FoodTweaker

A lightweight, config-driven utility mod for modpack developers. It lets you override the food stats of any item — vanilla or modded — from a single JSON file, without writing code or touching the original mod.

• Loaders: Fabric and NeoForge (built with Architectury)
• Author: icywhenhot

FoodTweaker changes nothing on its own. It only does something once you add entries to its config, so it's safe to ship in a pack and configure later.

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Requirements

Loader	Required mods
Fabric	Fabric API, Architectury API (≥ 13.0.8)
NeoForge	Architectury API (≥ 13.0.8)

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What it can do

For any item id you list, you can override:

Field	What it changes
nutrition	Hunger points restored (2 = one half-drumstick)
saturation	Saturation modifier (same meaning as vanilla). Saturation gained = nutrition × saturation × 2
can_always_eat	If true, the item can be eaten on a full hunger bar (like golden apples)
eat_seconds	How long it takes to eat. Vanilla normal = 1.6, fast (e.g. dried kelp) = 0.8
effects	Status effects applied when eaten — works with vanilla and modded effects (e.g. pufferfish-style Hunger/Poison/Nausea, or a modded buff)

It can also turn a non-food item into food (e.g. make a stick edible) — just give it at least nutrition and saturation.

Each field is optional: omit one and the item keeps its current value. This means you can tweak just the eat time of a modded steak and leave everything else alone.

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What it cannot do

• It does not add permanent attribute modifiers (like a permanent +max-health on eat). The "pufferfish attributes" use case is covered because those are status effects, which are fully supported — but lasting stat changes are a different system and are out of scope.
• It does not change non-food properties (stack size, durability, cooldowns, crafting, etc.).
• It only edits the item's food data (the minecraft:food component). The "leftover" item from eating (e.g. a bowl from stew) is preserved automatically but cannot currently be changed.
• Existing item stacks don't retro-update. Minecraft snapshots an item's data when the stack is created, so items already sitting in inventories/chests keep their old stats. Newly obtained copies (e.g. via /give, crafting, or loot) use the new values. After /foodtweaker reload, grab a fresh copy to see changes.
• It is effectively server-side: the change is applied where the world runs. In multiplayer, install it on the server; connected clients receive the updated stats automatically.

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How it works (under the hood)

When a world/server is about to start (all mods are loaded and the registries are frozen by then), FoodTweaker reads its config and, for each listed item, builds a new FoodProperties and swaps it onto that item's default data components. Unlisted items are never touched, and a reload first reverts everything it previously changed before re-applying — so removing an entry restores the item to vanilla/original behavior.

If an item id or effect id can't be found (e.g. that mod isn't installed, or a typo), FoodTweaker logs a clear warning and skips only that entry — it never crashes the game.

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Configuration

The config file is created automatically on first launch at:

<game folder>/config/foodtweaker.json

Top-level options

Key	Default	Meaning
enabled	true	Master switch. false reverts everything to vanilla.
logChanges	true	Log each applied override to the game log.
foods	{}	The map of item id → overrides. Empty = no changes.

Any key starting with _ is ignored, so you can keep comments and the bundled _example block right inside the file.

Per-food fields

"<namespace>:<item>": {
  "nutrition": 8,            // int
  "saturation": 1.0,         // float (modifier)
  "can_always_eat": true,    // bool
  "eat_seconds": 0.8,        // float
  "effects": [               // optional; if present, REPLACES the item's effects
    {
      "id": "minecraft:absorption", // vanilla or modded effect id
      "amplifier": 0,               // 0 = level I, 1 = level II, ...
      "duration_seconds": 60,       // float
      "probability": 1.0,           // 0.0..1.0 chance to apply
      "ambient": false,             // beacon-style softer particles
      "show_particles": true,
      "show_icon": true
    }
  ]
}

Example

{
  "enabled": true,
  "logChanges": true,
  "foods": {
    "minecraft:apple": {
      "nutrition": 8,
      "saturation": 1.0,
      "can_always_eat": true,
      "eat_seconds": 0.8,
      "effects": [
        { "id": "minecraft:absorption", "amplifier": 0, "duration_seconds": 60 }
      ]
    },
    "minecraft:stick": {
      "nutrition": 2,
      "saturation": 0.1
    },
    "somemod:super_steak": {
      "nutrition": 20,
      "saturation": 20.0,
      "can_always_eat": true,
      "effects": [
        { "id": "minecraft:regeneration", "amplifier": 1, "duration_seconds": 10 },
        { "id": "minecraft:hunger",       "amplifier": 0, "duration_seconds": 15, "probability": 0.5 }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Reloading without a restart

Run this in-game (requires permission level 2 / cheats):

/foodtweaker reload

It re-reads the file and re-applies it. Remember: grab a fresh copy of an item afterwards to see the new stats.

Finding item & effect ids

Press F3 + H in-game to enable advanced tooltips — every item then shows its id. Recipe-viewer mods (JEI / REI) also display ids.

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Mod icon

common/src/main/resources/assets/foodtweaker/icon.png

It will be bundled into both the Fabric and NeoForge jars automatically.