Description
About
From the Ground Up (Unofficial Port) is an unofficial port of Astavie's mod From the Ground Up, updated from Minecraft 1.12.2 (Forge).
The mod adds a research system to Minecraft: instead of just knowing every recipe from the start, you must study and unlock technologies through research before you can use them.
How It Works
- Research Book (default key: R) — browse the technology tree and track your progress.
- Magnifying Glass — inspect blocks in the world to gain knowledge. Some secrets must be "deciphered" with a hint.
- Idea Table — combine items to unlock ideas and start new research branches.
- Research Table — solve puzzles (match or connect types) on parchment to complete research.
- Technology tree — progress through interconnected technologies, from basic survival to end-game knowledge.
Display
Features
- Full technology tree with prerequisites and dependencies
- Match and connect puzzle mechanics
- Inspiration and recipe-based research
- Custom advancements and triggers
- Loot injection: research parchments can appear in village, desert temple, and stronghold library chests
- English and Chinese (简体中文) language support
JEI Integration
With JEI installed, the mod answers the question "why can't I craft this yet?" — search any gated item in JEI and the Research Guide tab (magnifying glass icon) shows you exactly what stands between you and it:
- The technology that unlocks it — "This item requires the [icon] Enchanting technology to unlock".
- The prerequisite chain — every technology you have to research first, from the root down to the one you need, with icons.
- How to research it — the Idea Table ingredients to combine (marked "any N of them" when only a subset is needed), and the Research Table puzzle to solve (a 3×3 match grid, or a connect puzzle showing its two ends).
- Anything else — technologies that also need a special condition say so, instead of leaving you guessing.
- Scrollable pages — long guides scroll with the mouse wheel or by dragging JEI's own scrollbar.
[JEI Research Guide screenshot]

How much the guide reveals is configurable in config/ftgumod-common.toml:
researchGuideMode |
What JEI shows |
|---|---|
FULL (default) |
Prerequisites, and how to research them (Idea Table ingredients, Research Table puzzle, other unlock conditions) |
CHAIN_ONLY |
Prerequisite technologies only |
DISABLED |
No research guide in JEI at all |
JEI is optional — the mod is fully playable without it, and this tab simply never appears.
Datapacks
Technologies are fully data-driven — no code required. Drop a JSON file at data/<namespace>/technologies/<category>/<name>.json in a datapack (world/datapacks/), then run /reload. Any mod's items and tags can be referenced by their own IDs, so research branches for other mods are just a few lines of JSON.
The screenshot below is a custom pack for MrCrayfish's Furniture Mod and Farmer's Delight:

The 36 built-in technologies in data/ftgumod/technologies/ use the same format and can be copied as a starting point.
Commands
/technology grant <player> <everything|only|through|from|until> [tech]
/technology revoke <player> <everything|only|through|from|until> [tech]
/technology test <player> <tech>
/technology reload
See the in-game help for full syntax.
Notes
This is an alpha release, ported almost directly from the 1.12.2 code. Undiscovered bugs may remain — use with caution on long-term worlds. Feedback and bug reports are welcome.
License & Attribution
- This port: CC BY-NC 4.0 (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0)
- Original mod: From the Ground Up by Astavie, licensed under CC BY-NC 3.0
- This is a modified adaptation of the original work; the original author is credited but does not endorse this port.







