Today, it seems like AI chatbots are everywhere, from search engines to online stores. Someday soon, we can expect most games to use LLMs (Large Language Models) such as GPT-4 to make their NPCs more lifelike. And, if you play Minecraft Java edition, you can incorporate AI chat right now via your choice of mods.
Our favorite Minecraft AI mod right now is AIMobs, which allows you to have conversations with individual mobs (Minecraft's term for NPCs). You can converse with an Enderman, a Creeper, a Sheep, a Villager, a Cow, or any living (or undead thing) and it will tell you specific things about itself. For example, an Iron Golem told me that it's not actually a robot, but a magic creature. You can also ask more generic, Minecraft or non-Minecraft questions and the mobs will give you an answer.
Keep in mind, though, that you only get to chat. You can ask a mob to help you with a task, but it will only give you advice. For example, when I asked an Axolotl for some Netherite, it told me that I could find some in the Nether. If you don't want to chat with mobs but do what ChatGPT available from the Minecraft chat function, another mod called MCChatGPT provides that service.
Below, we'll show you how to install and use both AIMobs and MCChatGPT to get AI / ChatGPT functionality in Minecraft Java Edition. To use either of these, you'll need the following:
Minecraft AI / ChatGPT: What You Need
- An OpenAI API Key: You can sign up for a free account on OpenAI and register for an API key on its site. Note that you have to pay for use of the API key, though you may get a small amount of free credit when you sign up. Depending on how much you chat, the cost may be quite small. During all of our Minecraft chats writing this tutorial, we used up $0.70 worth of API credits.
- Minecraft Java Edition: This will only work with Java Edition, not with Bedrock.
- The AT Launcher: You can get the AT launcher here.
How to Use AIMobs to Get ChatGPT in Minecraft
AIMobs operates on the principle that you can have a conversation with any individual mob in Minecraft and that it will give you some answers that are customized for its mob type. For example, when we asked an Axolotl if it would like to return to the ocean, it said "that would be very nice. I would love to see the ocean again." And when we talked to a Zombie it said "I need you to find me some brains, so I can satisfy my hunger."
However, none of the mobs can do anything more than talk and they seem blissfully unaware of what's actually happening to you or to them. For example, when we punched mobs while talking to them, they didn't say anything about it. Also, conversations continued even with mobs that had died or mobs that were miles away on the other side of our world.
You can talk to any mob by shift-clicking on it and starting the conversation in the chat (always available by hitting "t"). The conversation isn't over until you type "goodbye," even if you walk away or kill the mob. Here's how to setup AIMobs.
1. Open ATLauncher. if you don't have it installed, you can download it.
2. Click Vanilla Packs in the right column.
3. Select Minecraft 1.19.3 and Fabric (under loader) then click Create Instance. You may also want to change the name of the instance to something memorable for you. Version 1.19.4 (the latest version) doesn’t work with the AIMobs mod yet.
You’ll get a message when the instance has been created and you can click OK to dismiss.
4. Click Instances in the right column.
5. Click Add Mods under your instance.
6. Select Modrinth from the leftmost dropdown menu. This is the website where it will look for the AIMobs mod.
7. Enter “aimobs” into the search box, hit Enter and then click “Install Fabric API" if prompted.
8. Click Add in the dialog box that appears (if you needed to install Fabric mod).
9. Click Add under AIMobs.
10. Click Add in the dialog box.
You’ll soon get a notification saying that AIMobs has installed. If you can't close the dialog box (which happened to us every time), right click on the ATLauncher tray icon and select “Kill Open Dialogs.”
11. Click Accounts and Login with Microsoft if you are not already logged in. Finish your log in.
12. Click Play under your instance on the Instances tab.
13. Click Singleplayer to start the game. Multiplayer games require this to be installed on the server.
14. Click Create New World after choosing the settings for your world (or leaving the defaults).
15. Enter /aimobs setkey [APIKEY] in chat where [APIKEY] is your OpenAI API key. To get to Minecraft chat, hit “t.”
16. Enter /aimobs enable in chat.
17. Shift + Left click on a mob to begin a conversation with it. You can then type any questions or responses into chat.
18. Enter "goodbye" when you want to terminate a conversation with a mob.
You can use the following commands with the AIMobs mod.
/aimobs - see configuration
/aimobs help - see list of commands
/aimobs enable - turn it on
/aimobs disable - turn it off
/aimobs setmodel [model] - Allows you to change the LLM. However, we were only able to get the default, text-davinci-003, to work.
/aimbos settemp [temperature] - set the temperature ("creativity") of the AI
How to Enable Regular ChatGPT in Minecraft
If you want regular ChatGPT in Minecraft, without the pretense that you’re talking to a mob, you can use a different mod called MCChatGPT. To set it up:
1. Open ATLauncher, log into Minecraft and create an instance if you don't have one already.
2. Click Add Mods under your instance on the Instances tab.
3. Search for “chatgpt” and click Add. Make sure you are searching the Modrinth server. If you don't have Fabric API, you'll need to install it here.
3. Click Add when prompted to install the Architectury API.
4. Click Add in the dialog boxes for Architectury and MCChatGPT.
You’ll soon get a notification saying that MCChatGPT has installed. If you can’t close the dialog box, right click on the ATLauncher tray icon and select “Kill Open Dialogs.”
5. Start a game of Minecraft by clicking Play on that instance, logging in if necessary and selecting a single player game. You should create a new world if one doesn't already exist in that instance.
6. Enter /mcgpt-auth [APIKEY] into chat where [APIKEY] is your API key.
MCChatGPT is now set up and you can use the following chat commands with it:
/ask [prompt] – ask a question
/setcontextlevel [0-3] – You can provide a context level that gives the bot more information about the player and the world, allowing it to provide more specific answers to your questions. Level 0 provides no context information while three provides player, world and entity information, but at a cost of about 1,000 tokens (lots of $) per request.
/nextconversation – begin new conversation
/previousconversation – go back to the prior conversation
/listconversations – get an index of all those you have had
/setconversation [conversation id] – return to a prior conversation from the list
