, quill or sign. Chickens then walk across the world carrying chunks of the message, and the receiver reassembles the text once enough chunks arrive. Chat often shows the message before the chickens have finished walking in.
The design is lossy by intent. Chickens cannot fly, so they can stall on steep ledges, drown in water or die to wolves, and a chicken that dies leaves a paper item with a preview of the lost chunk. When too many chunks go missing, the receiver sends a negative acknowledgement, and the sender retransmits the missing pieces.
CluckNet runs on client and server, so the server and every player need it. It is published for Forge only, for Minecraft 1.20.6, with 0.1.0 as the latest file released on 2026-05-20. The code is open source under the MIT License, and the source code and issue tracker are public.
Key features
Chicken-carried packets
Chunks of a message travel physically between a sender and a receiver block, carried by chickens walking across the world.
Retransmission on loss
Missing chunks trigger a negative acknowledgement, and the sender resends only the pieces the receiver lacks.
Lossy by design
Obstacles, water, mobs and player attacks all cause dropped packets, so delivery is only attempted and throughput is capped.
Receiver reassembly
A receiver rebuilds the written message from arriving chunks and hands back a written book once reassembly succeeds.
Gallery
Compatibility
Latest build for each game version and loader.
Only full game releases are shown. This mod publishes no snapshot builds.
Use cases
Network teaching sandbox
Players can watch how loss, latency and retransmission affect a message, using the chickens as a visible model of the packet path.
Roleplay and comedy builds
The chicken courier is suited to servers that want an absurd, playful take on networking inside the world.
Who it’s for: Players who enjoy novelty mechanics, and server owners who want a joke network for a sandbox or a teaching world. Builders with a route of walkable ground between two points will get the most out of the sender and receiver setup.
Questions
Does CluckNet need to be installed on both sides?
Which loader does CluckNet support?
Why do messages arrive incomplete?
In the catalog
CluckNet is one of 3,932 Transportation mods on ModsFinder, and one of 1,908 Transportation mods for Forge. 11,154 mods support Minecraft 1.20.6.
Similar mods
What the author says
An implementation of RFC 1149 "A Standard for the Transmission of IP Datagrams on Avian Carriers" for Minecraft. Packets are physically carried between blocks by chickens. Their natural inability to fly, navigate obstacles, or survive mob attacks reproduces real IP-style packet loss and latency — obstacles, water…
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/clucknet
- Owner
- hijimasa
- Published
- 2026-05-20
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2026-05-20
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15