A Minecraft companion dog for petting, tricks and games of fetch. Customize its appearance with a resource pack, or use the source to build your own companion mod. The accompanying paper explores how personal memorial wishes become game behavior.
| Players and Mod Makers | Researchers |
|---|---|
| Meet your companion, make your own dog, explore the code | Read the paper, research overview, citation |
Full player guide: For advanced features, complete recipes, detailed effects, configuration and compatibility, visit the official Companion Dog guide.
Minecraft 1.21.1 · NeoForge · Java 21. The current public release contains research and showcase assets, not an installable JAR. Build from source to play; the build requires a separately installed managed test runner.
Watch the gameplay demo with English captions. The video is silent.
Welcome your companion, pet, give paw, play bow, feed, fetch a tennis ball, retrieve a flying disc and settle down to sleep. Scene guide.
For Minecraft 1.21.1, NeoForge and Java 21.
Install the mod on the server and connecting clients. Your collar arrives when you first join a world. Right-click with it in a safe place to welcome your dog; use it again to call your companion back to you. A replacement collar can be crafted with leather, string and a gold nugget.
| Interaction | What to do |
|---|---|
| Commands and tricks | As the owner, hold a bone in your main hand and right-click your dog for follow, sit, lie down, sleep, give paw, play bow and other commands |
| Petting | Right-click with an empty hand |
| Feeding | Offer food accepted by vanilla wolves |
| Home | Sneak-right-click with the collar, or choose Set home here in the bone menu |
| Fetch | Throw a tennis ball or flying disc; your dog brings it back. An empty-hand right-click also takes a held toy |
| Recovery | Ordinary injuries heal over time. Lethal danger sends your companion home to rest; choose End rest after arrival to resume companionship |
The ball bounces; the disc glides. Both share the same retrieval behavior. Collar and toy recipes.
| Give Paw | Play Bow |
|---|---|
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Geometry and textures live in a client resource pack. Ownership, recall, fetch and recovery stay in the behavior code. The selected appearance applies to all framework dogs on that client.
Start with the appearance contract and pack template. Replace the skin or adapt the rig while keeping the documented bone hierarchy and toy attachment points. The official guide covers the authoring workflow and in-game checks.
Explore src/main/java/com/crabmods/companiondog/ for interactions, recall, toy physics and animation.
Build with ./mod-build.ps1 build after installing the required managed test runner.
The ears and tail can currently clip into the ground during some animations. See the technical report for remaining issues.
Interpreting Memorial Requirements as Lifecycle Rules: A Design Case of AI-Assisted Construction
How should a digital companion respond to injury, absence and return? The accompanying design case examines how memorial requirements become inspectable companion lifecycle rules.
Research overview · Citation · Source and asset provenance · Changes
Code and generator: MIT. Game assets: CC BY 4.0. Paper, documentation and showcase footage: CC BY 4.0. See license scope and third-party notices.
For more advanced features, full recipes, effect values, configuration and compatibility help, see the official player guide.