MineDnD Studio¶
A desktop app to create and edit MineDnD datapacks: items, enchantments, requirement rules, world settings and translations. It works on worlds on your computer and on online servers (Modrinth Servers, Pterodactyl hosts, any SFTP or FTP server), explains every value and what it does to players, and backs up every file before changing it. Windows, macOS and Linux; English and Italian (switch with the language button, top right).
- Install
- Open a world or a server
- What you can do
- Applying changes in game
- Safety: backups and conflicts
- Troubleshooting
Install¶
Download the file for your system from the repository's Releases page. They're added to a release separately, so if the newest one doesn't have them yet, take them from an earlier release:
| System | File | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Windows | MineDnD-Studio-<version>-windows-setup.exe |
Installer (Start menu shortcut, uninstaller) |
| Windows | MineDnD-Studio-<version>-windows-portable.exe |
No install: run it from anywhere (e.g. a USB stick) |
| macOS | MineDnD-Studio-<version>-macos.dmg |
Universal: Apple Silicon and Intel. Drag it to Applications |
| Linux | MineDnD-Studio-<version>-linux-x86_64.AppImage |
Any distribution: chmod +x it, then run it |
| Linux | MineDnD-Studio-<version>-linux-amd64.deb |
Debian, Ubuntu, Mint: sudo apt install ./MineDnD-Studio-…deb |
The builds aren't signed with a paid certificate, so the first launch shows a warning:
- Windows: "Windows protected your PC" → More info → Run anyway.
- macOS: "cannot be opened because the developer cannot be verified" → right-click the app → Open → Open (or System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway). Only the first time.
- Linux: AppImages need FUSE 2 on some distributions (Ubuntu 22.04+:
sudo apt install libfuse2).
Open a world or a server¶
The home page offers three ways in. Places you open are remembered under Recent.
A world on this computer¶
Studio lists the worlds of the Minecraft launcher, the Modrinth App, Prism Launcher, CurseForge, ATLauncher and
GDLauncher (Flatpak installs included), with their icon, the last time they were played, how many datapacks they have and
whether MineDnD is installed in that instance. Click one to open its datapacks folder.
Not in the list? Choose a folder… and pick the world folder (the one with level.dat), its datapacks folder, a
single datapack, or a server folder (with server.properties). In the Modrinth App: instance → ⋯ → Open folder →
saves.
An online server¶
Connect to a server walks you through it:
- Host: Modrinth Servers, a Pterodactyl/Pelican panel (Apex, Bisect, Shockbyte, BerryByte, Sparked, PebbleHost…), another SFTP server (a VPS), or FTP/FTPS.
- Login: host, port, username, password (or an SSH key). The page says where your host shows them:
- Modrinth Servers: your server on modrinth.com → Options → Info: SFTP host, port, username and password.
- Pterodactyl hosts: the panel's Settings (or "SFTP Details"): an address like
sftp://node.example.com:2022(host before the colon, port 2022), a username likename.1a2b3c4d, your panel password. - Test connection shows the files it sees. Remember the password stores it encrypted with your system's keychain (Windows Credential Manager/DPAPI, macOS Keychain, the Secret Service on Linux).
- Folder: browse to the server's folder if it isn't the one you land in.
- Reload (optional): RCON lets Studio run
/reloadfor you. It needsenable-rcon=true,rcon.portandrcon.passwordinserver.properties, and the port reachable from your computer (many hosts don't open it). - Name the connection and open it.
Studio reads server.properties to find the world (level-name) and opens its datapacks folder. If the folder holds
several worlds, it asks which one.
You can edit while the server is running. Nothing is written until you save.
What you can do¶
| Page | What it does |
|---|---|
| Overview | Counts, quick actions, your datapacks, zipped packs (extract them to edit), problems |
| Items | MineDnD items: base item, name and lore in each language, rarity, glint, D&D stat bonus and slot, requirements, ability (fireball or returning throw, right click or the V key), enchantments, attribute modifiers, potion effects, a 3×3 crafting recipe (and the items that unlock it in the recipe book) or a brewing recipe (bottle + reagent, for potions), any other component as JSON |
| Enchantments | Name, max level, rarity (weight), enchanting table levels, anvil cost, items and slots (presets, and what a tag contains), where players find it (table, treasure, loot, librarian trades), effects from 16 templates or JSON |
| Requirements | Ability scores needed to craft or brew, place or use recipes, items, tags or potions (any bottle, or only splash/lingering), per action |
| Achievements | Advancements shown as their tree: parent, icon, frame, texts, hidden, criteria with a form for each MineDnD trigger (N times, N different things, statistics, cooking, level, ability score) or vanilla JSON conditions, and the in-game notification |
| Titles | Name and colour, the achievement that unlocks it, effects (acts like an enchantment, more damage, ability, XP, breaking speed, hunger, health, potion duration) and the name tag preview |
| Translations | Every key × every language, missing cells highlighted, "copy English into empty cells", new keys and languages |
| World settings | Every rule of settings.json with its explanation, where the current value comes from, a score → effect table, the level curve (linear, exponential, logarithmic, power, a formula or a table) with its chart, presets (Subtle, Heroic, Requirements only, Adventure XP, Grim…) |
| Problems | Broken files, missing translations, unknown items/enchantments/effects/recipes/potions, advancements whose parent is missing, titles nobody can unlock, recipes that clash with others (brewing ones also with vanilla brewing), requirements points can't reach, abilities that steal a bow's or a shield's right click |
| Built-in content | The mod's own datapack, read-only: open anything to see how it's made, Copy into a pack to change it (your copy wins) |
| Backups | Every file Studio changed, as it was before, per session; restore any of them |
| Guide | Datapacks, scores and modifiers, items, enchantments, rules, potions and brewing, servers, applying changes, a glossary |
Wizards (the New (guided) buttons) build a complete datapack, item, enchantment or rule step by step: for an item you pick the kind (melee weapon, bow, spell focus, armor, ring, tome, tool, potion…), a base item from suggestions, names in English and Italian, bonus and requirements, an ability preset (cantrip, battle spell, throwing weapons…) and a recipe (crafting table, or brewing stand for potions), with the in-game tooltip updating as you go.
Explanations everywhere: every field has a ? with what it does in game; numbers that have a default show it and
can be reset; the right-hand panel shows the item's tooltip as players see it (in English or Italian) and what it means
for a character whose scores you choose: the effect of the bonus (e.g. "Melee damage ×1.10 → ×1.20"), the level at
which a new character meets the requirements, the ability's damage per hit and per second, uses per food bar.
Keyboard: Ctrl+S saves, Ctrl+K searches every item, enchantment, rule and page.
Applying changes in game¶
| You changed | Apply it with |
|---|---|
| Items, recipes, requirement rules, translations, world settings | /reload (chat as an operator, or the server console) |
| Enchantments | A restart: restart the server, or in single player Save and Quit and open the world again |
| A new datapack folder | It's enabled when the world loads, or with /reload; check with /datapack list |
With RCON set up, the Run /reload button in the top bar does it for you. Otherwise Apply in game recalls these steps.
Safety: backups and conflicts¶
- Backups: the first time a file is changed or deleted in a session, Studio copies its old version to the app's
data folder (
backups/). The Backups page lists them, shows each file and restores the ones you tick (files the session created are deleted). The current versions are backed up first, so a restore can be undone too. - Conflicts: when you save, Studio checks that the file is still what it opened. If someone (a teammate, the server, another program) changed it meanwhile, it asks whether to overwrite it or load their version.
- Unsaved changes: leaving a page with unsaved changes asks whether to save, discard or stay.
- Untouched data: fields the forms don't show (unknown components, extra keys) are written back exactly as they were. Unchanged files aren't rewritten.
- Studio only writes inside the folder you opened, and only MineDnD-related files are read from servers.
Troubleshooting¶
| Problem | Try |
|---|---|
| "Connection failed" (SFTP) | Check host and port (Pterodactyl: 2022, not 22 or the game port). The username often includes a dot and an id. Some hosts need the server to be running for SFTP. |
| "Connection failed" (FTP) | Turn FTPS on or off as your host requires. Passive mode is used; firewalls must allow it. |
| The password isn't remembered (Linux) | Your desktop has no keychain (Secret Service) running: install/unlock GNOME Keyring or KWallet, or type it each time. |
| RCON /reload fails | enable-rcon=true in server.properties and a restart; the RCON port must be open to your IP (many hosts don't allow it); use the console instead. |
| A world is missing from the list | Use Choose a folder…. Custom launcher folders aren't scanned. |
| A zipped datapack can't be edited | Overview → Extract to a folder (the zip is removed afterwards, with a backup, so the game doesn't load both). |
| A file shows as "broken" | It isn't valid JSON: Studio opens it as text with the parser's error; fix and save. |
Developing Studio itself: tools/minednd-studio/README.md.