Stacking Rigs

“Stacking” means mounting entities on top of each other. With a Locator that uses an entity, you can mount one rig on another, then move or rotate it on its own: a turret on a tank, or a head that turns to watch the player.

Tutorial

We’ll mount a my_pack:head rig on top of a my_pack:body rig.

1. In the body Blueprint, add a Locator named head_mount where the head should sit.

2. Right-click head_mount, open its Locator Config, and set:

   1. Use Entity: enabled

   2. Entity Type: minecraft:item_display

   3. On-Summon Function:

      function my_pack:head/summon {args: {}}
      ride @e[type=minecraft:item_display,tag=my_pack.head.root,sort=nearest,limit=1] mount @s

3. Export both Blueprints (see Exporting).

4. In Minecraft, reload your Resource Pack (F3 + T) and Data Pack (/reload).

5. Summon the body:

   execute rotated 0 0 run function my_pack:body/summon {args: {}}

The head rig is summoned on the head_mount Locator and rides along as the body animates.

Making the Head Look Around

The head rig turns to match its root entity, so rotate the root entity to aim it. On Minecraft 1.21.2 and newer, run this every tick to make every head look at the nearest player:

execute as @e[tag=my_pack.head.root] at @s facing entity @p eyes run rotate @s ~ ~

Removing Stacked Rigs

Removing the body also removes the head, because removing a rig removes everything riding it. The head’s own On-Remove functions don’t run, so if you rely on them, remove the head first. Run this as the body’s root entity, before remove/this:

function my_pack:body/as_locator {name: "head_mount", command: "execute on passengers run function my_pack:head/remove/this"}

Common Issues

• The head lags behind the body when it moves

  This happens when the body’s root entity rides another entity that moves with Motion, or moves on its own. Move the body with /tp instead: it’s the only known way to keep stacked rigs together.