History Stages

History Stages is a global progression and gatekeeping mod built for modpack creators. Lock items, recipes, dimensions, mobs, and loot behind custom research-based eras — and let players work together to unlock them through the Research Pedestal.

Since stages unlock server-wide, it's perfect for collaborative survival packs where the whole group advances together.

🔒 What you can lock

• Items, Tags & entire Mods — lock individual items, item tags, or everything from a specific mod at once
• Recipes — hide crafting recipes by recipe ID from all crafting menus
• Dimensions — block access to the Nether, End, or any other dimension until players are ready
• Mobs — two modes: Attacklock (players can't hurt the mob) and Spawnlock (prevents spawning entirely, including spawners and commands). Spawnlocked mobs are also automatically attacklocked.
• Loot & Drops — locked items are removed or replaced in loot chests and mob drops
• Blocks — locked blocks resist breaking with a configurable slow-break multiplier

🔬 The Research System

Players unlock stages by using Research Scrolls at the Research Pedestal. Each stage can have its own research time — or fall back to a global default in your config.

This mod intentionally ships without default recipes for the Pedestal and Scrolls, so you as a modpack creator can decide how players obtain them — whether that's through KubeJS, CraftTweaker, a datapack, or quest rewards. To give a specific scroll via command:

/give @s historystages:research_scroll{StageResearch:"YOUR_STAGE_NAME"}

📂 Creating Stages

The easiest way is the in-game stage editor (see below). If you prefer working with files, create .json files in config/historystages/ after running the game once:

{
  "display_name": "Bronze Age",
  "research_time": 60,
  "items": ["minecraft:iron_ingot"],
  "tags": ["forge:ores/iron"],
  "mods": ["mekanism"],
  "recipes": ["minecraft:iron_pickaxe"],
  "dimensions": ["minecraft:the_nether"],
  "entities": {
    "attacklock": ["minecraft:zombie"],
    "spawnlock": ["minecraft:skeleton"]
  }
}

🛠️ Tools for Pack Creators

In-Game Stage Editor (v3.x.x · Beta)

Create, edit, duplicate, and delete stages directly in-game — no file editing required. Features searchable lists for items, recipes, entities, dimensions, tags, and mods. Accessible via a button in the pause menu (OP required). Currently in beta — bugs may occur. Please report any issues!

In-Game Config Editor (v3.x.x · Beta)

Tweak all mod settings without leaving the game, organized by category with a reset-to-defaults option. Accessible through the stage editor.

Debug Logging

Configurable debug output to help you track down config validation and stage loading issues.

🎨 UI & Feedback

• Lock Icon Overlay — locked items show a padlock in inventories and JEI (auto-disabled with EMI)
• Toast Notifications — an advancement-style popup notifies all players when a stage unlocks
• JEI / EMI Integration — locked items are hidden or marked in recipe viewers
• Actionbar & Chat Messages — configurable feedback when players try to access locked content

⌨️ Admin Commands

🔧 For Developers & Script Authors

⚙️ Configuration

Everything is configurable via historystages-common.toml and historystages-client.toml, or through the in-game config editor (v3.x.x). You can control:

• Toast popups, achievement sounds, and actionbar messages
• Unlock message format with color codes
• Loot replacement behavior (replacement list, tag-based, or deletion)
• Lock icon overlays and tooltip display options
• Dimension and mob lock feedback
• Default research time as a global fallback
• Debug logging

📦 Dependencies

• Lootr — required
• JEI — optional
• EMI — optional

Found a bug or have a question? Feel free to open an issue on GitHub — we read everything! 🙂