SWAY API
by RazorPlay01
Foliage in the world bends when players and mobs walk through it, a behavior that Sway API provides to other mods through its interaction engine.
What it does
Grass, flowers, ferns and similar plants deform and bend away from entities that pass through them. Large plants such as tall grass and large ferns move as one unit, so the top and bottom halves do not visually separate. The bending follows a curve in which the base stays rooted and the tip gives way.
Sway API does not change the world by itself. It is a library that other mods require, and Interactive Foliage, Biomes o Plenty & Sway Addon and Atmospheric Wind Sway all depend on it. Fabric API must be installed alongside it on Fabric. The mod runs only on the client, so servers do not need it. It is published for Fabric, Forge and NeoForge across 9 release versions, 1.20.1 – 26.3, and the code is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike 4.0 license, so it is not open source.
Key features
Entity-driven foliage deformation
Plants react to the position of players and mobs, so grass bends away from a walking entity instead of staying static.
Unified large plants
Double-block plants such as tall grass and large ferns are deformed as a single piece, which avoids seams between their halves.
Quadratic bending curve
The deformation uses a curved profile in which the lower part of each plant stays fixed and the upper part bends more.
Developer interface
A programming interface lets other modders register custom plants so that they deform under the same rules.
Compatibility
Latest build for each game version and loader.
26.x5 of 5 versions with builds
1.21.x3 of 3 versions with builds
1.20.x1 of 1 version 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 1
Required by 3 mods
Use cases
Forest and jungle scenes
Dense biomes with many plants show the bending most clearly when entities move through them.
Add-on mods
Mods that add new plant types or wind effects build on the deformation code instead of writing their own.
Who it’s for: Players who want reactive vegetation in their client, and mod developers who plan to make their plants respond to entities through the library.
Questions
Does Sway API need to be installed on the server?
Why does Sway API not change anything when installed alone?
In the catalog
SWAY API is one of 7,555 Cursed mods on ModsFinder, and one of 4,235 Cursed mods for Fabric. 8,071 mods support Minecraft 26.3.
More from RazorPlay01
Similar mods
What the author says
Realistic foliage interaction and deformation for Minecraft. "Bringing your world to life, one blade of grass at a time."
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/sway
- Owner
- RazorPlay01
- Published
- 2026-06-06
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2026-09-21
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15