It's time for another edition of our "10 Questions With" series, where we spotlight the talented creators behind some of your favorite mods. Each month, we dive into their modding journey, creative process, and the stories behind their most popular projects.

For July, we're excited to feature P3pp3rF1y, our Creator of the Month! If you've spent any time in the world of modded Minecraft, chances are you've used one of their mods - Sophisticated Backpacks, Reliquary Reincarnations, or Sophisticated Storage, to name a few.

In this interview, P3pp3rF1y shares how they got started in modding, life as a mod author, and offers some great advice for newcomers looking to jump into mod development. A big thank you to P3pp3rF1y for joining us!

To kick things off, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you first got into Minecraft modding?

I used to work as a software developer, so coding has always been part of my background - even though my career eventually moved in a different direction. I’ve always had a passion for games in general, but especially for the ones that give players the freedom to explore at their own pace, choose their next objective, and build something that feels personal and lasting within the world.

When I first saw Minecraft, I wasn’t sure it was for me. The graphics looked a bit outdated, and on the surface, it just seemed like a game about stacking cubes. But once I gave it a proper try, I completely fell in love. The open world, the creative freedom, the ability to build bases, lay down minecart networks, create redstone contraptions, or design mob grinders - it opened up endless possibilities that really resonated with how I enjoy games.

Modded Minecraft quickly followed. I wanted to automate some parts of the game, so I started using mods like Minecolonies, which reminded me of The Settlers, and BuildCraft, which opened up a whole new world of possibilities. That naturally led me to watching ForgeCraft and discovering Pahimar’s “Let’s Mod” series, which gave me a peek behind the curtain into how mods are made. That inspired me to give it a shot. At first, I tried recreating some of the things I saw other modders doing - mostly as a learning exercise. But as I grew more comfortable, I began experimenting with my own ideas: features that I felt were missing in vanilla or weren’t quite addressed by other mods.

What really kept me going, though, was the feedback. As my mods gained popularity, I started hearing from players regularly - people sharing suggestions, reporting bugs, or just saying how much they appreciated a feature. That kind of interaction gave me a whole new kind of satisfaction. It wasn’t just about coding anymore - it was about building something that others enjoyed and found genuinely useful.

Do you remember the first mod you ever created, or the moment you realized you wanted to create mods?

The first real project I started working on was something I wanted to call Big Machines. I’d always liked the concept behind mods like Big Reactors, where large multiblocks come together to form a single powerful structure - like a reactor or turbine. My idea was to take that same feeling of scale and apply it to general machinery. Imagine being able to build a massive multiblock that wraps around multiple furnaces to create a high-throughput smelter - or even a structure that handles a full ore processing chain from other mods. The player could then interact with it either through a single interface or by connecting to designated input/output ports, as if it were one cohesive machine.

I started learning the basics of modding with that idea in mind, experimenting with structure detection, UIs, and internal logic. And while I did make some progress, I eventually realized the scope was just too ambitious for a first mod. Still, the process taught me a lot - how Minecraft handles blocks, tile entities, rendering, and how to navigate the Forge modding ecosystem.

Around the same time, I noticed that Reliquary - a mod I had really enjoyed playing with - hadn’t been updated in a while, with its last version stuck on 1.7.10. Minecraft 1.8.9 had just come out, and I decided to try porting the mod forward to that newer version. That turned out to be my first real step into public modding. What started as a personal experiment quickly turned into an ongoing project, and before long I wasn’t just maintaining it - I was adding new features, refining old ones, and shaping the direction of the mod. It was incredibly satisfying to see other players using and enjoying something I had helped bring back to life.

Sophisticated Backpacks, Sophisticated Storage and many of your other mods have become staples in the modding community. What inspired you to create these, and what gap were you trying to fill in the modded Minecraft experience?

For a long time, I felt that backpacks in modded Minecraft were a bit underwhelming. Most of the time, they were just simple portable chests in an item that you’d right-click to open while on the road. While there were a few mods that expanded on the concept, they often weren’t updated consistently or added features in ways that, to me, didn’t feel particularly intuitive or user-friendly. Overall, backpack mods always felt like they were missing something. When I played with them, it often came down to thinking, “This is the portable chest I have available in this modpack - maybe a bit fancier - but I wish it could do so much more.” That feeling stuck with me for a while.

So when I finally had the time to start something new, I decided to reimagine what backpacks could be. My goal was to make them both feature-rich and easy to use - something that would feel natural to players but offer far more depth than a basic storage item. I focused on creating upgrades that could be added with a simple click, with the UI instantly adapting to show new tabs and controls related to each upgrade. Behind the scenes, I made the system highly modular so that adding new upgrades would be simple and scalable. I also wanted them to feel integrated into the world: visible on the player’s back, accessible via a keybind, and placeable in the world to interact with automation systems like pipes or hoppers.

Sophisticated Storage came directly from community feedback. A lot of players loved how customizable the backpacks were and wished they could use similar features for their base storage. That’s where the idea started - to bring the same upgrade system to more traditional containers. I took vanilla storage types like chests, barrels, and shulker boxes and extended them with support for upgrades and more flexible behavior for automation and item management. From there, I added more features built around stationary storage, always trying to keep things flexible and add meaningful functionality without overcomplicating the experience.

I keep a close eye on community feedback - what players liked, what didn’t land as well, or what they feel is still missing. That post-release phase is an important part of the process for me. It often leads to small quality-of-life tweaks, or follow-up enhancements.

When you’re designing a new feature or updating an existing one, what does your creative process usually look like, from idea to implementation?

Most features start as notes - either something I thought of while playing or feedback I’ve received from the community, usually through my Discord server or GitHub issues. I tend to jot those ideas down and let them sit for a while until I have time to revisit them. When I do, I start fleshing out the concept: what the upgrade or feature is supposed to do, how it might fit into the rest of the mod, and whether it aligns with how players are actually using the mod in-game.

I rarely jump straight into implementation. I usually explore how similar functionality is handled elsewhere - whether in Minecraft itself, other mods, different games, or even everyday applications when it comes to user interaction and interface design. Sometimes I’ll sketch out rough ideas on a whiteboard or in a diagramming tool - nothing fancy, just something to help me think through the structure or flow before I start coding. Once I have a clearer picture of how I want the feature to behave and how it should feel to use, that’s when I start building it out.

I approached Sophisticated Storage in much the same way. It wasn’t just about taking the backpack system and dropping it into chests - I wanted to make sure it would stand on its own and evolve in a direction that felt distinct. From the start, I spent time thinking through what kinds of upgrades and features made sense in a stationary setting and how that would differ from something you carry with you. That helped guide decisions early on and ensured it wouldn’t end up feeling like “Sophisticated Backpacks but shaped like a chest.”

After release, I keep a close eye on community feedback - what players liked, what didn’t land as well, or what they feel is still missing. That post-release phase is an important part of the process for me. It often leads to small quality-of-life tweaks, or even follow-up enhancements to expand on the original idea.

I also have a few general ideas or principles that help guide the direction of my mods. They’re not strict rules, but they give me a sense of what I want the mods to be - and what kind of features feel like a good fit. For example, when it comes to backpack upgrades, I try to focus on functionality that makes sense to have on the go and that would usually be handled by a single block in a base. The goal isn’t to cram complex multiblock systems into a backpack, but to add just enough convenience and utility to make it feel genuinely useful - without turning it into something that tries to replace setups better left to the base. It’s not a rigid process, but having that kind of direction helps keep things cohesive and focused.

Do you have any favorite features you've built, either because they were technically tricky or just fun to design?

One of the things I’m most proud of - especially from a technical standpoint - is the overall design of the upgrade system. From the start, I wanted it to be modular and flexible, so that adding new upgrades would be as smooth as possible. That’s still holding up really well, even with the wide range of upgrades now available across both Sophisticated Backpacks and Sophisticated Storage.

Each upgrade still has its own specific logic, of course, but most of the time I don’t need to touch the common code at all. Occasionally I’ll add a new shared hook or system if a feature calls for it, but overall, the upgrade system lets me plug new things in without having to restructure everything around them. It’s one of those things that might not be flashy from the outside, but as someone maintaining and building on top of it regularly, it’s made everything else much easier and more consistent.

On the more fun side, one feature I really love is entity support in Sophisticated Storage In Motion. I’ve always liked the idea of making storage more dynamic - something that doesn’t just sit in your base, but can move across the world, either with you or independently, like a minecart running along rails or a llama caravan winding through the terrain. It’s actually one of those features I mostly added for myself, just because I thought it would be fun to see in action. And honestly, seeing that caravan of llamas with sophisticated storage blocks and magnet upgrades pulling in items as they go still makes me smile every time.

I began noticing the mod popping up in YouTube videos and streams... These days, every time I put out an update and see the follow-up feedback, it gives me a huge impulse to keep working. That interaction - knowing people are enjoying what I’ve built and looking forward to what’s next - is a big part of what keeps me going.

You’ve built a strong community around your mods. What’s it been like seeing your work gain so much traction from millions of players?

I started working on mods simply because I enjoyed it. It was a fun side project, and I wasn’t aiming for popularity or trying to build a massive audience. But as the mods started to gain traction, it felt really rewarding - like a bonus on top of doing something I was already having a good time with. That shift gave me even more motivation to keep going.

When Sophisticated Backpacks took off, it was an especially great feeling. I began noticing the mod popping up in YouTube videos and streams, and even started seeing people recognize my name in those spaces. That’s when it really started to sink in how many players were not only using the mod, but enjoying it. It added a whole new kind of motivation - on top of the fun I was already having building it. These days, every time I put out an update and see the follow-up feedback, it gives me a huge impulse to keep working. That interaction - knowing people are enjoying what I’ve built and looking forward to what’s next - is a big part of what keeps me going.

For someone new to modding, what tools or resources would you recommend they start with?

It’s been a long time since I first got into modding, but looking back - and seeing what helps people today - I’d say the most important thing is having a decent grasp of Java. There are lots of tutorials and video courses out there to help with that part, and plenty of resources on the basics of Minecraft modding as well.

A great place to start is joining the Minecraft Mod Development and The NeoForge Project Discord servers. I use NeoForge in my own projects, so I tend to lean more toward that community, but both servers are full of people happy to help out, share useful links, and point newcomers in the right direction. They’re also really helpful when you run into issues - chances are someone else has hit the same problem before and can help you troubleshoot or figure out the best approach.

Another thing that really helps is looking at the visible source code of existing mods. Even though many of them aren't open-source in the "you can copy this" sense, just being able to see how something is structured or how a feature is implemented can be super educational. And honestly, that doesn’t stop being useful once you’re more experienced - I still find myself checking how other mods tackle certain ideas from time to time.

You’ve been creating mods for around a decade now - what have you noticed has changed about the modding community in this time?

One of the biggest changes has been how much more connected and accessible the modding community has become. When I first got into modded Minecraft - before I even started creating mods myself - just playing a modpack could be a challenge. The first question you'd usually ask was: What launcher is this modpack on? Or worse: Is it a custom pack I need to install manually? It wasn’t exactly beginner-friendly.

Back then, a lot of the discussion happened over IRC, the Minecraft Forums, and sometimes Reddit. It worked, but it wasn’t always easy to keep up with updates or find help. I was lucky that by the time I actually started modding, things had begun to settle a bit. CurseForge was already around and providing a central place to publish and discover mods, and launchers had started improving too. These days, installing a modpack is incredibly smooth - even if you’ve never done it before.

The biggest shift, though, is how we communicate. These days, most mods have dedicated Discord servers where players can see announcements, report issues, suggest features, or just hang out and talk. There are also larger modding-focused servers where developers help each other troubleshoot or share ideas. It’s way easier to get quick feedback or contribute to discussions than it ever was with IRC or forum threads.

That’s not to say platforms like Reddit aren’t still used - they definitely are, and you’ll still find good conversations there - but they’re not as central to the modding experience as they once were. Discord has really become the main hub for both modders and players, and it’s made the community as a whole feel a lot more interactive and immediate.

How do you handle feature requests or criticism from the community, especially when opinions conflict?

Most feature requests these days come through suggestions on Discord or in GitHub discussions. I usually like to chat through them - sometimes it’s a quick back-and-forth, other times it turns into a longer discussion where we dig into whether the suggestion really fits with the mod and how the feature could work in practice.

A lot of that comes down to some design principles I’ve developed over time - like the ones I mentioned earlier. I try to stick to them, and sometimes I’ll reference them directly when a suggestion feels like it would go against the direction I want to take the mod. Of course, the way players use the mod or imagine it evolving can differ from my own ideas, but I’ve been pretty lucky that most of the time the feedback is constructive. We usually either end up with a version of the idea that makes sense, or agree that it’s just not the right fit.

Not every suggestion is something I’ll implement, and occasionally there’s disagreement about how a feature should work or whether it belongs at all. The same goes for feedback on existing features - sometimes players will say they don’t like how something behaves or that it feels off. I try to take that kind of criticism in stride and look at the underlying concern. Often, it’s less about the feature itself and more about how it fits their playstyle or expectations. As long as the discussion stays respectful (and most of the time it does), I’m happy to listen, explain the reasoning behind a decision, or even tweak things if it makes sense and improves the experience.

One thing that helps a lot is that I try to make my mods very configurable. So even when players have different playstyles or preferences, they can often tweak things to make their experience easier, harder, or just more aligned with how they want to play. That flexibility really helps bridge the gap between different expectations without compromising the overall vision of the mod.

Finally, what’s next for you and your mods? Do you have any exciting upcoming features or projects that the community can be excited about?

There are definitely a few things on my list that I’d love to get to. One idea I’ve had for a while is to add support for multiple backpack models that players could choose between in-game - maybe a more compact version, or something with a completely different style like steampunk. It’s partly a cosmetic thing, but I think it could add a fun layer of personalization.

For storage, I’d like to add fluid storage in the near future, along with support for upgrades that work with fluids. While fluid handling is generally less common than item handling, there are still some useful cases - like storing lava for furnaces, or collecting liquid experience at a mob farm. It wouldn’t change the game for everyone, but for the players who use those mechanics, it could be a nice addition.

And if I ever find the time for a bigger project, I’ve been toying with the idea of building a logistics network that makes heavy use of upgrades to move and manage items - kind of an evolution of the upgrade system that’s already at the core of my other mods. It’s definitely a more involved idea, but one I’d love to explore at some point.