**edit2**
so it looks like a middle road between the two extremes I presented in my original post is more the truth. Searge hasn't been forbidden from working on MCP (I think) but he sure hasn't gotten quicker about it. There has been nothing since he actually started working at Mojang. No promised 1.7.2 final release, to say nothing about 1.7.4 support. He wrote that there are other people working on MCP, but it seems pretty clear it isn't going anywhere without him, and he's much too busy working on MC itself to keep MCP updated in a timely fashion. It's been a good run, but it does seem that Mojang, whether it was their intention or not, has at the very least severely dented modding.

**edit**
http://mcp.ocean-labs.de/news.php?extend.10.1 Searge writes to put concerns like mine to rest. He writes the MCP will continue as long as it is needed, and reminds us that he is not the only one working on it (although "Everyone is waiting for something that I need to take care of" makes it sound like it would be hard to continue without him), so most of the below seems not to be an issue. Thanks Searge for clearing things up

**original post**
I've had a few people ask where my mods are for 1.7.2. In response, I ask how many 1.7.2 mods has anyone seen at all? There have been very very few, because most mods rely on MCP (the Minecraft Coder Pack) to decompile and deobfuscate Minecraft, to give us readable code to work with.

Previous updates for it have come out very fast after Minecraft updates, and since they started with prereleases they have come fast enough for me to get out mod updates the day Minecraft officially updates. We have been waiting for a couple weeks on MCP this time, due to massive changes in Minecraft's codebase (which are much larger than one might think from what has changed in game)

These changes are annoying, but they are necessary prerequisites for the modding API that is coming real soon nowo� (like it has been for years). The problem with the API from my standpoint is it will mainly be focused on adding new blocks and items, ie doing what most Forge mods do. It isn't really focused on client side mods at all (things like minimaps). Based on past discussions between the Voxel Modpack Team and Dinnerbone, they have no plans to implement a GUI hook into the API (for things like minimaps, TMI, NEI, gunmods, etc)

This would all be fine, I'd just keep using MCP. BUT the monkeywrench in the works now is that Searge, the guy who does MCP has just been hired by Mojang, to work on the mod API. MCP has been done without access to Mojang's code, and it's a possibility that it would be a conflict of interest for Searge to continue to work on MCP now that he has access to the official source. Plus he has been tasked with working on the API, which will not support client side mods.

If one were really paranoid, one could look at how Mojang has discouraged jarmods lately with the new launcher and one could wonder if hiring Searge was their way to pretty much kill any mod that involves accessing / changing Minecraft's base classes. Put him to work on the (long overdue and will be much more limited) API, and at the same time kill off MCP? There won't be a lot of mods left if that happens (other than heroes like Kahr, who work with the obfuscated source) until the API finally emerges - which won't be sufficient for a lot of current mods.

Best case, Searge continues work on MCP but can do so much more quickly now that he knows the real names of all the classes involved (assuming he is allowed to), or someone else takes up the slack. Worst case, no more MCP and no more jarmods or forge mods or anything else that depends on MCP.

I don't know exactly what is happening, but this does have the potential to be Mojang taking mods out behind the shed and putting them down.