Judge by the Cover
by SparkStuff
Judge by the Cover lets written books be dyed, given custom bindings and re-edited after signing, through a datapack that is loaded on the server.
What it does
Written books can be dyed like leather armor, and the change of style is applied to the whole book. Crafting recipes for the bindings use leather rabbit hide, iron nuggets, gold nuggets, chain and cobwebs, so each binding style has its own ingredients. Dyed book quills keep their color when a book is signed, and a dyed written book copied with a copy keeps the original color.
The mod works through a datapack, so the functions are installed on the server. Players who run a roleplay or lore server can use the available binding styles to give a book the look its story calls for. Signed books can be re-edited through a custom interface that the mod adds.
Only the server needs the mod: players join without installing it, and the server runs the datapack that provides the functions. The mod is published for Fabric, Forge, NeoForge and Quilt, and as a datapack, for 1.21.4 only, with the 3+mod build from 2024-12-03 as the latest file. Snapshot builds are published. The code is under the MIT License and is not open source.
Key features
Dyeable written books
Written books take dye like leather armor, so their cover color can be chosen freely.
Bindings from common materials
Each binding style is crafted from materials such as leather rabbit hide, iron nuggets, gold nuggets, chain or cobweb.
Color kept through signing and copying
Dyed quills keep their color after a book is signed, and copies of a dyed book keep the original color.
Re-editing signed books
A custom interface lets players edit a book again after it has been signed.
Gallery
Compatibility
Latest build for each game version and loader.
This mod also publishes snapshot builds. Snapshots are not shown in the matrix.
Use cases
Who it’s for: Server owners who run roleplay or lore servers, and players who write books as part of their play.
How it compares
Dyeable Books is server-side optional for clients and is published for 1.21.7 – 1.21.9 under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later, so it targets later versions than this mod. Colourful books is also server-side and covers 1.21 – 1.21.3 under All rights reserved. Dyed Books is the closest match on the same theme: it is distributed as a datapack for 1.21.5 – 26.3 under the MIT License, while Judge by the Cover is published for 1.21.4 only.
| Mod | Loaders | Game versions | Environment | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Judge by the Cover | Fabric, Forge, NeoForge and Quilt | 1.21.4 | Server required, client optional | 2024-12-03 |
| Dyeable Books | Fabric, Forge, NeoForge and Quilt | 1.21.7 – 1.21.9 | Server required, client optional | 2025-10-05 |
| Colourful books | Fabric, Forge, NeoForge and Quilt | 1.21 – 1.21.3 | Server required, client optional | 2024-11-06 |
| Dyed Books | Fabric, Forge, NeoForge and Quilt | 1.21.5 – 26.3 | Server required, client optional | 2026-09-21 |
Questions
Does Judge by the Cover need to be installed on the client?
Which loaders is Judge by the Cover published for?
Does a dyed book keep its color when it is signed?
In the catalog
Judge by the Cover is one of 5,392 Social mods on ModsFinder, and one of 4,084 Social mods for Fabric. 17,979 mods support Minecraft 1.21.4.
More from SparkStuff
Similar mods
What the author says
Have you ever written a masterpiece of a book (in minecraft), and thought the basic boring brown color of the cover was not cutting it? With this Datapack you can finally judge a book by its cover! (because the cover is customizable)
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/jbtc
- Owner
- SparkStuff
- Published
- 2024-11-12
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2024-12-03
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15