EnvironmentDetector API

A lightweight and crash-safe Minecraft environment detection API for Fabric, Quilt and modern modpack launchers.

EnvironmentDetector automatically identifies:

• Launcher
• Modpack instance
• Loader
• Minecraft version
• Special client environments

The API is designed for:

• Mods
• HUDs
• Placeholder systems
• Analytics
• Compatibility layers
• Launcher-aware integrations

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✨ Features

Automatic Launcher Detection

EnvironmentDetector can automatically detect:

• Modrinth App
• CurseForge
• GDLauncher
• Prism Launcher
• MultiMC
• ATLauncher
• Feather Client
• NoRisk Client
• Lunar Client
• Badlion Client
• Official Minecraft Launcher

No manual configuration required.

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🧩 Compatibility

Supported Minecraft Versions

Primary Support

• Minecraft 1.21.x (1.21, 1.21.1, 1.21.2, etc.)
• Optimized and tested for modern Minecraft environments.

The project currently targets:

• Java 21
• modern Fabric Loader versions
• current launcher ecosystems

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Backwards Compatibility

EnvironmentDetector mainly relies on:

• Fabric Loader APIs
• filesystem checks
• runtime analysis

The API does NOT deeply modify Minecraft internals and avoids complex mixins for detection logic.

Because of this, the project can also be ported to older versions like:

• 1.20.1
• 1.19.4

with only minimal adjustments:

• lowering the Java target from 21 → 17
• adjusting fabric.mod.json
• rebuilding the project

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Supported Mod Loaders

Fabric

✅ Full native support (Main target platform)

Quilt

✅ Full native support

Quilt supports Fabric mods natively and EnvironmentDetector includes dedicated Quilt detection logic.

This means logs will correctly show:

Loader=Quilt

instead of Fabric when running on Quilt.

NeoForge / Forge

⚡ Not natively supported

EnvironmentDetector is primarily a Fabric mod.

However, the mod works correctly through compatibility layers such as:

• Sinytra Connector
• Fabric Connector implementations

When used through these layers, the API can even detect that the environment is running on:

• Forge
• NeoForge

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Technical Requirements

Java Version

• Java 21 required for Minecraft 1.20.5+

Fabric Loader

• Fabric Loader 0.16.0+

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Compatibility Overview

Feature	Status
Minecraft 1.21.x	✅ Optimized & Tested
Fabric	✅ Native Support
Quilt	✅ Native Support
NeoForge / Forge	⚡ Via Connector Only
Dedicated Server	✅ Fully Compatible
Java 21	🛠️ Required

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🧠 High Precision Detection System

Unlike many other mods, EnvironmentDetector does NOT rely on process names only.

Instead, it uses:

• file-based validation
• recursive directory scanning
• launcher metadata verification
• classpath analysis
• runtime environment analysis

This avoids false positives and duplicate detections.

Example: Other mods may simply scan for "Modrinth" running on the system.

EnvironmentDetector instead uses a more advanced runtime-based detection system.

1. JVM Argument Scan

The API scans Minecraft startup arguments (the same information normally visible in logs and runtime launch parameters).

If the word:

modrinth

appears inside JVM arguments, launch paths or runtime parameters, the launcher is automatically detected as:

Modrinth App

This works reliably because the Modrinth launcher usually injects Modrinth-related paths or identifiers into the Minecraft runtime environment.

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2. Manual Configuration Fallback

On first startup, EnvironmentDetector automatically creates:

config/environmentdetector.properties

Inside this file, custom values can be manually configured:

manual_pack_name=Your Modpack Name
manual_launcher_name=Your Custom Launcher

If these values are set, they always take highest priority and override automatic detection.

This allows:

• custom launchers
• private modpacks
• unsupported launchers
• development environments
• portable instances

to work reliably with the API.

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🔍 Detection Logic

The API scans multiple directory levels to identify launcher structures.

Supported Markers

Modrinth App

• Runtime JVM analysis
• launch argument analysis
• optional metadata validation

CurseForge

• CURSEFORGE_INSTANCE_NAME
• minecraftinstance.json
• .curseclient

Feather Client

• feather
• feather-core
• .feather

NoRisk Client

• norisk.config
• Mod ID: norisk

GDLauncher

• gd-launcher.json
• gdlauncher.json

Prism Launcher / MultiMC

• prism.config
• prism.json
• multimc.cfg

ATLauncher

• instance.json
• atlauncher.json

Lunar / Badlion

Classpath keyword analysis:

• lunar
• badlion

Official Launcher

• launcher_profiles.json

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📜 Standardized Logging

After initialization, EnvironmentDetector outputs a unified log entry.

Example:

[EnvironmentDetector] Launcher=Modrinth App, Instance=Ultra Survival, NoRisk=false, Loader=Fabric, Version=1.21.1

Other examples:

[EnvironmentDetector] Launcher=CurseForge, Instance=BetterMC, NoRisk=false, Loader=Fabric, Version=1.21.1

[EnvironmentDetector] Launcher=NoRisk Client, Instance=Unknown Pack, NoRisk=true, Loader=Fabric, Version=1.21.1

Fallback:

[EnvironmentDetector] Unknown Environment

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⚡ Performance

• Single startup scan
• Cached results
• Thread-safe internals
• Minimal overhead
• No background scanning

EnvironmentDetector runs once during startup and afterwards only serves cached data.

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🛠 Developer Integration

Gradle Setup

repositories {
    exclusiveContent {
        forRepository {
            maven {
                name = "Modrinth"
                url = "https://api.modrinth.com/maven"
            }
        }
        filter {
            includeGroup "maven.modrinth"
        }
    }
}

Dependency

dependencies {
    modImplementation "maven.modrinth:environmentdetector-api:VERSION"
}

Replace VERSION with the latest release.

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💻 Usage Example

public String getLauncherName() {
    if (FabricLoader.getInstance().isModLoaded("environmentdetector")) {
        return de.felixfgf.environmentdetector.EnvironmentDetectorAPI
                .getEnvironment()
                .launcher();
    }

    return "Vanilla";
}

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⚠ Best Practices

Always use optional integration

Do NOT hard depend on EnvironmentDetector.

Always check:

FabricLoader.getInstance().isModLoaded("environmentdetector")

before using the API.

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🚫 Common Mistakes

Wrong package

Correct package:

de.felixfgf.environmentdetector

NOT:

de.felixfgf.environmentdetector.api

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Missing modLoaded check

Direct API access without checking if the mod exists can crash other mods.

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Using placeholders every frame

Do not resolve placeholders every render frame. Cache values when opening menus or HUDs.

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🐛 Bug Reports & Support

Found a bug or detection issue?

Please report:

• launcher used
• Minecraft version
• loader
• latest.log
• detected environment output

Join the Discord server for support, bug reports and API discussions:

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🎯 Goals

• Maximum environment transparency
• Reliable launcher identification
• High compatibility
• Zero-config setup
• Crash-safe integration
• Lightweight architecture

EnvironmentDetector is built to become the standard environment API for modern Minecraft launcher ecosystems 🚀