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 makes History Stages different

Most progression mods track progress per player. History Stages does it differently — stages unlock for the entire server at once, which means your whole group experiences the same era together. No one sneaks ahead, no one gets left behind.

Advancing isn't just a command either. Players physically bring Research Scrolls to the Research Pedestal and spend time researching to unlock the next era — a tangible, in-world ritual that fits any modpack theme and gives progression real weight.

On top of that, almost everything can be locked — not just items, but recipes across every mod, dimensions, mob spawning, loot tables, armor stand displays, and more. And with the built-in in-game editor, you can build and tweak your entire stage setup without ever touching a config file.

If you're using FTB Quests, the integration goes even deeper — History Stages adds a native stage task type and stage reward type directly into the FTB Quests editor, so you can tie stage unlocks into your quest lines without any extra scripting.

🔒 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
• Armor Stands & Item Frames — locked items displayed on armor stands or item frames (e.g. from world-generated structures) can't be taken or destroyed

🔬 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)

Create, edit, duplicate, and delete stages directly in-game — no file editing required. Features searchable lists for items, recipes, entities, dimensions, tags, and mods. You can also switch to Inventory mode to add items or mobs directly from your own inventory. Accessible via a button in the pause menu (OP required).

In-Game Config Editor (v3.x.x)

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

Debug Logging (v3.x.x)

Two-tier logging system: load-time diagnostic reports (debug-*.log) with config validation and registry checks, plus runtime event logs (runtime-*.log) tracking stage changes and blocked actions.

🎨 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
• Jade Integration — shows stage info as a tooltip on armor stands and item frames
• 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
• FTB Quests — optional (adds custom stage task & reward types directly in the FTB Quests editor)
• Jade — optional (shows stage info on armor stands and item frames)

❓ FAQ

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