Origins

Origins is an addon built on Apoli. Apoli gives you powers; Origins gives players a way to choose a bundle of them at spawn. An origin is that bundle — a name, an icon, some lore, and a list of Apoli powers.

Everything on this page is Origins-specific. If you’re not using the Origins mod, you don’t need any of it — you can grant Apoli powers by command or your own addon instead.

An origin file#

Origins live in data/<namespace>/origins/. The file name is the origin’s id.

{
  "powers": [
    "origins:aqua_affinity",
    "origins:water_breathing",
    "origins:like_water"
  ],
  "icon": "minecraft:cod",
  "impact": 2,
  "name": "Merling",
  "description": "You breathe water — but air is another matter."
}

Fields#

Field	Type	Default	Purpose
powers	list of identifier	[]	The Apoli powers this origin grants.
icon	Origin Icon	—	Shown in the selection screen. An item or a texture.
impact	0–3	0	The “impact” dots — how strong the origin is.
name	text	auto	The origin’s display name.
description	text	auto	The lore shown when selecting.
order	number	0	Sort position in the screen.
loading_priority	number	0	Higher wins when packs define the same id.
unchoosable	boolean	false	Exists but can’t be picked (e.g. an admin origin).
name_scroll_speed	number	—	Speed a long name marquees at.

The icon field#

icon accepts three shapes:

"icon": "minecraft:cod"

"icon":{
   "item":"minecraft:potion",
   "components":{
      "minecraft:potion_contents":{
         "potion":"minecraft:water_breathing"
      }
   }
}

"icon":{
   "texture":"example:textures/gui/origins/merling.png"
}

The first two are an item id and a full Item Stack; the third draws a texture instead, so you don’t have to register a throwaway item just to have a custom icon.

Field	Type	Default	Description
texture	Identifier	required for the texture form	Path to the PNG, relative to assets/<namespace>/.
width	Integer	whole file	Width in pixels of the region to draw, measured from the top-left of the file.
height	Integer	whole file	Height in pixels of the region to draw, measured from the top-left of the file.

You normally don’t need width/height. The file’s real size is read from the PNG, and the whole image is scaled into the 16×16 icon slot — a 16×16, 64×64 or 256×256 icon all just work. Set them only to draw a sub-region of a larger file, e.g. the top-left 32×32 of a sprite sheet:

{
  "icon": {
    "texture": "example:textures/gui/origins/sheet.png",
    "width": 32,
    "height": 32
  }
}

A texture icon is a plain image: no enchantment glint, no item tooltip, no durability bar. Use the item form when you want those.

Icons larger than the slot are downscaled with smoothing, so fine detail and thin lines survive instead of dropping out. An icon authored at exactly 16×16 is drawn pixel-for-pixel.

Powers come from Apoli#

The powers list is just Apoli power ids. There’s nothing Origins-specific about them — they’re the same powers you’d write in any data pack. A good origin is usually one apoli:multiple that bundles the traits, plus a couple of standalone powers, so the selection screen stays readable.

Origins need a layer#

An origin file alone doesn’t appear in-game. It has to be placed into a layer — the slot the player chooses from. See Layers.

The origins: namespace#

Installing Origins registers a namespace alias: every type Apoli provides also answers to origins: as well as apoli:. origins:health is apoli:health — same class, same fields, same behaviour. There is no separate Origins version of it.

{ "type": "origins:health", "comparison": "<", "compare_to": 6 }

{ "type": "apoli:health", "comparison": "<", "compare_to": 6 }

Those two are the same condition. The alias exists because years of packs were written for the original Origins mod, before powers were split out into Apoli — so that JSON keeps working untouched.

What this means when reading these docs:

• Every power, action, condition, meta-type and data type in the Data Pack reference can be written with either namespace, whether or not its page mentions it. Only the types listed below are genuinely Origins-only.
• The reference pages all print the apoli: spelling, because that is what the mod registers. Anywhere you see apoli:x, origins:x works too.
• Prefer apoli: in new packs. It does not imply a dependency on Origins.

A pack that only uses origins:-spelled Apoli types still needs Origins installed for those ids to resolve. Writing them as apoli: removes that dependency.

This is only about type ids. Power ids like origins:phantomize are real Origins data-pack content and have no apoli: equivalent.

The types Origins adds#

Origins is an Apoli addon, so as well as origins and layers it registers a handful of Apoli types in the origins: namespace. Use them in any power’s JSON, exactly like the built-in Apoli types — but a power that uses one fails to load without Origins installed.

Type	Kind	What it does
origins:origin	Entity condition	Does this player have a given origin?
origins:copy_origin	Bi-entity action	Copy the target’s origin onto the actor’s copy layer.
origins:transfer_origin	Bi-entity action	Steal, give or copy a whole origin between two players.
origins:store_origin	Entity action	Remember an origin under a named key.
origins:store_origin (bi-entity)	Bi-entity action	Remember the target’s origin on the actor.
origins:apply_stored_origin	Entity action	Put a remembered origin back.
origins:store_value	Entity action	Remember a piece of text.
origins:stored_origin	Entity condition	Is an origin remembered?
origins:stored_value	Entity condition	Is this text remembered?

The last six are the origin storage system. Origins also adds four badge types, and two fields to apoli:action_on_callback — that power is core Apoli, but its entity_action_chosen only fires when Origins is there to report the choice.