Item Catalog (crafting_item_catalog.json)

In older Bedrock versions, an item's placement in the Creative inventory was strictly handled inside its own item or block JSON file. If you wanted ten custom swords to sit together inside a collapsible folder, you could only put them into one of the hardcoded vanilla groups, such as the standard swords group. You could not create a new collapsible group of your own.

Introduced alongside the 1.21.60 format updates, `BP/item_catalog/crafting_item_catalog.json` decouples inventory organization from individual item definitions. It lets you declare which category tab you are modifying, create brand new expandable groups with a designated icon and display name, or list loose items so they appear in a specific sequence in the menu.

Using the Item Catalog does not replace the `description` block inside your item files, nor does it generate the items themselves. Instead, it acts as a layout manifest that overrides or supplements the `menu_category` rules defined on the individual items and blocks.

The catalog file must be placed in your behavior pack at `BP/item_catalog/crafting_item_catalog.json`. Unlike entities or items where you can have hundreds of separate files in subfolders, the game looks for this specific filename inside the `item_catalog` directory.

At the root of the JSON, you provide a `format_version` (at least `1.21.60`) and the `minecraft:crafting_items_catalog` object. Inside that object sits a `categories` array. Each entry in `categories` targets one of the four main Creative inventory tabs (`construction`, `nature`, `equipment`, or `items`) and defines an array of `groups` to inject into that tab.

{
  "format_version": "1.21.60",
  "minecraft:crafting_items_catalog": {
    "categories": [
      {
        "category_name": "equipment",
        "groups": [
          {
            "group_identifier": {
              "icon": "my_pack:ruby_sword",
              "name": "my_pack:itemGroup.name.ruby_gear"
            },
            "items": [
              "my_pack:ruby_sword",
              "my_pack:ruby_pickaxe",
              "my_pack:ruby_helmet"
            ]
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        "category_name": "items",
        "groups": [
          {
            "items": [
              "my_pack:raw_ruby",
              "my_pack:ruby_ingot"
            ]
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

The schema for `crafting_item_catalog.json` is compact, relying on nested arrays to sort categories, groups, and individual item identifiers. Every identifier you reference in the catalog must correspond to a valid custom item, custom block, or vanilla identifier that exists in the world.

Notice in the example above that the second group under the `items` category omits the `group_identifier` object entirely. When you omit `group_identifier`, the items listed in the `items` array are not placed inside a collapsible folder. Instead, they are appended directly to the tab as loose, standalone entries in the exact order you list them.

For an item to behave properly in the catalog, its own definition file in `BP/items/` still requires a valid `description`. While the catalog takes over the grouping, you should still set a base `category` inside the item's `menu_category` block so the game knows the item is allowed to be visible in menus.

If an item has `"category": "none"` or `"is_hidden_in_commands": true` in its own JSON file, the catalog may refuse to display it or throw a content log error because the item was explicitly marked as hidden from the menu interface.

{
  "format_version": "1.21.60",
  "minecraft:item": {
    "description": {
      "identifier": "my_pack:ruby_sword",
      "menu_category": {
        "category": "equipment"
      }
    },
    "components": {
      "minecraft:icon": "ruby_sword",
      "minecraft:max_stack_size": 1,
      "minecraft:damage": 7
    }
  }
}

Unlike item display names, which require a namespaces-Required `name` value in `group_identifier` (meaning it must contain a colon, like `my_pack:my_group`), the actual text shown when a player hovers over the plus-sign icon in the Creative inventory comes from your resource pack's `.lang` files.

Open `RP/texts/en_US.lang` and add an entry matching the exact string you put in the catalog's `name` field. Even though the key contains a colon, the localization parser treats the entire string before the `=` sign as a standard translation key.

my_pack:itemGroup.name.ruby_gear=Ruby Equipment
item.my_pack:ruby_sword=Ruby Sword

Requires format_version 1.21.60 or higher (introduced in Minecraft Bedrock 1.21.60). Stable; no experimental toggles are required.

Read out of the game itself, so the ids match the version you are building for.