An exciting question for everyone looking forward to Hytale is: will Hytale support modding? The short answer is: YES! To Hytale, modding is at the center of its design.
Long answer: Hytale is being built with modding in mind from the ground up, but the tools and systems that support it are still being developed, and some parts are still rough around the edges. Rather than treating modding as an optional extra, the team behind Hytale has made it part of how the game itself is created. The same systems used internally to build Hytale are intended to be available to players and creators, with the goal of allowing most aspects of the game to be changed, extended, or replaced entirely.
Hytale approaches modding from a server-first perspective. Even singleplayer runs through a local server, which means modding is handled on the server side rather than through custom clients. This allows players to join modded servers without downloading separate mod packs or switching clients.
Where are we now?
At its core, Hytale modding currently falls into a few main areas. Server plugins allow deep gameplay changes and are written in Java. Data assets define things like blocks, items, NPCs, world generation, and loot. Art assets cover models, textures, animations, and sounds, with Blockbench supported for asset creation. Save files such as worlds and prefabs make it possible to share entire environments or individual structures. Together, these systems already offer significant creative freedom, even if some areas are still being developed.
Scripting in Hytale
One common question is whether Hytale will support traditional scripting languages like Lua. The answer is no. The developers have stated they do not intend to add text-based scripting, as they believe it increases complexity and creates a split between designers and programmers. Instead, the long-term plan centers on visual scripting. This approach is meant to allow designers to build logic visually while still giving programmers the ability to extend systems through more traditional code where performance or complexity demands it.
Modding Tools and Future Plans
In terms of tools, Hytale already offers an asset editor, Blockbench integration, creative world-editing tools, and internal systems that are gradually being made public. Some of these tools are unfinished, but the team has chosen to release them early and improve them based on real creator feedback rather than holding them back. Future plans include expanded documentation, improved mod distribution, access to server source code, more stable tooling, and deeper visual and node-based editors for complex systems like NPCs.
Conclusion
So, will Hytale support modding? We're so excited to say yes! Modding is intended to grow alongside the game, shaped by the same community that plays it. The developers are upfront about the current limitations and risks, but their direction is clear. They have a goal in mind and modding is a vital part of how they plan to get there. We can't wait!