Configuration

Configuration

Wild Creatures creates two files in the config folder on the first start:

File	Content
wildcreatures.json	spawns, creature stats, behavior and breeding
wildcreatures-update.json	the update checker

The file is plain JSON with five sections: general, spawns, stats, behavior and breeding. Options missing from an older file are added with their default value on the next start; your own values are kept. Values outside the allowed range are corrected automatically (for example negative speeds).

When do changes apply?

• /wildcreatures reload applies behavior and breeding values right away.
• Spawn settings and stats (health, speed, damage) need a restart of the game or server.

general: turning creatures on and off

One switch per creature, all true by default. Setting one to false stops that creature from spawning naturally. Spawn eggs and existing creatures keep working.

enableSharkNaturalSpawns, enableCrabNaturalSpawns, enableJellyfishNaturalSpawns, enableMusselNaturalSpawns, enableDeerNaturalSpawns, enableWildBoarNaturalSpawns, enableBearNaturalSpawns, enableCrocodileNaturalSpawns, enableSnakeNaturalSpawns, enableScorpionNaturalSpawns, enableDuckNaturalSpawns, enableOwlNaturalSpawns, enableGorillaNaturalSpawns, enableRaccoonNaturalSpawns, enableOtterNaturalSpawns, enableOrcaNaturalSpawns, enablePantherNaturalSpawns, enableMeerkatNaturalSpawns, enableEagleNaturalSpawns, enableFireflyNaturalSpawns, enableFlamingoNaturalSpawns, enableBeaverNaturalSpawns

spawns: how often and in which numbers

Option	Default	Meaning
globalSpawnWeightMultiplier	3.0	Multiplies every spawn weight below. 1.0 is the balance of the first versions, 0.0 turns all natural spawns off.

Every creature then has a weight and a minimum and maximum group size. The weight works like vanilla spawn weights: it is compared with the weights of all other animals in the same biome (vanilla cows have a weight of 8). Higher means more common.

Creature	Options	Weight	Group
Shark	sharkSpawnWeight, sharkMinGroupSize, sharkMaxGroupSize	220	1-4
Crab, beach	crabBeachSpawnWeight, crabBeachMin/MaxGroupSize	45	2-5
Crab, ocean	crabOceanBackupSpawnWeight, crabOceanBackupMin/MaxGroupSize	10	1-2
Jellyfish	jellyfishSpawnWeight, jellyfishMin/MaxGroupSize	32	2-5
Mussel	musselSpawnWeight, musselMin/MaxGroupSize	120	1-6
Deer	deerForestSpawnWeight, deerForestMin/MaxGroupSize	16	2-4
Wild Boar	wildBoarForestSpawnWeight, wildBoarForestMin/MaxGroupSize	12	1-3
Bear	bearForestSpawnWeight, bearForestMin/MaxGroupSize	6	1
Crocodile, wetland	crocodileWetlandSpawnWeight, crocodileWetlandMin/MaxGroupSize	8	1-2
Crocodile, beach	crocodileBeachSpawnWeight, crocodileBeachMin/MaxGroupSize	6	1
Crocodile, desert	crocodileDesertWaterSpawnWeight, crocodileDesertWaterMin/MaxGroupSize	4	1
Snake, desert	snakeDesertSpawnWeight, snakeDesertMin/MaxGroupSize	10	1-2
Snake, wetland	snakeWetlandSpawnWeight, snakeWetlandMin/MaxGroupSize	6	1
Scorpion, desert	scorpionDesertSpawnWeight, scorpionDesertMin/MaxGroupSize	10	1-2
Scorpion, savanna	scorpionSavannaSpawnWeight, scorpionSavannaMin/MaxGroupSize	5	1
Duck, wetland	duckWetlandSpawnWeight, duckWetlandMin/MaxGroupSize	56	4-9
Duck, beach	duckBeachSpawnWeight, duckBeachMin/MaxGroupSize	36	3-7
Owl	owlForestSpawnWeight, owlForestMin/MaxGroupSize	7	1-2
Gorilla	gorillaJungleSpawnWeight, gorillaJungleMin/MaxGroupSize	5	1-2
Raccoon	raccoonForestSpawnWeight, raccoonForestMin/MaxGroupSize	14	1-3
Otter	otterWetlandSpawnWeight, otterWetlandMin/MaxGroupSize	10	1-3
Orca	orcaOceanSpawnWeight, orcaOceanMin/MaxGroupSize	80	1-2
Panther	pantherJungleSpawnWeight, pantherJungleMin/MaxGroupSize	5	1
Meerkat	meerkatSpawnWeight, meerkatMin/MaxGroupSize	10	3-6
Eagle	eagleSpawnWeight, eagleMin/MaxGroupSize	4	1
Firefly	fireflySpawnWeight, fireflyMin/MaxGroupSize	30	4-10
Flamingo	flamingoSpawnWeight, flamingoMin/MaxGroupSize	14	3-7
Beaver	beaverSpawnWeight, beaverMin/MaxGroupSize	8	1-3

Min/MaxGroupSize stands for the two options ...MinGroupSize and ...MaxGroupSize. Where a creature also spawns in side biomes (the italic biomes on Spawning), those use a lower weight derived from the main weight. Butterflies have no spawn options: they follow the flower biomes or Season System.

The option spawnBalancePresetVersion is managed by the mod. It makes sure that configs from very early versions get the newer, higher default weights once. Leave it as it is.

stats: health, speed and damage

Every creature has <creature>Health and <creature>MovementSpeed. Creatures that fight also have <creature>AttackDamage and <creature>FollowRange (how far they notice targets), and some have <creature>KnockbackResistance (0 to 1).

Creature	Health	Speed	Damage	Follow range	Knockback res.
shark	32	0.55	7	32
crab	8	0.18
jellyfish	8	0.10
mussel	6
deer	12	0.28
wildBoar	20	0.26	4	18	0.20
bear	36	0.24	7	22	0.45
crocodile	30	0.30	8	24	0.35
snake	8	0.30	2	12
scorpion	10	0.26	2.5	12	0.10
duck	6	0.22
owl	8	0.24		10
gorilla	46	0.24	8	24	0.55
raccoon	10	0.27
otter	10	0.26
orca	46	0.42	8	32
panther	26	0.34	6	24	0.20
meerkat	6	0.30
eagle	16	0.25	4
flamingo	10	0.23
beaver	12	0.22

The option names use the creature name from the first column, for example wildBoarHealth or pantherAttackDamage.

behavior: how creatures act

These options fine-tune movement and fighting. The defaults are balanced; most players never need to touch them. The most useful ones:

Option	Default	Meaning
bearTerritorialRadius, wildBoarTerritorialRadius, gorillaTerritorialRadius	5.5 / 4 / 7	how close you can get before they attack
gorillaWarningRadius	9	distance at which a gorilla beats its chest as a warning
crocodileLandTerritorialRadius, crocodileWaterTerritorialRadius	4 / 12	crocodile attack distance on land and in water
snakePlayerAggroRadius, scorpionPlayerAggroRadius	3.5 / 4	bite and sting distance
snakePoisonTicks, scorpionPoisonTicks	80 / 90	poison length (20 ticks = 1 second)
jellyfishContactDamage, jellyfishSlownessTicks	2 / 60	jellyfish sting
sharkDryOutDamage, orcaDryOutDamage	2 / 2	damage on land, every ...DryOutIntervalTicks
owlFlightChanceTicks, owlFlightMinHeight, owlFlightMaxHeight	90 / 2 / 6	how often and how high owls fly
gorillaIdleChestBeatChanceTicks	380	how often gorillas beat their chest on their own

The other options in this section set walking, fleeing, swimming and attack speeds (...RandomStrollSpeed, ...PanicSpeed, ...AvoidWalkSpeed, ...AvoidSprintSpeed, ...AttackSpeed), how far creatures chase before they give up (...GiveUpDistance) and how often they look for targets (...CheckCooldownTicks).

breeding

Option	Default	Meaning
enableBreeding	true	false stops all Wild Creatures from falling in love
babyGrowUpTicks	48000	time until a baby is grown up (24000 = one Minecraft day, at least 1200)
raccoonTameChance	4	a raccoon is tamed with a chance of 1 in this number per food
raccoonMinLitterSize	1	smallest raccoon litter
raccoonMaxLitterSize	3	biggest raccoon litter

wildcreatures-update.json

Wild Creatures checks once per start whether a newer version exists and shows a short message in chat to the players online. If there is no internet connection, the check fails silently.

Option	Default	Meaning
enableUpdateChecker	true	false turns the check off completely
checkDelayTicks	200	delay after joining before the message appears
connectTimeoutMillis, readTimeoutMillis	2500, 4000	network timeouts
notifyOnlyOncePerRun	true	show the message only once per game start