AI Improvements: Performance Tuning in Project Infinity 0.1

Same as in the All the Mods 10 8.1 guide

AI Improvements: Performance Tuning is a small, server-minded mod that makes vanilla mob AI cheaper to run. It also lets you switch off certain AI behaviors. It targets problems like too many animals and performance hits from swarms of zombies.^[1]

This pack ships version 0.5.3 of the mod. It has been in the pack since 2.25 or earlier.^[2]

How it helps

Most of the gain comes from caching heavily calculated values. That cuts CPU time at the cost of an ignorable amount of RAM. The main feature replaces the game's EntityLookHelper with a more efficient version that stores data to find the angle to a location faster. The author's VisualVM testing showed a 50% to 80% decrease in CPU usage by the AI code. On a server with 25 people online constantly, that meant a gain from 5 to 7 tps.^[1]

The mod also has two optional switches. One removes the AI segment that makes mobs turn their heads toward a nearby entity. The other removes the 'look idle' AI. The author says both can free up CPU, with the visual cost of odd or missing head rotation. The project page describes both as off by default.^[1]

Who it is for

It is built for large, heavily modded servers where mobs and other entities eat into CPU time. You can install it on the server only, since it works without a client-side copy. Client-only installs are possible, but it may not do much for your fps.^[1]

Unverified The sources do not show how the pack configures this mod, so the defaults described above come from the mod's project page and are not confirmed as this pack's values. They also do not show any quest or ATM Star path involvement, so there is no progression step tied to it.

Same as in the All the Mods 10 8.1 guide

This one is different from most mods in the pack: AI Improvements: Performance Tuning isn't something you craft or build with. It works quietly in the background, making vanilla mob AI cheaper to run and letting you switch off certain AI behaviors. So your first steps are about testing and settings, not items.^[1]

Unverified The sources here show no recipes, quests or guidebook entries for this mod, so there is no first item to craft. The option defaults below are the mod's own defaults from its project page, and the sources here do not show whether the pack changes any of them.

What to do first

1. Measure before you decide. The mod's author says it isn't expected to improve performance in every case, so test your results to see whether you actually need it.^[1]
2. Know where it runs. It can be installed on the server only, which is the setup it grew out of. It also works on the client only, though it may not do much for your FPS there.^[1]
3. Set your expectations. Newer Minecraft versions already include AI fixes, such as the rotation fix, so the gain is much smaller than in older versions.^[1]
4. Find the config. The project page says the mod's config file is at .minecraft/config/bbm/AI_Improvements.cfg.^[1]

The main options

The project page describes these config options, with the defaults the mod ships with. Most of the savings come from caching heavily calculated values, which trades a negligible amount of RAM for less CPU time.^[1]

• Disable AI Watch Closest Entity: off by default. When on, it removes the AI segment that makes mobs turn their heads toward nearby entities. It frees up a lot of CPU, but you may notice some odd visuals.^[1]
• Disable AI look random: off by default. When on, entities stop using the idle look AI. This can help servers with large populations, and the only visible effect is that heads sometimes don't rotate, which mostly goes unnoticed.^[1]
• Replace EntityLookHelper with a more efficient version: on by default. If you turn it off, you won't see much AI improvement, though the other disable options should still work fine.^[1]

Same as in the All the Mods 10 2.12 guide

This mod doesn't add machines, multiblocks or power systems. It is a simplified AI modification mod that changes how mobs think in order to save CPU time. It targets common problems on busy modded servers, such as too many animals and the performance hit from swarms of zombies. Everything it does is controlled through one config file, so this section walks through what each system does and how the pack has it set up.^[1][3]

Most of the performance gain comes from caching values that are expensive to calculate. That cuts CPU time at the cost of a very small amount of extra RAM. The mod works on its own on the server, so you don't need it on your client. You can install it client-only, but it may not do much for your FPS.^[1]

The look controller replacement

This is the main feature of the mod, and it is the only performance feature switched on in this pack. With entity.mob.replace_look_controller.replace_look_controller set to true, the default mob look controller is swapped for a version that caches its tan math. Mobs can then work out the angle to a location faster instead of recalculating it every time.^[1][3]

The replacement only works on vanilla-style mobs. If another mod overrides a mob's look controller, this feature skips that mob, so modded creatures with custom AI keep their own behaviour.^[3]

How the mob filters work

The three mob-wide features each have their own filter list and an allowlist toggle. Setting is_allowlist to true applies the feature only to mobs on the list. Setting it to false does the opposite and excludes the listed mobs. In this pack, entity.mob.replace_look_controller.filter_list is empty and entity.mob.replace_look_controller.is_allowlist is false, so no mob is excluded from the look controller replacement.^[3]

Optional look removals

Two more mob-wide features remove look-related AI tasks entirely. Both are turned off in this pack, and each has the same filter list and allowlist setup described above.^[3]

• entity.mob.remove_look_goal.remove_look_goal removes the task that makes mobs look at a player or their attack target. Mobs will then no longer face their targets or the direction they're walking. That causes some odd visuals, but it frees up a lot of CPU used by entities.^[1][3]
• entity.mob.remove_look_random.remove_look_random removes the idle look-around task. Almost every mob runs this task when it has nothing important to do, so removing it helps on servers with large populations. The downside is that idle mobs feel a little lifeless because their heads stop moving, though it mostly goes unnoticed.^[1][3]

Per-animal AI task removals

For chickens, cows, pigs, sheep and fish, the mod can strip individual AI tasks out of the mob. Every one of these removals is set to false in this pack, so all these animals behave normally unless a server owner changes the config.^[3]

• Breed tasks, such as entity.cow.remove_breed, stop that animal from breeding to create offspring.^[3]
• Float tasks, such as entity.pig.remove_float, stop that animal from swimming in water.^[3]
• Follow parent tasks, such as entity.chicken.remove_follow_parent, stop babies from following their parents.^[3]
• Panic tasks, such as entity.sheep.remove_panic, stop the animal from running around after being hit or searching for water to put out a fire.^[3]
• Stroll tasks, such as entity.cow.remove_stroll, stop the animal from wandering around randomly.^[3]
• Tempt tasks, such as entity.pig.remove_tempt, stop the animal from following you when you hold an item it likes.^[3]
• entity.sheep.remove_eat_block stops sheep from eating grass, which means they can't regrow their wool.^[3]
• Fish have their own set of options. entity.fish.remove_avoid_player removes avoiding players, entity.fish.remove_follow_leader removes schooling behind a leader fish, and entity.fish.remove_panic stops fish from running away. entity.fish.remove_puff removes puffing up when entities are nearby, and entity.fish.remove_swim removes random swimming so fish stay in place more often.^[3]

The general switches

Two general options sit above all the removal features, and both are enabled in this pack. entity.general.allow_remove_calls is the master switch for removing AI tasks while the game is running. If it is disabled, none of the per-mob or per-mob-type removals will run. entity.general.enable_call_bubbling moves removal calls that repeat often to the top of the list, which speeds things up when the same mobs keep spawning.^[3]

Unverified The pack's config file contains three more options that weren't included in the provided sources, so their names and values can't be confirmed here.

Same as in the All the Mods 10 2.12 guide

Everything for this mod lives in one file: the common config. It's split into a general section, a generic mob section and per-animal sections for chickens, cows, pigs, sheep, fish and squid. The pack leaves almost all of it alone, so what matters most is knowing which switches are already on and what you'd be giving up if you flip the rest.^[3]

What the pack turns on by default

• entity.mob.replace_look_controller.replace_look_controller is set to true. This swaps the default look controller for a version with cached tan math to improve performance. It only works on vanilla-style mobs: if a mod overrides the look controller, it gets skipped.^[3]
• entity.general.allow_remove_calls is true, which is the master switch that lets AI tasks be removed from entities at runtime. If you disable it, none of the per-mob or per-mob-type removals will run at all.^[3]
• entity.general.enable_call_bubbling is true. It lets repeat remove calls bubble to the top of the list, which improves performance when the same mobs spawn over and over.^[3]

Note that the look controller replacement is the only behaviour-changing option the pack has enabled beyond the two general switches; every removal option ships as false, so your animals and mobs behave exactly as you'd expect out of the box.^[3]

The generic mob options

Three settings apply to mobs in general rather than a specific species, and each one comes with a filter list and an allowlist toggle. entity.mob.remove_look_goal.remove_look_goal removes the look-at-target task, so AIs stop facing targets or walking directions. entity.mob.remove_look_random.remove_look_random removes the look-at-random-position task, which makes mobs feel a little lifeless since they no longer animate head movement while idle. Both are false in this pack.^[3]

The filter lists: entity.mob.remove_look_goal.filter_list, entity.mob.remove_look_random.filter_list and entity.mob.replace_look_controller.filter_list, are all empty in this pack. The matching is_allowlist options are all false, meaning the setting is NOT applied to mobs on the list; set one to true instead and the setting applies only to the mobs you list.^[3]

Per-animal removals

Chickens, cows, pigs and sheep each get the same set of removals (breed, float, follow parent, panic, stroll and tempt) and sheep add an eat block option on top. All of them are false in this pack, so nothing is removed. Fish have removals for avoiding players, following a leader, panic, puff and random swim, and squid have flee and random move. Again, every one of these ships as false here.^[3]

Worth keeping expectations realistic: the mod's own notes say it isn't expected to improve performance in every case, and newer Minecraft versions already implement AI fixes such as the rotation fix, so the impact is much lower than it was on older versions. Test on your own world before you start stripping AI tasks.^[1]

Project Infinity 0.1 0.0.51.4-hotfix-2 ships AI Improvements: Performance Tuning 0.5.2, using the file AI-Improvements-1.20-0.5.2.jar. The mod was first included in Project Infinity 0.1 0.0.45.4 or earlier, so it has been in the pack for a while.^[4]

Mod changelog

• 0.5.2: updated to 1.20. This is the only entry in the mod's changelog that I have, and it is the version your pack uses.^[4][5]

Unverified I have no pack changelog entries for this mod, so I can't say whether any Project Infinity release changed its version or behavior beyond what is listed above.