TorchMaster in FTB Skies 2: Aero

Same as in the All the Mods 10 2.12 guide

TorchMaster is a small, focused mod that gives you blocks for controlling where mobs can spawn. The headline item is the Mega Torch, a special torch that stops mob spawning in a configurable radius around it, and the mod also includes other spawn-control blocks like the Dread Lamp.^[1]

The idea comes from RWTema's Extra Utilities 1, and the modern version is built for multiple loaders. This pack ships the NeoForge build for Minecraft 1.21.1, version 21.1.5-beta, which has been part of the pack since a very early build.^[1][2]

Who it's for

If you're tired of mobs creeping into the dark corners of your base, your mob farm's collection area, or a sprawling machine room you don't want to light up block by block, TorchMaster is the tidy answer. One torch covers an area instead of you spamming light sources everywhere.^[1]

What it does not block

The Mega Torch is only meant to stop "natural" spawning from low light levels. Mob spawners keep working, and the mod includes special handling for vanilla spawners so they aren't affected. Spawners from other mods are expected to work too, so you can safely park a Mega Torch near a spawner-based farm without shutting it down.^[1]

This mod sits outside the pack's main progression. It isn't on the ATM Star path and there are no quests covering it, so treat it as a quality-of-life convenience you pick up whenever your base gets big enough to need it.^[2]

Unverified The exact radius values, recipes and config keys for the Mega Torch and Dread Lamp in this pack aren't covered by the available sources. Check the in-game recipe viewer and the mod's config file to confirm the values this pack uses. This site does hold FTB Skies 2: Aero's own recipes, read from the pack itself: look the item up in the item browser.

TorchMaster is all about controlling mob spawning with a few simple blocks. The headline block is the Mega Torch, which prevents natural spawning of hostile monsters in a big radius around it. In this pack that radius is 64 blocks in each direction, a cube with the torch at its center (General.megaTorchRadius), which is the mod's default too.^[1][3][4]

The Mega Torch only blocks natural spawns, the ones that come from low light levels, so mob spawners keep working in this pack (General.blockOnlyNaturalSpawns). It also stops village sieges by zombies (General.blockVillageSieges), and the pack adds the Necromancer from Iron's Spells 'n Spellbooks to its block list through General.megaTorchEntityBlockListOverrides.^[1][3][4]

The recipes the sources show for TorchMaster cover the Dread Lamp, the Feral Flare Lantern and the Frozen Pearl. Here is the order I would make them in, based on what each one does.^[5]

First: the Dread Lamp

The Dread Lamp is the Mega Torch's counterpart for animals. It prevents natural spawning of passive animals like squids, bats or ocelots in a big radius around it. Its radius is also 64 blocks in each direction (General.dreadLampRadius).^[3][4]

Dread LampMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

Obsidian	Obsidian	Obsidian
any glass panes	Glowstone	any glass panes
Obsidian	any black dye	Obsidian

Recipe id: torchmaster:dreadlamp

This is the mod's own recipe, the pack does not change it.

Next: the Feral Flare Lantern

The Feral Flare Lantern works differently: it places invisible lights. In this pack it works within a radius of 16 blocks, aims for a minimum light level of 10, and makes an attempt every 5 ticks. It can place 255 lights in total. All of those are the mod's default values.^[3][4]

Its screen has a line of sight option. With it enabled, lights are only placed in spaces the lantern can see, so nothing goes behind walls. With it disabled, the lantern lights spaces even behind walls.^[3]

Feral Flare LanternChanged by the pack

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

Empty slot	Gold Ingot	Empty slot
any glass blocks	any glowstone dust	any glass blocks
Empty slot	Gold Ingot	Empty slot

Recipe id: torchmaster:feral_flare_lantern

The pack changes this recipe, so don't rely on the mod's default version.

Last: the Frozen Pearl

The Frozen Pearl clears residual lights from a Feral Flare Lantern. It has 1,024 durability in this pack, and each removed light uses up one charge (General.frozenPearlDurability).^[3][4]

Frozen PearlMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

Empty slot	Ice or Packed Ice	Empty slot
Ice or Packed Ice	Ender Pearl	Ice or Packed Ice
Empty slot	Ice or Packed Ice	Empty slot

Recipe id: torchmaster:frozen_pearl

This is the mod's own recipe, the pack does not change it.

TorchMaster is a spawn-control mod, so the sources describe no power, fluid or item handling for it. What they do describe is a set of blocks and an item that block mob spawning or place invisible light in a radius, and the pack tunes all of it through the file config/torchmaster.toml.^[1][3][4]

The Mega Torch

The Mega Torch prevents natural spawning of hostile monsters in a big radius around it. The radius is a cube measured in each direction with the torch at the centre. In this pack General.megaTorchRadius is 64, which is the same as the mod default.^[3][4]

It only blocks natural spawns, meaning the ones that come from low light levels. With General.blockOnlyNaturalSpawns set to true, as it is here, mob spawners keep working. If you set it to false, spawners get blocked too.^[1][3][4]

Some more switches are on in this pack. General.blockVillageSieges makes the Mega Torch stop village sieges by zombies, and General.lycanitesMobsBlockAll makes it block all natural spawn attempts from Lycanites Mobs in its radius.^[3][4]

Block lists and overrides

General.megaTorchEntityBlockListOverrides lets you change which entities the torch blocks. An entry with a + prefix adds the entity to the list, which denies its spawns. A - prefix removes it, which allows its spawns. Every entry goes in quotes, for example ["+minecraft:zombie"] to block zombies or ["-minecraft:creeper"] to allow creepers.^[4]

The pack ships this list with the entry "+irons_spellbooks:necromancer", so the necromancer from Iron's Spells 'n Spellbooks is blocked from spawning inside a Mega Torch radius.^[4]

General.aggressiveSpawnChecks is false in this pack. Turning it on would make the spawn check more aggressive and override the results of other mods' spawn checks.^[4]

The Dread Lamp

The Dread Lamp is the passive-mob version. It prevents natural spawning of passive animals like squids, bats or ocelots in a big radius around the lamp. Its radius, General.dreadLampRadius, is 64 in each direction as a cube, again the same as the mod default.^[3][4]

It has its own block list in General.dreadLampEntityBlockListOverrides, which works like the Mega Torch one. The pack leaves it empty. The examples in the config are ["+minecraft:squid"] to block squid or ["-minecraft:pig"] to allow pigs.^[4]

Dread LampMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

Obsidian	Obsidian	Obsidian
any glass panes	Glowstone	any glass panes
Obsidian	any black dye	Obsidian

Recipe id: torchmaster:dreadlamp

The Dread Lamp uses the mod's own recipe.

Feral Flare Lantern and Frozen Pearl

The Feral Flare Lantern places invisible lights. Its recipe is changed by the pack, so go by the recipe below rather than the mod's default.^[3][5]

Feral Flare LanternChanged by the pack

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

Empty slot	Gold Ingot	Empty slot
any glass blocks	any glowstone dust	any glass blocks
Empty slot	Gold Ingot	Empty slot

Recipe id: torchmaster:feral_flare_lantern

This recipe is changed by the pack.

Opening the lantern shows a light placement screen with a line-of-sight toggle. With it disabled, the lantern lights spaces even behind walls and does not need a clear view. With it enabled, it only lights spaces it can see, so no lights go behind walls.^[3]

The pack's lantern settings are below, and all of them match the mod defaults.^[4]

• General.feralFlareRadius is 16, the radius in which the lantern tries to place lights. It accepts 1 to 127.^[4]
• General.feralFlareMinLightLevel is 10, the target minimum light level it places lights for. It accepts 0 to 15.^[4]
• General.feralFlareTickRate is 5. This controls how often the lantern tries to place lights: 1 means every tick, 10 means every 10th tick.^[4]
• General.feralFlareLanternLightCountHardcap is 255, the maximum number of invisible lights a lantern can place. Setting it to 0 disables light placement.^[4]

The Frozen Pearl clears residual lights from a Feral Flare Lantern. Each removed light removes a charge from the pearl, and General.frozenPearlDurability is 1,024 in this pack. Setting it to 0 disables durability.^[3][4]

Frozen PearlMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

Empty slot	Ice or Packed Ice	Empty slot
Ice or Packed Ice	Ender Pearl	Ice or Packed Ice
Empty slot	Ice or Packed Ice	Empty slot

Recipe id: torchmaster:frozen_pearl

The Frozen Pearl uses the mod's own recipe.

Quality of life

The mod has a "Torchmaster Volume Range Display" screen that shows the effective range in each direction in blocks, with a toggle to turn the display on or off. General.beginnerTooltips is true here, so certain items and blocks show extra information in their tooltips.^[3][4]

The mod also has commands that dump entities and torches to the log file.^[3]

The recipe sources for TorchMaster in this pack cover the Dread Lamp, the Frozen Pearl and the Feral Flare Lantern. They don't lay out a tier ladder or an unlock order, so here is how each one is made.^[5]

Unverified Where TorchMaster sits in the pack's progression is not shown by the sources here. No quests in the pack involve the mod, so no quest chapter tells you when to craft these items.

Dread Lamp

The Dread Lamp uses the mod's own recipe, and the pack hasn't touched it. It is a shaped crafting recipe.^[5]

Dread LampMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

Obsidian	Obsidian	Obsidian
any glass panes	Glowstone	any glass panes
Obsidian	any black dye	Obsidian

Recipe id: torchmaster:dreadlamp

Mod recipe, unchanged by the pack.

Frozen Pearl

The Frozen Pearl is also a shaped crafting recipe straight from the mod, with no pack changes.^[5]

Frozen PearlMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

Empty slot	Ice or Packed Ice	Empty slot
Ice or Packed Ice	Ender Pearl	Ice or Packed Ice
Empty slot	Ice or Packed Ice	Empty slot

Recipe id: torchmaster:frozen_pearl

Mod recipe, unchanged by the pack.

Feral Flare Lantern

This is the one to watch. The pack changes the Feral Flare Lantern recipe, so what you craft here is the pack's version and not the mod's default. Follow the recipe below, not what you remember from other modpacks.^[5]

Feral Flare LanternChanged by the pack

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

Empty slot	Gold Ingot	Empty slot
any glass blocks	any glowstone dust	any glass blocks
Empty slot	Gold Ingot	Empty slot

Recipe id: torchmaster:feral_flare_lantern

This recipe is changed by the pack.

Same as in the FTB Skies 2 1.22.0 guide

TorchMaster has a lot of options, but only a handful change how the pack plays. Everything lives in General.megaTorchRadius's file, config/torchmaster.toml. For the numeric settings below, the pack uses the mod's default value. The one setting that is clearly customized for this pack is the mega torch block list.^[6]

Radius settings

• General.megaTorchRadius is 64. The radius is measured in each direction as a cube with the torch at its center. This matches the mod default.^[6]
• General.dreadLampRadius is also 64, again a cube centered on the lamp, and again the mod default.^[6]

What the mega torch blocks

The pack sets General.megaTorchEntityBlockListOverrides to add irons_spellbooks:necromancer. The + prefix adds an entity to the block list, which denies its spawns, so the mega torch is set up to stop that mob too. A - prefix would do the opposite and let a mob spawn again.^[6]

General.dreadLampEntityBlockListOverrides is an empty list in the pack, so the dread lamp has no overrides.^[6]

• General.blockOnlyNaturalSpawns is true. The mega torch only blocks natural spawns, meaning those from low light levels. Setting it to false would also block spawns from spawners.^[1][6]
• General.blockVillageSieges is true, so the mega torch blocks village sieges from zombies.^[6]
• General.lycanitesMobsBlockAll is true, so the mega torch blocks all natural spawn attempts from Lycanites Mobs in its radius.^[6]
• General.aggressiveSpawnChecks is false. Turning it on would make the spawn check more aggressive and override the CheckSpawn results of other mods.^[6]

Feral flare and frozen pearl

• General.feralFlareRadius is 16, the radius in which the feral flare tries to place lights.^[6]
• General.feralFlareMinLightLevel is 10, the target minimum light level it places lights for.^[6]
• General.feralFlareTickRate is 5. A value of 1 would mean every tick, so the flare tries to place lights every 5th tick.^[6]
• General.feralFlareLanternLightCountHardcap is 255, the maximum number of invisible lights a feral flare lantern can place. Setting it to 0 disables light placement.^[6]
• General.frozenPearlDurability is 1024. Each removed light uses one charge from the pearl, and 0 would disable durability.^[6]

Finally, General.beginnerTooltips is true, so certain items and blocks show extra information in their tooltips.^[6]

FTB Skies 2: Aero 1.10.0 ships TorchMaster 21.1.11 (the NeoForge build for Minecraft 1.21.1), and the mod has been in the pack since 1.0.3 or earlier. The history below comes from the mod's own changelogs. Some entries only mention Fabric, so they don't affect this NeoForge build.^[7]

The big feature release: 21.1.10

• Megatorches can now be waterlogged. Dread Lamps are excluded, because invisible lights can't be placed underwater for now.^[8]
• The Feral Flare Lantern gained line of sight support. Right click a placed lantern to configure it. With line of sight off (the default) it places lights anywhere in its working range, and with it on it won't try to place lights behind walls.^[8]
• Dread Lamps and Megatorches got a volume renderer overlay with a color cycler. Right click one in the world for a simple config menu. The visualization is per-client, and you can pick different colors to tell volumes apart. It draws the big volume box plus a small 1-block box around the torch, so you can see the torch through blocks.^[8]
• Invisible light blockstate warnings at startup are fixed.^[8]

Latest fix: 21.1.11

This release fixes a NullPointerException crash on Fabric and NeoForge that happened when hovering a button on the Feral Flare Lantern or the Megatorch/Dreadlamp screens.^[8]

Gameplay changes from 21.1.0 to 21.1.9

• 21.1.0: the blocking logic was improved, and the game should no longer crash when Architectury is installed.^[9]
• 21.1.1: mob spawn blocking during chunk generation inside blocking volumes was re-enabled. Spawner blocking now works when blockOnlyNaturalSpawns is set to false, and the Feral Flare Lantern renders its stand again.^[9]
• 21.1.4: a torchmaster command that was missing from previous versions was added back.^[9]
• 21.1.6: the Frozen Pearl returned, used to remove residual lights from the Feral Flare Lantern. 21.1.8 then fixed the Frozen Pearl recipe.^[9]
• 21.1.7: added support for preventing phantoms from spawning from the player insomnia mechanic.^[9]

Stability fixes and early releases

• 21.1.2, 21.1.4 and 21.1.9 fixed Fabric crashes (warden spawning in an ancient city, village siege setup, and joining a world).^[9]
• 21.1.3 fixed spam related to config auto fixing on NeoForge.^[9]
• 21.0.0 was the first release for Minecraft 1.21, and 21.0.1 updated to 1.21.1 and made invisible light blocks replaceable by other blocks.^[9]