Auroras in All the Mods 10

Auroras is a visual mod, and it does exactly what the name says: it adds auroras that light up the night sky. This pack includes version 1.6.2.^[1][2]

It works on its own, with no shaders mod needed, so you get the effect out of the box. The auroras show up as moving light in the shape of curtains, rays, spirals or flickers. Colors range from green and yellow to red, blue and violet.^[1]

Who it's for

It's for anyone who wants a prettier, more atmospheric night sky while they build and explore. It adds no gameplay on its own. It's all about the view, so it's a great excuse to stop and look up between machine builds.^[1]

Where you'll see them

By the mod's defaults in the Overworld, the equator sits at Z 10,000, and it's 20,000 blocks from there to either pole. The poles cycle every 40,000 blocks. So auroras can appear around Z -10,000 and Z 30,000, plus or minus a random offset, and again at every pole cycle before or after those. By default there are no biome requirements, though you can add some yourself.^[1]

Progression

The mod has no recipes or items to unlock in the sources I have, so there's nothing to progress through. You can enjoy it from the start.^[1]

Unverified The sources don't show whether this pack changes any of the Auroras defaults above, such as the equator position or the pole spacing. Treat those numbers as the mod's defaults. The sources also show no quests for this mod and no place for it on the ATM Star path.

Good news: there's nothing to craft here. Auroras is a visual mod that adds auroras to the night sky. As far as the sources show, it has no items or recipes to make first, and no quests in this pack involve it. So the first steps are about where to go, not what to build.^[1]

The mod works on its own, with no shaders mod needed. You don't have to install or set up anything extra to see the effect.^[1]

Step by step

1. Pick a night in the Overworld. The auroras light up the night sky, so that's when you'll see them.^[1]
2. Check your Z coordinate. By default the equator is at Z 10,000, and it's 20,000 blocks from there to either pole. The auroras appear in the polar regions.^[1]
3. Head toward a pole. By default the auroras can appear around Z -10,000 and Z 30,000, give or take a random offset. Poles cycle every 40,000 blocks, so the same pattern repeats further out in either direction.^[1]
4. Look up and enjoy. Auroras can look like curtains, rays, spirals or flickers, in colors from green and yellow to red, blue and violet.^[1]

The mod lets you tweak things like wave frequency, amplitude, colors and the pole and equator settings, and you can add biome requirements yourself.^[1]

Unverified The sources don't confirm which config file or option names hold these settings in this pack, or whether the pack changes any of the default values.

Here's the honest picture: Auroras is a purely visual mod. The sources describe it as a mod that adds auroras to the night sky, and they don't describe any machines, multiblocks, power, fluids or item automation. So there is nothing to build or pipe here. The mechanics are about where and how the auroras show up, and all of that is controlled by config files.^[1]

The mod works out of the box without any shaders mod. It also has explicit compatibility with TerraFirmaCraft and the Aether.^[1]

One config file per dimension

The pack ships separate config files for the Overworld, the Aether and the End. Each one names the dimension it applies to through allowedDimensions, allowedDimensions and allowedDimensions. In every file the biome list (allowedBiomes, allowedBiomes and allowedBiomes) is empty. That means there is no biome requirement, which matches the mod's own note that biome restrictions are something you add yourself.^[1][3][4][5]

Where auroras appear in the Overworld

Auroras follow a latitude system along the Z axis. In the Overworld the equator sits at Z 10,000 and it is 20,000 blocks from there to either pole. The pack's Overworld file sets equatorZ to 10,000 and blocks90 to 20,000, so it matches that description. Poles cycle every 40,000 blocks, so auroras can appear around Z -10,000 and Z 30,000 plus or minus a random offset, and again at every pole cycle before or after those. The pack also sets auroraMaxPoleOffset to 5,000.^[1][4]

Aether and End differences

The Aether file puts equatorZ at 0, and so does the End file (equatorZ). The End also differs in two switches. aboveHeadPosition is true there but false in the Overworld and Aether files. ignoreStarBrightness is true in the End and false in the Overworld and the Aether.^[3][4][5]

Colours

Each dimension has its own colour ranges for the lower, middle and top layers of the aurora. The Overworld and the Aether share the same lower range (0.6 to 0.88) and middle range (0.22 to 0.41). Their top ranges differ: 0 to 0.05 in the Overworld and -0.07 to 0.06 in the Aether. The End uses its own values: 0.64 to 0.83 for the lower layer, 0.7 to 0.83 for the middle and 0.83 to 0.9 for the top. Every file uses a colour cycle of 1,200 for each layer.^[3][4][5]

Most of the other shape and animation settings are identical across the files. Examples are auroraDetail at 500, yearLength at 365 and pixelStyle set to true.^[3][4][5]

The Auroral chapter of the pack's quest book starts with "Auroral" quest. Its text says the Auroral Event rarely happens at night in snowy biomes, that the sky shines blue, pink and green, and that new plants and mobs spawn while it lasts. The quests that follow build on it.^[6]

Tier 1: The Glacial Basin and Aurora Blooms

Two quests unlock straight after the intro. "Auroral Infusion" quest asks for the Glacial Basin, which collects Liquid Aurora. It goes up to Level 3, and only at Level 3 can you use items on it to infuse them. More basins means more Aurora collected.^[6]

"Aurora Blooms" quest asks for the Aurora Bloom. The quest says blooms grow randomly during auroras, on or in snow, layered snow, powdered snow and ice, and that breaking a fully grown one gives Frozen Petals and another bloom.^[6]

Two quests follow the blooms. "Ender Blooms" quest says that using an Ender Pearl on a bloom changes it into an Ender Bloom, and that Ender Blooms have to be planted on End Stone to grow. "Frozen Petals" quest covers the Frozen Petals, which the quest says can be used for food items, Glow Leek Seeds, Cold Brewing Stands and Awkward Potions.^[6]

Tier 2: Infusion

Once you have a Level 3 basin, the Auroral Infusion quest opens up several quests at once.^[6]

Each of these is listed as coming after Auroral Infusion, and the quest texts describe them like this:^[6]

• "Shimmersteel" quest: the quest says you start by crafting the Unrefined version, then toss it into a full Glacial Basin to get the Shimmersteel Ingot.^[6]
• "Shimmering Ice" quest: the quest says infused ice gives Shimmering Ice, which it describes as never melting, giving off light and hydrating crops like water.^[6]
• "Shimmerweave Fabric" quest: the quest says Shimmerweave is made by infusing Woven Leather in a Glacial Basin, and that its only use is the four pieces of Shimmerweave Armor.^[6]
• "Aurora Shards" quest: this one needs both Auroral Infusion and Frozen Petals done. Infusing Frozen Petals gives you the Aurora Shard, an important crafting ingredient.^[6]

Tier 3: What Aurora Shards unlock

The Aurora Shards quest says shards are needed to craft Shimmer Smithing Templates, Hearthwood Logs and Aurora Lanterns, and that they are also used in taming mobs from the Auroral. That makes them the gate for most of the rest of the chapter.^[6]

• "Shimmer Smithing Templates" quest: the Smithing Template is used for Shimmersteel gear and Shimmerweave Armor. The quest says both repair themselves if equipped during an aurora.^[6]
• "Hearthwood Logs" quest: the quest describes the Hearthwood Log as a campfire that uses Aurora Shards instead of coal. Each one raises the chance of an aurora by 15%, stacking up to 3 of them for 45%. It also scares off Phantoms and negates powdered snow damage near it.^[6]
• "Auroral Snowlettes" quest: the quest says handing an Aurora Shard to a Snow Golem makes an Auroral Snowlette, a tiny purple snowman that follows you and glows instead of shooting mobs with snowballs.^[6]
• "Auroral Nautilus" quest: Auroral Nautilus spawn rarely during auroras and vanish 30 seconds after one ends. A shard gives you a 1/3 chance to tame one, and then you can ride it.^[6]
• "Aurora Lanterns" quest: this needs both Aurora Shards and Shimmersteel. The quest says holding the Aurora Lantern in either hand stops the Darkness effect.^[6]

Side branches: potions and food

"Cold Brewing Stand" quest comes after Shimmersteel and Frozen Petals. The quest says the Cold Brewing Stand uses the same recipes as a normal brewing stand, but is crafted with Frozen Petals and uses snowballs as fuel instead of Blaze Powder.^[6]

"Glow Leeks" quest comes after Shimmering Ice and Frozen Petals. The quest says to place Glow Leek Seeds on Shimmering Ice to grow them, and that they only grow there. It says eating a Glow-Leek gives Night Vision and Glowing.^[6]

Tier 4: Shimmersteel and Shimmerweave gear

The gear quests are listed as coming after the Shimmer Smithing Templates quest, plus Shimmersteel for tools and weapons or Shimmerweave Fabric for armor.^[6]

• "Shimmerweave Armor" quest: the quest says the full set has 20 Armor Points and 8 Armor Toughness, the same as Netherite. According to the quest, the goggles give Glowing to hostile mobs, the tunic puts out fire that is currently burning you, the leggings give a speed boost on snow, soul sand and soul soil, and the skates make you walk faster on ice with less friction. The skates also freeze water, turn lava into obsidian and remove fall damage when you land on ice or obsidian.^[6]
• "Shimmersteel Tools" quest: the quest says shovels and hoes come with Silk Touch, axes can make copper blocks oxidize, and pickaxes are the same tier as Iron Pickaxes with Fortune 3 for gems only.^[6]
• "Shimmersteel Weapons" quest: the quest text lists a Sword, Spear and Bow. It says the sword gives mobs Frostbite when you hit them below a certain amount of health, and the spear does so on any hit, with bonus damage during an aurora. The bow uses snowballs instead of arrows and can apply Blindness and Glowing.^[6]

Finishing up: Shimmer Soil

"Shimmer Soil" quest comes after Shimmersteel Tools. Use a Shimmersteel Hoe on snow to make Shimmer Soil. It acts like farmland and needs water or Shimmering Ice nearby. Plants grow 3 times faster at night than in the day, and 5 times as fast during auroras. You can't pick the soil back up.^[6]

Unverified The exact in-pack crafting recipes for these items could not be confirmed here, so check the quest book or your recipe viewer for the ingredients. This site does hold All the Mods 10's own recipes, read from the pack itself: look the item up in the item browser.

As the quest book lays it out, everything for this mod is in one chapter, called Auroral. It lists 21 quests, but one is a hidden, untitled quest that only shows in editing mode, so you will work through 20. Most of the chapter follows a chain of prerequisites, so here is the order.^[6]

Where it starts

The first quest is "Auroral" quest, an advancement task. Its text says the Auroral Event rarely happens at night in snowy biomes, with a blue, pink and green sky, and that new plants and mobs can spawn. Two quests list it as their prerequisite: "Auroral Infusion" quest and "Aurora Blooms" quest.^[6]

The bloom branch

• "Aurora Blooms" quest asks for an Aurora Bloom. Its text says blooms grow randomly during auroras and disappear in daytime once the aurora is over, unless you harvested them with Silk Touch.^[6]
• "Ender Blooms" quest comes after it and asks for an Ender Pearl. Its text says using one on an Aurora Bloom changes it into an Ender Bloom.^[6]
• "Frozen Petals" quest also comes after the blooms and asks for Frozen Petals. Its text says they drop from mature Aurora Blooms.^[6]

The infusion branch

"Auroral Infusion" quest asks for a Glacial Basin. Its text says the basin collects Liquid Aurora and goes up to Level 3, and that only at Level 3 can you infuse items with it. Four quests list it as a prerequisite:^[6]

• "Shimmerweave Fabric" quest asks for Shimmerweave Fabric.^[6]
• "Shimmersteel" quest asks for Unrefined Shimmersteel and Shimmersteel Ingot.^[6]
• "Shimmering Ice" quest asks for Shimmering Ice. After it, "Glow Leeks" quest also lists "Frozen Petals" quest as a prerequisite, and asks for Glow Leek Seeds and an Glow-Leek.^[6]
• "Aurora Shards" quest lists both "Auroral Infusion" quest and "Frozen Petals" quest as prerequisites. It asks for an Aurora Shard.^[6]

After Aurora Shards

Four quests list Aurora Shards as a prerequisite:^[6]

• "Auroral Snowlettes" quest asks for a Carved Pumpkin and an Aurora Shard. Its text describes handing a shard to a Snow Golem to make an Auroral Snowlette.^[6]
• "Auroral Nautilus" quest asks for a Snowball and an Aurora Shard. Its text covers the flying Auroral Nautilus, which it says you have a 1/3 chance to tame with a shard.^[6]
• "Hearthwood Logs" quest asks for a Hearthwood Log. Its text says each log increases the chance of an Aurora spawning by 15%, stackable up to 3 of them for 45%.^[6]
• "Shimmer Smithing Templates" quest asks for an Smithing Template. The gear quests below list it as a prerequisite.^[6]

Two more quests list two prerequisites each. "Aurora Lanterns" quest comes after Aurora Shards and Shimmersteel, and asks for an Aurora Lantern. "Cold Brewing Stand" quest comes after Shimmersteel and Frozen Petals, and asks for a Cold Brewing Stand.^[6]

Gear and the end of the chapter

• "Shimmerweave Armor" quest comes after the Smithing Templates and Shimmerweave Fabric quests. It accepts any one of the Shimmerweave goggles, tunic, leggings or skates. Its text says the full set has 20 Armor Points and 8 Armor Toughness.^[6]
• "Shimmersteel Tools" quest comes after the Smithing Templates and Shimmersteel quests. It accepts any one of the Shimmersteel pickaxe, axe, shovel or hoe.^[6]
• "Shimmersteel Weapons" quest has the same two prerequisites. It accepts a Shimmersteel sword or bow.^[6]
• "Shimmer Soil" quest follows the tools quest and is an observation task. Its text says you make Shimmer Soil by using a Shimmersteel Hoe on snow, and that plants grow 3 times faster on it at night and 5 times as fast during auroras.^[6]

Auroras keeps one config file per dimension in this pack: one for the Overworld, one for the Aether and one for the End. The mod exposes a huge number of tweakable values, such as wave frequency, amplitude and colors. Most of them are identical across the three files, so you only need to look at a handful.^[1][3][4][5]

Where auroras can appear

• allowedDimensions is set to the Overworld, allowedDimensions to the Aether, and allowedDimensions to the End. Each file only controls its own dimension.^[3][4][5]
• allowedBiomes is an empty list in this pack, and so are the Aether and End versions. That means no biome requirement, which matches the mod's own default.^[1][3][4][5]

Aurora position in the Overworld

In the Overworld, equatorZ is 10000 and blocks90 is 20000, so the poles are 20,000 blocks from the equator. These are the same as the mod's stated defaults, so the pack hasn't changed them. Poles cycle every 40,000 blocks, so auroras can show up around Z:-10000 and Z:30000, plus a random offset, and again every cycle after that.^[1][4]

The Aether and End files use an equatorZ of 0 and keep blocks90 at 20000. endlessPoles is false in all three files.^[3][4][5]

What's different in the End

• aboveHeadPosition is true in the End, while it is false in the Overworld and the Aether.^[3][4][5]
• ignoreStarBrightness is true in the End, while it is false in the other two files.^[3][4][5]
• The End has its own palette. lowerColorHSBMin is 0.64 and lowerColorHSBMax is 0.83. midColorHSBMin is 0.7 and midColorHSBMax is 0.83. topColorHSBMin is 0.83 and topColorHSBMax is 0.9.^[5]
• The Overworld palette uses 0.6 (lowerColorHSBMin) to 0.88 (lowerColorHSBMax) for the lower range, 0.22 to 0.41 for the mid range, and 0 (topColorHSBMin) to 0.05 (topColorHSBMax) for the top range. The Aether uses the same lower and mid values, but its top range runs from -0.07 to 0.06.^[3][4]

Shared values

All three files share the same look-and-feel settings. pixelStyle is true, auroraDetail is 500 and yearLength is 365. The color cycle options (lowerColorCycle, midColorCycle and topColorCycle) are all 1200.^[3][4][5]

All the Mods 10 8.1 ships Auroras 1.6.2. The mod has been in the pack since version 0.64 or earlier, so you may have seen several of these changes already. Here are the notable ones from the mod's own changelogs, newest first.^[2]

The 1.6 series

• 1.6.2 (the version in this pack): config caching and handling was optimized by a factor of 159, or 99.3711%. It also added a keybinding to force-reload configs, and aurora colors should now switch to the right dimension or config colors faster when you enter a dimension like The End.^[2][7]
• 1.6.1: easing was added when you enter or leave biomes from the allowed biomes list config, so auroras no longer suddenly pop in or vanish from the sky.^[8]
• 1.6: a new automatic config updater arrived. It updates your configs whenever a new version comes out.^[9]

The 1.5 series

• 1.5.6: fixed a rare issue.^[10]
• 1.5.5: improved the aurora rendering math and logic. Resetting your configs was recommended.^[11]
• 1.5.4: added extra checks for invalid configs, plus small fixes for shader support.^[12]
• 1.5.3: auroras now rotate slowly (configurable) when you cross a polar boundary or point. It added a config for the distance between bands and a polar offset config, so the "magnetic" poles can shift from day to day and auroras can appear further south or north than normal. It also improved the aurora calculations, fixed code that wasn't actually using modulo, improved Simple Clouds compatibility and added Aether II compatibility. Resetting or deleting the configs was recommended.^[13]
• 1.5.2: a micro patch for some compatibility issues.^[14]
• 1.5.1: optimized the config handler, and each dimension can now have multiple differently configured auroras.^[15]

Earlier releases

• 1.4.1: you can now fly above auroras and view them from above.^[16]
• 1.3: the mod was ported to 1.21.^[17]

Unverified No pack changelog entries for Auroras were available, so any changes the pack itself made to this mod's values or behavior are unverified.