Pig Pen Cipher
by Darkhax
Pig Pen Cipher adds the pigpen substitution cipher to Minecraft as a new font, usable in books, chat, tooltips and most other text.
What it does
The font draws each letter as a symbol built from lines, a square or an arrow, with an optional dot. Text written in it reads as a simple tic-tac-toe style cipher, since the key resembles a board. A letter is written by replacing it with the shape around it; for example A is a backwards L and E is a square. Once the mapping is learned, encoding and decoding become quicker with practice.
Any text component can switch to the cipher by setting its font ID in the text properties, which covers vanilla commands such as give and title that accept a text component. Developers can apply the font to a component by changing its style. When the mod is on a Forge server, custom commands are added to help players use the cipher, and these also work in single player when the mod is installed.
Pig Pen Cipher requires Bookshelf, Fabric API and Prickle. It is published for Fabric, Forge, NeoForge and Quilt across 25 release versions, 1.16.1 – 26.3. Both the server and every player need it, so it must be present on each side. The code is open source under the GNU Lesser General Public License v2.1 only, and its source and issue tracker are public.
Key features
Cipher font
Adds the pigpen cipher as a font that can be applied to any text in the game.
Symbol mapping
Each letter has a line-based shape, and a dot marks the second set of characters, following the tic-tac-toe key.
Text component styling
Developers can apply the cipher to a text component by changing its style.
Commands for players
Custom commands help players write and read cipher text on a Forge server, and they also run in single player.
Text in command arguments
Commands that take a text component can display cipher text by naming the font in its text properties.
Gallery
Compatibility
Latest build for each game version and loader.
26.x5 of 5 versions with builds
1.21.x1 of 1 version with builds
1.20.x5 of 5 versions with builds
1.19.x5 of 5 versions with builds
1.18.x2 of 2 versions with builds
1.17.x2 of 2 versions with builds
1.16.x5 of 5 versions with builds
Only full game releases are shown. This mod publishes no snapshot builds.
Requirements
Dependencies declared by the latest file for each loader.
Required 2
Required by 1 mod
Use cases
Hidden messages in books
Players can write notes or signs in the cipher font so that the text is hard to read without the key.
Puzzle and adventure maps
Map makers can use the font in titles and tooltips to hide clues for players to decode.
Who it’s for: Players who enjoy codes and puzzles, map makers building cipher-based content, and server owners who want the font in chat or commands. Mod developers can also use the style-based approach in their own text.
Questions
Does Pig Pen Cipher need Fabric API on Forge?
Do players need the mod to read cipher text?
Which commands does the mod add?
In the catalog
Pig Pen Cipher is one of 36,990 Utility mods on ModsFinder, and one of 25,772 Utility mods for Fabric. 8,071 mods support Minecraft 26.3.
More from Darkhax
Similar mods
What the author says
This mod adds the Pig Pen Cipher to Minecraft as a new font. This can be used for books, fonts, chat messages, tooltips, and virtually any other text in the game. The Pig Pen Cipher is a simple substitution cipher used to encode messages which use the English alphabet.
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/pig-pen-cipher
- Owner
- Darkhax
- Published
- 2023-06-07
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2026-09-25
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15