Resource packs allow for players to significantly change the appearance of Minecraft. Unlike mods which add new content to the game and essentially change the way Minecraft works, resource packs are simply cosmetic updates that give the game a kind of facelift, making it look different and in most cases improving the appearance of various textures in the game. Resource packs come in many resolutions, as low as 8x and as high as 512x, with the higher resolution packs doing more to improve the look of the game with beautiful textures and a high level of detail. Some even add custom sounds, too.
Installing resource packs usually takes less than a minute and it’s a simple enough process for those who have done it before. There are various websites where resource packs are hosted, and the first step is finding one you like and downloading it. You should get a zip file when you do this. All you have to do after this is start up Minecraft, click on Options, then Resource Packs, and finally click the open resource pack folder button. This will open a new window going to the heart of your Minecraft folder. Just move the resource pack into this new window and you’re done.
This process is the same regardless of what operating system you are using. It is the fastest and easiest way to install a resource pack and there are no different steps for different systems since you do everything through the game itself. You can directly install a resource pack by navigating through your computer and manually finding your Minecraft directory, but the process outlined above is much faster and much easier in the long run.
Turning on a resource pack once it is installed is also easy. You just follow the same directions you would follow to install the pack, except when you get to the resource packs window in Minecraft, you don’t press the open folder button. You’ll see a list of installed resource packs running down the left side of your screen, as well as a list of currently implemented resource packs running down the right side of your screen. You can use more than one resource pack at a time, and some of them are actually meant to go with each other, but you’ll usually want to keep it to one active pack at any given time.
To turn on your resource pack, just click the icon on the left side of your screen for the pack you want. This will move it over to the right side of your screen, effectively implementing it. After this, exit the resource packs window and go back to your game. It will take some time for the graphical changes to occur. Depending on the resolution of the resource pack, you could be waiting a few seconds or a few minutes, with bigger packs needing more time to load than smaller ones. Once they’ve loaded once though, they will stay loaded even after you exit the game.
That’s really all there is to it. Installing resource packs is a simple thing, far easier than modding too. You don’t need any special software or tools to do this, and you don’t have to worry about breaking Minecraft by incorrectly installing a resource pack, like you would with a mod. You don’t have to worry about different resource packs being incompatible and crashing out your game, either. You can turn them on and off with a click of the mouse, as well. Go try it for yourself and you’ll see firsthand just how easy it is to install a resource pack.