The story of a small team.

LeviMC (formerly LiteLDev) began on January 27, 2021. It started as a project to develop a Bedrock Dedicated Server plugin loader to replace BedrockX—LiteLoaderBDS—with an initial team of three. Later, members of the LiteXLoader team joined and the team grew. On December 9, 2021, LiteLoaderBDS reached v2.0, merging LiteXLoader and introducing innovations beyond the BedrockX approach, including a delay-loading mechanism that enabled function calls without requiring symbol lookup in headers and a custom header-generation system. Due to legacy issues in the codebase, the team decided to rebuild the mod loader from scratch. On December 1, 2023, LeviLamina was released. Learning from how tightly coupled LiteLoaderBDS had become, it adopted a modular design that greatly improved maintainability and extensibility, while further optimizing header generation and hooks and adding many new features.

LeviLamina emerges from the depths of Bedrock Dedicated Server, sprouting forth from the seeds of the LiteLoaderBDS project. The initial versions of Minecraft Bedrock Edition lacked the extensive mod and server plugin ecosystem present in Minecraft Java Edition, thereby limiting its gameplay possibilities. A collective of C++ enthusiasts, well-versed in Bedrock Dedicated Server, conducted an analysis and utilized reverse engineering techniques and hook injection mechanisms to intervene in the operation of the game server, thus pioneering the development of the first set of server mods. However, this development paradigm encountered several challenges. Primarily, the absence of underlying framework support necessitated the reliance on diverse low-level tools for symbol analysis, injection implementation, hook registration, and other functionalities during mod development. Consequently, this led to code redundancy and duplication across different mods, as well as the potential for unforeseen conflicts among them. Moreover, the lack of explicit type definitions compelled developers to engage in reverse engineering analysis while creating mods, resulting in elevated development barriers and diminished efficiency. In response to these predicaments, the maintainers of the precursor project, LiteLoaderBDS, constructed an injection-based mod loading engine and a mod development framework. In addition, they provided type information, enabling mod developers to create mods without requiring an exhaustive comprehension of the underlying principles. This significantly mitigated the entry barriers for mod development and facilitated the flourishing of the mod ecosystem. Nevertheless, as LiteLoaderBDS progressed, certain issues came to the fore. The early design failed to account for future advancements, rendering many aspects obsolete and impeding the utilization of contemporary tools, thereby falling short of meeting the latest performance requirements. Furthermore, its tightly coupled design engendered substantial efforts when adapting to new versions of Bedrock Dedicated Server. Consequently, LeviMC made the decision to commence from scratch, leveraging existing expertise, and undertaking a comprehensive framework redesign to cultivate a mod engine that promotes user-friendliness for maintainers, developers, and users alike.

Oh, it's quite a tale! You see, LiteLoaderBDS started off as a little joke, a playful experiment. But lo and behold, it grew faster than a creeper on steroids! At first, we noticed that the name LiteLoaderBDS sounded strikingly similar to LiteLoader, a mod loader for Minecraft Java Edition. So, in a moment of genius, we slapped a "BDS" suffix on it to differentiate ourselves. Clever, right? But as LiteLoaderBDS 2.0 expanded, it started bulking up like a piglet at an all-you-can-eat buffet. Its performance took a nosedive, leaving us scratching our heads. That's when we made a bold decision to rebuild the entire project from scratch. And as we delved deeper into the revamping process, it became clear that a fresh start deserved a brand-new moniker. So, we dabbled in the ancient arts of Latin roots, preserving the beloved abbreviation `ll`, and voila! LeviLamina was born, a name befitting our magnificent creation.