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RESfulCraft

Introducing RESTful APIs to Minecraft by creating a web service for the player's world, allowing block CRUD and command dispatch. This mod allows players to create, view, update, and destroy blocks with code or tools such as Postman or cURL.

Configuration

There are three configuration settings for RESTfulCraft.

  • authKey is the only acceptable value of the Authorization header when you connect. It is blank by default.
  • formatSnakeCase formats JSON like_this instead of likeThis. It is false by default.
  • port is the server API port. It is 56552 by default.

Tutorial

Prerequisites

  • This tutorial will be utilizing cURL, a program used for debugging web services.
    • Once cURL installed, open Command Prompt and type curl to verify it works.
  • Install RESTfulCraft, open Minecraft, and create a new superflat world.
  • Teleport to x=0, y=4, z=0 to simplify this tutorial.

Getting a block

Try the following command in Command Prompt:

  • curl -X GET http://localhost:56552/api/v1/minecraft/overworld/0/4/0

If there was no error, the following should appear.

{
  "id": "minecraft:air",
  "properties": {
    
  },
  "tileEntity": null,
  "entities": [
    {
      ... this big blob here is you, actually...
    }
  ]
}

Congrats! You've queried your first block using RESTfulCraft.

Review

  • -X GET in the command tells cURL to get something from RESTfulCraft, in this case, a block.
  • The last 3 numbers in the URL are your coordinates, /x/y/z.
    • Try different coordinates to get different results!
  • id in the JSON response is the block ID, in this case minecraft:air.
  • entities contains the entities standing inside of the block being queried.

Placing a block

First, move out of the way because we'll be making a block right where you stand.

  • curl -d '{"id":"minecraft:bedrock"}' -H "Content-Type: application/json" -X POST http://localhost:56552/api/v1/minecraft/overworld/0/4/0

Once again, assuming no error, the following response will be emitted:

{
  "placed": true
}

If you look where you were originally standing, you'll find you've placed a bedrock block. Well done!

Review

  • -X POST tells cURL to post something to RESTfulCraft, in this case, RESTfulCraft places a block.
    • Retry the command and you will get an error. Interesting.
  • -d '...' is a message body, it is JSON telling RESTfulCraft what to place.
    • Like in the last tutorial, id is a block ID, in this case minecraft:bedrock.
    • Break the bedrock and retry with a different block ID.

Replacing a block

Notice in the explanation how retrying the same command twice causes an error. This is because POST requests are conventionally designed to be done once to create new records and fill empty ones.

What we want is to replace a block, which is what PUT is for.

Try:

  • curl -d '{"id":"minecraft:furnace"}' -H "Content-Type: application/json" -X PUT http://localhost:56552/api/v1/minecraft/overworld/0/4/0

Like before, expect:

{
  "replaced": true
}

You've replaced the bedrock block with a furnace.

Review

  • Start up the furnace and run a GET request on it, the tileEntity tag in the JSON will be populated with information instead of null like it was the first time we tried it on minecraft:air.
  • You've learned how to delete blocks by doing a PUT request with minecraft:air.

Updating a block

You've got your furnace running, but what if it is too bright for you? You could do something like:

  • curl -d '{"id":"minecraft:furnace","properties":{"lit":false}}' -H "Content-Type: application/json" -X PUT http://localhost:56552/api/v1/minecraft/overworld/0/4/0

Right click your furnace, it's still burning! Let's do use a PATCH request to undo that. Try:

  • curl -d '{"lit":true}' -H "Content-Type: application/json" -X PATCH http://localhost:56552/api/v1/minecraft/overworld/0/4/0

Notice how much shorter this command is, that's because it doesn't affect the block, just the state's properties. It's something called a shorthand, think of it like a shortcut for your hands when you type.

No review necessary here, at this point we're admiring the simplicity of REST by softly changing request parameters.

Deleting a block

Okay, let's wrap up this tutorial. We learned earlier that PUT requests allow you to "erase" blocks, but DELETE requests exist as a way to gracefully destroy blocks (still dangerous, will point it out below).

Give this command a try:

  • curl -X DELETE http://localhost:56552/api/v1/minecraft/overworld/0/4/0

The furnace broke and dropped itself, however, it's inventory was erased (this is what I was pointing out.)

Conclusion

That's it! That's the tutorial. If any interest persists, I'll be open to making a video or another written tutorial going through some of the more fun and advanced stuff you could do with this, but for now, I want to see what you can come up with.