Overview#
MetaMorph (derived from Metamorphosis) is a survival-oriented shape-shifting mod for Minecraft. Heavily inspired by classic mods like iChun's Morph, it allows players to transform into almost any creature found in the game, including vanilla mobs, bosses, and even creatures added by other mods.
Unlike simple cosmetic mods, MetaMorph provides a deep mechanical integration where players inherit the physical attributes of the mob, such as their height, hitbox size, and health capacity. Furthermore, many morphs come with 'Abilities' (passive traits) and 'Actions' (active powers) that fundamentally change how the player interacts with the world.
Core Mechanics#
Acquiring Morphs
In Survival mode, you do not start with any morphs. To unlock a new form, you must defeat that specific mob in combat. Upon death, the mob will release a 'Morph Soul'—a ghostly, floating representation of itself. Walking into this soul will play a sound and display an on-screen notification that the morph has been acquired.
Transformation Process
Once a morph is acquired, you can transform at any time using the Morph Menu. By default, your health will adjust to match the mob's maximum health. If you morph into a Chicken, you will have only 2 hearts; if you morph into an Iron Golem, you will have 50 hearts.
Death and Persistence
By default, acquired morphs are kept even after the player dies. This behavior can be modified in the configuration files to make the mod more challenging (e.g., losing all morphs upon death).
Controls and GUI#
MetaMorph utilizes several keybinds to manage your collection of forms. These can be rebound in the standard Minecraft controls menu.
| Keybind | Function |
|---|---|
| X (or N) | Opens the Survival Morph Menu. |
| B | Opens the Creative Morph Menu (allows selection of any mob). |
| [ and ] | Quickly cycle through your acquired morphs without opening the menu. |
| Enter | Confirm transformation into the selected morph. |
| . (Period) | Demorph instantly back to your human form. |
| V | Trigger the 'Action' ability of your current morph. |
| O | Toggle 'Favorites' view in the morph menu. |
The Morph Menu
The menu allows you to browse your collection, search for specific mobs, and set favorites. You can also assign specific keybinds to individual morphs within this menu for instant switching.
Abilities and Actions#
Morphs are categorized by their passive Abilities and active Actions.
Passive Abilities
Abilities are traits that are always active while you are in a specific morph.
| Ability | Effect | Example Mobs |
|---|---|---|
| Climb | Allows climbing vertical walls like a ladder. | Spider, Cave Spider |
| Fire Proof | Immunity to fire and lava damage. | Blaze, Ghast, Magma Cube |
| Fly | Allows flight in survival mode (double-tap jump). | Bat, Ghast, Blaze, Wither |
| Glide | Slows falling speed and prevents fall damage. | Chicken, Parrot |
| Night Vision | Grants permanent night vision. | Bat |
| Water Breath | Allows breathing underwater. | Squid, Guardian |
| Snow Walk | Generates snow layers beneath your feet. | Snow Golem |
| Sun Burn | Take damage when exposed to direct sunlight. | Zombie, Skeleton |
| Hostile | Nearby hostile mobs of the same type will ignore you. | Most Hostile Mobs |
Active Actions
Actions are triggered manually by pressing the V key.
| Action | Effect | Example Mobs |
|---|---|---|
| Explode | Triggers a Creeper-style explosion (kills the player). | Creeper |
| Fireball | Shoots a large explosive fireball. | Ghast |
| Small Fireball | Shoots a small fire charge. | Blaze |
| Teleport | Teleports the player to the block they are looking at. | Enderman |
| Jump | Performs a high vertical leap. | Rabbit, Horse |
| Potions | Throws a random negative splash potion. | Witch |
| Snowball | Throws a snowball. | Snow Golem |
| Fire Breath | Shoots Ender Dragon fireballs. | Ender Dragon |
| Llama Spit | Shoots a spit projectile. | Llama |
Mob Morphs List#
MetaMorph supports almost every vanilla entity. Below are the properties for common categories.
Passive & Neutral Mobs
| Mob | Health | Special Traits |
|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 4 (2 Hearts) | Glide, Fall Immunity |
| Bat | 6 (3 Hearts) | Fly, Night Vision, Small Hitbox |
| Squid | 10 (5 Hearts) | Water Breathing, Fast Swimming |
| Iron Golem | 100 (50 Hearts) | High Knockback Attack, Sinks in Water |
| Wolf | 8 (4 Hearts) | Increased Speed |
| Ocelot | 10 (5 Hearts) | Fall Damage Immunity |
Hostile Mobs
| Mob | Health | Special Traits |
|---|---|---|
| Creeper | 20 (10 Hearts) | Action: Explode |
| Enderman | 40 (20 Hearts) | Action: Teleport, Water Allergy |
| Spider | 16 (8 Hearts) | Ability: Climb |
| Cave Spider | 12 (6 Hearts) | Ability: Climb, Attack: Poison |
| Ghast | 10 (5 Hearts) | Ability: Fly, Action: Fireball |
| Blaze | 20 (10 Hearts) | Ability: Fly, Fire Proof, Action: Small Fireball |
Bosses
| Mob | Health | Special Traits |
|---|---|---|
| Wither | 300 (150 Hearts) | Ability: Fly, Fire Proof, Wither Skull Attack |
| Ender Dragon | 200 (100 Hearts) | Ability: Fly, Action: Fire Breath |
Commands#
The mod provides several administrative commands for managing morphs.
/metamorph morph <player> <morph_id>: Forcefully changes a player into a specific morph./metamorph demorph <player>: Reverts a player to their human form./metamorph acquire <player> <morph_id>: Grants a player a morph without them needing to kill the mob./metamorph remove <player> <morph_id>: Removes a specific morph from a player's collection./metamorph remove_all <player>: Clears a player's entire morph library.
Configuration#
MetaMorph is highly configurable via the metamorph.cfg file located in the .minecraft/config folder.
General Settings
- Disable POV: Set to
trueif your camera jitters when using mods like MorePlayerModels. - Keep Morphs on Death: Toggle whether players retain their collection after dying.
- Prevent Creative Morphs: If enabled, players in Creative mode cannot use the 'B' menu to access unearned morphs.
- Health Scaling: Toggle whether the player's health actually changes to match the mob.
Blacklisting Morphs
You can prevent specific mobs from being acquired by editing the blacklist.json file in the config folder. This is useful for server owners who want to disable overpowered morphs like the Ghast or Ender Dragon.
Example blacklist.json entry:
[
"minecraft:ghast",
"minecraft:ender_dragon"
]Requirements#
To run MetaMorph, the following must be installed:
- Minecraft Forge (1.12.2 or 1.11.2).
- McLib: A core library mod required for all of McHorse's mods to function.
MetaMorph is also compatible with Chameleon, which allows for more advanced morph animations and custom model support.
