PaintCraft
by ganal
PaintCraft lets players paint pixel art onto the faces of existing blocks with a Paint Brush, and the painting stays on the block until it is removed.
What it does
Right-clicking a block face opens a painting editor. Shift with a right-click on two corners instead sets up a canvas that spans several blocks. A painted surface is stored as a decal, and right-clicking a decal that is already placed reopens it for editing. A decal can be copied to another face, deleted, or wiped with a single shift-right-click that asks for confirmation first.
Decals are stored per chunk and synced to nearby clients, and the mod adds three items to the Tools and Utilities creative tab. Its content is in the Decoration, Social and Utility categories. PaintCraft runs on the client and the server, so both need it, and it is published only for NeoForge on Minecraft 1.21.1 with the latest file at 0.1.7 for 1.21.1, dated 2026-08-16. The code is public, but the PolyForm Noncommercial License 1.0.0 applies, so it is not open source.
Key features
Pixel-art painting on block faces
A painting editor opens on any block face, and the result is projected over that face as pixel art.
Brush tools with size and opacity
Each drawing tool has its own size and opacity setting, and tools are bound to the mouse buttons.
Undo and redo
Undo and redo cover every edit made in the editor, so mistakes can be reverted step by step.
Live underlay and eyedropper
A live underlay shows the real block texture behind the canvas, and the eyedropper samples a color from the canvas or from the block below.
Recessed faces and 3D relief
Stair treads, slab tops and fence posts receive the decal correctly, and 3D relief extrudes the painted layers outward by stack height.
Gallery
Compatibility
Latest build for each game version and loader.
Only full game releases are shown. This mod publishes no snapshot builds.
Use cases
Who it’s for: Builders who want painted detail on existing blocks, and server owners who need the decals to sync to players on their server.
How it compares
PIxel Painter - Decals is also a NeoForge option for 1.21.1 with client and server environment, but it is all rights reserved and not open source. Pigmentum API is open source under the MIT License for 1.21.1 with the same client and server environment, so it is a library rather than a painting tool. Pixel Painter is again NeoForge 1.21.1 and client and server, but it is all rights reserved and not open source.
| Mod | Loaders | Game versions | Environment | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PaintCraft | NeoForge | 1.21.1 | Client and server | 2026-08-16 |
| PIxel Painter - Decals | NeoForge | 1.21.1 | Client and server | 2026-07-01 |
| Pigmentum API | NeoForge | 1.21.1 | Client and server | 2026-10-12 |
| Pixel Painter | NeoForge | 1.21.1 | Client and server | 2026-07-18 |
Questions
Does PaintCraft need to be installed on the server?
Which loaders does PaintCraft support?
Can PaintCraft decals be used on Create contraptions?
In the catalog
PaintCraft is one of 12,078 Decoration mods on ModsFinder, and one of 5,201 Decoration mods for NeoForge. 32,366 mods support Minecraft 1.21.1.
More from ganal
Similar mods
What the author says
The gallery shows what the mod actually does. Go look at that first. Three items in the Tools & Utilities creative tab.
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/paintcraft
- Owner
- ganal
- Published
- 2026-08-09
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2026-08-16
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15