Cable Facades in FTB StoneBlock 4

Cable Facades lets you hide ugly pipes and cables behind any block you like. The mod adds facade support for most cables and other blocks, so a tangle of wiring can look like part of your wall. This pack includes version 2.1.4.^[1][2]

How you use it

The pack's quest book explains the basics. You set up an empty Facade by putting it in a crafting grid together with the block you want it to look like. That consumes the block, but you can get it back by putting the Facade in a crafting grid again and extracting the block. Once it's set up, you place the Facade over your cables.^[3]

The Facade Wrench toggles facade transparency when you Sneak + Right-click with it.^[3]

Which blocks can be covered

The mod has a list of blocks that are allowed to be covered. You can add your own entries in the config file cable_facades-common.toml, under the blocks option, and it supports the '*' wildcard. Blocks can also be allowed through the block tag cable_facades:supports_facade. I can't confirm which entries this pack ships in that list, so check the file in your own instance.^[1]

Where it sits in the quest book

The quest "Cable Facades" quest is in the chapter "Useful Items & Tips", which is part of the "Forgotten Knowledge" group. It is chapter 18 of 22 in the book, and the chapter holds 24 quests. The quest asks you to obtain the Facade and the Facade Wrench. Its neighbours in the chapter include "Framed Blocks" quest and "Building Gadgets" quest, other building and decoration helpers, but the quest data doesn't show a fixed order between them.^[3]

Cable Facades is all about hiding ugly cables and pipes behind the look of any block you like. In this pack's quest book it lives in the quest "Cable Facades" quest, in the "Useful Items & Tips" chapter of the "Forgotten Knowledge" group. The quest asks for two items: the Facade and the Facade Wrench. That's your starting kit.^[3]

Step 1: Make some Facades

Start with the plain Facade. One craft gives you 16 of them, and it uses the mod's own recipe, unchanged by the pack.^[4]

16× FacadeMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any yellow dye	Empty slot	any red dye
Empty slot	any wool	Empty slot
any red dye	Empty slot	any yellow dye

Recipe id: cable_facades:facade_item

Step 2: Make the Facade Wrench

Next, craft the Facade Wrench. Heads up: the pack changes this recipe, so don't rely on the mod's default. Use the one below.^[4]

Facade WrenchChanged by the pack

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any iron ingot	any iron nugget	any iron ingot
Empty slot	any iron ingot	Empty slot
Empty slot	any iron ingot	Empty slot

Recipe id: cable_facades:wrench

This recipe is changed by the pack.

Step 3: Set up a Facade and place it

1. Put an empty Facade in a crafting grid together with the block you want it to look like. This consumes that block.^[3]
2. Changed your mind? Put the set-up Facade back in a crafting grid and you can extract the block again.^[3]
3. Place the finished Facade over your cables and they disappear behind it.^[3]
4. Sneak + Right-click a facade with the Facade Wrench to toggle its transparency.^[3]

If you cover Create blocks, the pack lists them under scale_up_blocks, which gives them a slight scale-up when facaded. The AE2 cable bus has its own entry under z_fighting, which is there for z-fighting fixes.^[5]

Directional Facades

The mod also adds the Directional Facade, which has its own recipe and also makes 16 per craft. It isn't one of the items the quest asks for.^[3][4]

16× Directional FacadeMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any green dye	Empty slot	any red dye
Empty slot	any wool	Empty slot
any red dye	Empty slot	any green dye

Recipe id: cable_facades:directional_facade_item

Cable Facades adds facades that let you cover cables, pipes and other blocks. This section covers how facades are made, placed and configured in this pack.^[1]

The items

The mod adds Facade, Directional Facade and the Facade Wrench. Each has its own crafting recipe in the pack, shown below. The facade and directional facade recipes each make 16 items at once.^[4][6]

16× FacadeMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any yellow dye	Empty slot	any red dye
Empty slot	any wool	Empty slot
any red dye	Empty slot	any yellow dye

Recipe id: cable_facades:facade_item

16× Directional FacadeMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any green dye	Empty slot	any red dye
Empty slot	any wool	Empty slot
any red dye	Empty slot	any green dye

Recipe id: cable_facades:directional_facade_item

Facade WrenchChanged by the pack

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any iron ingot	any iron nugget	any iron ingot
Empty slot	any iron ingot	Empty slot
Empty slot	any iron ingot	Empty slot

Recipe id: cable_facades:wrench

The pack changed this recipe from the mod's own version.

The mod's language file includes a tooltip that reads: Right click to toggle/disable facade transparency. That is the only control hint the sources give for the mod.^[6]

What can be covered

The pack sets blocks to a single wildcard entry, so every block is allowed to be covered. The wildcard '*' is supported in the block lists of this config. The mod also offers a block tag, cable_facades:supports_facade, for marking blocks as supported.^[1][5]

If you want to rule something out, add it to not_allowed_blocks. That list is explicitly for blocks that cannot be used as a cover, and it is empty in this pack.^[5]

The mod's own example for adding entries by hand uses patterns like "pipez:*_pipe" and "mekanism:*_cable". Those are examples from the mod's description, not values the pack sets.^[1]

Placing facades

consumeFacade is true in this pack, so placing a facade uses it up.^[5]

hidden_when_facaded lists blocks that should not render when covered. It is empty in this pack, so no block is hidden when covered.^[5]

Rendering fixes

Some config lists deal with visual glitches. scale_up_blocks holds blocks that need a slight scale-up when facaded, such as Create blocks, and the pack sets it to "*create*". z_fighting holds blocks that need z-fighting fixes, and the pack lists "ae2:cable_bus" there.^[5]

Config updates

auto_update_config is true in this pack. It controls whether new blocks for the config are fetched from the network. added_blocks lists the extra blocks added in this version: industrialforegoingsouls:soul_network_pipe and industrialforegoingsouls:soul_surge.^[5]

configVersion (set to 1) and lastConfigVersion (set to 0) track which config version is applied. last_version_blocks holds the previous version's block list. The file says not to modify lastConfigVersion and last_version_blocks manually.^[5]

Facades in other recipes

The pack also uses the facade as a crafting ingredient elsewhere. Its recipe for the Framed Storage Controller calls for Facade, so it's worth making a stack of them.^[7]

Cable Facades doesn't have a tier ladder in this pack. It's a small set of three items, and the quest book covers it with a single quest. Here's how to work through it.^[3][4]

Where the quest book puts it

The "Cable Facades" quest quest sits in the "Useful Items & Tips" chapter, which is chapter 18 of 22 in the "Forgotten Knowledge" group. It asks you to get two things: a Facade and a Facade Wrench.^[3]

Step 1: Craft the Facade

The basic Facade is a plain mod recipe, and one craft gives you 16 of them. That's plenty to hide a lot of cable.^[4]

16× FacadeMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any yellow dye	Empty slot	any red dye
Empty slot	any wool	Empty slot
any red dye	Empty slot	any yellow dye

Recipe id: cable_facades:facade_item

A fresh Facade is empty. To set it up, put it in a crafting grid together with the block you want it to look like. That consumes the block. If you change your mind, put the Facade back in a crafting grid and you can extract the block again. Once it's set up, place the Facade over your cables and they disappear from view.^[3]

Step 2: Craft the Facade Wrench

The Wrench recipe is one the pack has changed from the mod's own version, so go by the recipe shown here.^[4]

Facade WrenchChanged by the pack

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any iron ingot	any iron nugget	any iron ingot
Empty slot	any iron ingot	Empty slot
Empty slot	any iron ingot	Empty slot

Recipe id: cable_facades:wrench

Sneak + Right-click a facade with the Wrench to toggle its transparency.^[3]

The Directional Facade

The mod also adds the Directional Facade, which is crafted from a standard mod recipe and also yields 16 per craft. The quest doesn't ask for it.^[3][4]

16× Directional FacadeMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any green dye	Empty slot	any red dye
Empty slot	any wool	Empty slot
any red dye	Empty slot	any green dye

Recipe id: cable_facades:directional_facade_item

Unverified The available sources don't explain how the Directional Facade behaves differently from the standard Facade.

Facades in other pack recipes

The standard Facade is also used outside this mod. The pack's own Functional Storage script uses it in its recipe for the Framed Storage Controller, so it's worth keeping a few spare if you plan to build drawer setups.^[7]

The one place where this mod is wired into another mod's crafting in this pack is Functional Storage. The pack adds its own recipe that turns a Storage Controller into a Framed Storage Controller, and it uses Facade items to do it.^[4][7]

Framed Storage ControllerAdded by the pack

Shaped (kubejs)

Shaped (kubejs)

Empty slot	Facade	Empty slot
Facade	Storage Controller	Facade
Empty slot	Facade	Empty slot

Recipe id: ftb:framed_storage_controller

This recipe is added by the pack with a KubeJS script.

The same pack script also defines the pack's own recipe for the Storage Controller itself, so you build the controller first and then dress it up with Facades.^[7]

What the quest book says

The "Cable Facades" quest quest sits in the "Useful Items & Tips" chapter, which is chapter 18 of 22 in the book and part of the "Forgotten Knowledge" group. It asks for the Facade and the Facade Wrench.^[3]

The quest explains the basic loop. You put an empty Facade in a crafting grid with the block you want it to look like, which consumes that block. Placing the Facade back in a crafting grid lets you extract the block again. Once it is set up, you place the Facade over your cables to hide them.^[3]

Cable Facades has one quest in the pack, and it sits in the chapter "Useful Items & Tips". That chapter is in the "Forgotten Knowledge" group and is chapter 18 of 22 in the quest book. It holds 24 quests, mostly short introductions to handy items and small mods, so Cable Facades shares the page with things like Framed Blocks, Building Gadgets and Simple Magnets.^[3]

The Cable Facades quest

The quest "Cable Facades" quest asks you to obtain two items: the Facade and the Facade Wrench. There is no long task chain here. You just need to get both items.^[3]

The quest text sums up the idea: it is a one-size-fits-all way to hide ugly cables around your base. Here is how it describes using them:^[3]

1. Put an empty Facade in a crafting grid together with the block you want it to look like. This consumes the block.^[3]
2. Place the finished Facade over your cables, and the cables are hidden.^[3]
3. Changed your mind? Put the Facade back in a crafting grid and extract the block, which reverts the process.^[3]

The Facade Wrench toggles facade transparency when you Sneak + Right-click with it.^[3]

Nearby quests in the chapter

Other quests in this chapter deal with the same kind of base tidying and building. "Framed Blocks" quest covers blocks that copy the texture of other blocks, and "Elevators" quest explains that elevators can copy a block's texture too. "Wireless Redstone" quest is another way to cut down on cable clutter, since it covers wireless redstone.^[3]

Cable Facades keeps all its settings in one file, config/cable_facades-common.toml. Here is what this pack has in it and what each option does for you.^[1][5]

What you can cover

• blocks is set to a single wildcard entry, "*". That means every block is allowed to be covered by a facade. The option supports wildcards, so you can narrow it to patterns like a mod's cables or pipes if you want to restrict it.^[1][5]
• not_allowed_blocks is empty in this pack, so nothing is explicitly banned from being used as a cover.^[5]
• hidden_when_facaded is also empty, so no blocks are set to stop rendering when a facade covers them.^[5]

Using up facades

consumeFacade is true in this pack. When you place a facade, it is consumed rather than kept.^[5]

Rendering fixes

• scale_up_blocks is set to "*create*". Any block matching that pattern, such as Create blocks, gets a slight scale-up when it is facaded.^[5]
• z_fighting lists ae2:cable_bus, which gets z-fighting fixes when facaded.^[5]

Automatic block updates

auto_update_config is true, so new blocks for the config are fetched from the network. added_blocks currently lists the Industrial Foregoing Souls soul network pipe and soul surge as blocks added in this version. last_version_blocks is empty and the file says not to edit it by hand.^[5]

Version bookkeeping

configVersion is 1 and lastConfigVersion is 0. Both match the mod defaults, so the pack has not changed them. The file says to leave the previous-version value alone and to increment the config version to apply changes.^[5]

FTB StoneBlock 4 1.21.0 ships Cable Facades 2.1.4, and the mod has been in the pack since 1.0.0 or earlier. The notes below come from the mod's own changelogs, newest first.^[2]

Recent fixes (2.x)

• 2.1.4 (the version in this pack): fixed a crash when rendering facades of some blocks with Sodium 0.8, which affected Create Deco catwalks on directional facades and covers. It also fixed facades of some blocks rendering as invisible with Sodium 0.8 and CodeChickenLib installed (Create Deco supports).^[2][8]
• 2.1.3: fixed a world freeze when loading chunks containing structures with facades, such as jigsaw villages and structure block placements during worldgen.^[9]
• 2.1.0: fixed facades lingering as ghost blocks when switching dimensions, changing worlds or disconnecting from servers. Individually placed directional facades are now cleaned up when their chunk unloads. Removing a directional facade face from a position that has a full-block facade no longer deletes the full-block facade. Directional facades from Fusion and Rechiseled no longer render as invisible.^[10]
• 2.0.2: improved handling for structures that use facades.^[11]
• 2.0.0: a big update that added directional facades and a lot of backend refactoring.^[12]

Older changes (1.6.x)

• 1.6.5: fixed a Little Tiles crash.^[13]
• 1.6.4: halved the server-side performance cost, added a Japanese translation and fixed an occasional Air crash.^[14]
• 1.6.3: the automatic config update can now be disabled. While you hold a wrench item, blocks in your offhand are no longer placed, so you can remove a facade without placing that block. Empty facades also gained a behavior where a block held in your offhand becomes the facade material, matching how Create's copycats work.^[15]