Getting started

This page takes one working power from an empty folder into your game. You need a world with Apoli installed. Origins is optional.

Create the data pack

Inside your world's datapacks/ folder, create this structure:

datapacks/
└── my_pack/
    ├── pack.mcmeta
    └── data/
        └── my_pack/
            └── powers/
                └── swim.json

pack.mcmeta tells Minecraft that the folder is a data pack:

{
  "pack": {
    "pack_format": 48,
    "description": "My first Apoli powers"
  }
}

note

pack_format depends on your Minecraft version. 48 is the value for 1.21.1 and 15 is the value for 1.20.1.

Write the power

Powers go in data/<namespace>/powers/, and the file's path gives the power its ID, so this one is my_pack:swim. Put this in swim.json:

{
  "name": "Strong Swimmer",
  "description": "You move faster through water.",
  "type": "apoli:swim_speed",
  "modifier": {
    "operation": "multiply_total_multiplicative",
    "value": 0.5
  }
}

Every power has a type. This one is apoli:swim_speed, which makes swimming faster. name and description are shown in game, and the other fields configure the type.

tip

The file can also be swim.jsonc or swim.json5, which accept comments and trailing commas. File formats lists what each one allows.

Grant it to yourself

A power does nothing until an entity has it. Reload the pack and grant the power with a command:

/reload
/power grant @s my_pack:swim

Jump into water and you swim faster. /power revoke @s my_pack:swim takes the power away again.

note

With Origins installed, you usually attach powers to an origin instead of granting them by command. Layers explains how that works.

What happened

A data pack is a folder of JSON files that Minecraft loads.
Apoli reads every file under powers/ and registers it as a power.
/power grant attaches the power to an entity, and Apoli applies its effect.

Most of what a power does comes from its type, and Apoli has over a hundred of them.