Xaero’s Minimap Mod 1.9.2 is exactly what it claims to be – a mod that adds a minimap to Minecraft. However, this map mod goes a bit further than many other mapping mods, which makes it one of the better ones hands down. Not every minimap gives you waypoints like Xaero’s Minimap, and not every minimap will show you approaching enemies, players and NPC characters like animals or villagers like this mod will either. These are a couple of the main ways Xaero’s Minimap stands out from other map mods, but the mod is good for other reasons too.

To date, Xaero’s Minimap mod is the first Minecraft minimap mod ever that features a rotating square map. There are spherical displays that twist and turn to keep up with the player’s perspective in-game, but this is the first one to do it with a square map. This might seem silly, but if you’ve ever worked with the maps built into vanilla Minecraft, you would realize this square map thing is kind of a big deal. It makes the minimap look like something that actually belongs in vanilla Minecraft rather than something which was added to the game later through the use of a mod.

If you want an experience as close to vanilla as possible without the limitations of finding materials, making maps and filling them out, then Xaero’s Minimap mod could be a good fit for you. It’s a thorough map which takes into account things like elevation levels and vegetation in the environment, and it also does a good job of delineating different biomes. When you’re standing in a desert right on the border of a swamp or in some other strange connecting point between two biomes, the map will show this and give you a better grasp of your surroundings.

The most useful feature of Xaero’s Minimap mod is probably the waypoint system though. With waypoints, you can plot courses using the minimap so you never get lost again when moving from one point to another. You can also mark your home and leave that mark, which will make getting home after a long day of gathering resources and fighting monsters a much easier thing to do. Even the actual in-game maps aren’t this good at helping you find your way home once you’ve been wandering for hours, so if you like Minecraft maps but wish they were just more detailed, you’re going to love this mod.

Xaero’s Minimap Mod Features

• Aesthetic feel and look of vanilla Minecraft.
• 2 colour modes: Vanilla, which uses the colours of vanilla Minecraft maps and Accurate, which uses the colours of block textures.
• Runs smoother than most minimap mods.
• Ability to lock north.
• Works both above and under ground.
• Togglable chunk grid.
• Togglable slime chunks mode.
• Cave maps.
• Waypoints. Infinite amount. Can be teleported to (permission needed). Press B to create a new waypoint. Press U to list all the waypoints.
• In-game waypoints. Waypoints will also be visible in-game. Can be disabled.
• Deathpoints. An automatic waypoint is created on each death.
• Displays mobs on the map as yellow dots. Customizable in the settings. Hostile and friendly mobs can be coloured differently.
• Displays players on the map as white dots. Customizable in the settings.
• Displays items on the map as red dots. Customizable in the settings.
• Displays all the other entities such as arrows and item frames as purple dots (Different types of entities can be disabled in mod settings). Customizable in the settings.
• Zoom in and out keybinds (I and O).
• Coordinates under the minimap.
• Current biome under the minimap.
• Configurable settings. From minimap size to entity amount.
• Edit mode which lets you move the minimap whereever you desire.
• Compatible with the Better PVP Plugin for Bukkit servers.