MineColonies guide for All the Mods 10 0.61 to 1.15

MineColonies is part of this pack. It ships as version 1.1.752-1.21.1-snapshot, and it has been in the pack since version 0.57 or earlier, so it's a long-standing part of the mod list.^[1]

The one place the pack's quest book touches it is the "basic_tools" chapter. There, quest a quest in "?" has you obtain the Chief Sword. It unlocks after another quest in the same chapter.^[2]

Unverified The sources I have don't describe what MineColonies does in detail, who it suits best, or how it fits into the pack's progression. They also don't show it on the ATM Star path. Treat anything beyond the version and the Chief Sword quest as unconfirmed for now.

Welcome to your first colony! Almost everything in MineColonies starts with the same tool, so I'll walk you through what to make first and why. The order below is my suggested path, built from what the pack's recipes and the mod's own advancement descriptions say.^[3][4]

Nearly every hut recipe in the pack uses the Build Tool (Build Tool) plus planks, with one small extra item that depends on the hut. That makes the Build Tool the first thing to get. You also use it to place huts.^[3][4]

Town Hall

The Town Hall is the centerpiece of your colony. The mod says it has only a couple of benefits at the moment, but it's the natural place to start.^[4]

Town HallMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any plank	Build Tool	any plank
any plank	Build Tool	any plank
any plank	any plank	any plank

Recipe id: minecolonies:blockhuttownhall

Builder's Hut

The Builder's Hut gets you your first builder, who constructs your other huts. Keep the builder fed and fulfill their requests until they finish your first hut.^[4]

Builder's HutMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any plank	Build Tool	any plank
any plank	any wooden door	any plank
any plank	any plank	any plank

Recipe id: minecolonies:blockhutbuilder

Housing

Your citizens need somewhere to live. A Residence houses one citizen per level. The Tavern also gives you some initial housing, and you can recruit citizens there too.^[4]

ResidenceMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any plank	Build Tool	any plank
any plank	Torch	any plank
any plank	any plank	any plank

Recipe id: minecolonies:blockhutcitizen

TavernMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any plank	Build Tool	any plank
any plank	Barrel	any plank
any plank	any plank	any plank

Recipe id: minecolonies:blockhuttavern

Wood and ore

Huts cost materials, so set up suppliers early. A Forester's Hut collects wood for more huts. A Mine brings in ores and cobblestone. Each has a wooden-tool recipe and a stone-tool recipe, and both give you the same hut.^[3][4]

Forester's HutMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any plank	Build Tool	any plank
any plank	Wooden Axe	any plank
any plank	any plank	any plank

Recipe id: minecolonies:blockhutlumberjack

MineMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any plank	Build Tool	any plank
any plank	Wooden Pickaxe	any plank
any plank	any plank	any plank

Recipe id: minecolonies:blockhutminer

Food

Build a Farm to start food production. You also need to place a Field, which is the scarecrow, to mark where your farmer will work.^[4]

FarmMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any plank	Build Tool	any plank
any plank	Wooden Hoe	any plank
any plank	any plank	any plank

Recipe id: minecolonies:blockhutfarmer

FieldMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

Empty slot	Hay Block or Pumpkin	Empty slot
Stick	Leather	Stick
Empty slot	Stick	Empty slot

Recipe id: minecolonies:blockhutfield

Protection and logistics

As your town grows, others may begin to notice it. Build a Guard Tower and hire a guard to protect it.^[4]

2× Guard TowerMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any plank	Build Tool	any plank
any plank	Bow	any plank
any plank	any plank	any plank

Recipe id: minecolonies:blockhutguardtower

A Courier's Hut lets a courier fulfill worker requests automatically. The mod says that with a courier you can start using crafters, such as the Sawmill. The Courier's Hut has two recipes in the pack, and both give the same hut.^[3][4]

Courier's HutMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any plank	Build Tool	any plank
any plank	Leather Boots	any plank
any plank	any plank	any plank

Recipe id: minecolonies:blockhutdeliveryman

2× Courier's HutMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any plank	Build Tool	any plank
any plank	Iron Boots	any plank
any plank	any plank	any plank

Recipe id: minecolonies:blockhutdeliverymaniron

Good to know

The pack's basic_tools quest chapter also has a quest that asks for the Chief Sword (a quest in "?").^[2]

In this pack, MineColonies is built around citizens, huts and requests. This section covers how those systems fit together, as far as the sources explain them. Exact numbers for most huts aren't covered, so I've left them out.^[4]

Huts and the Build Tool

Every building starts as a hut block that you craft and place. Most hut recipes need the Build Tool, Build Tool, which also lets you choose the style and position when you place the Town Hall. Your first job is to craft a Builder's Hut, place it with the Build Tool, hire a Builder (automatic by default) and tell them to build their hut.^[3][4]

Builder's HutMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any plank	Build Tool	any plank
any plank	any wooden door	any plank
any plank	any plank	any plank

Recipe id: minecolonies:blockhutbuilder

The Builder's Hut is the starting point for every colony.

Upgrading the Builder's Hut matters, because it is what lets you upgrade your other huts too.^[4]

Requests, Couriers and the Warehouse

Workers ask for what they need through requests. You can fulfill a Builder's request for tools or resources with the buttons in their request screen. To automate this, build a Courier's Hut and hire a Courier, who fulfills worker requests automatically.^[4]

In this pack you can craft the Courier's Hut with either leather boots or iron boots. Both recipes give the same hut.^[3]

Courier's HutMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any plank	Build Tool	any plank
any plank	Leather Boots	any plank
any plank	any plank	any plank

Recipe id: minecolonies:blockhutdeliveryman

2× Courier's HutMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any plank	Build Tool	any plank
any plank	Iron Boots	any plank
any plank	any plank	any plank

Recipe id: minecolonies:blockhutdeliverymaniron

For central storage, build a Warehouse. You can also place a postbox and a stash for easy access to it.^[4]

Crafting workers

Crafting workers don't produce items on their own. They only craft when another worker makes a request, and each hut has an info tab that explains more. The Sawmill is where you start using crafters, with a Courier supporting you. Builders can learn 2x2 recipes, such as a torch, and will craft them when needed. A Stonemason can craft 3x3 recipes that use stone as the main ingredient. The Blacksmith's Hut allows automated crafting of tools.^[4]

Processing and production huts

• The Smeltery smelts ore for you. At level 3 it has a 100% chance of doubling ore output. At level 5 it has a chance of tripling every ore output, and that chance equals the worker's Strength level.^[4]
• The Crusher turns things like cobblestone into gravel.^[4]
• The Composter's Hut takes leftover saplings, leaves and similar items and turns them into fertilizer. The Flower Shop then uses compost or other kinds of bonemeal to grow flowers.^[4]
• The Enchanter's Tower consumes ancient tomes and other workers' experience to produce enchanted books.^[4]
• A Farm needs a Field (the scarecrow) placed to mark where your Farmer will work.^[4]
• Herder huts such as the Chicken Farmer's Hut and Cowhand's Hut only work once you bring the animals to the hut.^[4]

The Field is crafted without the Build Tool.^[3]

FieldMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

Empty slot	Hay Block or Pumpkin	Empty slot
Stick	Leather	Stick
Empty slot	Stick	Empty slot

Recipe id: minecolonies:blockhutfield

The Composter's Hut uses the Compost Barrel in its recipe, and the pack changed the barrel's recipe. The recipe below is the one that applies here.^[3]

Compost BarrelChanged by the pack

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any plank	Build Tool	any plank
any plank	Dirt	any plank
any plank	any iron ingot	any plank

Recipe id: minecolonies:barrel_block

Citizens: housing and food

Each level of a house holds one citizen. Children are only born when there is open space in one of the buildings, and they need to be fed and sleep well to grow up. Citizens must eat to work, so put food in their inventories, or build a Restaurant where the Cook cooks meats and gives food to you and your citizens. Feeding them rotten flesh earns you a scolding advancement.^[4]

ResidenceMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any plank	Build Tool	any plank
any plank	Torch	any plank
any plank	any plank	any plank

Recipe id: minecolonies:blockhutcitizen

Defense

A Guard Tower lets you hire a Guard. The Barracks hires many more Guards in a much smaller space. Barracks Towers are built inside the Barracks, are locked to the Barracks' level, and raise the maximum number of Guards with every level.^[4]

BarracksChanged by the pack

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any plank	Build Tool	any plank
any plank	any iron storage block	any plank
any plank	any plank	any plank

Recipe id: minecolonies:blockhutbarracks

The pack changed this recipe.

Unverified Config options, hut level requirements and costs, work order behavior, and citizen skill formulas are not covered by the available sources. No config files for this mod were found in the pack, so any specific values should be checked in game.

MineColonies progression in this pack is mostly driven by crafting recipes, not quests. The only quest tied to the mod in the data I have is a quest in "?" in the basic_tools chapter. It has no title and asks you to get a Chief Sword. It unlocks after another quest in that chapter.^[2]

Unverified No other MineColonies quests, and no in-pack tier or level breakdown for buildings, were found in the sources. Check your in-game quest book for anything beyond the Chief Sword quest.

Step 1: Town Hall and Builder

Everything starts with the Town Hall. It is one of the cheapest recipes in the set and is the unchanged mod recipe.^[3]

Town HallMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any plank	Build Tool	any plank
any plank	Build Tool	any plank
any plank	any plank	any plank

Recipe id: minecolonies:blockhuttownhall

Next comes the Builder's Hut, which is also an unchanged mod recipe. Nearly every hut recipe in the pack uses the Build Tool as its base, so craft that first.^[3]

Builder's HutMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any plank	Build Tool	any plank
any plank	any wooden door	any plank
any plank	any plank	any plank

Recipe id: minecolonies:blockhutbuilder

Step 2: Early workers and material variants

The Farm, Forester's Hut and Mine each have two recipes. One is a wooden-tool version and the other is a stone-tool version, and both give you the same hut. The Courier's Hut likewise has a leather version and an iron version. Use whichever suits the materials you have.^[3]

2× FarmMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any plank	Build Tool	any plank
any plank	Stone Hoe	any plank
any plank	any plank	any plank

Recipe id: minecolonies:blockhutfarmerstone

Stone-tier variant of the Farm.

2× Courier's HutMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any plank	Build Tool	any plank
any plank	Iron Boots	any plank
any plank	any plank	any plank

Recipe id: minecolonies:blockhutdeliverymaniron

Iron-tier variant of the Courier's Hut.

Step 3: Recipes the pack changed

Several mid-game buildings and tools have recipes changed by the pack, so don't trust the mod's defaults for them. These are the Compost Barrel, Barracks, Blacksmith's Hut, Crusher, Mystical Site, Plantation Field, Smeltery, Rack and Builder's Goggles. Look each one up before you plan a build.^[3]

Mystical SiteChanged by the pack

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any plank	Build Tool	any plank
any plank	any diamond gem	any plank
any plank	any plank	any plank

Recipe id: minecolonies:blockhutmysticalsite

Changed by the pack.

BarracksChanged by the pack

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any plank	Build Tool	any plank
any plank	any iron storage block	any plank
any plank	any plank	any plank

Recipe id: minecolonies:blockhutbarracks

Changed by the pack.

Step 4: Quarries and later extras

The Simple Quarry and Medium Quarry use unchanged mod recipes, and the Medium Quarry's recipe is the more demanding of the two.^[3]

Medium QuarryMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any plank	Build Tool	any plank
any plank	Diamond Pickaxe	any plank
any plank	Barrel	any plank

Recipe id: minecolonies:mediumquarry

The pack also adds its own recipes for the Supply Camp and the Supply Ship.^[3]

Supply CampAdded by the pack

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

Empty slot	Empty slot	Empty slot
Iron Bars	White Banner	Iron Bars
any chest boat	any chest boat	any chest boat

Recipe id: minecraft:kjs/minecolonies_supplycampdeployer

Supply ShipAdded by the pack

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

Empty slot	White Banner	Empty slot
Iron Bars	Iron Bars	Iron Bars
any chest boat	any chest boat	any chest boat

Recipe id: minecraft:kjs/minecolonies_supplychestdeployer

In this pack, the clearest link between MineColonies and another mod is the Build Tool (Build Tool). It is registered under the structurize namespace, not minecolonies, and the recipe dump shows it in the crafting recipes for every MineColonies block and item I checked, from the Town Hall to the Clipboard. So you can't craft any of them without it.^[3]

Recipes the pack changed

Several MineColonies recipes are marked as changed by the pack. Here they are, so you don't assume the stock mod recipe applies:^[3]

• Compost Barrel (Compost Barrel)^[3]
• Barracks (Barracks)^[3]
• Blacksmith's Hut (Blacksmith's Hut)^[3]
• Crusher (Crusher)^[3]
• Mystical Site (Mystical Site)^[3]
• Plantation Field (Plantation Field)^[3]
• Smeltery (Smeltery)^[3]
• Rack (Rack)^[3]
• Builder's Goggles (Builder's Goggles)^[3]

Several of these use shared material tags rather than one fixed item. Depending on the recipe, they accept any item from the iron ingots, iron storage blocks, iron nuggets, gold nuggets or diamond gems tags. Any item from another mod that carries one of those tags should therefore work, but the sources don't say which mods add such items in this pack.^[3]

Compost BarrelChanged by the pack

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any plank	Build Tool	any plank
any plank	Dirt	any plank
any plank	any iron ingot	any plank

Recipe id: minecolonies:barrel_block

Pack-changed recipe for the Compost Barrel.

Builder's GogglesChanged by the pack

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any gold nugget	any iron ingot	any gold nugget
Glass Pane	Build Tool	Glass Pane
Leather	Empty slot	Leather

Recipe id: minecolonies:build_goggles

Pack-changed recipe for Builder's Goggles.

Mystical SiteChanged by the pack

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any plank	Build Tool	any plank
any plank	any diamond gem	any plank
any plank	any plank	any plank

Recipe id: minecolonies:blockhutmysticalsite

Pack-changed recipe for the Mystical Site.

Shared tags in other recipes

Some storage-related blocks, such as the Warehouse, Postbox and Stash, use a shared chest tag. Other chests that carry that tag should be accepted. Most huts also take any planks, so wood types added by other mods work as long as they are tagged as planks.^[3]

Unverified The only MineColonies quest in the sources (in the basic_tools chapter) asks for the Chief Sword and uses no items from other mods. No other quest links MineColonies to another mod, and no recipe in the dump uses items from other content mods beyond the Build Tool.

MineColonies only shows up in one quest in this pack, and it sits in the basic_tools chapter. It's a small appearance, so don't expect a full questline for the colony system.^[2]

• Quest a quest in "?" has no title in the pack files. Its single task is an item task asking for the Chief Sword.^[2]
• It comes after quest a quest in "?", so you need to finish that one first to unlock it.^[2]

Unverified The sources don't say what quest 5151CDD8FCDE7A07 asks for, what the rewards for the Chief Sword quest are, or whether other chapters mention MineColonies, so check the in-game quest book for those details.