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Update: Essentially this question was based on a misunderstanding. I had believed Modded Minecraft questions were all off-topic but it is only tech-support Modded Minecraft question that are off-topic. This question will continue to exist to help clarify this for people who misunderstand this in the future.


People frequently post Modded Minecraft questions to this Stack Exchange. As an avid Modded Minecraft user who considers SE to be the best format for solutions, I personally would like to see a SE site dedicated to Modded Minecraft.

The point of this post is to see if we can eventually gather enough users who share this view. Note that I understand why modded Minecraft questions are off-topic here, but I also believe that the highly-variable problems posed by Modded Minecraft can be solved by a specialised community, and that a specialised community would be drawn to such a SE.

I recommend that users who post Modded Minecraft questions here are not only told that such questions are off-topic but are also redirected to the new site.

If you have been redirected here from such a question, please up-vote and/or leave a comment. If this eventually gets enough attention, we will be able to justify starting a SE exclusively for Modded Minecraft.

For those against this proposal - please consider that it is one thing to be opposed to asking Modded Minecraft questions on this SE, and another to be opposed to the possibility that they can ask those questions on ANY SE.

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    If a new SE is to be proposed, then Area51 is the place to go. If I recall correctly, a Minecraft specific SE (though not necessarily modded Minecraft) has been proposed before, but was closed down. Apr 25, 2021 at 12:29
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    @Wondercricket I know Area51 but you need to prove there is a community that wants the SE before you can make a proposal there. Apr 25, 2021 at 12:32
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  • @Robotnik Right. Well I am resigned on this matter so feel free to delete or close it. Apr 26, 2021 at 0:18
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    nothing is off topic about merely modded minecraft. The issue is created when we have to become modded minecraft "tech support"
    – Penguin
    Apr 26, 2021 at 20:43
  • @JoshuaBizley - I don't think this question needs to be closed or deleted. It's a perfectly valid suggestion you've raised, even if borne from a misunderstanding. As I stated in my answer - it seems that this is a common issue with our modded Minecraft tech support rule - so I think it can be useful for future readers to have this on record. I've also edited your question slightly to make it clearer, I hope that's ok (if not, feel free to rollback to an earlier revision, or edit it yourself) :)
    – Robotnik Mod
    Apr 28, 2021 at 0:41
  • @Robotnik Okay, sure. I edited the question to make it more immediately clear that the question contains a misunderstanding. Apr 28, 2021 at 1:07

4 Answers 4

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Modded Minecraft is on-topic here

As noted in a couple of comments, there is a common misunderstanding in the Minecraft space that we (Arqade) do not allow any question to do with Modded Minecraft. The truth is, only technical support of modded Minecraft is off-topic. The kind where you've added 200+ mods to Minecraft and it's crashing on startup. Or whenever you place some modded item or block in-game and it crashes with a 'Null Pointer Exception'.

Regular gameplay questions about modded Minecraft, are perfectly on-topic. For example:

What is the best way to feed a Hungry Aura Node?

Also note that previous proposals to start a Minecraft-specific Stack Exchange on Area51 have been closed as a duplicate of Arqade. So while you may find support from the Minecraft Modding community to split off, it's also worth considering that Stack Exchange may not want to split the gaming topic away from this site (especially given 99% of Minecraft questions are on-topic for us anyway).

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The problem with modded Minecraft tech support is that there is such a HUGE variation in installs possible that it really does not fit the stack exchange format. Everything from the Java version to the mods you got installed to the Minecraft version to the specific error message you get and even the state and history of your world can impact this to the point that most questions would require too much clarification requested through comments, and the Stack Exchange network really HATES questions that need clarification.

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  • There are plenty of SEs that cater to specific programming languages for example, which can cater to questions that are incredibly variable. I also feel that you under-estimate how knowledgeable the Modded Minecraft community can be about issues that come up. Apr 25, 2021 at 12:35
  • @JoshuaBizley Um, isn't "Why did this machine blow up?" (with more context in the body, obviously) on-topic right now?
    – pppery
    Apr 25, 2021 at 23:43
  • @pppery Is it? From what I've seen modded minecraft questions are shot down just on account of being modded minecraft. If I'm wrong I apologise. Apr 25, 2021 at 23:46
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    @JoshuaBizley You're wrong, the actual policy is that only "technical support for modded minecraft" is off-topic. I've seen various people in comments confusingly omit the first part of that rule, but pure gameplay questions like What is the best way to feed a Hungry Aura Node? are (and have always been) on-topic.
    – pppery
    Apr 26, 2021 at 0:17
  • Right, my bad... Apr 26, 2021 at 0:20
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There is no reason a Minecraft SE site cannot work

There is no rule or policy that outright bans sites that are covered by another site. Chess and Poker both exist despite all conceivable questions on them being on topic on Board & Card Games and all three are successful communities. While the Magic the Gathering stack has never gotten off the ground, they are willing to discuss it.

This is far from the most egregious example. There are dozens of splinters from Superuser and Stackoverflow that only became off topic because the specific site broke away. If people are against that then we may as well have one board for everything and be Quora.

Should it work?

I think it's worth a try. There are several advantages that a Minecraft site would have over asking the questions on Arqade:

  • Better tags: The current Minecraft subtag system here is a shambles
  • More focus: The site would attract Minecraft players
  • Less interference: Minecraft receives a lot of hostility here due to people who don't like it and are sick of the amount of the site it consumes.
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  • I think the one thing that would get that off the ground is if the attitude here towards Minecraft questions got hostile enough. I haven't been here that long and don't know how bad it is but right now it seems like it is welcome enough with the mods at least. Another thing is that, even though I am a major Minecrafter myself and don't like how surprised people sound when they hear I play, the average Minecrafter is fairly immature (just due to age). I would have more faith in a modded Minecraft community than a general Minecraft community (tends to be a bit older). May 4, 2021 at 16:22
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I am going to provide answers here to those who, for various reasons, believe this is a bad idea:

"Go to Area51"

You do not build support for a new SE on Area51. When you propose a new SE, you are expected to have a community of enthusiasts that has already decided they want it, as shown by the proposal form:

enter image description here

Note that I am not expecting this to happen any time soon, and indeed it may never happen. But what is objectively true is that anyone who asks a Modded Minecraft question on this SE sees some value in a SE solving Modded Minecraft questions. This exists for those people.

"Modded Minecraft is too variable to work on any SE"

I believe the Modded Minecraft community is much more knowledgeable and capable of solving the complex issues that arise than many would expect.

I also believe that there is not a universal SE culture, only a universal SE format. The format can be bent to wildly opposed concepts - for example, Puzzling and Code Golf are designed around completing challenges - questions where the asker already knows the answer, completely in defiance with the culture on most other SEs.

Your experience of what has worked as a SE site is not evidence of what cannot work as a SE site.

"You shouldn't need to create a community, it should already exist"

I am not trying to "create" a community here (Modded Minecraft has a massive gaming community already), only catch/collect those in the community who clearly value SE as a solution.

"Such an SE would be closed as a duplicate of Gaming SE, and would detract from it"

A site that is entirely off-topic to Gaming SE cannot be a duplicate of it, and cannot detract from it.

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  • "Puzzling and Code Golf are designed around completing challenges - questions where the asker already knows the answer" puzzling, yes but code golf, often times no
    – Topcode
    Apr 26, 2021 at 18:36

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