
Judge by the Cover
Customize your written books, Dye them like leather armor! Or change the style entirely!
Screenshots






About this Mod
Judge by the cover Data/Resourcepack
What is the JBTC datapack?
Have you ever written a masterpiece of a book (in minecraft), and thought the basic boring brown color of the cover was not cutting it?
With this Datapack you can finally judge a book by its cover! (because the cover is customizable)
There are no functions in this datapack.
Features:
Dyeable covers -
Place a Book & quill or a finished book in a crafting tabe with any combination of dyes.
The book will change color the same way as leather gear.
Dyed book & quills don't lose color when signed. Dyed written books that are copied share the origanal color with the copy.
Binding styles -
Place a Written Book in a smithing table with the material corresponding with the bind you want. your book will get a fancy new decoration!
Currently available binding styles:
- Belt - crafted with leather or rabbit hide
- Silver - crafted with a iron nugget
- Gilded - crafted with a gold nugget
- Chain - crafted with a chain (duh)
- Web - crafted with a cobweb
Each bind was created with roleplay/lore in mind, use your imagination!
Planned features:
Cauldron washing -
Undye by right clicking a cauldron
Chiseled Bookshelf/Lectern Display -
Custom books will show in chiseled bookshelfs. the pixel art possabilities are endless
Make Enchantment glint toggleable -
The default is off (its sorta ugly and makes it hard to see your custom cover) maybe it will be its own bind/cover style?
(custom gui and re-editing signed books may also be added)
Available Versions
How to Install Judge by the Cover on Your Server
Order Server
Order a Minecraft Java server with at least 3 GB RAM (4 GB recommended).
Set datapack Loader
In the panel under "Egg", select the datapack loader and matching Minecraft version (1.21.4).
Install Mod
Open the mod browser in the dashboard and search for "Judge by the Cover". Click "Install" – done! Alternatively, upload the .jar via SFTP to the /mods folder.
Compatibility
Mod Loaders
Minecraft Versions
1.21.4, 24w46a, 24w45a
Server-side
✓ RequiredRecommended RAM
4 GB(min. 3 GB)Frequently Asked Questions
Judge by the Cover server crashes on startup – what to do?
Most common cause: wrong datapack version or insufficient RAM. Check the server log (latest.log) for "OutOfMemoryError" or "Mixin" errors. With Mado Hosting: ensure at least 3 GB RAM is allocated and the loader matches the mod version (1.21.4). You can switch loaders with one click in the panel.
Is Judge by the Cover compatible with datapack and fabric and forge and neoforge and quilt?
Judge by the Cover officially supports datapack, fabric, forge, neoforge, quilt for Minecraft 1.21.4, 24w46a, 24w45a. Note: Forge and Fabric mods are NOT cross-compatible – pick one loader and stick with it. The Mado dashboard automatically detects incompatible loader combinations.
Server lagging with Judge by the Cover – how to optimize performance?
Recommended RAM: 4 GB (per 8 players). Use /spark profiler to check if Judge by the Cover consumes the most tick time. Common fixes: reduce server view-distance to 8-10, install "performant" or "starlight" as supplementary mods on Forge. With Mado Hosting, your server runs on NVMe SSDs with dedicated CPU cores for minimal latency.
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