Identifier (Data Type)

An identifier, also called a resource location, is a String that names something in the game: an item, block, entity type, status effect, power, tag, or a file in a data or resource pack. It is the most common value type in Apoli. Every type field is an identifier, and so are power, attribute, effect, sound and many more.

Format

An identifier is written as namespace:path.

  • The namespace groups IDs by who owns them: minecraft for vanilla, apoli for this engine and my_pack for your own content.
  • The path names the specific thing within that namespace.

If you only write a path with no colon, the namespace defaults to minecraft, so stone and minecraft:stone are the same.

"apoli:attribute"
"minecraft:diamond_sword"
"my_pack:mana"

The namespace and the path can only contain:

  • lowercase letters a to z
  • digits 0 to 9
  • underscore _, hyphen - and dot .

The path can also contain / to mark folders, as in apoli:textures/rope/rope.png. The namespace can't. There is exactly one colon, between the namespace and the path.

warning

Uppercase letters, spaces and other symbols aren't allowed and make the file fail to load.

Where paths point

For IDs that refer to a pack file, the path maps to a folder under that namespace. For example, the power ID my_pack:swim is the file data/my_pack/powers/swim.json.

Tags, wildcards, and which is allowed where

Three rules cover every identifier field in Apoli, and the field's job tells you which one it follows.

1. A field that matches something also takes a #tag

If the field asks whether something is one of a set, it accepts either a single ID or a tag starting with #:

{ "type": "apoli:block", "block": "minecraft:oak_log" }
{ "type": "apoli:block", "block": "#minecraft:logs" }

That holds for apoli:block, apoli:entity_type, apoli:type, the event and events of apoli:prevent_game_event, entity_types on a global power set, and every Ingredient entry.

2. A field that is a tag takes the tag ID, with # optional

Some fields only ever hold a tag. Either the field name says so (tag, event_tag), or the value is documented as a tag (fluid on apoli:submerged_in, apoli:fluid_height and apoli:walk_on_fluid). Write it with or without the #, since both mean the same tag:

{ "type": "apoli:in_tag", "tag": "minecraft:logs" }
{ "type": "apoli:in_tag", "tag": "#minecraft:logs" }

3. * means "the file I am written in"

Anywhere inside a powers, origins, origin_layers, global_powers or skill_trees file, * stands for that file's own ID:

You writeIt becomes (in data/my_pack/powers/sub/stasis.json)
*:*my_pack:sub/stasis, this file's full ID
*:domain_modemy_pack:domain_mode, this file's namespace with your path
*:sub/stasismy_pack:sub/stasis, since folders in the path are fine
#*:heavy#my_pack:heavy, which works for tags too

Use it so a pack can be renamed or moved to another namespace without editing every cross-reference:

{
   "type": "apoli:action_on_key_press",
   "entity_action": {
      "type": "apoli:change_resource",
      "resource": "*:sub/stasis",
      "change": -1
   }
}
note

Inside an apoli:multiple sub-power, *:* is the parent power's ID, not the generated sub-power ID. That is what makes "*:*_stasis" the usual way to refer to a sibling sub-power.

4. Everything else needs an exact ID

Fields that name a thing to create or use, such as block on apoli:set_block, entity_type on apoli:spawn_entity, sound, texture, function, power and resource, take one exact ID. A tag means nothing there, so passing one is an error, and Apoli says so by name instead of complaining about an illegal character:

'#minecraft:logs' is a tag, and this field takes a single id.
Drop the '#', or use the matching in_tag condition.

A * that wasn't resolved reports itself the same way, which is what you see if you used a wildcard somewhere Apoli doesn't expand it.