Macaw's Roofs - BYG/BWG: Why It Was Discontinued & Alternatives
Builders who rely on the Macaw's ecosystem for detailed roofing know the value of biome-specific blocks. The add-on that bridged Macaw's Roofs with Oh The Biomes You'll Go (BYG) and Oh The Biomes We've Gone (BWG) offered a rich palette of materials—from volcanic shingles to enchanted-forest tiles—so your structures felt native to every region. When the project was marked discontinued, many players wondered if their custom roofs were dead. The short answer: no. The functionality simply moved to a maintained successor, and this guide explains how to transition smoothly.
What the Add-on Delivered
Vanilla stairs and slabs can only do so much. Macaw's Roofs introduced steep slopes, dormers, and intricate overhangs, while the BYG/BWG extension mapped those shapes to the unique wood types and stones from both biome mods. This meant a witch's hut in a Crag Gardens biome could use jagged, dark blocks, while a savanna outpost pulled from warm acacia-like tones—all without texture clashes. On multiplayer servers, a unified roof catalog kept spawn towns and player markets visually consistent.
Why the Discontinued Tag Appears
In modding, a "discontinued" flag rarely means the feature is gone. It signals that development has shifted to a new file to avoid version conflicts and recipe breakage. For Macaw's Roofs – BYG/BWG, the author consolidated all biome-compatible roofing into a single, actively maintained package. Keeping the old jar in your mods folder alongside the new one causes duplicate item IDs, missing crafting recipes, and startup crashes. The fix is straightforward: remove the discontinued file and install the replacement.
How to Install the Current Version
To get Macaw's Roofs - BYG/BWG: Why It Was Discontinued & Alternatives working correctly, follow these steps. The process works for both Forge and Fabric loaders on Minecraft 1.19.2, 1.20.1, and newer minor releases.
Step-by-Step Setup
- Backup your world and mods folder. Never skip this when swapping mods that touch world generation or block IDs.
- Delete the old file. Remove any jar named
macawsroofsbygor similar from your mods directory. - Download the successor. Search for the maintained Macaw's BYG/BWG compatibility pack. Ensure the filename matches your loader (Forge or Fabric) and Minecraft version.
- Verify dependencies. The pack requires Macaw's Roofs base mod and the correct version of Oh The Biomes You'll Go or Oh The Biomes We've Gone. Check each mod's page for the exact version matrix.
- Launch and test. Create a new creative world, open JEI/REI, and confirm that all roof recipes appear and place correctly.
Common Pitfalls
Players often hit crashes because of leftover configs or mismatched biome mods. If you use BYG, do not install the BWG variant of the roof add-on, and vice versa. Also, after a major Minecraft update, datapack logic can shift—re-run the world with the same seed in a test profile to check biome distribution before committing your main save.
Version Compatibility at a Glance
The successor mod supports Forge and Fabric on 1.19.2, 1.20.1, and 1.20.4. NeoForge builds are available for 1.20.4 and above. Always match the loader and game version exactly; mixing Forge and Fabric jars will cause immediate crashes. For older worlds running 1.18.2, the original add-on may still function, but no further updates are planned—plan a migration when you upgrade your server or modpack.
Server and Singleplayer Migration
On a server, coordinate the update with all players. The admin should remove the old mod, add the new one, and restart. Clients must do the same before connecting. In singleplayer, load your world once with the new mod, check a few existing roof blocks, and if any appear as missing textures, use a block swap tool or manually replace them. Most textures and IDs remain consistent, so full rebuilds are rare.
Why This Matters for Your Builds
Using the current, supported version of Macaw's Roofs - BYG/BWG for Minecraft means you get bug fixes, new block variants as biome mods update, and smoother multiplayer sync. The discontinued tag is a signpost, not a dead end. By downloading the correct jar and aligning your mod list, you keep every roof, awning, and gutter intact—and your creative flow uninterrupted.