Gameplay
Maps & Navigation
The map tools in Nytheria - Xaero's Minimap and World Map, the shared server map, waypoints, claims and Waystones on the map, radar icons and Nature's Compass for finding biomes.
Nytheria gives you a minimap, a full-screen world map, a map that all players on a server share, and a compass that finds biomes. This page is a child of Exploration & Travel and explains what each tool shows, which settings the pack starts with and how to find a biome without wandering.
Overview#
Four mods carry the whole system. 
Xaero's Minimap draws the corner map, the radar and the waypoints. 
Xaero's World Map draws the big map that you open with M. 
Unified Xaero Worldmap turns that map into one shared map on a server. 
Nature's Compass finds biomes. A fifth mod, 
Xaero Icon Fix, only fixes how things look on the radar.
Both Xaero mods run on the client and on the server, and Unified Xaero Worldmap needs World Map on the server too. The minimap can show Waystones, claims from Open Parties and Claims, and members of your party.
Xaero's Minimap and World Map#
The minimap sits in the bottom-right corner of the screen. It starts square, at zoom 3, and it is hidden while a screen is open or the F3 debug screen is shown. The radar is on, and the nearby hostile mobs are not drawn by default, so the radar shows friendly mobs, tamed animals, players and items. Tamed hostile mobs are shown again.
These files are the pack author's client profile. A player who already has Xaero settings keeps his own, so the list below is the starting point for a fresh install, not a rule.
Waypoints and death points#
Waypoints show in the world and on the minimap, with their coordinates hidden by default, and the distance limit is off. When you die, Xaero creates a death waypoint and keeps older ones. A death waypoint is deleted when you walk to within 4 blocks of it. The new-waypoint key is N, which is shared with the waypoint list; see Controls.
Cave mode#
Caves would hide the surface on a normal map, so both maps start with cave mode allowed. The minimap switches to cave mode on its own and shows 30 blocks of depth. The world map also allows cave mode at depth 30. No dimension is excluded.
The world map#
Press M to open the world map. It shows the hovered biome and your coordinates, loads up to 300 regions and lets you create and edit claims. Clicking the map to teleport works only for operators and staff, because the map uses the /tp command and normal players do not have it.
Keys#
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| M | Open the world map |
| N | New waypoint and waypoint list (shared key) |
| Up / Down | Zoom the minimap in and out |
| Left | Enlarge the minimap |
| Right | Toggle the minimap |
| P | Open Parties and Claims menu (shared with the FTB Teams screen) |
Waystones and claims on the map#
Waystones that you have activated show up on both maps as waypoints without any setup. The pack turns on both "discovered waystones" and "other waystones" (the second includes sharestones). The Waystones config itself only has switches for JourneyMap, Dynmap and BlueMap, and none of those mods is installed, so the link to Xaero is done on Xaero's side. See Waystones for the travel rules.
Claims made with Open Parties and Claims are drawn on both the minimap and the world map. The minimap shows your current claim, and party members whose positions the party shares can be tracked in the world and on the minimap. You can create and edit claims from the claim screen on the world map. See Claims & Parties for the rules.
The shared server map#
On a server, Unified Xaero Worldmap makes the world map a shared one. Every client uploads the 16 by 16 block tiles it has changed, the server merges them into one store, other online players receive the changes live and a player who joins is caught up. If you explore a valley, your friends see it on their map. The mod must be installed on the server and on every client. Players without it can still join, but they keep a private map.
The mod's own documentation gives a few numbers: with default settings a new tile reaches a second player in about 7 seconds, and catching up 1,000 regions takes about 7 minutes at the default 2 regions per second. The pack does not override the settings. In singleplayer the server half never starts. In a LAN or e4mc world, the host's own client does not sync, because Xaero maps the host's world straight from the save; guests sync normally.
Radar icons#
Nytheria Xaero Icon Fix is a client-only mod made for the pack. Players on the radar and map get the vanilla head and hat with their own skin. A built-in resource pack, always enabled, gives icons to modded mobs that would otherwise be plain dots, and any living mob Xaero cannot draw gets a fallback icon rendered from the mob's own model. The mod's changelog counts 611 icon definitions. Two resource packs, Icon Xaero's and Icon Fresh, restyle the map icons, and the Icon Fix definitions mirror their sprites, so keep them enabled. The client command /xaeroiconfix audit is the mod's own check of its icon definitions.
Finding biomes with Nature's Compass#
Nature's Compass is the pack's biome finder. Craft one with saplings, logs and a compass in the pattern SLS / LCL / SLS. It is a compass that searches for a biome you choose, including modded ones, and the pack has coordinate display switched on, so you see where it found the biome.
Pack settings make it forgiving:
| Setting | Value | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| XP cost | 0 levels | Searching is free |
| Durability | never breaks | compassDurability = 0 |
| Next searches | 25 | How many "next" results you can ask for |
| Search samples | 25,000 | Positions checked per search |
| Search radius modifier | 2,500 | Wide search range |
| Biome blacklist | none | Every biome can be searched |
| Teleport | creative or operator only | Players cannot teleport to the found biome |
There is no Explorer's Compass in the pack, so Nature's Compass is the one tool for biomes. It works with the pack's large biome list; see Biomes for what you can look for. For structures, see Structures & Dungeons.
Settings the pack starts with#
The table collects the values from the pack's default minimap profile. They are what a fresh install sees, and you can change every one of them in the Xaero menus.
| Setting | Pack value | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Radar | on | mobs and players appear on the minimap |
| Hostile mobs on the radar | hidden | no warning dots for enemies; tamed hostile mobs still show |
| Minimap shape and size | square, size 0, zoom 3 | a compact map in the bottom-right corner |
| Minimap opacity | 99 | almost solid |
| North locked | off | the map turns with you |
| Death points | on, old ones kept | a waypoint appears where you died |
| Waypoint coordinates | hidden | the list shows names, not numbers |
| Waypoint distance limit | none | waypoints show from any distance |
| Cave mode depth | 30 | the map shows 30 blocks of depth in caves |
| Waystone waypoints | discovered and other | activated waystones and sharestones are marked |
| Claims on the maps | on | your claims and the one you stand in are drawn |
| Tracked players | on | party members who share their position appear |
| Everyone tracks everyone | off | strangers do not appear on your map |
How it fits together#
On your first day, open the map with M and place a waypoint at your base. Walk, and the world map fills in. As soon as you activate your first waystone, it appears on both maps. If you play on a server with Unified Xaero Worldmap, the map also fills with what other players have explored, and any claims you make or see are drawn on it. When you need a particular biome, Nature's Compass tells you which way to go, and the world map shows what you have already explored on the way.
If you die, the death waypoint on the map and /back both lead to your death position, and your grave is there as well; see Death, Graves & Respawning.
In the quest book#
The capstone of First Fire in Part 1 pays a map and a cartography table. The Marked Road in the same part asks you to draw a map at a cartography table and walk 1,000 blocks, and its capstone wants a Nature's Compass and 3,000 blocks walked. In Part 3, the capstone of Ruins and Rumours asks for six filled maps, a written book and a read at a lectern. The Wayfarer's Bundle choice kit holds 4 maps.
Tips#
- Open the world map (M) after your first long walk to see the Waystones and claims you passed.
- Leave the Icon Xaero's and Icon Fresh resource packs enabled; the Icon Fix definitions mirror their sprites.
- On a server, play with Unified Xaero Worldmap installed to share what each player has explored.
- A death waypoint is deleted once you come within 4 blocks of it, so note the position first if you want to keep it.
See also#
- Exploration & Travel - the hub for travel in Nytheria
- Waystones - activate shrines and teleport between them
- Claims & Parties - how claims work and appear on the map
- Biomes - what Nature's Compass can look for
- Controls - the full key list