
Librarian's Balance
Custom trading and new mechanics to improve the progression of obtaining enchantments through villagers.
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About this Mod
Introducing: Librarian's Balance
Librarian's Balance is a datapack / mod that improves the progression of obtaining enchantments through villagers. It does this by adding a special mechanic.
It gives you the ability to save a set of enchantments into a librarians trade by placing an enchanted book on to their lectern, allowing you to buy back a copy using emeralds that’s priced on how valuable the enchantments are. For example I could create a book with Efficiency 4 and Unbreaking 3 to buy from my villager (for 72 emeralds) when I need it, or buy back an enchantment to combine into itself and upgrade it to a much higher level.
A breakdown of this mechanic in more detail is below...
Featuring...
Customisable Trades: Place an Enchanted Book on a Librarian's Lectern, and their first or second book trade will change to the one you entered. This gives new purpose to the books you collect in the world. Some books are treasure enchantments and these will produce untradable (sealed) variants when bought from a Librarian in this way.
Limited Random Trades: Librarian enchanted book trades are only random up to Level 3 by default. To obtain a Level 4 or 5 trade, you need at least one book of the enchantment type of your choice. Then buy another using the custom trade mechanic, combine them in an anvil to increment its level, and repeat.
Rare Mending: Librarians do not trade for Mending so players will have to find it in the world first. Once obtained, you can put it on a Librarain's Lectern to trade for more. It can be found in End Cities or Ancient Cities about as often as an armour trim.
Everything listed here can be toggled or configured with the /function libal:config command (must be run with OP). It also changes loot tables, so if you don't want that delete the 'loot_table' folder inside the pack. This datapack works great to enhance the Villager Rebalance experimental feature from Mojang! (not required)
Uses
On Survival Multiplayer servers you may find enchantment progression too quick by some members of the server. Librarian's Balance provides a balanced progression system by use of experience points, emeralds, and requiring a proper level of exploration.
Notes:
You might see the UI show a mending or >3 enchantment sometimes, but it's just a visual hitch and you should ignore it. On a new world, it took two hours to get my first Mending book (anicent city). This was also my first datapack!
If you are having issues try running /function libal:load to refresh the datapack. Make sure you didn't unzip it into your folder.
It is compatible with Amendments and Supplementaries! FOR 1.21 - 1.21.1 ONLY: The Tome Reader mod is fully supported, adding better placement and enchantment transfer mechanics.
I built this datapack upon parts of gibbsly's Lectern Enchanting. I want to thank him for providing a starting point for this project, and for some of his tutorials on YouTube. Otherwise I would have had no idea on where to start making something like this :).
Feedback:
Please give feedback on the GitHub page, PlanetMinecraft or on my Discord server! I'm interested in hearing your ideas, opinions or suggestions from your time with this datapack. What do you think about the sealed books system? Do you think that the book pricing is appropriate?
Configuration
Run:
/function libal:config
Alternatively, edit settings.mcfunction in the folder data > libal > functions (datapack only).
Available Versions
How to Install Librarian's Balance on Your Server
Order Server
Order a Minecraft Java server with at least 3 GB RAM (4 GB recommended).
Set datapack Loader
In the panel under "Egg", select the datapack loader and matching Minecraft version (26.1.2).
Install Mod
Open the mod browser in the dashboard and search for "Librarian's Balance". Click "Install" – done! Alternatively, upload the .jar via SFTP to the /mods folder.
Compatibility
Mod Loaders
Minecraft Versions
26.1.2, 26.1.1, 26.1 (+29 more)
Server-side
✓ RequiredRecommended RAM
4 GB(min. 3 GB)Frequently Asked Questions
Librarian's Balance server crashes on startup – what to do?
Most common cause: wrong datapack version or insufficient RAM. Check the server log (latest.log) for "OutOfMemoryError" or "Mixin" errors. With Mado Hosting: ensure at least 3 GB RAM is allocated and the loader matches the mod version (26.1.2). You can switch loaders with one click in the panel.
Is Librarian's Balance compatible with datapack and fabric and forge and neoforge and quilt?
Librarian's Balance officially supports datapack, fabric, forge, neoforge, quilt for Minecraft 26.1.2, 26.1.1, 26.1. Note: Forge and Fabric mods are NOT cross-compatible – pick one loader and stick with it. The Mado dashboard automatically detects incompatible loader combinations.
Server lagging with Librarian's Balance – how to optimize performance?
Recommended RAM: 4 GB (per 8 players). Use /spark profiler to check if Librarian's Balance consumes the most tick time. Common fixes: reduce server view-distance to 8-10, install "performant" or "starlight" as supplementary mods on Forge. With Mado Hosting, your server runs on NVMe SSDs with dedicated CPU cores for minimal latency.
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