Server configuration and shared policy

Configure shared lighting policy

This reference is for server owners working with the reported Dynamic Item Lighting 1.3.1 source snapshot on Minecraft Java 1.21.1 and NeoForge. Install the intended mod build on the server and every client. Optional policy negotiation does not establish vanilla-client support.

The server controls shared item rules, source policy, headlamp state and Luminous lifetime. Each client draws its own visual lighting and retains its enabled state, maximum quality, discovery distance and rendering preference. None of this changes world-light data, mob spawning, crops, AI or F3 light readings.

Exact installed pack overrides and matching-JAR behavior have not been established by this wiki. The report’s two different 1.3.1 JAR fingerprints are retained in the maintainer evidence record.

Server configuration file

Use config/dynamicitemlights-server.toml. These are the report’s NeoForge 21.1 paths; do not substitute a location assumed from another loader version. Keys are grouped under [policy] and [headlamp].

Policy key	Default	Meaning
`policy.share_policy`	`true`	Sends the authoritative item policy to participating clients.
`policy.held_sources`	`true`	Allows the living-source path, including headlamps and Luminous, for shared-policy clients.
`policy.dropped_sources`	`true`	Allows dropped-item lighting in shared mode.
`policy.invisibility_exclusion`	`true`	Excludes invisible living sources in shared mode.
`policy.require_participation`	`false`	Adds a negotiated-channel participation check; does not permit vanilla clients to use the registered content.

Headlamp defaults

Key	Default	Range and unit
`headlamp.headlamp_charge_minutes`	20	1–1440 game-time minutes; torch and soul-torch capacity
`headlamp.headlamp_brightness_regular`	14	Integer level 1–15
`headlamp.headlamp_brightness_blue`	10	Integer level 1–15
`headlamp.headlamp_lamp_minutes`	40	1–1440 game-time minutes; redstone-lamp capacity
`headlamp.headlamp_brightness_lamp`	14	Integer level 1–15
`headlamp.headlamp_redstone_minutes`	60	1–1440 game-time minutes; redstone-torch capacity
`headlamp.headlamp_brightness_redstone`	7	Integer level 1–15

Brightness and capacity are captured when a lamp is next crafted or recharged. Existing equipment keeps its saved values until then. The lamp timer uses ticks; minutes assume 20 ticks per second. These settings do not repair armor or change the recipe’s valid fuel families. See headlamps for the player instructions.

Commands and reloading

Command	Permission / side	Result
`/dilpolicy status`	Server; permission level 2	Reports sharing, revision/hash, rule counts and participating clients.
`/dilpolicy reload`	Server; permission level 2	Reloads rules, compiles a policy and reports revision, warnings or failure.
`/reload`	The game’s server data-pack reload command	Reloads server data packs; it is a separate command tree from this mod’s commands.

The two mod policy commands check permission level, not player identity. An appropriately privileged console can use them. Client commands such as /dilclient status are registered only on clients; they are not server-console commands.

An invalid policy reload keeps the previous valid policy. Rule loading is atomic; a failed initial load falls back to bundled defaults. Correct the error and reload the correct side. F3 + T reloads client resources/local rules, not server data packs.

Rule files live at data/<namespace>/dynamicitemlights/items/<name>.json inside a server data pack. Use custom light rules for schema, precedence, limits and examples. The server snapshot replaces clients’ local item rule tables; it does not merge with them. An item omitted from that table has no item light in shared mode.

Connection and policy lifecycle

A participating client receives the compiled snapshot on join. Identical content is not resent because snapshots are content-hashed. Changed broadcasts are coalesced to at most one revision per second. Transfer chunks are at most 32 KiB, up to 32 chunks and a 1 MiB snapshot limit. A client applies the revision only after complete reassembly and SHA-256 verification.

Disconnecting clears the client’s shared policy. Turning sharing off does not retract a snapshot already applied to a connected client; reconnect to return to local rules. In singleplayer and for a LAN host, local rules are the default. The client setting sources.use_integrated_server_policy = true opts that host into the integrated world’s data-pack policy.

The server sends policy chunks and Luminous expiry/removal information. Clients send headlamp-toggle requests. Dynamic-light positions are not streamed; clients discover sources from entity/equipment information already tracked by Minecraft. Headlamp components use ordinary item synchronization.

Validation still needed

The report records historical development joins, policy reloads and local fallback, but this wiki has not launched a server or repeated those scenarios. Two-player lamp visibility, toggles, Luminous expiry, invisibility and tracking re-entry need direct checks. Production-style packaged-JAR validation and real-hardware/large-server profiling also remain open.

A stale network-class comment claiming clients without the mod can connect and no client-to-server messages exist was superseded by current registration and the accepted 1.1+ content decision. Follow the installation requirement above. The historical installer-download blocker did not establish a failed mod launch on a production-style server.

For player-side diagnosis use settings and troubleshooting. The report’s proposed runtime test plan is retained as a backlog in the section handoff, not as a set of completed tests.