MCDatapacker vs Sandstone

MCDatapacker is a Minecraft datapack creator and editor for Linux and Windows. It supports datapacks from Minecraft 1.15 through 1.21.4, with partial support for 1.20.6 through 1.21.4. From its multi-tab interface, users can create or open datapacks, manage files, and edit content. The code editor offers syntax highlighting, error checking for function and JSON files, smart completion for function files, namespaced-ID navigation, and user-defined command syntaxes. Visual editors cover recipes, predicates, loot tables, and item modifiers. Other tools include file and command-usage statistics, raw JSON editing, an advancement-tree viewer, and embedded vanilla datapack files for offline viewing. Dark mode can detect Windows settings automatically. The program is free, with no paid tier required for its core job. Windows users run it from an extracted zip; Linux users run an executable AppImage. The README warns that the program may contain errors and should be used at the user's own risk.

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.