Tutorial: Footsteps

This tutorial assumes that you have already created a Json configuration file. If you haven’t please read Tutorial: Configuration Files.

If you are not familiar with Dynamic Surroundings block state specification methods please read Tutorial: BlockState Specification. It will save you a lot of heartache.

The “footsteps” entry in the configuration file is used to specify what sounds to play when a player is walking on or through a block:

"footsteps": {
        "minecraft:barrier": "NOT_EMITTER",
        "minecraft:stone": "stone",
        "minecraft:grass": "grass",
        "minecraft:grass_path": "grass"
}

The list is comprised of value pairs. The value on the right is the acoustic to apply to the block that is specified on the left side. Above, minecraft:barrier is not an emitter (doesn’t produce sound) so it is set to NOT_EMITTER. The block minecraft:stone is set to have the acoustic profile of stone.

In the above example the block specification would apply to a block that is a singleton (i.e. minecraft:barrier has no variants), or if the block had variants it would apply to all variants of that block. If you wanted to specify an acoustic for a specific variant you need to have an entry specifically for it. For example:

"minecraft:sponge[wet=false]": "organic_dry",
"minecraft:sponge[wet=true]": "mud"

The sponge has two variants - one that is dry, and one that has absorbed water. The dry version will have the acoustic of organic_dry, and the wet one will have the acoustic of mud.

A more complicated example is that of minecraft:double_plant:

"minecraft:double_plant": "brush",
"minecraft:double_plant+messy": "MESSY_GROUND",
"minecraft:double_plant[variant=syringa]+foliage": "brush_straw_transition",
"minecraft:double_plant[variant=double_grass]+foliage": "brush",
"minecraft:double_plant[variant=double_fern]+foliage": "brush_straw_transition",
"minecraft:double_plant[variant=double_rose]+foliage": "brush_straw_transition",
"minecraft:double_plant[variant=paeonia]+foliage": "brush_straw_transition",
"minecraft:double_plant[variant=sunflower]+foliage": "brush_straw_transition",

The first thing to note is that the block specifications have either a “+messy” or “+foliage” added to the entry. These are called substrates.

• messy This is the acoustic that is played when a player moves through a block like reeds.
• foliage This is the acoustic that is played when Dynamic Surroundings checks for foliage above the block the player is standing on. Typically this acoustic is played in addition to the acoustics of the block beneath the player.

Other possible substrates are:

• carpet This acoustic is for when Dynamic Surroundings does a carpet check. Obviously carpets fall into this category, but other things that use this acoustic style are pressure plates and snow layers.
• bigger This acoustic is special to things like fences. The bounding box of a fence extends a half block above thus it is considered “bigger”. (For fences it is preferential to use the acoustic “#fence” because it simplifies configuration.)

It is worth pointing out that multiple acoustics can be combined for a block. For example, this is what the Minecraft standing banner looks like:

"minecraft:standing_banner": "rug,straw,squeakywood",
"minecraft:standing_banner+foliage": "rug,straw,squeakywood",

The standing banner, both from a block perspective and a foliage perspective, will play three acoustics when triggered: rug, straw, and squeakywood. Combining acoustics is a good way to get a different sound.

Macros

Dynamic Surroundings has a set of built in macros to simplify configuration. In a lot of cases blocks have similar acoustic profiles and it makes sense to refer to those common profiles in a simple way. An example of this is a wooden fence. Normally a wooden fence would be described thusly:

"minecraft:acacia_fence": "NOT_EMITTER",
"minecraft:acacia_fence+bigger": "bluntwood"

This pattern is pretty straight forward and can be tedious to replicate across configurations. Dynamic Surroundings has a built in macro #fence that simplifies the configuration:

"minecraft:acacia_fence": "#fence"

During startup Dynamic Surroundings will automagically expand the #fence entry into the two listed prior.

The other benefit to using macros is that it standardizes sounds across all blocks of a certain class. If Dynamic Surroundings were to redefine the acoustic profile of #fence all blocks that refer to #fence will be affected.

The following table lists the built in macros available.

Block Macros

Macro Name	Example Block	Description
#sapling	Tree Sapling	Sound made when walked through
#reed	Sugar Cane/Reeds	Sound made when walked through
#plant	Tall Grass	Sound made when walked through
#bush	Double Tall plants	Sound made when walked through
#vine	Vine	Sound is made when climbed or walked through
#moss	Twilight Forest Moss	Sound made when walked on
#fence	Wooden Fence	Sound made when walked on
#wheat	Wheat growth profile	Strawlike sounds based on 7 growth level
#crop	Carrot growth profile	Plantlike sounds based on 7 growth level
#beets	Beet growth profile	Plantlike sounds based on 4 growth levels