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The Essential Loader is the component responsible for loading Essential into Minecraft. It’s split into multiple stages and platforms.
The latest version of Essential Loader is automatically built when building Essential Mod because it is included in the pinned jar files.

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Loader Architecture

The loader is organized into:
  • Stages: Three loading stages (stage0, stage1, stage2)
    • See loader/docs/stages.md for details on each stage
  • Platforms: Different mod loader environments
    • See loader/docs/platforms.md for platform details

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Available Platforms

Essential Loader supports four platforms:
For all Minecraft versions using Fabric.
For Forge on Minecraft 1.8.9 and 1.12.2.
For Forge on Minecraft 1.16.5.
For Forge on Minecraft 1.17 and above.

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Build Commands

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Build All Loader Components

When you build Essential Mod, all loader components are built automatically: 
./gradlew build

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Build Specific Stage and Platform

To build a specific loader stage and platform: 
./gradlew :loader:<stage>:<platform>:build

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Examples

./gradlew :loader:stage1:fabric:build

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Output Files

Built loader jars are located at: 
loader/<stage>/<platform>/build/libs/

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Directory Structure

loader/
├── stage0/
│   ├── fabric/build/libs/
│   ├── launchwrapper/build/libs/
│   ├── modlauncher8/build/libs/
│   └── modlauncher9/build/libs/
├── stage1/
│   ├── fabric/build/libs/
│   ├── launchwrapper/build/libs/
│   ├── modlauncher8/build/libs/
│   └── modlauncher9/build/libs/
└── stage2/
    ├── fabric/build/libs/
    ├── launchwrapper/build/libs/
    ├── modlauncher8/build/libs/
    └── modlauncher9/build/libs/

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Platform Selection Guide

Choose the platform based on your Minecraft version and mod loader:
Minecraft VersionMod LoaderPlatform
1.8.9Forgelaunchwrapper
1.12.2Forgelaunchwrapper
1.16.5Forgemodlauncher8
1.17+Forgemodlauncher9
AnyFabricfabric

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Understanding Loader Stages

Detailed documentation about loader stages is available in loader/docs/stages.md within the source repository.
The three-stage loading system allows Essential to:
  1. Bootstrap early in the game loading process
  2. Handle different mod loader environments
  3. Update itself independently of the container mod

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Checksum Verification

Loader jars are included in the checksum verification process: 
sha256sum loader/{container,stage{0,1,2}}/{fabric,launchwrapper,modlauncher{8,9}}/build/libs/*
See the Verification guide for details on verifying loader checksums.

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Next Steps

Build Essential Container

Build thin container mods for distribution

Verify Checksums

Verify your loader builds match official releases

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