Attention Economy

Attention Economy is a Minecraft mod that introduces an "attention" system where game systems gradually degrade if the player ignores them for too long. The mod encourages players to rotate activities instead of tunnel-visioning one task forever.

The goal is immersive survival gameplay where variety matters. Neglect your armor and it wears faster. Ignore your farms and crops grow slower. Overuse your tools without switching and they become less efficient. The mod provides no popups, no quests, and no forced objectives—just natural consequences that reward engaged, attentive gameplay.

Key Features

Seven attention systems - Armor, tools, crops, furnaces, animals, beacons, and shields all require periodic attention.
Gradual penalties - Effects scale smoothly from 0% to maximum over time—no sudden punishments.
Fast recovery - Systems recover 2x faster than they decay when attended to.
Grace periods - No penalties apply immediately after attending to a system.
AFK protection - Decay pauses automatically when you're not moving.
Per-player tracking - Multiplayer-safe with independent attention levels per player.
No permanent damage - All effects are temporary and fully reversible.
Mode protection - No penalties in Creative or Spectator mode.
Natural gameplay - "Attending" to systems is just playing normally—no special actions required.
Fully configurable - All decay rates, penalties, and behaviors can be customized via JSON.

How It Works

Attention Levels

Every 20 ticks (1 second), the mod updates your attention levels for each system:

Mechanic	How It Works
Decay	Attention decreases slowly when not maintained
Recovery	Attention increases when you interact with the system
Grace Period	After attending, no decay occurs for a configurable time
Penalty Scaling	Penalties scale linearly with neglect level (0-100%)

What Counts as "Attention"

Normal, natural gameplay actions restore attention:

System	How to Attend
Armor	Open inventory, equip or repair armor
Tools	Swap tools, switch held items, use different tools
Crops	Walk near farms (16 block radius), interact with crops
Furnaces	Open furnaces, stay nearby (8 block radius)
Animals	Spend time near animals (16 block radius), interact with them
Beacons	Stay near beacons (32 block radius), open beacon UI
Shields	Put shield away, use other items, stop blocking

Attention Systems

Armor System

When you neglect your armor (don't open inventory or interact with your gear), it starts wearing out faster.

Neglect Level	Durability Damage
0%	Normal wear (100%)
25%	+12.5% wear
50%	+25% wear
75%	+37.5% wear
100%	+50% wear (150% total)

How to restore: Open your inventory, equip/unequip armor, repair items.

Tools System

Constantly using the same tool without switching causes temporary efficiency loss.

Neglect Level	Mining Speed
0%	Normal speed (100%)
25%	90% speed
50%	80% speed
75%	70% speed
100%	60% speed

How to restore: Switch tools, change held items, put tools away temporarily.

Crops System

Farms you don't visit slow down their growth rate.

Neglect Level	Growth Rate
0%	Normal growth (100%)
25%	85% growth
50%	70% growth
75%	55% growth
100%	40% growth

How to restore: Walk near your crops (within 16 blocks), interact with farmland.

Furnaces System

Furnaces you ignore will smelt items more slowly.

Neglect Level	Smelting Speed
0%	Normal speed (100%)
25%	87.5% speed
50%	75% speed
75%	62.5% speed
100%	50% speed

How to restore: Open the furnace UI, stay nearby (within 8 blocks).

Animals System

Neglected animals have longer breeding cooldowns.

Neglect Level	Breeding Cooldown
0%	Normal cooldown (100%)
25%	+12.5% cooldown
50%	+25% cooldown
75%	+37.5% cooldown
100%	+50% cooldown (150% total)

How to restore: Spend time near your animals (within 16 blocks), feed or interact with them.

Beacons System

Beacons you don't visit have reduced effect duration.

Neglect Level	Effect Duration
0%	Normal duration (100%)
25%	92.5% duration
50%	85% duration
75%	77.5% duration
100%	70% duration

At severe neglect (below 40% attention), beacon effects also lose 1 amplifier level.

How to restore: Stay near your beacon (within 32 blocks), open the beacon UI.

Shields System

Overusing your shield without breaks increases the recovery delay after blocking.

Neglect Level	Recovery Delay
0%	Normal delay
25%	+10 ticks
50%	+20 ticks
75%	+30 ticks
100%	+40 ticks

How to restore: Put your shield away, switch to other items, stop blocking.

Decay and Recovery Rates

Each system has different timing for how quickly attention decays and recovers:

System	Full Decay Time	Recovery Speed
Armor	10 minutes	2x decay rate
Tools	5 minutes	2x decay rate
Crops	20 minutes	2x decay rate
Furnaces	10 minutes	2x decay rate
Animals	20 minutes	2x decay rate
Beacons	15 minutes	2x decay rate
Shields	5 minutes	2x decay rate

Grace Period: After attending to any system, no decay occurs for 5 minutes (configurable).

Safeguards

The mod is designed to be fair and non-punishing:

Safeguard	Description
No Hard Failures	No system can fully stop functioning
Grace Periods	Time buffer before penalties begin
AFK Detection	Decay pauses if you haven't moved for 1 minute
Mode Protection	No penalties in Creative or Spectator mode
Fast Recovery	Systems recover 2x faster than they decay
Gradual Scaling	Penalties increase smoothly, never suddenly
No Permanent Damage	Everything is temporary and reversible

Configuration

Config file location: .minecraft/config/attentioneconomy.json

The config file is created automatically on first launch. All options:

{
  "globalEnabled": true,
  "armorEnabled": true,
  "toolsEnabled": true,
  "cropsEnabled": true,
  "furnacesEnabled": true,
  "animalsEnabled": true,
  "beaconsEnabled": true,
  "shieldsEnabled": true,
  "gracePeriodTicks": 6000,
  "decayRate": 1.0,
  "recoveryRate": 2.0,
  "hardcoreMultiplier": 1.5,
  "afkThresholdTicks": 1200,
  "maxArmorPenalty": 0.5,
  "maxToolPenalty": 0.4,
  "maxCropPenalty": 0.6,
  "maxFurnacePenalty": 0.5,
  "maxAnimalPenalty": 0.5,
  "maxBeaconPenalty": 0.3,
  "maxShieldPenalty": 0.4,
  "armorAttentionRadius": 0,
  "toolAttentionRadius": 0,
  "cropAttentionRadius": 16,
  "furnaceAttentionRadius": 8,
  "animalAttentionRadius": 16,
  "beaconAttentionRadius": 32,
  "shieldAttentionRadius": 0,
  "armorDecayTime": 12000,
  "toolDecayTime": 6000,
  "cropDecayTime": 24000,
  "furnaceDecayTime": 12000,
  "animalDecayTime": 24000,
  "beaconDecayTime": 18000,
  "shieldDecayTime": 6000
}

Config Options Explained

Option	Default	Description
`globalEnabled`	`true`	Master toggle for the entire mod
`armorEnabled`	`true`	Enable armor attention system
`toolsEnabled`	`true`	Enable tools attention system
`cropsEnabled`	`true`	Enable crops attention system
`furnacesEnabled`	`true`	Enable furnaces attention system
`animalsEnabled`	`true`	Enable animals attention system
`beaconsEnabled`	`true`	Enable beacons attention system
`shieldsEnabled`	`true`	Enable shields attention system
`gracePeriodTicks`	`6000`	Ticks before decay starts after attending (6000 = 5 min)
`decayRate`	`1.0`	Multiplier for how fast attention decays
`recoveryRate`	`2.0`	Multiplier for how fast attention recovers
`hardcoreMultiplier`	`1.5`	Extra decay rate multiplier for hardcore worlds
`afkThresholdTicks`	`1200`	Ticks of no movement before AFK detection (1200 = 1 min)
`maxArmorPenalty`	`0.5`	Maximum armor durability penalty (0.5 = 50% extra wear)
`maxToolPenalty`	`0.4`	Maximum tool efficiency penalty (0.4 = 40% slower)
`maxCropPenalty`	`0.6`	Maximum crop growth penalty (0.6 = 60% slower)
`maxFurnacePenalty`	`0.5`	Maximum furnace speed penalty (0.5 = 50% slower)
`maxAnimalPenalty`	`0.5`	Maximum breeding cooldown penalty (0.5 = 50% longer)
`maxBeaconPenalty`	`0.3`	Maximum beacon duration penalty (0.3 = 30% shorter)
`maxShieldPenalty`	`0.4`	Maximum shield cooldown penalty (0.4 = +40 ticks)
`cropAttentionRadius`	`16`	Blocks within which crops count as "attended"
`furnaceAttentionRadius`	`8`	Blocks within which furnaces count as "attended"
`animalAttentionRadius`	`16`	Blocks within which animals count as "attended"
`beaconAttentionRadius`	`32`	Blocks within which beacons count as "attended"
`armorDecayTime`	`12000`	Ticks for armor attention to fully decay (12000 = 10 min)
`toolDecayTime`	`6000`	Ticks for tool attention to fully decay (6000 = 5 min)
`cropDecayTime`	`24000`	Ticks for crop attention to fully decay (24000 = 20 min)
`furnaceDecayTime`	`12000`	Ticks for furnace attention to fully decay (12000 = 10 min)
`animalDecayTime`	`24000`	Ticks for animal attention to fully decay (24000 = 20 min)
`beaconDecayTime`	`18000`	Ticks for beacon attention to fully decay (18000 = 15 min)
`shieldDecayTime`	`6000`	Ticks for shield attention to fully decay (6000 = 5 min)

Multiplayer Compatibility

This mod works on both client and server. For full functionality:

Setup	Result
Client + Server	Full experience with all features
Server Only	Full functionality (all logic is server-side)
Client Only	No effect (mod requires server-side installation)

Multiplayer Features

All attention calculations are done server-side
Per-player attention data stored in concurrent hash maps
Data persists in world save directory
No client-server desync issues

Installation

Install Fabric Loader (0.15.6 or newer) for Minecraft 1.20.1.
Install Fabric API (0.92.0+1.20.1 or newer).
Download the mod JAR file.
Place the JAR into your .minecraft/mods folder.
Launch Minecraft with the Fabric profile.

Building from Source

Clone the repository and run the Gradle build:

git clone https://github.com/AaravVishal1/attention-economy
cd attention-economy
./gradlew build

The compiled JAR will be in build/libs/.

For development, you can run the client directly:

./gradlew runClient

Requirements

Dependency	Version
Minecraft	1.20.1
Fabric Loader	0.15.6+
Fabric API	0.92.0+1.20.1
Java	17+

Troubleshooting

Penalties aren't being applied

Check that the mod is enabled (globalEnabled: true in config).
Verify you're not in Creative or Spectator mode.
Make sure you're not AFK (haven't moved for over 1 minute).
Check that the specific system is enabled in config.

Penalties seem too harsh

Increase the *DecayTime values to make decay slower.
Decrease the max*Penalty values to reduce maximum penalties.
Increase gracePeriodTicks for longer buffers after attending.
Increase recoveryRate for faster recovery.

Penalties seem too lenient

Decrease the *DecayTime values to make decay faster.
Increase the max*Penalty values for harsher penalties.
Decrease gracePeriodTicks for shorter grace periods.
Enable hardcoreMultiplier for 1.5x faster decay.

Crops/furnaces/animals not being tracked

Make sure you've interacted with them at least once to register ownership.
Check that you're within the attention radius (default 16/8/16 blocks).
The mod tracks which player "owns" each block/entity based on interaction.

Data not persisting

Attention data is saved when the server stops and when players disconnect.
Check for errors in the server log during save/load.
Data is stored in <world>/attentioneconomy/attention_data.json.

Technical Details

Performance

Attention updated every 20 ticks (1 second) per player
Chunk/entity tracking uses concurrent hash maps for thread safety
Minimal overhead during normal gameplay
Block entity tracking cleaned up periodically

Mixins Used

Mixin	Purpose
`PlayerEntityMixin`	Tool efficiency modification
`CropBlockMixin`	Crop growth rate modification
`AbstractFurnaceBlockEntityMixin`	Furnace smelting speed modification
`AnimalEntityMixin`	Breeding cooldown modification
`BeaconBlockEntityMixin`	Beacon effect duration modification
`ShieldItemMixin`	Shield usage tracking
`LivingEntityMixin`	Shield cooldown modification
`PlayerScreenHandlerMixin`	Inventory open detection
`PlayerInventoryMixin`	Hotbar slot change detection
`ArmorItemMixin`	Armor attention system hook

Data Storage

Per-player attention data stored in <world>/attentioneconomy/
JSON format for easy inspection and backup
Automatic cleanup of stale chunk/entity ownership data

Compatibility

Compatible with most Fabric mods
Uses standard Fabric events and mixins
Does not modify vanilla items or add new content
Works alongside other balance/survival mods

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for details.