FancyMenu lets you localize text content and even whole elements or layouts!
FancyMenu allows you to add your own localizations to the game.
These can then be used with the Localize Text placeholder to localize text to the current game language.
The following documentation focuses on how to load custom localizations, but instead of using custom ones, you can also use Minecraft's Vanilla localization keys or keys of other loaded mods.
Localization files are text files with all the text content that should be available in multiple languages. Each translatable text has a unique key, so Minecraft can find the correct translatable text in the localization files.
Default File (en_us.json):
English (US). This file is used when no other language file is chosen. It acts as the backup language file.
Other Language Files:
For example, you can create a German file called de_de.json for players who use German.
You always need an en_us.json file! Without it, the game has no fallback when stuff goes wrong or an unsupported language is set.
Open a Text Editor:
Use Notepad (Windows), TextEdit (Mac), or any simple text editor.
Write Your JSON Code:
Create your file with your custom keys. A key is a unique name that Minecraft uses to find the text. For example:
{
"modpack_name.custom.localization.key": "Your custom text here",
"modpack_name.another.key": "Another message"
}
Save the File:
Save the file as en_us.json for the default English text.
If you now want to add translated versions, like German, copy the content from the en_us.json file to the new file and only translate the actual text, NOT the keys! Keys need to stay the same, so the game can still find the text.
For German, you would then save the file as de_de.json. For other languages, please check this Minecraft wiki page for the correct language code for your language and name the file after it. Search for the "in-game locale code" for your language.
Now that your localization files are ready, we need a way to load them in Minecraft. For that, we will use a resource pack. We will make the pack to be enabled by default and we can even hide it if we don't want modpack users to mess with it.
A resource pack is a ZIP file that holds files that change the game’s look and feel.
Make a New Folder:
Create a folder named something like my_custom_pack where you will add your custom localization files.
Create the Pack File (pack.mcmeta):
Inside your folder, create a file called pack.mcmeta with the following content:
{
"pack": {
"pack_format": 16,
"description": "My Custom Pack with Localizations"
}
}
Note: pack_format 16 is for Minecraft 1.21.4.
Add Your Localization Files:
Inside your resource pack folder, create the following folder structure:
my_custom_pack/
├── assets/
│ └── minecraft/
│ └── lang/
│ ├── en_us.json
│ └── de_de.json
└── pack.mcmeta
Place your custom en_us.json (and any other language files like de_de.json) in the lang folder.
ZIP the Resource Pack:
Once your folder is ready, compress the entire folder into a ZIP file. Name the ZIP file my_custom_pack.zip. This is the example name used throughout the guide.
Place your my_custom_pack.zip file in the Minecraft Resourcepacks folder. This folder is usually located at:
%appdata%\.minecraft\resourcepacks~/Library/Application Support/minecraft/resourcepacks~/.minecraft/resourcepacksFor modpacks, the
resourcepacksfolder is in your pack's instance directory.
The Resource Pack Overrides mod makes it possible enable resource packs by default.
Install the Mod:
Download and install the mod from CurseForge or Modrinth.
Locate the Config File:
Find the file at .minecraft/config/resourcepackoverrides.json.
If the file does not exist, create it manually.
Edit the Config File:
Open the file and add your resource pack to the default_packs list using its file name:
{
"schema_version": 2,
"default_packs": [
"file/my_custom_pack.zip"
]
}
This tells Minecraft to load your resource pack automatically when you start the game.
It's important to add the file/ prefix!
Note: The resource packs in the list are applied in reverse order. That means the pack at the top of the list will appear below the others in the game’s resource pack menu.
You can hide your resource pack so players do not see it in the resource pack selection screen.
Edit the Config File Again:
In the same file .minecraft/config/resourcepackoverrides.json, add an override for your pack:
{
"schema_version": 2,
"default_packs": [
"file/my_custom_pack.zip"
],
"pack_overrides": {
"file/my_custom_pack.zip": {
"hidden": true
}
}
}
This configuration will hide my_custom_pack.zip from the selection screen while still loading it automatically.
Now that your custom localization files are loaded, you can use your new keys in FancyMenu layouts.
Edit a Text-Based Element:
Open FancyMenu and choose an element like a Button or Text element.
Click on the Placeholders Button:
Look for the Placeholders button at the top-right of the text editor. (If you don’t see it, the element might not support placeholders.)
Insert the Localize Text Placeholder:
The Localize Text placeholder appears as a JSON snippet. It looks like this:
{"placeholder":"local","values":{"key":"localization.key"}}
Replace localization.key with your own custom key. For example, if you want to use your key from the localization file, change it to:
{"placeholder":"local","values":{"key":"modpack_name.custom.localization.key"}}
Well, and that's basically it! The placeholder should get replaced with the actual localized content when not editing it in the text editor.
Keep in mind that the placeholder will always localize the text content to the current game language.
FancyMenu also allows you to localize images and basically every element you want.
To do this, you will need to use loading requirements.
The Is Game Language requirement to be more specific.
The Is Game Language requirement allows you to show elements or layouts only if a specific game language is set, so you can, for example, make two Image elements that contains text and localize that image to a version with Japanese text when the language is set to Japanese or a version with English text, if the language is set to English.
To set loading requirements to an element, right-click it and click on Loading Requirements.
To set loading requirements to whole layouts, right-click the layout editor background and click on Loading Requirements [Layout-Wide].