### Overview<\/p>\n
**Preloading Tricks** is a developer-only mod that enables advanced operations during the very early stage of the mod loader.
\nIt provides early hooks, Java Instrumentation-based class transformation, and SPI-driven callbacks for loader extension.<\/p>\n
Supported environments:<\/p>\n
* **Fabric** \u2013 1.20.1, 1.21+
\n* **Forge (LexForge)** \u2013 1.20.1
\n* **NeoForge** \u2013 1.20.6, 1.21+<\/p>\n
You can test on more versions since it depends on the loader version instead of the Minecraft version.<\/p>\n
—<\/p>\n
### Features<\/p>\n
* **Early loader entrypoint** via `PreloadingEntrypoint` (SPI-based)<\/p>\n
* Register callbacks using `PreloadingTricksCallbacks` events:
\n * `SETUP_LANGUAGE_ADAPTER` \u2013 early language adapter setup stage
\n * `COLLECT_MOD_CANDIDATES` \u2013 dynamically add mod candidate paths before discovery
\n * `SETUP_MODS` \u2013 modify mod list (add\/remove\/query via `ModManager` API)
\n* **Instrumentation-powered `ClassTransform`**
\n Can transform already-loaded classes, including Java core and classloader classes.
\n Configure via `MANIFEST.MF` on all platforms (see below).<\/p>\n
* **Forge variant detection** (Forge-like only)
\n * Access `ForgeVariants` to detect specific Forge\/NeoForge versions at runtime<\/p>\n
—<\/p>\n
### Usage (Gradle)<\/p>\n
Add the Maven repository and dependency to your build:<\/p>\n
**Kotlin DSL:**<\/p>\n
“`kotlin
\nrepositories {
\n maven(“https:\/\/raw.githubusercontent.com\/settingdust\/maven\/main\/repository\/”)
\n}<\/p>\n
dependencies {
\n \/\/ Recommended: use the base artifact (no classifier).
\n \/\/ Gradle variant matching \/ cloche will resolve the correct platform artifact automatically.
\n implementation(“settingdust.preloading_tricks:PreloadingTricks:VERSION”)<\/p>\n
\/\/ Optional: pin to a specific classifier when you want to avoid accidentally using APIs
\n \/\/ from other platforms.
\n \/\/ implementation(“settingdust.preloading_tricks:PreloadingTricks:VERSION:fabric”)
\n \/\/ implementation(“settingdust.preloading_tricks:PreloadingTricks:VERSION:forge-service”)
\n \/\/ implementation(“settingdust.preloading_tricks:PreloadingTricks:VERSION:neoforge-modlauncher”)
\n \/\/ implementation(“settingdust.preloading_tricks:PreloadingTricks:VERSION:neoforge-fancy-mod-loader”)
\n}
\n“`<\/p>\n
Replace `VERSION` with the latest release (e.g. `3.5.9`).<\/p>\n
If you are using cloche, the corresponding variant is selected automatically based on loader\/minecraft attributes.<\/p>\n
—<\/p>\n
### ClassTransform Configuration<\/p>\n
For all platforms, add the following attribute to your `MANIFEST.MF`:<\/p>\n
“`
\nClassTransformConfig: xxxx.classtransform.json
\n“`<\/p>\n
Multiple configs can be specified as comma-separated values:<\/p>\n
“`
\nClassTransformConfig: first.classtransform.json,second.classtransform.json
\n“`<\/p>\n
Example config (`xxxx.classtransform.json`):<\/p>\n
“`json
\n{
\n “package”: “settingdust.preloading_tricks.neoforge.transformer”,
\n “transformers”: [
\n “mod_setup_hook.FMLLoaderTransformer”
\n ]
\n}
\n“`<\/p>\n
—<\/p>\n
### Forge Variant Detection (Forge-like only)<\/p>\n
Allows a mod to load only on a specific Forge-like loader variant. This enables bundling both LexForge and NeoForge JARs together via jar-in-jar in a single mod file.<\/p>\n
**Configuration:**<\/p>\n
Specify your mod’s target variant in `MANIFEST.MF`:
\n“`
\nForgeVariant: LexForge
\n“`
\nor
\n“`
\nForgeVariant: NeoForge
\n“`<\/p>\n
Mods with a `ForgeVariant` specified will only load when running on the matching loader variant, allowing safe coexistence of variant-specific implementations.<\/p>\n
—<\/p>\n
**For developers who need to reach into the earliest moments of Minecraft\u2019s loading process.**<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A developer tool for early loader access, class transformation, and preloading hacks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":124700,"template":"","meta":{"_minecraft_slug":"preloading-tricks","_minecraft_project_id":"FFeAJNCx","_minecraft_author":"settingdust","_minecraft_license":"Apache-2.0","_minecraft_downloads":260052,"_minecraft_follows":11,"_minecraft_client_side":"optional","_minecraft_server_side":"optional","_minecraft_storage_type":"zip","_minecraft_archive_name":"preloading-tricks.zip","_minecraft_size_bytes":233886960,"_minecraft_version_count":339,"_minecraft_updated_at":"2026-05-17T01:36:50.369474Z","_minecraft_date_created":"2023-08-07T19:02:38.649700Z","_minecraft_date_modified":"2026-05-11T08:46:42.852351Z","_minecraft_project_url":"https:\/\/modrinth.com\/mod\/preloading-tricks","_minecraft_icon_attachment_id":124700,"_minecraft_imported_at":"2026-06-07T07:53:32+00:00","_minecraft_import_hash":"01e5b60abb76b1954c20c851058987e0","_minecraft_versions":"","_minecraft_links":"","_minecraft_gallery":"","_minecraft_api_metadata":""},"mod_category":[97,104,873,158,98],"mod_loader":[99,106,160],"minecraft_version":[48,51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,59,36,60,93,94,101,102,62,37,40,41,73,74,38,78,79,80,81,82,83,167,163],"class_list":["post-124699","mod","type-mod","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","mod_category-fabric","mod_category-forge","mod_category-library","mod_category-neoforge","mod_category-quilt","mod_loader-fabric","mod_loader-forge","mod_loader-neoforge","minecraft_version-1-16-5","minecraft_version-1-18","minecraft_version-1-18-1","minecraft_version-1-18-2","minecraft_version-1-19","minecraft_version-1-19-1","minecraft_version-1-19-2","minecraft_version-1-19-3","minecraft_version-1-19-4","minecraft_version-1-20","minecraft_version-1-20-1","minecraft_version-1-20-2","minecraft_version-1-20-3","minecraft_version-1-20-4","minecraft_version-1-20-5","minecraft_version-1-20-6","minecraft_version-1-21","minecraft_version-1-21-1","minecraft_version-1-21-10","minecraft_version-1-21-11","minecraft_version-1-21-2","minecraft_version-1-21-3","minecraft_version-1-21-4","minecraft_version-1-21-5","minecraft_version-1-21-6","minecraft_version-1-21-7","minecraft_version-1-21-8","minecraft_version-1-21-9","minecraft_version-26-1","minecraft_version-26-1-1","minecraft_version-26-1-2"],"yoast_head":"\n