BetterModel is a high-performance, server-side Minecraft plugin and mod (Bukkit/Paper/Fabric) that renders custom 3D models from BlockBench (.bbmodel) files using Minecraft's display entities. It automatically generates resource packs, supports keyframe and Molang-driven animations, per-player model visibility, hitboxes, mounting, player skin integration, and third-party compatibility (MythicMobs, Citizens, SkinsRestorer). The architecture is modular with a clean API/implementation split, platform abstraction, and version-specific NMS modules for multiple Minecraft versions (1.21.4 through 26.3). The codebase demonstrates strong engineering practices in packet bundling, animation interpolation, concurrency utilities, and event-driven design. However, it suffers from significant code duplication across NMS versions, minimal test coverage, and heavy reliance on Minecraft internals via reflection, which introduces maintenance fragility. It is actively maintained with frequent updates and a responsive issue tracker.
Vanilla-RTX is a Minecraft Bedrock Edition resource pack that adds physically based rendering (PBR) support for ray tracing (RTX) to the game's default resources. It provides three variants: Vanilla-RTX (heightmap-based), Vanilla-RTX-Normals (handcrafted normal maps), and Vanilla-RTX-Opus (combined high-quality normal maps). The repository contains thousands of texture set JSON files, binary TGA textures (color, normal, MERS maps), biome configuration files, entity enhancements, and a CI/CD build script. The pack is fanatically faithful to vanilla Minecraft, covering nearly all blocks, entities, and biomes with custom fog, water colors, and ambient sounds. The build script (pack_builder.py) automates packaging into .mcpack and .mcaddon releases, merging __enhancements folders for fixes. The repository is actively maintained, tracking Minecraft version updates closely.