Configuring Block, Fluid, and Item Particles in Particle Interactions

guide

Particle Interactions lets you decide when and how many particles appear for block placing, breaking, and mining, fluid placement, and a range of item and entity actions. Everything is handled through the mod's configuration interface and its hotkeys, not through crafting recipes. Open the Particle Interactions Config screen to reach every category described below.

Block Placement and Breaking

Two separate toggles govern the basic block interactions:

Spawn when block placed — turns placement particles on or off.
Spawn when block broken — turns breaking particles on or off.

Each has its own quantity control. Max particles when block placed sets a ceiling on how many particles may appear along every edge of the placed block. Max particles when block broken sets a ceiling along every axis of the broken block. Both limits also carry a description covering the overall maximum for the block, so you can tune the total as well as the per-edge or per-axis spread.

Item Use and Crafting

Spawn when item used — enables or disables particles when an item is used.
Amount of particles when item used — how many appear on use.
Particle Intensity — the speed the spawned particles travel at.
Amount of particles when item crafted — how many appear when crafting an item.

Crafting-related sparks have their own entries: Anvil Crafting Sparks, Grindstone Crafting Sparks, Flint & Steel Spark, and Minecart Wheel Spark. The anvil option is noted as incomplete and subject to change in a future update.

Fluids

Fluid placement has its own section. Spawn when fluid placed toggles the effect, and Amount of particles when fluid placed controls how many particles appear inside the fluid. The fluid tab is ordered top to bottom: if the same fluid appears in two particle types, only the higher entry takes effect. Fluid particle types include one tinted with the fluid's biome colour and one intended for modded fluids, which uses the fluid's own texture rather than a splash texture.

Block Particle Overrides

Block Particle Overrides replace the standard block particles. The tab is applied from top to bottom, so when a block is listed in more than one override, only the first enabled override fires. You can specify which blocks are affected, choose when particles should be emitted, and pick a particle type. Overrides can be tinted with the biome colour, use the average texture colour when no biome tint exists, or take a random colour from the texture. One override applies to all blocks not named elsewhere; if it is disabled, no particles spawn, and it only applies to placing, breaking, or mining.

Other Interactions and Entities

Additional interaction settings cover lighting blocks with flint and steel or a fire charge, stripping logs with an axe, tilling with a hoe, and flattening with a shovel. Brushing Particles has a mode selector: vanilla-like behaviour, a dust particle, or disabled entirely. If a brushed block has an override, that override is used instead.

Entity options include Ambient particle spawn chance, Spawn when entity is damaged?, and Amount of particles on damage. Minecarts have Spawn particles at max speed?, Particle spawn chance per wheel (scaled by speed), and Spawn only with passenger?, where a passenger means any entity riding it or a block inside it, such as a chest.

General and Compatibility

Pixel consistent block / item particles — makes mining, placing, and eating particles pixel consistent. Disable it if other mods or resource packs cause visual problems.
Particle Z-Fighting Fix — reduces particles glitching into each other when you look down by nudging each particle upward slightly when it lands. Disable it if other mods' particles misbehave.
Advanced particle physics — controls effects such as sparks bouncing; turning it off may slightly improve performance.

Debug Options

Toggle interaction debug logs writes information when you interact with certain things, and Show particle emitter bounds draws emitter bounding boxes with a particle at the bottom north-west and top south-east corners. Both switch off the next time you launch the game. The debug section warns against changing its options unless instructed or confident.

Hotkeys for opening the interface or toggling features are assigned in the controls menu; use the corresponding hotkey entry there rather than assuming a default.