Datapack Editor vs Sandstone

Datapack Editor is a free creator and editor for Minecraft datapacks. It supports Minecraft 1.20.2–1.20.6, corresponding to datapack versions 18–41, and provides syntax highlighting, error checking, and suggestions and completion for mcFunction and JSON files, including nested constructs. Users can open or create projects, validate mcFunction and JSON files, and work across multiple roots. Projects can declare datapack dependencies in dependencies.json. Navigation and editing features include Ctrl-click symbol navigation, multiple tabs and views, quick file opening, and search across files. Custom themes and plugins are supported. Windows users download and extract a ZIP, then run start.cmd; Linux instructions say to extract the ZIP and run the Datapack Editor file. The listed Linux distribution is Debian. macOS support is experimental, and users must build the app themselves. The repository lists an Apache-2.0 license. The README warns that Avast, AVG, and Zillya may flag the Windows executable, describing those alerts as false positives.

Sandstone is a TypeScript library for building, debugging, and sharing Minecraft datapacks and resource packs. It gives developers command and resource autocomplete, with Wiki documentation for datapack elements such as predicates, loot tables, and advancements. You can group multiple functions, advancements, or loot tables in one file, or keep Minecraft’s one-per-file arrangement. Built-in control-flow tools include if/else, boolean logic, loops, switch statements, and sleep; vanilla commands are also available with build-time and run-time checks. The CLI scaffolds and builds packs, watches for file changes, and can rebuild automatically. Documentation snippets can be edited with a live datapack preview without installing Sandstone. The CLI installs Smithed and Sandstone libraries, and npm-compatible package managers are also supported. Functions can be published to NPM for use in other packs. Sandstone is open source and free, and is listed for Linux, macOS, web, and Windows. Local installation requires Bun and Node.js; the documentation recommends a code editor such as Visual Studio Code.