How to install a Client-side Mod

[GreenDimond]

Installing Client-Side Mods

This tutorial is done in Linux, but can be applied to Windows.
A more detailed tutorial can be found on the Minetest Wiki.

1) Navigate to the Client-Side Modding section (you should already be here), and find a mod you wish to install.

2) Navigate to your minetest directory (.minetest on Linux) and create a folder called clientmods if it does not exist.


3) Download or clone the mod.

+ Download

1) Download the mod to your clientmod folder.
2) Right-click the archive (.zip, usually) and extract it
3) If you downloaded the mod from a git source, the mod will have -master on the end of it. This doesn't need to be removed if the mod contains a mod.conf, but it should be removed anyway.

+ git clone

Note: These instructions are for Linux.
1) Install git, if you haven't already
In Debian-based distros this is done through sudo apt install git
2) Open a terminal in your clientmods folder
3) Run git clone <git link here> (the link should end with .git, common sources are GitHub and GitLab)

4) Create a text file called mods.conf inside the clientmods folder if it does not exist.

5) Open mods.conf in your favorite text editor and add load_mod_modname = true (where modname is the name of the client mod you downloaded). Save the file.


6) Open Minetest and navigate to the Settings tab. Select Advanced Settings. Navigate to Client > Network > Enable Client Modding or search for "client". With Enable Client Modding selected, select the Edit button and change the displayed option to Enabled in the dropdown, or simply double-click the setting. Save your changes.


Your client-side mod has been enabled!
Type .help all in chat to see what you can do!

[Modern Hippie]

Why?! Why are you doing this?!
These client mods are so bad (for example you can crash a server using a client mod) and now there is a 'How to', that everyone, who didn't know this since now has the know-how to use it? R.I.P. Minetest :(

[Linuxdirk]

(for example you can crash a server using a client mod)

There are certain user names that can crash not updated servers running on Windows, so, yeah ... :D

[muhdnurhidayat]

If you're saying client mods could crash server then you understand its functions wrongly... or the server owner is not willing to update (they must always use updated version, regardless client mods is there or not)

[red-001]

in fairness literal anything can crash servers, but I haven't heard of CSM causing crashes.

[Modern Hippie]

in fairness literal anything can crash servers, but I haven't heard of CSM causing crashes.

Yes, that's right. But crashes caused by server mods can be fixed by the server admin. Crashes caused by client mods can't.

Yesterday I tried the Chest Inspector CSM on a server with the mailboxes from Homedecor. As I tried to take something out of it, the server crashed.
Everyone who has this CSM can do that.

[red-001]

That's a broken server-sided mod and it's the job of the mod author/server owner to fix that.

[Modern Hippie]

That's a broken server-sided mod and it's the job of the mod author/server owner to fix that.

Partly. What I don't understand is why they added the possibility to use csms so that server admins have more to do fixing loads of abused csms...? That's a fault by the devs too (not only, but too), I think... (Yes, I'm sure, that there will be really loads of them - not only the ones posted in the forum)

[Linuxdirk]

That's a broken server-sided mod and it's the job of the mod author/server owner to fix that.

Partly. What I don't understand is why they added the possibility to use csms so that server admins have more to do fixing loads of abused csms...?

The whole modding system is broken by design ...

No namespaces, no proper translation functionality, no runtime limitation, no background loading, not "hotpluggable" (which is annoying for mod developing), inconsistent and largely insufficiently documented or undocumented API calls, some API functions use have an absurdly complex and overcomplicated syntax, possibility for mods to override other mods without warning, messed up globals, mod name validation done by parsing the folder name, no built-in way to load user-set configuration OR default value, and so on.

Mods being able to crash the server is not the problem - it's the result of a LOT of modding-related problems (they basically just doubled now that CSM gone live without any security features considered beforehand).

[paramat]

This is going off-topic, best to post your CSM concerns here https://forum.minetest.net/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=17176 and/or in the Github thread https://github.com/minetest/minetest/issues/5915

[azekill_DIABLO]

thank you GreenDiamond!

[BBmine]

I want to revise that a bit. When you download it,

Code: Select all

cd .minetest/clientmods
git clone https://github.com/red-001/colour_chat

Then when you want to update it,

Code: Select all

cd .minetest/clientmods/colour_chat
git pull --all

But yeah, that's the kinda guide I shoulda had when I was getting started on CSMs.

[Andrey01]

For these Client-Side-Mods everyone access cheating on many servers as just test to.

[ManElevation]

For these Client-Side-Mods everyone access cheating on many servers as just test to.

Like?

[GreenDimond]

Not that it matters much, but I updated the first post to be a lot simpler.

[DS-minetest]

5) Open mods.conf in your favorite text editor and add enable_mod_modname = true (where modname is the name of the client mod you downloaded). Save the file.

It has to be load_mod_modname = true, not enable_mod_modname = true.

(Perhaps it would be good to write something about csm restrictions and what should be done if the mod still doesn't work (eg. first read forum posts, use other minetest version, …).)

[GreenDimond]

... enable_mod_modname = true ...
Image

It has to be load_mod_modname = true, not enable_mod_modname = true.

Funny... I got it right in the screenshot :'D

[DELTA_FORCE]

I am gonna say that cheating in a server is much easier by modifying the client. As for the how-to for CSM's, many CSM's are useful and I am glad there is a simple tutorial for it.

[Gundul]

Installing Client-Side Mods

This is extremely helpful for people like me who never installed
a csm before. I would suggest to make this sticky on top of this
forum so everyone can easily find it and knows how things are done.

[GreenDimond]

Fixed images (rip pasteboard).

This is extremely helpful for people like me who never installed
a csm before. I would suggest to make this sticky on top of this
forum so everyone can easily find it and knows how things are done.

That's up to the forum mods.

[Gundul]

That's up to the forum mods.

They made it. :) well done.
And now even better with the fixed pictures.