Explorer's Compass guide for FTB Skies 2 1.0.1 to 1.14.3

Explorer's Compass is a compass that finds structures for you, anywhere in the world. If you want to find biomes instead, there is a sister mod, Nature's Compass, and this pack includes that too.^[1][2]

This pack ships Explorer's Compass 1.21.1-3.0.3-neoforge. It has been in the pack since FTB Skies 2 1.0.1 or earlier.^[3]

What it does

• 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]
• Info about the structure search shows on your HUD.^[1]
• When it is not pointing at a structure, it points at the world spawn.^[1]
• It supports all registered structures, vanilla and modded.^[1]
• Properties like the maximum search radius and blacklisted structures are adjusted in its config file.^[1]

Where it sits in the quest book

The pack's quest book has two quests for this mod, both titled Explorer's Compass, and both just ask you to obtain the compass. The first, a quest in "?", is in the chapter the_travelers_quest. That chapter has 21 quests, and almost all of the others are structure tasks, often with kill tasks too. The compass is the only quest there that asks for a plain item, apart from Abyssal Sacrifice. The quest list shows no prerequisite for it.^[4]

The second, a quest in "?", is in the useful_items_tips chapter, which has 29 quests. It sits alongside other item quests such as a quest in "?" for Nature's Compass.^[2]

The first thing to make in this pack is the Explorer's Compass. It locates structures anywhere in the world, vanilla and modded, so it saves you from wandering around hoping to stumble on one.^[1]

The pack adds its own crafting recipe for it, so don't go by the mod's default recipe. Here is the exact in-pack one:^[5]

Explorer's CompassAdded by the pack

Shaped (kubejs)

Shaped (kubejs)

Amethyst Shard	Netherite Nugget	Amethyst Shard
Netherite Nugget	Diamond Gear	Netherite Nugget
Amethyst Shard	Netherite Nugget	Amethyst Shard

Recipe id: ftb:explorerscompass

Added by the pack with a custom script.

Your first steps

1. Craft the compass using the recipe above.^[5]
2. Hand it in for the a quest in "?" quest in the Traveler's Quest chapter. That chapter is built mostly around structure tasks, and some of them also ask you to kill things. The compass is also covered by a quest in the Useful Items and Tips chapter, a quest in "?".^[2][4]
3. Right-click with the compass to open a GUI where you pick a structure or a group of structures to search for.^[1]
4. Follow the compass and keep an eye on the HUD, which shows information about the search. If the compass isn't pointing at a structure, it points at the world spawn instead.^[1]
5. Shift-right-click to reset the compass when you want to start a new search.^[1]

Pack settings worth knowing

In this pack, General.displayCoordinates is true, so the HUD shows the precise coordinates and distance of a located structure, not just a direction. The search radius from General.maxRadius is 10,000, which matches the mod default.^[6]

The pack also sets General.structureBlacklist to hide everything matching "mss:*". Those structures won't show up in the compass GUI and can't be searched for.^[6]

General.allowTeleport is also true. That lets you teleport to a located structure, but only in creative mode, when opped, or in cheat mode.^[6]

The Explorer's Compass from Explorer's Compass locates structures anywhere in the world. It has no machines, multiblocks, power or fluids to set up. Everything runs through one item, a selection screen and a config file.^[1]

Using the compass

1. Right-click with the compass to open its GUI, where you pick a structure or a group of structures to search for.^[1]
2. Once a search is running, information about it shows on the HUD.^[1]
3. Shift-right-click to reset the compass state when you want to start over.^[1]

When the compass is not pointing at a structure, it points at the world spawn. So if the needle seems to be pointing at nothing, check whether you have an active search first.^[1]

It supports all registered structures, both vanilla and modded, so structures added by other mods in the pack can show up in the GUI too, unless the config hides them (see below).^[1]

Getting one

Explorer's CompassAdded by the pack

Shaped (kubejs)

Shaped (kubejs)

Amethyst Shard	Netherite Nugget	Amethyst Shard
Netherite Nugget	Diamond Gear	Netherite Nugget
Amethyst Shard	Netherite Nugget	Amethyst Shard

Recipe id: ftb:explorerscompass

This is a recipe added by the pack through KubeJS, and it uses items from FTB Materials.

What the HUD shows

In this pack General.displayCoordinates is true. That means you can see the precise coordinates and distance of a located structure on the HUD, instead of relying only on the direction the compass points.^[6]

How the search is limited

General.maxRadius is the maximum radius searched for a structure. The pack sets it to 10,000, which is the mod default, and the allowed range is 0 to 1,000,000. Raising it increases search accuracy but can make the process more resource intensive.^[6]

General.maxSamples caps how many samples are taken when searching. The pack uses 100,000, again the mod default, and the allowed range is 0 to 100,000,000.^[6]

Hidden structures and teleporting

General.structureBlacklist lists structures the compass will not display in the GUI and cannot search for. Wildcards work: * matches any number of characters and ? matches one. This pack sets it to ["mss:*"], so anything matching that pattern is not available to search for.^[6]

General.allowTeleport is true in this pack. It allows a player to teleport to a located structure when in creative mode, opped, or in cheat mode. Regular survival players are not covered by it.^[6]

There is no tier ladder for the Explorer's Compass in this pack. The recipe dump lists a single recipe that makes it, so you craft one item and that's it. The progression part is where the quest book asks you to get it.^[5]

How you craft it

The recipe is a shaped crafting recipe added by the pack through KubeJS, so it belongs to this pack and isn't a mod default. Here is the exact in-pack recipe:^[5]

Explorer's CompassAdded by the pack

Shaped (kubejs)

Shaped (kubejs)

Amethyst Shard	Netherite Nugget	Amethyst Shard
Netherite Nugget	Diamond Gear	Netherite Nugget
Amethyst Shard	Netherite Nugget	Amethyst Shard

Recipe id: ftb:explorerscompass

Where the quest book puts it

The compass shows up in two chapters. In the chapter "the_travelers_quest", a quest in "?" has one task: hand in the compass. That chapter has 21 quests, and every other quest in it starts with a structure task. Several also ask you to kill something, and one of them, a quest in "?", also asks for an item from another mod.^[4]

Two of the chapter's quests, a quest in "?" and a quest in "?", are listed after flint and steel. Two more, a quest in "?" and a quest in "?", are listed after the end portal frame. All four combine a structure task with kill tasks.^[4]

The compass also has its own quest, a quest in "?", in the "useful_items_tips" chapter. That chapter has 29 quests, and most of them ask you to have a handy item. a quest in "?" for Nature's Compass sits in the same chapter.^[2]

Same as in the FTB Skies 2 1.22.0 guide

The clearest link between Explorer's Compass and the rest of the pack is how you craft it. The pack adds its own KubeJS recipe for the compass, shown below. Items from other mods, such as Diamond Gear and Netherite Nugget, are what tie it to the rest of the pack.^[7]

Explorer's CompassAdded by the pack

Shaped (kubejs)

Shaped (kubejs)

Amethyst Shard	Netherite Nugget	Amethyst Shard
Netherite Nugget	Diamond Gear	Netherite Nugget
Amethyst Shard	Netherite Nugget	Amethyst Shard

Recipe id: ftb:explorerscompass

This recipe is added by the pack through KubeJS, so it is the pack's own recipe and not something you should assume from the mod itself.

Quests

The compass is a quest task in the chapters the_travelers_quest (a quest in "?") and useful_items_tips (a quest in "?"). In both, the only task is the compass itself, so these quests don't combine it with items from other mods.^[8][9]

Structures from other mods

The mod's project page says the compass supports all registered structures, both vanilla and modded. That means structures added by other mods can show up in its selection screen when you right-click with it.^[1]

Same as in the FTB Skies 2 1.22.0 guide

The Explorer's Compass appears in the quest book in the chapters "the_travelers_quest" and "useful_items_tips". In each one, the quest's task is the compass itself, and neither quest has a title in the pack files.^[8][9]

The chapters

• The chapter "the_travelers_quest" contains a quest in "?". Its task is the Explorer's Compass item.^[8]
• The chapter "useful_items_tips" contains a quest in "?". Its task is also the Explorer's Compass item.^[9]

Explorer's Compass has two config files in this pack: a common one that controls the search itself, and a client one that controls how the HUD looks. Here is how the pack sets the options you are most likely to care about.^[6][10]

Search settings (common file)

• General.maxRadius is 10,000 in this pack, which is the same as the mod default. It is the maximum radius searched for a structure, and the allowed range is 0 to 1,000,000. Raising it increases search accuracy but can make the search more resource intensive.^[6]
• General.maxSamples is 100,000, also the mod default. It caps how many samples are taken when searching for a structure, and the allowed range is 0 to 100,000,000.^[6]
• General.structureBlacklist is set to ["mss:*"] in this pack. Blacklisted structures are not shown in the compass GUI and cannot be searched for. The * wildcard matches any number of characters, so this entry covers every structure in the mss namespace.^[6]
• General.displayCoordinates is true, so the HUD can show the precise coordinates and distance of a located structure instead of only the direction the compass points.^[6]
• General.allowTeleport is true. That lets a player teleport to a located structure when in creative mode, opped, or in cheat mode.^[6]

HUD settings (client file)

• Client.overlaySide is set to LEFT, so the compass information appears on the left of your screen. You can switch it to RIGHT.^[10]
• Client.overlayLineOffset is 1, the same as the mod default. It is the line offset for the HUD information, with a range of 0 to 50.^[10]
• Client.displayWithChatOpen is true, so the compass information stays on the HUD even while chat is open.^[10]
• Client.translateStructureNames is true. The mod tries to translate structure names before falling back to the unlocalized names, though translations may not exist for every structure.^[10]

Unverified The sources only state mod defaults for maxRadius, maxSamples and overlayLineOffset, which match the pack. For the other options listed here, the mod default is not given, so whether the pack changed them is unverified.

There isn't much version history to tell for Explorer's Compass in this pack. FTB Skies 2 1.14.3 ships version 1.21.1-3.0.3-neoforge, and the mod has been in the pack since FTB Skies 2 1.0.1 or earlier.^[3]

The one change the mod's changelog lists for this version is that it was updated to NeoForge 1.21.1.^[11]

Unverified No pack changelog entries for this mod are available, so any pack-specific changes to it between releases are unverified.