Paintbrush
by tomalbrc
Paintbrush lets players paint blocks in the world with brush-style paint guns, and the mod is a Fabric decoration tool that works on the server alone.
What it does
Two paintbrush types act as paint guns: a player aims one at a supported block and the surface changes to a painted variant without breaking the original. The brushes reach 99 different blocks, among them stripped logs, tuff, deepslate, stone, diorite and glass blocks. Crafting recipes for the brushes are included, while the paint items themselves are obtained through creative mode commands.
Paintbrush runs on Fabric and is server-side only, so players join a server running it without installing anything. The mod uses around 600 unused noteblock blockstates to represent the painted variants, and it hosts its resource pack automatically. Files target the 1.21.8 – 26.3 range, with the latest build 1.0.5+26.3 for 26.3, and snapshot builds are published. The code is released under the GNU Lesser General Public License v3.0 only, so Paintbrush is open source.
Public links to the source code and the issue tracker are available. The mod was first published on 2025-08-09 and last updated on 2026-10-01, and it sits among 1192 Decoration mods with Fabric files for 26.3.
Key features
Paint gun brushes
Two brush types let players paint blocks in the world by aiming at them, with no mining or placing needed.
99 supported blocks
Paint works on 99 block types, covering stripped logs, tuff, deepslate, stone, diorite and glass.
Crafting recipes
Recipes for the brushes are included, so they can be made in survival without commands.
Noteblock blockstates
Around 600 unused noteblock blockstates are used to represent the painted variants.
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: Builders and server owners who want surface decoration on Fabric. Paintbrush suits worlds where players repaint existing blocks rather than place new ones.
How it compares
Paint Blocks is a Fabric mod for 1.21.1 – 1.21.11 that runs on client and server and is released under All rights reserved, so it is not open source. Paintable covers Fabric and Forge for 1.19.2 – 1.20.1 with a custom license and needs both sides. Painter Mod is a Fabric mod for 1.21.1 that requires client and server and is also closed under All rights reserved. Paintbrush is open source under the LGPL, is for 1.21.8 – 26.3 and is server-side only.
| Mod | Loaders | Game versions | Environment | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paintbrush | Fabric | 1.21.8 – 26.3 | Server-side only | 2026-10-01 |
| Paint Blocks | Fabric | 1.21.1 – 1.21.11 | Client and server | 2026-05-28 |
| Paintable | Fabric and Forge | 1.19.2 – 1.20.1 | Client and server | 2026-05-06 |
| Painter Mod | Fabric | 1.21.1 | Client and server | 2026-08-20 |
Questions
Does Paintbrush need to be installed on the client?
Which loader does Paintbrush use?
How are paint items obtained?
In the catalog
Paintbrush is one of 12,078 Decoration mods on ModsFinder, and one of 6,982 Decoration mods for Fabric. 8,071 mods support Minecraft 26.3.
More from tomalbrc
Similar mods
What the author says
Paint blocks using brushes and paint guns! Currently, no crafting recipes are included; items must be accessed via creative mode or commands.
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/paintbrush-mod
- Owner
- tomalbrc
- Published
- 2025-08-09
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2026-10-01
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15