Difficulty Mod - Progressive Protection for Hardcore Survival

🎮 Overview

Difficulty Mod is a progressive difficulty mod specifically designed for Hardcore gameplay. It provides players with a grace period at the start of their world, allowing them to establish themselves and prepare before the world becomes truly dangerous.

Perfect for Hardcore modpacks where death is permanent, this mod balances the challenge by giving players time to build a solid foundation before facing hostile creatures.

⚔️ Main Features

🛡️ Progressive Player Protection

The mod offers two levels of protection that gradually decrease:

1. Total Immunity (First Minute - 1200 ticks)

The player cannot take ANY damage from any source
Visual effect: Absorption IV (10 golden absorption hearts)
Perfect for those critical first seconds after spawning

2. Mob Invisibility (Up to ~17 minutes - 20000 ticks)

Hostile creatures cannot target the player
Visual effect: Permanent Invisibility
Players can safely explore, mine, and build

📊 Evolving Difficulty System

The mod automatically manages server difficulty:

0 to 20 minutes: Difficulty set to Peaceful
After 20 minutes: Automatic switch to Hard

🚨 Warning Messages

The mod displays on-screen titles (like boss bars) to warn the player:

At 20000 ticks (~16min 40s):
- "You feel like the world"
- "is becoming more aggressive from now on."
- Color: Red
At 24000 ticks (20 minutes):
- "Day 2"
- "They're watching you from afar…"
- Color: Gold
When the player becomes targetable:
- "You are now visible"
- "Creatures can detect you."
- Color: Dark Red

⚠️ Protection Loss Mechanism

The player can instantly lose their invisibility protection by performing certain actions:

Actions that make the player targetable:

✅ Attacking a creature or mob
✅ Opening a chest, barrel, or shulker box
✅ Breaking a chest, barrel, or shulker box

As soon as one of these actions is performed:

The Invisibility effect disappears immediately
A warning message appears on screen
The player becomes targetable by all mobs
This loss is permanent for the current playthrough

💡 Strategy Tip: Use your invisibility time to explore, gather basic resources (wood, stone), and find a good location for your base. Avoid opening chests or attacking until you're ready!

🌍 Scope and Limitations

✅ Works in the Overworld only

All protections and effects apply ONLY in the Overworld:

Potion effects (Absorption, Invisibility)
Damage protection
Mob untargetability
Warning messages

❌ No protection in other dimensions

In the Nether and End, the mod is completely inactive:

No visual effects
No protection
Normal survival mode

This maintains the challenge in dangerous dimensions while offering a balanced early game.

🔧 Complete Configuration

The mod automatically generates a configuration file: config/difficultymod-server.toml

Available options:

[timings]
    # Duration of complete immunity in ticks (default: 1200 = 1 minute)
    # Range: 0 ~ 100000
    immunityTime = 1200

    # Duration during which the player is untargetable (default: 20000 = ~16min 40s)
    # Range: 0 ~ 100000
    untargetableTime = 20000

    # Time before switching to Hard difficulty (default: 24000 = 20 minutes)
    # Range: 0 ~ 200000
    oneDayTime = 24000

[gameplay]
    # If true, attacking makes the player targetable immediately
    attackMakesTargetable = true

    # If true, opening/breaking a chest makes the player targetable immediately
    chestMakesTargetable = true

Useful conversions:

1200 ticks = 1 minute = 60 seconds
6000 ticks = 5 minutes
12000 ticks = 10 minutes
20000 ticks = 16 minutes 40 seconds
24000 ticks = 20 minutes (1 Minecraft day)

🎯 Ideal Use Cases

✅ Perfect for:

Hardcore modpacks where death is permanent
Servers with respawn disabled
Survival challenges where the beginning is very difficult
Modpacks with enhanced mobs (Rough Mobs, Infernal Mobs, etc.)
Solo adventures with high risk

💡 Example scenarios:

Scenario 1: Classic Hardcore Pack

Player spawns, invisible and invulnerable
Quickly explores to find a village or good biome
Gathers wood, stone, food
Once ready, opens their first chest → becomes visible
True survival begins!

Scenario 2: Pack with Modified Mobs

Zombies are faster, creepers deal more damage
Player uses their grace period to build a fortified base
Waits for invisibility to naturally expire
Now equipped and ready for the challenge

🔄 Hardcore Compatibility

Minecraft Native Hardcore Mode

The mod is perfectly compatible with Minecraft's Hardcore mode:

When the player dies in Hardcore → The save is deleted
New game → The mod fully reloads
All protections are automatically reset
The player starts over with all protections

Custom Hardcore Mods

Compatible with mods that enforce Hardcore mode:

Hardcore Revival
Gravestone Mod (with respawn disabled)
Custom Difficulty mods

⚙️ Technical Information

Minecraft Version: 1.18.2
Loader: Forge 40.2.0+
Side: Server (also works in singleplayer)
Configuration: Auto-generated TOML file

Events used:

TickEvent.WorldTickEvent - Time and effect management
LivingAttackEvent - Damage protection
LivingChangeTargetEvent - Prevents mobs from targeting
PlayerInteractEvent.RightClickBlock - Chest opening detection
BlockEvent.BreakEvent - Chest breaking detection

Potion effects:

MobEffects.ABSORPTION (level IV) - Immunity
MobEffects.INVISIBILITY - Untargetable

📝 Important Notes

What the mod DOES NOT do:

❌ Does not modify mob spawns
❌ Does not change creature statistics
❌ Does not modify gameplay in Nether/End
❌ Does not persist between deaths (by design)
❌ Does not affect creative/spectator players

What the mod DOES:

✅ Protects the player at the start of the game
✅ Automatically changes server difficulty
✅ Provides clear visual feedback (effects and messages)
✅ Resets with each new game
✅ Is fully configurable

🎬 Summary in One Sentence

A progressive difficulty mod for Hardcore that gives players 20 minutes of protection (immunity + invisibility) to establish themselves before the world becomes truly dangerous, with instant protection loss if the player attacks or opens a chest.

📋 Visual Timeline

Time     | Protection           | Visual Effect        | Difficulty | Status
---------|---------------------|----------------------|------------|------------------
0-1 min  | Immunity + Invis    | Absorption IV + Invis| Peaceful   | Safe to explore
1-17 min | Invisibility only   | Invisibility         | Peaceful   | Can't be targeted
17-20 min| None                | None                 | Peaceful   | Warning received
20+ min  | None                | None                 | Hard       | Full survival mode

Special: Opening/breaking a chest or attacking immediately removes invisibility at any time!

🔍 Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Does the mod work in multiplayer?
A: Yes! Each player gets their own protection timer based on when they join.

Q: Can I disable the chest opening mechanic?
A: Yes, set chestMakesTargetable = false in the config file.

Q: What happens if I die and create a new world?
A: All protections fully reset - you start fresh with full protection again.

Q: Does this work with modded mobs?
A: Yes! The invisibility effect works with all mobs that extend the vanilla Monster class.

Q: Can I change the timings?
A: Absolutely! Edit the difficultymod-server.toml file in your config folder.

Q: Does this affect the Nether or End?
A: No, protections only work in the Overworld. Other dimensions remain challenging.

🤝 Support and Feedback

If you encounter bugs or have suggestions:

Use the "Issues" tab on the mod page
Specify your Forge and Minecraft version
Include logs if possible (logs/latest.log)

📜 License

This mod is licensed under MIT - Free to use and modify.

Good luck and have fun in your Hardcore adventure! 🎮⚔️

Difficulty Manager