Modding FAQ

General Purpose FAQ
>What mod launcher should I use? MultiMC is a fine choice.

>Are there any modded /mcg/ servers?

Check the server list... but probably none that is too lively.

>Which MC version should I use? 1.7.10 by default; 1.6.4 if you want to use mods not updated to 1.7. 1.8 is dead for mods, use it for vanilla or custom maps (due to the new commands in the game) 1.9 was basically skipped, 1.10 seems to be the new 1.7, loads of new stuff and overhauls being put there, but until major projects like Thaumcraft migrate it won't be widely adopted.

''>Which mods should I use? '' Whatever you want.

>Where can I get some mods? http://modlist.mcf.li/ and http://bot.notenoughmods.com

>Should I use Feed the Beast? Avoid it if possible - it has a couple decent packs and may be a good introduction to modded MC, but it's cancerous. Keep in mind you will still need to mess with the configs, even using pre-made packs. The crew on FTB basically just slaps mods together without doing anything extra, and the cancerous "community" around it forces mods that underpreform and overtax your systems.

>What's up with this Curse crap? Curse crept into all the aspects of the MC community, but specially the modding scene - the Forums where you discuss about mods, mod hosting, FtB, even the wiki is under their control. So they "dictate" which mods will get known and which ones will be forgotten... and they encourage profiting, so the modding scene shifted from cooperative and for-the-fun to an industry infested with ad.fly, "copied feature of the month" mods and other faggotry. TL;DR: they're ruining modded Minecraft for their own profit.

''>I want to use Optifine... will that cause problems with mods?'' Yes. If you can, don't use it. If you have to because you run a dirty old toaster from 1955 you will have problems that are most likely unsolvable. On 1.7 Optifine doesn't shit up your render enough to notice it while playing if you configure it properly.

Oldfriend News
Forge is nowadays required by almost all the other mods.

Curse is used by lots of modders to host their stuff, so sadly you'll probably need to use it.

IC² is now IC²-Experimental, and it's shit. Filled with microcraft and grind, it's just a heaping wreck of shit trying to live up to the charm of its predecessor.

Buildcraft is basically the same, but now it has robots. It's currently maintained by asie, one of our fellow /mcg/ posters.

Redpower 2 is dead. Eloraam is working on her own game, and there are replacements anyway.

Thaumcraft 2? 3? Nope, TC4. And TC5 is coming.

Lots of mods shifted from Buildcraft's MJ to Redstone Flux.

Extra Utilities is now yet another mod with a tech tree that includes even the kitchen sink.

Applied Energistics now requires to "future-proof" cable management, has world crafting (drop quartz seeds in a pool and wait for them to grow) and worldgen (meteors with stuff required to progress).

FlowerChild is still a jerk. Some things never change.

Mod Suggestions
>Quality-of-life


 * Not Enough Items - shows every item in the game and its crafting recipes.


 * INpureCore - removes a bunch of crap entries from NEI as spawners, fire, microblocks, etc. Github for premade filter scripts: http://github.com/BMB78/INPureCore-NEIFilterScripts (or ask in the thread, one Anon managed to reduce the number of NEI pages from 118 to 42 using scripts).


 * Fastcraft - it improves the game performance by a fair amount (avoid Optifine; it's buggy and causes issues).


 * Any minimap mod (see below).

>Minimaps

Plenty choices. Journey Map, MapWriter, VoxelMap (requires LiteLoader), Xaero's Minimap (new hotness)... pick your poison.

There's an updated version of Rei's Minimap for 1.7.10 somewhere.

There's also Antique Atlas - instead of a radar-like minimap, it implements a bookmap.

>Tech mods


 * Thermal Expansion - adds machines that produce resources using Redstone Flux. No ducts (they were moved to another mod, Thermal Dynamics).


 * Minefactory Reloaded - great for automatic monster and animal farms; also uses RF.


 * EnderIO - the compact, 3-in-a-block pipes are a strong point of this mod.


 * OpenComputers - a harder, more programming-heavy alternative to ComputerCraft.


 * Another One Bites the Dust - compatibility between industrial mods; it adds dusts, clusters and plates for all the metals.


 * Flaxbeard's Steam Power - a bit less "hightech-looking" than the above; drills, auto-anvil, quarrying and other features, all steam-based.


 * While not a tech mod, Thaumcraft 4 plays along well with tech mods. More on the magic mods section.

>Magic mods


 * Thaumcraft 4 - the gold standard of magic mods... or a tech mod disguised as magic. Wands, quarries, magic nodes, golems and a lot more.


 * Some add-on mods made for TC4: Thaumic Tinkerer, Thaumic Horizons, Thaumic Exploration, TC Node Tracker (lists scanned nodes), Thaumic Bases, Forbidden Magic, Witching Gadgets (cross-mod integration), Thaumic Energistics (TC4-AE2 integration), Technomancy, Automagy...


 * Blood Magic


 * Botania - lots of its stuff is considered "stolen" from other mods, and it adds ass-looking flowers in the worldgen. Also, Vazkii (the dev) likes to shove his taste in music down your throat, so the file is unnecessarily heavy and you can't turn the music off. Form your own opinion. Filled with Anime Memes, use with caution.


 * Witchery - it's "beta", but has lots of content. Multiplayer-heavy.


 * Ars Magica - Very involved spell creation method with several unfortunate bugs making things difficult. Use with caution.

>Random fun


 * Clay Soldiers - create armies of tiny clay soldiers and watch them fight. It isn't really useful, but fun to watch (specially in multiplayer), and everything can be crafted easily on survival.


 * Web Displays - adds a huge screen that displays actual web pages inside the game. Compatible with ComputerCraft, so it can be used to make a movie theatre or drive-in that shows videos from YouTube or similar. Autistic but fun.

>Aesthetics


 * Carpenter's Blocks - slopes, slabs, even levers with any material you want. Beware of issues if you use lots of its blocks.


 * Chisel - huge library of different blocks and textures. Works great with the above.


 * Ztones - nice array of cosmetic blocks with a futuristic vibe. Also works with Carpenter's Blocks.


 * Chiseltones - cross-compatibility between Ztones and Chisel, makes chiselling Ztones blocks possible.


 * Bibliocraft - some "random" stuff, quite functional for an aesthetic mod.


 * Malisis' Doors - more doors, bigger doors, animated doors. DOORS.


 * DecoCraft 2 - adds a variety of furniture models to the game. Most are quite larger than the ones from the mods above.


 * Better Foliage - changes the way leaves and tall grass look like.


 * CustomNPCs - as per name; makes Minecraft feel far more lively. If you're good with scripts, your NPCs could probably make anything. Comes with props, weapons, tools and clothing.

>Exploration and world generation


 * Biomes o' Plenty - adds new biomes; some are cool, some crappy. Includes some [useless] gems. Worth using, but you'll want to tweak the configs.


 * Realistic World Generation - it's unfinished, and looks like the author fucked off, but it makes the biome gen more sensible. Look for one of the unofficial continuations or bother asie for his build.


 * Recurrent Complex, Ruins and others - add structures to the worldgen to make exploring more interesting. Tinker the configs if you feel like the structures spawn too often or too rarely.


 * Roguelike Dungeons - big, procedural dungeons with lots of mobs and loot.


 * Artifacts - items with random effects in dungeon loot, plus its own worldgen structures.

>Redstone stuff (aka Redpower 2 replacements)


 * RedLogic - replaces RP2 features as lamps, redstone wires and gates. The recipes for the gates are retarded but cheap.


 * Project Red - considered a modular rip-off of the above.


 * Blue Power - buggy, but the nearest you can get from old Redpower 2.

<font color="#6B8E23">>Simple additions to the gameplay


 * Redstone Paste - allows the placement of redstone, repeaters and comparators in walls and underside blocks.

items. It also adds a filter hopper. Mojang should consider adding both to the main game.
 * Hopper Ducts - improves vanilla hoppers with ducts that allow upwards movement of


 * Steve's Workshop - adds only one mechanical block that combines the crafting bench and furnace, but it's well-made and opens lots of possibilities when combined with Hopper Ducts. Tutorial video:  https://youtu.be/enhLLXbMwek


 * ComputerCraft - adds in actual programmable computers using Lua and robots ("turtles") that can do basic tasks as mining and lumberjacking.


 * Tinkers' Construct - adds in a wide assortment of weapon and tool combinations that you craft using new craft benches. There's even a config option to turn off vanilla weapons/tools to encourage its usage. Offers also a smeltery that turns ores into liquids and double their output.


 * Growthcraft - modular farm additions. Apple trees, bamboo, bees, alcoholic beverages, fishtraps, grapes, hops and rice. Small but tidy and comfy, does a couple of things well and has vanilla-like textures.

<font color="#6B8E23">>Mods with heavy gameplay impact


 * TerraFirmaCraft - a total conversion based on "believability". It doesn't play well with most other mods, but has a gorgeous worldgen and an interesting smelting and tool crafting system. Considered grindy by some players and fun by others.


 * EnviroMine - same general concept as TFC, but different implementation. More in tune with the regular game and works well with other Forge mods. Has features as gases, gas masks, hard hats, food spoilage and others.


 * Better than Wolves - it stopped being just a tech mod to become a total conversion in 1.3 times. Keeps more a vanilla feel than TFC, with minimal worldgen changes and no new ores. BtW's selling features are windmills, mechanical power  and a bunch of "hardcore features" that make the game really grindy, hard and unforgiving. Hated by some, loved by others. Incompatible with other mods (including Forge).

<font color="#6B8E23">>Complete, pre-made modpacks

If you ask in the thread for a modpack, most people will say "build your own". But if you can't/don't want to make one, here are a few choices:
 * Vanilla+ - decent modpack, specially to build off of it. It tries to retain the "vanilla feel" of the game, so it has smaller enhancements as Hopper Ducts and Steve's Workshop. Link: http://forum.feed-the-beast.com/threads/vanilla-press-release.93218


 * TolkienCraft II - also decent, if you want a good RPG adventure map with custom NPCs. Link: http://forum.feed-the-beast.com/threads/1-7-10-tolkiencraft-ii-adventure-awaits-v2-6-6-quests-adventure-normal-mode.49849


 * Agrarian Skies 2 - probably the most notorious skyblock modpack around; complete quests in a book by crafting or hoarding resources to progress, starting with almost nothing. Link: http://minecraft.curseforge.com/modpacks/225550-agrarian-skies-2


 * Blightfall - you're a scout assigned to investigate and cure a planet of its infection (taint). Start in a glass dome of your choice, report to your superiors by completing quests and earn positive or negative reputation acc. to your performance. Link: http://talonos.noip.me/blightfall/index.html

Custom Maps
Maps are essentially saved games that can change the goals of Minecraft into something different. Most are "adventure maps" that use the [seemingly] pointless adventure mode, where you can't break anything but only interact with stuff as levers and buttons. Other maps can be completely unique redstone contraptions, worth checking out. Most of those nowadays use the command blocks.

<font color="#6B8E23">>Adventure maps and mini-games


 * TolkienCraft II - open-world RPG. Requires a modpack, see above.


 * Any "Complete the Monument" map by Vechs - start with Sea of Flame II. They get super hard, you've been warned.


 * Captive Minecraft - start in a 3x3 area surrounded by a world border, which expands as you progress through the game.


 * Splatoon - SethBling created a mini-game that duplicates the action found in the game with the same name. Not a substitute for the real thing, but worth trying. See more in the video: http://youtu.be/cG-asw9shvY

>Unique maps and/or redstone creations
 * InfinityDungeon - explore a randomly generated dungeon with challenges in different sectors of the map. Can be reset for a new experience, something encouraged, as most loot doesn't generate in one generation. Done entirely with redstone and command blocks, you'll feel amazed at what vanilla is capable of, but this can go for a variety of 1.8 and 1.9 maps.
 * Commandore 32 - a functioning computer with an user interface done completely in vanilla. Brief trailer for the map: http://youtu.be/go5qdMKZs-M


 * Word Processor - keeping with the theme of the above, a redstone computer that works as word processor. Link: http://youtu.be/g_ULtNYRCbg


 * Google in Minecraft - self-explanatory. Link with an annoying voice: http://youtu.be/Fku3apLKeXw

<font color="#6B8E23">>Command block creations (>"mods")

Some talented players have taken to the new commands from the 1.8 and 1.9 updates and made really complete creations that can even simulate regular mods. Those creations are usually "installed" copying-and-pasting code into one or two command blocks plus a button/lever/redstone torch to power it.

IJAMinecraft creates a wide array of these creations, including furniture, villages, cities, superpowers, magic, boss battles, and so on. Watch some of his videos to see these creations in greater detail, he also provides the code in the video descriptions. As an example, Herobrine boss battle: http://youtu.be/GAvScn0zQPA

If you're interested in stuff like that, it's maybe useful to spend a few minutes on Youtube looking up related videos or searching what you want. There's a lot of stuff to find when one is really, really bored.

Mod Configuration Information and Suggestions
<font color="#6B8E23">>Why the fuck are there fireworks exploding all the goddamn time? Change it in endercore.cfg, setting 'betterachievements' to 'false'.

<font color="#6B8E23">>How do I get rid of the weaboo references in Botania? In botania.cfg, set 'references.enabled' to 'false'.

<font color="#6B8E23">>How do I reduce the spawn rate of Botania flowers? Again in botania.cfg; search 'worldgen.flower' entries, tweak them to your taste.

<font color="#6B8E23">>Botania flowers look gross... Set 'flowerTextures.alt' to 'true' in botania.cfg; then they'll look like this: http://i.imgur.com/0J0CUPP.png

<font color="#6B8E23">>I hate Thaumcraft warp, how do I remove it? Set 'wuss_mode' to 'true' in thaumcraft.cfg. Note that you need warp to access the Eldritch researches, so I'd recommend to change the config after you unlocked the tab.

<font color="#6B8E23">>I have different copper/tin ores spawning in the world. Verify which mods are generating them and check their configs. Many examples:


 * Forestry - forestry/common.conf, search for 'world.generate'
 * Galacticraft - in core.conf > General > Enable Tin/Copper Ore Gen
 * IC² - in IC2.ini > [worldgen] copperOre and tinOre
 * Mekanism - in mekanism.cfg, search for CopperPerChunk and TinPerChunk
 * Railcraft - in railcraft.cfg, look at the bottom of the worldgen section at generate { B:copper/tin }
 * Tinkers' Construct - search for 'worldgen disabler' in TinkersConstruct.cfg

<font color="#6B8E23">>There are mobs in the main menu. Open bspkrsCore.cfg and set 'showMainMenuMobs' to 'false'.

<font color="#6B8E23">>There are literal lakes of shit all over the map! Search for 'generate MFR lakes' in powercrystals/minefactoryreloaded/common.cfg

<font color="#6B8E23">>How do I make the bedrock layers flat? CoFHCore's common.cfg has options to flatten and set the # of bedrock layers in the World section.

<font color="#6B8E23">''>Why are there so many different rocks? Andesite, granite, diorite, limestone...'' The first three are backported 1.8 blocks (1.8 spawns this ugly shit everywhere); and a couple mods add their own flavour of limestone, leaving you with a couple of versions of the same thing. Configs where you can tweak this shit:
 * TSteelworks.cfg, worldgen section (limestone)
 * chisel.cfg, ' Amount', tweak it as you wish (limestone and 1.8 rocks)

<font color="#6B8E23">>Why is Twilight Forest bothering me about an ID, and where do I make it shut up? Twilight Forest is using a dimension ID conflicting with another mod you have. Just find the TwilightForest.cfg and change dimensionID to some number above ~60, this should solve the issue. (Note: TF and RWG conflict biome IDs out-of-the-box.)

<font color="#6B8E23">''>I'm still being bothered about something biomes. How do I even biome ID?'' If you have NEI installed: open its ingame options menu, go to Tools > Datadumps > Dump Biome IDs to .csv. Open that document with Notepad or whatever and determine which IDs are open, then change the biome IDs in your mods.