Custom Machinery in FTB StoneBlock 4

Custom Machinery lets you build your own machines with datapacks instead of adding a whole new tech mod. You decide how a machine looks, how many item slots, fluid tanks and energy buffers it has, and which recipes it processes. That covers things like a machine that takes several items, a few different fluids and some energy to make one item.^[1]

What a custom machine can do

• Look however you want, including a custom model, and change appearance depending on whether it is idle, running, errored or paused.^[1]
• Hold FE, fluids and items, with the number of tanks and slots and their capacities set by the machine's creator.^[1]
• Can open a custom GUI when you click on the machine, where you can see its contents and the recipe progress.^[1]
• Pause or emit a redstone signal depending on its status, and accept upgrades that change inputs, outputs or speed.^[1]
• Run recipes with conditions such as time of day, biome, dimension, weather, nearby blocks or entities, or a required structure.^[1]

Machines are defined in a json file inside a datapack, and you can apply changes in-game with the /reload command without restarting. The mod also supports CraftTweaker and KubeJS for recipes and upgrades. So it is mainly a tool for pack makers and tinkerers, though you will still run into its machines as a player.^[1]

The mod page strongly recommends using JEI and The One Probe alongside it, since it is fully compatible with both.^[1]

In this pack

The pack ships Custom Machinery 0.10.69 for NeoForge 1.21.1.^[2]

The Custom Machine Item shows up as a quest task in three different chapters, so you will meet it at several points in your progression: the technology chapter (a quest in "General Tech"), the logistics storage chapter ("Processors O' Plenty" quest) and the world engine tier 5 chapter ("Neutron Activator" quest). In the technology chapter it is the only task of its quest. In the other two it sits alongside other items from the pack's mods.^[1][3][4][5]

Unverified The sources don't say which custom machines this pack defines, what their recipes are, or exactly how the quest tasks tie into the pack's progression, so none of that is covered here.

Custom Machinery is a mod that lets machines be defined with datapack json files instead of being hard-coded. A machine can have its own appearance, inputs and outputs, GUI and recipes. In this pack the first job is getting your hands on the machine item, so that's where we start.^[1]

Step 1: Craft the Custom Machine item

The first thing to make is the Custom Machine Item. The pack adds its own crafting recipe for it with a KubeJS script, so this is the pack's recipe and not the mod default. Here is the exact in-pack recipe:^[6]

Custom Machine ItemAdded by the pack

Shaped (kubejs)

Shaped (kubejs)

any advanced alloy	Water Essence	any advanced alloy
any advanced circuit	Void Chassis	any advanced circuit
any aluminum ingot	any aluminum ingot	any aluminum ingot

Recipe id: ftb:shaped/snowmaker

This shaped recipe for the Custom Machine item is added by the pack.

Why start here? The item is a quest task in three places: a quest in "General Tech" in the technology chapter, "Processors O' Plenty" quest in the logistics storage chapter, and "Neutron Activator" quest in the world engine tier 5 chapter. The last two also ask for other items, but the machine item is one of their tasks, so having it made early means one less thing to chase.^[3][4][5]

Step 2: Make a Configuration Card

Next up is the Configuration Card. This one is a shapeless crafting recipe that comes from the mod itself:^[6]

Configuration CardMod recipe

Crafting Shapeless

• Paper
• Green Dye
• Redstone
• Flint

Recipe id: custommachinery:configuration_card

This is the mod's own shapeless recipe for the Configuration Card.

Step 3: Making your own machines

If you want to design a machine yourself, the creation screen writes a machine json file into the pack root folder. You then move that file to a valid datapack location and run /reload, so no game restart is needed.^[1][7]

Custom Machinery doesn't ship one fixed machine. It lets machines be defined in JSON files inside a datapack, so every machine you meet in a pack built on it is whatever the pack author described. Changes to those files can be applied in game with the /reload command, with no restart needed.^[1]

What a machine can hold and do

Each machine is built from components. A machine can hold FE (Forge Energy, compatible with RF). The author decides how many fluid tanks it has, plus each tank's capacity and max input and output, and how many item slots it has. It also gets a custom GUI showing its contents and recipe progress.^[1]

Item and fluid input or output can be set separately for each side of the machine, for each slot, tank or buffer. That matters for automation, because you can't assume every face accepts everything.^[1]

Machines can also change appearance depending on whether they are idle, running, errored or paused. They can pause on a redstone signal and emit a redstone signal based on their status. Both behaviours are set in the machine JSON.^[1]

Automation details

• An item slot can be marked as locked. A locked slot can't be used from the GUI, and only pipes or hoppers can insert or extract items.^[7]
• An item component can be tied to fluid tanks by id. Buckets placed in it are drained into or filled from those tanks. If the list is empty, the fluid goes to or from all machine tanks.^[7]
• A machine can also store experience, with a capacity in raw xp points. Optionally, the player collects all the stored xp when taking an item out of chosen slots.^[7]
• A machine can keep its inventory when broken, and it can be set to drop only when broken with the correct tool. Both are per-machine settings.^[7]

How recipes are processed

Two machine settings control the pace. The cooldown is the number of ticks between two recipe checks while the machine is idle. The cores value is how many recipes the machine can process at the same time.^[7]

Recipes can consume or produce FE, fluids and items. Energy and fluids can be handled per tick or all at once, and fluids and items can use tags. Items also support NBT and durability. Chances can be attached so that something is only consumed or produced some of the time.^[1]

Recipes can also demand more than ingredients. The sources list requirements such as burning fuel, a redstone signal, a block or sky light level, a time of day, weather, and a position, biome or dimension. Dimensions can be whitelisted or blacklisted. Recipes can also work on the world around the machine: checking, placing, replacing, breaking or destroying nearby blocks, checking or killing nearby entities, giving effects to nearby mobs, and checking or consuming dropped items on the ground. In JEI, the entries for these show the exact condition, for example which blocks are replaced and when.^[1][7]

Multiblocks

A machine recipe can require a complex structure to be formed around the machine. JEI marks such recipes with a "Requires a structure" entry. Clicking its icon renders the structure in the world, and block requirements can likewise show the machine's working area.^[1][7]

This pack raised the render time for both previews. rendering.structure_render_time and rendering.box_render_time are set to 120,000 milliseconds instead of the mod default of 10,000, so the previews stay up much longer while you build.^[8]

When a structure uses a block tag, the preview cycles through the blocks in that tag. rendering.block_tag_cycle_time is 1,000 milliseconds, the mod default. The same applies to ghost items in slots that accept a tag or several items, via rendering.item_slot_cycle_time.^[8]

Upgrades

Machines can receive custom-defined upgrades that change recipe inputs, outputs and speed. Each upgrade defines which requirement and which target its modifier affects, and each machine has a maximum number of upgrades it can take. Upgrade items show a "Custom Machine Upgrade" tooltip when you hold Shift.^[1][7]

Items you'll see in this pack

The Configuration Card is craftable in this pack. The sources don't say what it does, so check it in game.^[6]

Configuration CardMod recipe

Crafting Shapeless

• Paper
• Green Dye
• Redstone
• Flint

Recipe id: custommachinery:configuration_card

The pack also adds its own recipe that outputs Custom Machine Item, the item form of a custom machine.^[6]

Custom Machine ItemAdded by the pack

Shaped (kubejs)

Shaped (kubejs)

any advanced alloy	Water Essence	any advanced alloy
any advanced circuit	Void Chassis	any advanced circuit
any aluminum ingot	any aluminum ingot	any aluminum ingot

Recipe id: ftb:shaped/snowmaker

Pack-side config notes

The remaining pack settings only affect logging and editors. logs.debug_level is INFO and controls what goes into the custommachinery.log file. logs.log_missing_optional and logs.log_first_either_error are both false. logs.log_legacy_folder_files is true, so you get a warning for files in old folders such as machines instead of machine. These logs help when a machine JSON fails to load.^[8]

The editor lists and model folders are also set here. rendering.sort_machine_list is A_Z and rendering.sort_upgrade_list is ITEM. misc.model_folders lists the folders machine and machines, which are the folders under assets/namespace/models where Custom Machinery loads model JSON files.^[8]

In this pack, Custom Machinery progression is tied to the Custom Machine Item. It is the item the pack's recipe dump lists as crafted, and it appears as a task in quests across several chapters of the quest book. Follow those quests and you can see where the pack expects you to start using the mod.^[3][4][5][6]

Getting the machine item

The pack added its own recipe for the Custom Machine item, so don't rely on what you remember from other packs. Here is the exact in-pack recipe:^[6]

Custom Machine ItemAdded by the pack

Shaped (kubejs)

Shaped (kubejs)

any advanced alloy	Water Essence	any advanced alloy
any advanced circuit	Void Chassis	any advanced circuit
any aluminum ingot	any aluminum ingot	any aluminum ingot

Recipe id: ftb:shaped/snowmaker

This recipe is added by the pack. It uses tag-based materials in some slots, so several items can fit.

Where the quests ask for it

• Technology chapter: quest a quest in "General Tech" only asks you to hold the Custom Machine item. It is the simplest requirement, with no other items alongside it.^[4]
• Logistics and storage chapter: quest "Processors O' Plenty" quest asks for the Custom Machine item together with a blue Immersive Engineering sheetmetal block, AE2 vibrant quartz glass and the AE2 mysterious cube.^[3]
• World Engine, tier 5 chapter: quest "Neutron Activator" quest asks for the Custom Machine item plus an Oritech carbon plating block, an Oritech reactor reflector and reactor vent, whisperglass, and an empowered void crystal block from Actually Additions.^[5]

Configuration Card

The Configuration Card uses the mod's normal crafting recipe. The recipe dump marks it as a mod recipe, not one the pack added.^[6]

Configuration CardMod recipe

Crafting Shapeless

• Paper
• Green Dye
• Redstone
• Flint

Recipe id: custommachinery:configuration_card

Custom Machinery lets pack makers create their own machines using datapacks. Because of that, its links to other mods in this pack come from how the pack uses the Custom Machine Item. The recipe and quests below are the connections the sources confirm.^[1][6]

Crafting the machine item

The pack adds its own shaped crafting recipe for the Custom Machine item, through a KubeJS script. It is not a mod default. It mixes items from other mods with shared item tags for advanced alloys, advanced circuits and aluminum ingots. Here is the exact in-pack recipe:^[6]

Custom Machine ItemAdded by the pack

Shaped (kubejs)

Shaped (kubejs)

any advanced alloy	Water Essence	any advanced alloy
any advanced circuit	Void Chassis	any advanced circuit
any aluminum ingot	any aluminum ingot	any aluminum ingot

Recipe id: ftb:shaped/snowmaker

Added by the pack with KubeJS, not by Custom Machinery itself.

Quests that mix it with other mods

The Custom Machine item shows up as a task in a few quests, sometimes next to items from other mods. These quests have no titles in the data, so all that can be said is which items they list.^[3][4][5]

• In the logistics and storage chapter, quest "Processors O' Plenty" quest lists the Custom Machine item together with Blue Sheetmetal, Vibrant Quartz Glass and Mysterious Cube. That pairs it with Immersive Engineering and Applied Energistics 2 items.^[3]
• In the World Engine tier 5 chapter, quest "Neutron Activator" quest lists the Custom Machine item with Carbon Plating Block, Whisperglass, Empowered Void Crystal Block, Reactor Neutron Reflector and Reactor Heat Vent. That pairs it with Oritech, Cognition and Actually Additions items.^[5]
• In the technology chapter, quest a quest in "General Tech" lists only the Custom Machine item, so it doesn't pair it with items from another mod.^[4]

In this pack, Custom Machinery appears in the quest book through the Custom Machine Item. Each of the quests below asks you to hand it in, and each sits in a different chapter. None of them has a title in the pack files, so I'll point you to them by chapter.^[3][4][5]

Technology

The simplest request is a quest in "General Tech" in the technology chapter. Its only task is to submit the Custom Machine Item. It unlocks after another quest in the same chapter.^[4]

Logistics: Storage

In the logistics storage chapter, "Processors O' Plenty" quest asks for the machine item plus a few extras. Here are all of its tasks:^[3]

• Custom Machine Item^[3]
• Blue Sheetmetal^[3]
• Vibrant Quartz Glass^[3]
• Mysterious Cube^[3]

This quest comes after another quest in its own chapter, so you need to finish that one first.^[3]

World Engine: Tier 5

The biggest request is "Neutron Activator" quest in the world engine tier 5 chapter. The machine item is the first task, followed by a longer list of items from other mods:^[5]

• Custom Machine Item^[5]
• Carbon Plating Block^[5]
• Whisperglass^[5]
• Empowered Void Crystal Block^[5]
• Reactor Neutron Reflector^[5]
• Reactor Heat Vent^[5]

Like the others, it only unlocks after you finish a prerequisite quest in its own chapter.^[5]

Custom Machinery keeps its settings in one file, config/custommachinery-common.toml. Most of it is left at the mod's defaults in this pack, but two options were changed, and both affect how you look at machine recipes in JEI.^[8]

What this pack changed

• rendering.box_render_time is set to 120,000 milliseconds in this pack, up from the mod default of 10,000. It controls how long the block requirement working box is drawn around the machines after you click the icon in the JEI recipe.^[8]
• rendering.structure_render_time is also 120,000 milliseconds in this pack, up from the mod default of 10,000. It controls how long the structure requirement's structure renders in the world after you click its icon in the JEI recipe.^[8]

In practice, the in-world previews stay up much longer than they would in a default install, so you have time to walk around and build from them. Both options accept any value above 1.^[8]

Rendering options left at default

• rendering.block_tag_cycle_time is 1,000 milliseconds, the mod default. It sets how long each block is shown when a structure uses a block tag.^[8]
• rendering.item_slot_cycle_time is 1,000 milliseconds, the mod default. It sets how long each ghost item is shown in a slot when a tag or more than one item is specified.^[8]
• rendering.sort_machine_list is "A_Z" in this pack. This orders the machine list in the machine editor, and the other allowed values are Z_A, NEWEST and OLDEST.^[8]
• rendering.sort_upgrade_list is "ITEM" in this pack. This orders the upgrade list in the upgrade editor, and the other allowed values are MACHINE, NEWEST and OLDEST.^[8]

Logging options

If you write your own machines or are tracking down a broken one, these options control what ends up in the custommachinery.log file.^[8]

• logs.debug_level is "INFO". Only logs at that level or higher are printed, and the allowed values are FATAL, ERROR, WARN, INFO, DEBUG and ALL.^[8]
• logs.log_first_either_error is false. Set it to true to log when the first serializer throws an error while parsing a machine JSON, even if the second serializer succeeds.^[8]
• logs.log_legacy_folder_files is true, so you get a warning if files sit in legacy data folders, such as 'machines' instead of 'machine'.^[8]
• logs.log_missing_optional is false. Set it to true to log every missing optional property and its default value when machine JSONs are parsed.^[8]

Model folders

misc.model_folders is ["machine","machines"]. These are the folder names where the mod loads model JSONs, and they must sit under the assets/namespace/models folder.^[8]

FTB StoneBlock 4 1.21.0 ships Custom Machinery 0.10.69. I have no pack changelog notes for this mod, so everything below comes from the mod's own changelogs for the 1.21.1 builds leading up to that version.^[2]

Machine upgrades

• 0.10.49: upgrades can now modify several properties of a machine's components: item, fluid and energy capacity and input/output limits, experience capacity, and chunkload radius. They can also change how many cores a machine processor can use. This works with both JSON and KubeJS, and upgrades made with older versions should not break.^[9]
• 0.10.50: an upgrades editor was started. At first it could only create and delete upgrades, and you open it in-world with /cm upgrades.^[10]
• 0.10.51: the upgrade editor gained machine and tooltips tabs.^[11]
• 0.10.54: fixed upgrades not refreshing when you put an upgrade item into a slot that already held the same upgrade item.^[12]
• 0.10.65: fixed too many decimals showing on upgrade tooltips.^[13]

Requirements and scripting

• 0.10.46: block ingredients in block and structure requirements were reworked internally. The syntax stayed the same, so scripts and recipes should not be affected. They now support lists and can be reversed to accept any block except the specified one. CraftTweaker support for block and structure requirements was removed.^[14]
• 0.10.46: block requirements got an "order" property that sets whether blocks are broken or placed from bottom to top or the opposite. The values are "increasing" (the default), "decreasing" and "random".^[14]
• 0.10.51: the KubeJS recipe function event gained recipe and id getters.^[11]
• 0.10.64: MachineJS gained getBlockEntity and getStatus methods.^[15]
• 0.10.65: new Integer, Double, String and NBT data requirements let you check and set machine data without a custom KubeJS function. The same release fixed KubeJS recipe ids that could not be set from scripts.^[13]

Editors and appearance

• 0.10.50: the machine creation list shows when each machine was created and last modified, and can be sorted alphabetically or by modification date.^[10]
• 0.10.51: an animation now shows which slot is being configured.^[11]
• 0.10.57: a search bar was added to the machine and upgrade editor lists.^[16]
• 0.10.63: machine appearance gained "open" and "close" interaction sounds.^[17]
• 0.10.65: the progress arrow gained clockwise and counter-clockwise orientations, and the structure creator tooltip was improved.^[13]
• 0.10.53: breaking a machine block now uses a loot table instead of a hardcoded machine item drop.^[18]

Notable fixes

• 0.10.58: fixed a machine getting stuck idle when its output slot was emptied by shift clicking, and fixed the craft processor not resetting after a recipe was deleted.^[19]
• 0.10.65: fixed a block ingredient error with some blockstates, such as the Create blaze burner.^[13]
• 0.10.64: fixed odd shadows on machine models with unculled faces when the machine faces south.^[15]
• 0.10.69: fixed produceItem sometimes giving non-stackable items. This is the version your pack runs.^[2][20]