Litematica is a Fabric client mod that turns a schematic file into a translucent hologram you build into, block by block, with a verifier that checks your work as you go. This covers installing it alongside MaLiLib, the default hotkeys, loading and placing a schematic, the material list and Easy Place, and what changes when you move from single player to a server.
Installing Litematica and MaLiLib
Fabric is the only build of Litematica with real ongoing support. A Forge port exists, but it stops at Minecraft 1.16.5, and the old LiteLoader, Rift, and Ornithe ports haven't been updated in years. Install Fabric Loader for your Minecraft version first, then add two mods on top of it. Litematica will not load without MaLiLib, the library mod its developer also maintains, but unlike most Fabric mods it does not need Fabric API.
- 1.Install Fabric Loader for your Minecraft version.
- 2.Download MaLiLib from Modrinth, matching that same version.
- 3.Download Litematica from Modrinth, matching the same version.
- 4.Drop both .jar files into the same mods folder Fabric already uses.
- 5.Launch the game and press M in-world to open the Litematica menu.
Default hotkeys to know
Litematica doesn't use Minecraft's vanilla controls menu. Its hotkeys come from MaLiLib's own keybind system, so you change them from Litematica's config screen, not from Options. On Fabric you can also reach each mod's settings through the gear icon next to it in Mod Menu.
- M opens the main Litematica menu.
- M + C opens the config menu directly.
- M + L opens the material list.
- M + V opens the schematic verifier.
- M + P opens the schematic placements menu.
- M + G toggles just the schematic (ghost block) rendering.
- M + R toggles all of Litematica's rendering.
- Numpad Minus opens the placement configuration screen for the currently selected schematic.
Loading and placing a schematic
Drop the .litematic file into your .minecraft/schematics folder, then open the Litematica menu with M and choose Load Schematics. Select the file, make sure Create a Placement is checked, and click Load Schematic. The structure appears in-world as a translucent overlay you can walk through and build into, rather than anything actually placed.
To move or rotate a placement, open M, then Schematic Placements, then Configure, or press Numpad Minus while that placement is selected. Click a placement in the Schematic Placements list to select it, shown by a white outline, or middle-click it in-world while holding Litematica's tool item and looking at it. Hold Alt and scroll to nudge the whole placement in the direction you're looking.
Litematica material list
Press M + L to open the material list, which totals every block type the loaded schematic needs so you can gather supplies before you start building. It reads straight from the schematic file, not from what you've placed so far, so open it again after any edit to the schematic to get an updated count.
Litematica easy place
Easy Place, turned on with the easyPlaceToggle hotkey or the easyPlaceMode option in the config menu, automatically picks the correct block from the schematic and places it while you hold down the use key looking at the outline. It speeds up manual building, but it is not an auto-builder: you still have to carry the right blocks, still aim yourself at every gap, and still walk the whole structure the way you would without it. Unofficial forks that claim to place an entire schematic unattended exist outside the mod itself; we don't recommend them, since a server that hasn't agreed to that kind of automation can ban an account for using it.
Litematica multiplayer behavior
Litematica is a client-side mod only. Modrinth lists server-side support as unsupported, so a server never needs to install it, and viewing or moving a placement needs no server permission at all. What does change between single player and a server is how much data you can save and place.
- Single player: a schematic saved there keeps the full block-entity and entity NBT data, such as chest contents and sign text, plus scheduled block ticks for things like redstone timing.
- Multiplayer: a vanilla server never sends that NBT data to the client, so a schematic saved from a server world normally has empty chests and no entity data, unless the server runs extra mods for this.
- Pasting on a server needs permission to run /setblock and /fill, or, on 1.18 and newer, the WorldEdit //pos1, //pos2, and //set commands if that permission is enabled instead, and it happens through those commands rather than as the player placing blocks by hand.
- Easy Place's automatic block rotation needs the Carpet Extra mod or Litemoretica running on a Fabric server; on Bukkit, Spigot, and other non-Fabric server software it can't request the correct rotation at all, so leaving the protocol setting wrong there causes ghost blocks.
To share a placement with everyone on a server instead of sending files around, add Syncmatica: a player uploads a placement from Litematica's menu, and everyone else downloads it straight into their own game.
Litematica 26.2 walkthrough, loading, placing, and pasting a schematic
Frequently asked questions
Does Litematica need MaLiLib?
Yes. Litematica will not launch without MaLiLib, the shared library its developer also maintains, and both mods must match the same Minecraft version and Fabric build. Fabric API is not required, which is unusual since most Fabric mods depend on it. Check the Litematica resource page for current download links to both.
Can Litematica build for me?
Not on its own. Easy Place speeds up placing blocks by picking the right one from the schematic and letting you hold the use key instead of clicking for each block, but you still aim it yourself and still need the material in hand. It doesn't paste a build automatically outside creative mode's Paste feature, and unofficial forks that claim to build unattended aren't something we recommend, since a server that hasn't agreed to that kind of automation can ban an account for using it.
Where do Litematica schematic files go?
Into the schematics folder inside .minecraft, created automatically the first time Litematica runs. Drop a .litematic file there and it shows up in the Load Schematics menu, opened with M and then Load Schematics.
Does Litematica work on Bedrock Edition?
No. Litematica is a Java Edition Fabric mod with no Bedrock counterpart, since Bedrock's add-on system doesn't support this kind of client-side rendering. Bedrock builders copy structures with structure blocks or plan them externally instead.
