Explorer's Compass in All the Mons

Explorer's Compass is a compass that locates structures anywhere in the world. You pick what you want to find, and the compass points you toward it. It supports all registered structures, both vanilla and modded, so structures added by other mods in the pack are covered too.^[1]

How you use it

• Right-click with the compass to open a GUI where you select a structure or a group of structures to search for.^[1]
• Details about the search, such as a located structure, show up on your HUD.^[1]
• Shift-right-click to reset the compass state.^[1]
• When the compass isn't pointing at a structure, it points at the world spawn.^[1]

Server owners and tweakers can change properties like the maximum search radius and blacklisted structures in the mod's config file. I can't confirm from the sources whether the pack changes any of those values, so check the config in your own install before relying on a particular radius.^[1]

Who it's for and where it fits

It's for anyone who is tired of wandering around hoping to stumble on a structure. If you want to find biomes instead, the sibling mod's Nature's Compass does that job.^[1][2]

This pack includes Explorer's Compass version 1.21.1-3.4.0-neoforge. The quest "Compasses for Searching" quest in the "Tips and Poke Tricks" chapter points you to it. That quest accepts either compass as its task, and it describes the Explorer's Compass as working like Nature's Compass but for structures instead of biomes.^[2][3]

Unverified The in-pack crafting recipe for the Explorer's Compass isn't included in the sources I was given, so it isn't shown here. Check in-game recipe viewing for the exact recipe. This site does hold All the Mons's own recipes, read from the pack itself: look the item up in the item browser.

The first thing to make in this pack is the Explorer's Compass. It locates structures anywhere in the world, vanilla and modded alike, so it saves you a lot of wandering when you're hunting for a specific build.^[1]

Step 1: Craft the compass

The pack adds its own recipe for the Explorer's Compass through KubeJS. Here is the exact in-pack recipe:^[4]

Explorer's CompassAdded by the pack

Shaped (kubejs)

Shaped (kubejs)

Netherite Ingot	Enderium Gear	Netherite Ingot
Enderium Gear	Recovery Compass	Enderium Gear
Netherite Ingot	Enderium Gear	Netherite Ingot

Recipe id: kubejs:kjs/explorerscompass_explorerscompass

This recipe is added by the pack.

The mod also has its own shapeless crafting recipe, with the id repair_explorers_compass, which outputs an Explorer's Compass. Here it is:^[4]

Explorer's CompassMod recipe

Crafting Shapeless

• Explorer's Compass
• Compass

Recipe id: explorerscompass:repair_explorers_compass

This one comes from the mod itself, not from the pack.

Step 2: Pick a structure

1. Right-click with the compass to open a GUI. There you select a structure, or a group of structures, to search for.^[1]
2. Start the search. The compass points toward the structure, and information about the search shows on your HUD.^[1][2]
3. Shift-right-click to reset the compass state when you want to search for something else.^[1]

Biomes vs. structures

The Explorer's Compass works the same way as the Nature's Compass, but for structures instead of biomes. The Nature's Compass is the one to grab when you want to find a biome. The quest "Compasses for Searching" quest in the Tips and Poke Tricks chapter covers both, and either compass counts for it.^[1][2]

Explorer's Compass has no machines, multiblocks, power or fluids in what the sources show. Everything revolves around one item, the Explorer's Compass, which locates structures anywhere in the world. The mechanics are about how you search, what a search costs, and how the pack's config limits it.^[1][5]

Using the compass

• Right-click with the compass to open a GUI where you pick a structure or a group of structures to search for.^[1]
• Shift-right-click to reset the compass state.^[1]
• Information about the search shows on the HUD. When the compass isn't pointing at a structure, it points at the world spawn.^[1]
• It supports all registered structures, both vanilla and modded.^[1]

In this pack, General.displayCoordinates is true. That means the HUD can show the precise coordinates and distance of a located structure, so you don't have to rely only on which way the compass points.^[6]

Once you've found a structure, you can ask for the next instance of it. General.maxNextSearches is 100 in this pack, the same as the mod default. It caps how many times you can search for the next instance, skipping locations you've already found. At 0 that feature would be disabled and the compass would always find the nearest instance.^[6]

What a search costs

The pack changed several values here, so the costs are not the mod's defaults. General.defaultXpLevels is 3 (the mod default is 0), so each search consumes 3 XP levels by default, which is also the maximum the option allows. General.xpLevelOverrides is empty, so no structure has its own price and every one uses that default.^[6]

The compass also wears out. General.compassDurability is 10 in this pack (the mod default is 0, which disables durability). That's the number of successful structure searches before the compass breaks and must be repaired.^[6]

Search range

Some config options shape how far and how thoroughly the compass looks. General.maxRadius is 5,000 in this pack (the mod default is 10,000), and General.maxSamples is 50,000 (the mod default is 100,000). The config notes say a larger radius increases search accuracy but can make the process more resource intensive.^[6]

General.allowTeleport is set to false. When enabled, it lets a player teleport to a located structure in creative mode, when opped, or in cheat mode.^[6]

Blacklisted structures

General.structureBlacklist hides structures from the GUI and makes them impossible to search for. In this pack it lists some structures from cobblemonextrastructures (such as the ancient tomb, bell tower and snowpoint temple) and several gym structures from rgs. The option accepts wildcards, where * matches any number of characters and ? matches one.^[6]

Crafting and repair

The pack removed the mod's original compass recipe and added its own shaped crafting recipe.^[4][7]

Explorer's CompassAdded by the pack

Shaped (kubejs)

Shaped (kubejs)

Netherite Ingot	Enderium Gear	Netherite Ingot
Enderium Gear	Recovery Compass	Enderium Gear
Netherite Ingot	Enderium Gear	Netherite Ingot

Recipe id: kubejs:kjs/explorerscompass_explorerscompass

The mod's own repair recipe is still in the pack. It is a shapeless crafting recipe.^[4]

Explorer's CompassMod recipe

Crafting Shapeless

• Explorer's Compass
• Compass

Recipe id: explorerscompass:repair_explorers_compass

There isn't a tier ladder to climb here. In this pack, Explorer's Compass is a single item, and the sources show no upgrade levels or variants. Progression is about when the quest book points you to it and how you craft it.^[2][4]

The quest

The quest "Compasses for Searching" quest is in the Tips and Poke Tricks chapter and is described as helping you find biomes and structures. Its task accepts either the Nature's Compass (Nature's Compass) or the Explorer's Compass, so either one counts.^[2]

The quest text says the Nature's Compass gives you a list of biomes to search for, while the Explorer's Compass works the same way but for structures. You select what you want, then hit Search.^[2]

How you get it

The pack adds its own shaped crafting recipe for the Explorer's Compass through KubeJS. The site shows the exact in-pack ingredients below.^[4]

Explorer's CompassAdded by the pack

Shaped (kubejs)

Shaped (kubejs)

Netherite Ingot	Enderium Gear	Netherite Ingot
Enderium Gear	Recovery Compass	Enderium Gear
Netherite Ingot	Enderium Gear	Netherite Ingot

Recipe id: kubejs:kjs/explorerscompass_explorerscompass

This recipe is added by the pack, not by the mod.

The recipe dump also lists a shapeless crafting recipe from the mod itself that produces the Explorer's Compass.^[4]

Explorer's CompassMod recipe

Crafting Shapeless

• Explorer's Compass
• Compass

Recipe id: explorerscompass:repair_explorers_compass

This is the mod's own shapeless recipe, listed in the pack's recipe dump.

In this pack, Explorer's Compass connects to other mods through one custom recipe and one quest.^[2][4]

Crafting: the enderium gear link

The pack adds its own shaped crafting recipe for Explorer's Compass. It includes Enderium Gear, an item from another mod, alongside vanilla items. The block below shows the exact in-pack recipe.^[4]

Explorer's CompassAdded by the pack

Shaped (kubejs)

Shaped (kubejs)

Netherite Ingot	Enderium Gear	Netherite Ingot
Enderium Gear	Recovery Compass	Enderium Gear
Netherite Ingot	Enderium Gear	Netherite Ingot

Recipe id: kubejs:kjs/explorerscompass_explorerscompass

This recipe is added by the pack, so it is the one to follow here.

Quest: pairing with Nature's Compass

In the "Tips and Poke Tricks" chapter, the quest "Compasses for Searching" quest covers both Nature's Compass and the Explorer's Compass. Its task accepts either one. The quest explains that Nature's Compass gives you a list of biomes to search for, while the Explorer's Compass works the same way but finds structures instead.^[2]

The mod's own project page also points to Nature's Compass if you want a compass that locates biomes, so the two make a natural pair for exploring.^[1]

The mod supports all registered structures, both vanilla and modded, so structures from other mods are covered by its search in general.^[1]

In this pack, the quest book mentions Explorer's Compass in one place: the "Tips and Poke Tricks" chapter. That's the only quest the sources tie to this mod, so this section is short.^[2]

Compasses for Searching

The quest "Compasses for Searching" quest is about finding biomes and structures. Its task accepts either the Nature's Compass or the Explorer's Compass, so having either one completes it.^[2]

The quest text explains the difference. The Nature's Compass gives you a list of biomes you can search for. You select a biome, hit 'Search,' and some info appears in the top left while the compass points in the direction of that biome. The Explorer's Compass works the same way, but it searches for structures instead of biomes.^[2]

Explorer's Compass is configured in config/explorerscompass-common.toml. This pack changes several values from the mod defaults, and each change makes the compass costlier or more limited to use. Here is what to know before you start hunting for structures.^[6]

Values the pack changed

• General.compassDurability is 10 here. The mod default is 0, which disables durability. In this pack the compass breaks after 10 successful structure searches and has to be repaired.^[6]
• General.defaultXpLevels is 3. The mod default is 0. Each search consumes 3 XP levels, which is the maximum the option allows.^[6]
• General.maxRadius is 5,000, down from the mod default of 10,000. The compass will not search farther than that. The config notes that a bigger radius improves search accuracy but can make the search more resource intensive.^[6]
• General.maxSamples is 50,000, down from the mod default of 100,000. This caps how many samples a single structure search can take.^[6]

Other options worth knowing

• General.xpLevelOverrides is empty in this pack. No structure has its own XP cost, so everything uses the default of 3 levels.^[6]
• General.allowTeleport is false, so you can't teleport to a located structure with the compass. Normally that option applies to creative mode, opped players or cheat mode.^[6]
• General.displayCoordinates is true. The HUD shows the exact coordinates and distance of a located structure, so you don't have to rely only on where the compass points.^[6]
• General.maxNextSearches is 100, the same as the mod default. It limits how many times you can search for the next instance of a located structure, skipping ones you've already found. Setting it to 0 would make the compass always find the nearest instance.^[6]

Blacklisted structures

General.structureBlacklist hides structures from the compass GUI and stops it from searching for them. If you can't find one of the structures below in the compass list, that's why.^[6]

• From cobblemonextrastructures: ancient_tomb, bell_tower, desert_ruins, island_cave and snowpoint_temple.^[6]
• From rgs: blackthorn_gym, celadon_gym, cerulean_gym, cinnabar_gym, fuchsia_gym, pewter_gym, saffron_gym and vermilion_gym.^[6]

All the Mons 1.3.0 ships Explorer's Compass 1.21.1-3.4.0-neoforge. The mod has been in the pack since All the Mons 0.3.0-beta or earlier.^[3]

Mod releases

Version 3.0.3 for NeoForge was the update that moved the mod to NeoForge 1.21.1.^[8]

Version 3.4.0 is the one you have in the pack. Its changelog is a batch of backports, meaning features and fixes brought over from other versions of the mod. Here is what it lists:^[9]

• A config option to add durability to the compass, along with a recipe to repair a broken compass.^[9]
• A feature to search for the next instance of a structure you have already located.^[9]
• Config options that make the compass consume XP levels when searching for a structure.^[9]
• A fix for structures with the c:hidden_from_locator_selection tag not being hidden.^[9]
• A fix for certain structure types where instances west of the search starting position would be missed.^[9]
• Improvements to the structure selection GUI.^[9]
• Turkish and Ukrainian translations.^[9]

Unverified The changelog describes durability and XP cost as config options. Whether All the Mons 1.3.0 turns them on is not confirmed, and no pack changelog entries for this mod were available, so check the pack's config before relying on either.