Feature Recycler in FTB Skies 2

Feature Recycler is a small behind-the-scenes mod that stops crashes between world generation mods. It targets a problem in Minecraft's feature cycler, which is the system that decides the order in which things like flowers, bushes and ocean plants are placed in each biome.^[1]

The crash it fixes is the "Feature order cycle" error. It happens when different mods add placed features to their biomes in different orders. Feature Recycler automatically re-sorts a biome's features so they follow the ordering rules set by an earlier biome that contains the same two features.^[1]

It also logs what it did. When it fixes a conflict, the log tells you which features moved, which mods were involved, and how many crashes it prevented. That makes it handy for tracking down which mods disagree about feature order, so you can report the problem to their issue trackers.^[1]

Who it is for and where it fits

You never need to set anything up. It is for anyone running a pack with several worldgen mods, and the pack ships version 2.0.0 of the NeoForge build. If you only play the pack, you can leave it alone and let it do its job. If you edit the mod list, keep it in mind as a safeguard against feature order cycle crashes.^[1][2]

Unverified The sources do not show any quests, items, or ATM Star path involvement for this mod, so it does not appear to be part of the pack's progression. Which specific mods in this pack it has to reconcile is also unconfirmed.

Good news: there's nothing to craft or set up for Feature Recycler. It's a background mod that fixes the "Feature order cycle" crash, which can happen when different world generation mods add placed features to their biomes in conflicting orders.^[1]

What it does for you

When two biomes contain the same 2 features in opposite orders, Minecraft's feature cycler can fail and stop the game from loading. Feature Recycler automatically re-sorts a biome's features so they follow the ordering rules already set by an earlier biome that contains the same 2 elements.^[1]

It also logs what it did. Each move names the placed feature, the biome it was moved in, and the biome whose ordering rules it followed. When it heads off a conflict, it also names the two mods involved and reports how many crashes it prevented.^[1]

What to check first

1. Just play. The mod does its work on its own, so there's no first item to make and no recipe to follow.^[1]
2. If you're curious whether it has stepped in, open your game log and look for the lines that start with "Starting feature recycler..." and end with how many crashes it prevented.^[1]
3. If the log says it prevented a crash between two mods, the message asks you to report the issue to those mods' own issue trackers.^[1]

Unverified The sources I have don't show any items, recipes, quests or config options for this mod in this pack, so I can't point you to any. Nothing here has been confirmed beyond the automatic behavior described above.

Feature Recycler isn't a tech mod, so there are no machines, multiblocks, power or fluid hookups to learn here. It's a simple mod that prevents crashes between world generation mods caused by Minecraft's Feature Cycler, and it does its work in the background while the game loads.^[1]

What problem it solves

Minecraft sorts placed features (things like flowers, bushes and mushrooms) into a fixed order. When different mods add placed features in different orders between their biomes, the game can end up with a contradiction and throw the "Feature order cycle" error. Feature Recycler fixes that error.^[1]

The error shows up in two forms. One is a plain IllegalStateException saying a feature order cycle was found and naming the biomes involved. If you use Cyanide, you get a FeatureCycleException saying a feature cycle was found, followed by a list of which features must come before which.^[1]

How it fixes the cycle

The mod automatically recycles (resorts) a biome's features so they respect the rules set by a previous biome containing the same 2 elements. You don't have to do anything for this to happen.^[1]

Reading the log

The mod also silently logs which features may have conflicted, between which mods, and how many crashes it prevented. A run starts with a "Starting feature recycler..." line and ends with a "Finished recycling features" line that includes how long it took.^[1]

In the project page's example, a placed feature was moved from index 2 to index 4 in one biome because another biome had already set the ordering rules. The log then said it had just prevented a crash between the two mods that added those biomes. The whole pass took 192ms and the final line reported 1 crash prevented.^[1]

Unverified The available sources don't describe any machines, multiblocks, power, fluid or item handling, automation, or configuration options for this mod in this pack, so none are covered here.

FTB Skies 2 1.22.0 ships Feature Recycler 2.0.0, using the NeoForge build of the mod. The pack's mod list says it was first included in FTB Skies 2 1.21.1 or earlier, so it isn't new to this release.^[2]

Mod changelog

• 2.0.0: port to 1.21.1. This is the only entry in the mod's changelog that I have, and it's the version your pack uses.^[2][3]

Unverified I don't have any pack changelog entries that mention Feature Recycler, so I can't say whether any FTB Skies 2 release changed its behavior or settings.