Items in a datapack¶

The datapack and command side of the two InkQuest items: the quest book (inkquest:quest_book) and the quest scroll (inkquest:quest_scroll). How to override the book's recipe, how to bind a scroll to a specific quest, and how the doQuestBookItemCheck gamerule makes the book a required item. For what these items do for the player and how they're used, see Items.

Identifiers¶

Item	Identifier
Quest Book	`inkquest:quest_book`
Quest Scroll	`inkquest:quest_scroll`

Book recipe¶

The book is defined by an ordinary datapack recipe, inkquest:quest_book — shapeless, from three items:

minecraft:book + minecraft:rotten_flesh + minecraft:string

Overriding or disabling it¶

A datapack overrides the recipe by placing its own file at the same path:

data/inkquest/recipes/quest_book.json

To change the ingredients, write your own crafting_shapeless or crafting_shaped.

To remove the survival craft, leave minecraft:barrier as the only ingredient: it can't be obtained without creative mode or commands, so the book becomes impossible to craft. You can still hand it out with /give, from a chest, or as a reward — only the crafting table is closed off.

{
  "type": "minecraft:crafting_shapeless",
  "category": "misc",
  "ingredients": [
    { "item": "minecraft:barrier" }
  ],
  "result": { "item": "inkquest:quest_book", "count": 1 }
}

Binding a scroll to a quest¶

A scroll is tied to a single quest through the Quest NBT field — the quest identifier in namespace:id form:

/give <player> inkquest:quest_scroll{Quest:"namespace:quest_id"}

For example, a scroll for the quest story:rescue_blacksmith:

/give @s inkquest:quest_scroll{Quest:"story:rescue_blacksmith"}

Without the Quest field the scroll is empty and only reports an error when clicked. The same field is set in loot tables and merchant trades — anywhere the item is given with NBT.

Scrolls don't stack — each one occupies its own inventory slot.

What happens when a scroll is used — granting the quest, consumption, failure reasons — is on Items.

Gamerule `doQuestBookItemCheck`¶

/gamerule doQuestBookItemCheck true|false

Default false. An ordinary Minecraft gamerule — the value is stored with the world.

When true, the quest book becomes a required item: until it's in the player's inventory (any slot, not necessarily in hand), quests can't be opened.

Way to open	`false` (default)	`true`
J key	Always works	Needs the book in the inventory
Quest Scroll	Grants the quest and opens the book	No book — quest isn't granted, scroll isn't consumed
Right-click on the book	Always works	Always works (the book is already in hand)

The gamerule suits maps where quests are woven into survival: the book has to be earned first — crafted, found in a chest, or given as a reward — and only then can quests be read. Until then, granted quests pile up but stay hidden.

Enabling it automatically via a datapack¶

To set the gamerule on every world load, hang the command on the minecraft:load function tag.

1. Create or extend data/minecraft/tags/functions/load.json:

{
  "values": ["your_namespace:setup"]
}

2. Create the function data/your_namespace/functions/setup.mcfunction:

gamerule doQuestBookItemCheck true

Replace your_namespace with your datapack's namespace. The function also runs on every /reload — that's safe: the gamerule is simply rewritten to the same value.