Creative Tabs

Creative Tabs

Butterfly API can create both simple Minecraft creative tabs and more heavily customized categorized tabs.

Simple Tab

Create a basic creative tab with:

import net.minecraft.item.ItemGroup;

public static final ItemGroup EXAMPLE_TAB =
        MOD.tab(
                "main",
                SILK_SCRAP,
                SILK_SCRAP,
                POLISHED_SILK
        );

The first item after the tab path is used as the icon.

The remaining items are added as entries.

Translation Key

The default translation key is:

itemGroup.<modid>.<path>

For example:

itemGroup.example_mod.main

Add the translation to:

assets/example_mod/lang/en_us.json

{
  "itemGroup.example_mod.main": "Example Mod"
}

Categorized Tabs

Use MOD.tabBuilder(...) for tabs that need categories or custom styling.

import net.minecraft.item.ItemGroup;
import net.minecraft.text.Text;

public static final ItemGroup EXAMPLE_TAB =
        MOD.tabBuilder("main")
                .icon(SILK_SCRAP)
                .translationKey(
                        "itemGroup.example_mod.main"
                )
                .backgroundTexture(
                        MOD.id(
                                "textures/gui/example_tab.png"
                        )
                )
                .slotBackgroundColor("#222222")
                .betweenSlotsColor("#111111")
                .tabNameColor("#FFE8F5")

                .category(
                        "materials",
                        Text.translatable(
                                "itemGroup.example_mod.category.materials"
                        ),
                        category -> category
                                .alignLeft()
                                .backgroundColor("#35303A")
                                .borderColor("#665578")
                                .textColor("#FFE8F5")
                                .add(SILK_SCRAP)
                                .entry(
                                        POLISHED_SILK,
                                        entry -> entry
                                                .slotColor("#463B51")
                                )
                )

                .category(
                        "tools",
                        Text.translatable(
                                "itemGroup.example_mod.category.tools"
                        ),
                        category -> category
                                .backgroundColor("#2F3740")
                                .add(EXAMPLE_TOOL)
                )

                .categoryOrder(
                        "materials",
                        "tools"
                )

                .searchOnly(HIDDEN_DEBUG_ITEM)
                .build();

Category Names

Category names can use translatable text:

Text.translatable(
        "itemGroup.example_mod.category.materials"
)

Add the matching translations:

{
  "itemGroup.example_mod.category.materials": "Materials",
  "itemGroup.example_mod.category.tools": "Tools"
}

Category names may also use literal text when translation is not needed.

Category Ordering

Use:

.categoryOrder(
        "materials",
        "tools"
)

to control the order that categories appear in the tab.

Search-Only Items

Items can be added to the tab's search results without placing them inside a visible category.

.searchOnly(HIDDEN_DEBUG_ITEM)

Adding Items to Existing Tabs

Butterfly API can also add entries to vanilla or other existing item groups.

import net.minecraft.item.ItemGroups;

MOD.addTo(
        ItemGroups.INGREDIENTS,
        SILK_SCRAP
);

MOD.addTo(
        ItemGroups.BUILDING_BLOCKS,
        POLISHED_SILK
);

Styling

Categorized tabs support additional visual customization for:

• Tab background textures
• Slot backgrounds
• Space between slots
• Tab name colors
• Category backgrounds
• Category borders
• Category text
• Individual entry slot colors

See Tab Categories and Styling for the styling reference.

Related Pages

• Tab Categories and Styling
• Mod Context
• Registration
• Troubleshooting