Blockbench 5.0 Plugin API Changes | Blockbench | Page 1

woven barn Aug 27, 2025, 1:23 PM

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Hey <@&341239825770479616>!
The beta for Blockbench 5.0 has just launched, and the update contains several changes that are potentially breaking changes for some plugins.
I have written this article as a guide on how to upgrade your plugins: https://www.blockbench.net/wiki/docs/plugin-upgrade-to-5.0
I'm still expecting 80% of plugins to continue working without any changes, but I would recommend to test your plugins on the latest beta to ensure they are compatible.

Beta: https://github.com/JannisX11/blockbench/releases/tag/v5.0.0-beta.1

Use this thread if you have any questions!

gray thorn Aug 27, 2025, 2:53 PM

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https://tenor.com/view/danger-gif-15291718235185428481

Tenor

ivory fulcrum Aug 27, 2025, 8:57 PM

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https://tenor.com/view/dammit-damn-damn-it-ron-swanson-parks-and-rec-gif-19792726

Tenor

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@woven barn I should probably have that plugin creator role lol

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I can't find how to get it

woven barn Aug 27, 2025, 9:00 PM

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There you go, you have it now

gray thorn Aug 27, 2025, 9:00 PM

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If we're giving them away 🥺
(Or do I have to wait until it's published?)

woven barn Aug 27, 2025, 9:04 PM

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ivory fulcrum <@137288731731296257> I should probably have that plugin creator role lol

I was going to message you separately anyway, because I think you're mainly gonna be affected by the animation axis changes.
I know the Geckolib uses parts of the bedrock animation export code, so not sure if the part that inverts the values is included in the plugin, but if it is the values need to be inverted on export and on import:

let flipArray = array => {
    if (channel == 'position') {
        array[0] = invertMolang(array[0]);
    }
    if (channel == 'rotation') {
        array[0] = invertMolang(array[0]);
        array[1] = invertMolang(array[1]);
    }
    return array;
}

ivory fulcrum Aug 27, 2025, 9:04 PM

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ah ok I'll note that then

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since you're in beta anyway

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when I go to look at this I'll see if I can re-find that longstanding export bug blockbench has so we can hopefully get it fixed

worldly sail Aug 27, 2025, 9:10 PM

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All of my plugins broke, but the first PR to fix one is up now 🙂

ashen shoal Aug 27, 2025, 11:40 PM

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AJ is cooked, lmao

worldly sail Aug 28, 2025, 7:54 AM

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Is there any way to have two instances of Blockbench runnning at a time? I'd like to be able to test 4.12.6 and 5.0-beta1 at the same time

steady hawk Aug 28, 2025, 7:57 AM

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download portable version

worldly sail Aug 28, 2025, 8:01 AM

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~~Oh wow that works, why doesn't running it with npm run dev work then smh~~

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nvm I don't think that works either, when I run the 5.0 portable exe it opens as 4.12.6 like my main install

candid fossil Aug 28, 2025, 8:16 AM

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You could open 5.0 in the browser

steady hawk Aug 28, 2025, 8:19 AM

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portable suppose to run

worldly sail Aug 28, 2025, 8:20 AM

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It runs, just on the wrong version

worldly sail Aug 28, 2025, 8:21 AM

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candid fossil You could open 5.0 in the browser

Have to test filesystem stuff so I don't think that would help :(

steady hawk Aug 28, 2025, 8:21 AM

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it's the right version, I think they forgot to change the number in the front screen

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if you check the version in help, about

worldly sail Aug 28, 2025, 8:22 AM

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Also says 4.12.6, and it doesn't have any of the new features

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When I close the other instance of blockbench it opens as 5.0 just fine

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The same thing happens in reverse if I open the portable first and then my local install

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Whichever version is opened first is the only one it will open as

steady hawk Aug 28, 2025, 8:25 AM

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ah you are right

worldly sail Aug 28, 2025, 1:56 PM

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Just to confirm, theres now no way too use native apis that require permission from within the devtools console right?

willow surge Aug 28, 2025, 1:59 PM

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worldly sail Just to confirm, theres now no way too use native apis that require permission f...

probably just run the same function?

worldly sail Aug 28, 2025, 2:01 PM

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both require and requireNativeModule aren't available from the console

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not as globals at least

ashen shoal Aug 28, 2025, 10:53 PM

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worldly sail Is there any way to have two instances of Blockbench runnning at a time? I'd lik...

I created a command line tool called Envbench that lets you run and manage multiple instances easily

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https://www.npmjs.com/package/envbench

npm

envbench

Envbench allows the creation and management of multiple unique Blockbench environments.. Latest version: 3.0.2, last published: 6 months ago. Start using envbench in your project by running npm i envbench. There are no other projects in the npm registry using envbench.

worldly sail Aug 29, 2025, 6:58 AM

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Thats awesome ill try it out!

ashen shoal Aug 29, 2025, 7:36 AM

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Definitely send me feedback when you do! I've only had friends use it as far as I'm aware

ivory fulcrum Aug 30, 2025, 5:39 AM

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hey uh..

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could we get custom keyframe interpolation types back?

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they've been reduced to a strict set

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they used to allow custom string values

ivory fulcrum Aug 30, 2025, 6:11 AM

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or alternatively a place for custom data on keyframes

ashen shoal Aug 30, 2025, 6:35 AM

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Best solution would be some way to define custom interpolation types

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And have the animator know how to use them

ivory fulcrum Aug 30, 2025, 6:40 AM

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I've resorted to just extending the type shrug

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I was using a custom interpolation type

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but whatever lol

worldly sail Aug 30, 2025, 3:07 PM

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Any chance we could get THREE.GLTFLoader imported by default? It's technically already in as a package since threejs contains it by default now, but it's hard to get hold of it

woven barn Sep 19, 2025, 9:01 PM

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worldly sail Any chance we could get THREE.GLTFLoader imported by default? It's technically a...

I have to downgrade three.js again a bit due to performance issues, to R129. It doesn't look like it's included in that version.

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How is everyone doing with testing and updating plugins? Any major issues you've run into? Or all good?

worldly sail Sep 19, 2025, 9:04 PM

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I wasn't able to test my new gltf one bc file import dialogs were broken, but I haven't looked if that got fixed in a while

woven barn Sep 19, 2025, 9:15 PM

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Yeah that was fixed in the second beta

marsh niche Sep 20, 2025, 2:12 PM

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ohno I messed up the screenshot.
Just remembered that I had an issue with a plugin breaking saving entirely.
Fortunately I noticed at around 1am when I wanted to quit and noticed the file missing.
Seems like messed up the screenshot for the error log though

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Can't replicate t right now, but it has been the tint preview plugin from MrCrayfish.

marsh niche Sep 20, 2025, 5:00 PM

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Was able to reproduce, actually can't even open some models with the plugin

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(Plugin):tint_preview.js:577 Uncaught ReferenceError: ProjectData is not defined
    at Array.loadProjectEvent ((Plugin):tint_preview.js:577:4)
    at Object.dispatchEvent (bundle.js:3360:59751)
    at S1.parse (bundle.js:6348:8080)
    at S1.load (bundle.js:6348:2240)
    at r (bundle.js:6111:1773)
    at lP (bundle.js:6111:1963)
    at bundle.js:6111:1140
    at Array.forEach (<anonymous>)
    at Object.cb (bundle.js:6111:1128)
    at bundle.js:3335:59912

woven barn Sep 20, 2025, 5:24 PM

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Ah, thanks for reporting

ashen shoal Sep 21, 2025, 12:52 PM

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woven barn How is everyone doing with testing and updating plugins? Any major issues you've...

Animated Java can't function without the "buffer" library, which is currently unavailable.

Animated Java bundles MC-Build in order to generate data packs, and MC-Build requires the "buffer" library.

https://www.npmjs.com/package/buffer

-# cc @spiral wren

spiral wren Sep 21, 2025, 12:52 PM

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Ill look into it rq.

ashen shoal Sep 21, 2025, 12:53 PM

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Is buffer particularly dangerous? Seems like a useful library to have access to even if it can be removed from MC-Build.

spiral wren Sep 21, 2025, 12:55 PM

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@ashen shoal let's talk about this related to mc-build in dms

ashen shoal Sep 21, 2025, 1:03 PM

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ashen shoal Animated Java can't function without the "buffer" library, which is currently un...

Looks like this can be solved on the AJ end if needed, but ideally, any time a plugin requires the buffer library, they should receive a reference to the globalThis.Buffer library that Blockbench already includes in the global scope.

It's already accessible by plugins via the global scope of course, but any time a plugin has a dependency that requires it, that plugin will either have to modify the dependency, or implement some form of build tool script to correctly point the require towards the global value.

ashen shoal Sep 22, 2025, 1:07 PM

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Opened a couple PRs for minor issues I've found in the beta.
https://github.com/JannisX11/blockbench/pull/2971
https://github.com/JannisX11/blockbench/pull/2970

ashen shoal Sep 25, 2025, 2:52 PM

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I can't use fflate because it requires the 'module' node module

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https://github.com/101arrowz/fflate

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The http and tty modules are unavailable.

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process not being defined breaks a lot of node modules.

ashen shoal Sep 25, 2025, 3:38 PM

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Being unable to access process.env prevents me from including path variable resolution in my plugins.
e.g. turning %USERFOLDER% into D:\Users\Snave.

Animated Java specifically does this for all Blueprint folder / file path settings.

woven barn Sep 25, 2025, 4:27 PM

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ashen shoal I can't use `fflate` because it requires the `'module'` node module

There must be something wrong then, because fflate is supposed to be a pure JS library that works in the browser.

ashen shoal Sep 25, 2025, 4:30 PM

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That screenshot is of fflates' release code, so I'm not sure. I made sure to import fflate/browser, and I tried both fflate and fflate/browser and both had the same issue. Checking their source also confirms that they both use createRequire

woven barn Sep 25, 2025, 4:30 PM

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I think module is a constant that's exposed when a Javascript file is loaded as a module, which is not how plugins are loaded, they are evaluated directly using new Function()()

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So maybe the bundler needs to be instructed to not package as a module

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Not sure

ashen shoal Sep 25, 2025, 4:33 PM

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I don't think import { createRequire } from 'module' has much to do with the module global

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It's its own thing https://nodejs.org/api/module.html

woven barn Sep 25, 2025, 4:40 PM

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Is it converted to require('module')?

ashen shoal Sep 25, 2025, 4:41 PM

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Hmm, probably.

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Otherwise it wouldn't even be triggering the require warning right?

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Interesting, looks like something was wrong before, because it's no longer attempting to require 'module' in my bundle

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I haven't changed anything though bruh

woven barn Sep 25, 2025, 4:46 PM

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yeah, no idea

ashen shoal Sep 25, 2025, 4:48 PM

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ashen shoal `process` not being defined breaks a *lot* of node modules.

I like the idea you suggested in DMs where we expose a fake process global that only includes safe fields.
-# Noting this here in case anyone sees my original message

woven barn Sep 25, 2025, 4:49 PM

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ashen shoal The `http` and `tty` modules are unavailable.

I thought http wasn't necessary since there is https, but I guess I can add it with the same configuration as https as a backup. And no idea what TTY is for, even after reading the documentation for it :D

ashen shoal Sep 25, 2025, 4:50 PM

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I believe it's a very old library for reading from and writing to stdout and stdin in terminals. I'm not sure why the download module wants it.

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I'm getting rid of download anyway. I'll just remove the downloading progress bar, since that's the only reason I wanted something other than fetch.

willow surge Sep 25, 2025, 5:08 PM

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ashen shoal

this just allows you to use require within ESM modules

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you have access to require, you dont need createRequire

ashen shoal Sep 25, 2025, 5:09 PM

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Makes sense, but it's not my code.

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¯_(ツ)_/¯

ashen shoal Oct 1, 2025, 7:00 PM

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Made a small PR to improve compareVersions.

https://github.com/JannisX11/blockbench/pull/2995

willow surge Oct 2, 2025, 8:46 AM

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ashen shoal Made a small PR to improve `compareVersions`. <https://github.com/JannisX11/blo...

comma moment

ashen shoal Oct 2, 2025, 11:01 AM

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despair_troll

ashen shoal Oct 12, 2025, 3:01 PM

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Looks like process is still missing in the latest release

woven barn Oct 12, 2025, 4:43 PM

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ashen shoal Looks like `process` is still missing in the latest release

Should be available via requireNativeModule('process')

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Here is the new API reference documentation btw: https://web.blockbench.net/docs/
Not perfect yet, but now it's generated from the source code and types directly so it'll be much easier to maintain and more detailed and accurate.

Blockbench Reference Docs

Documentation for Blockbench Reference Docs

ashen shoal Oct 12, 2025, 4:46 PM

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Ah, that causes an issue because the npm modules I use expect the global to exist, they don't import it

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They just reference process as a global

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I'll have to probably write an ESBuild plugin that transforms global process references to fix that I think

willow surge Oct 12, 2025, 5:03 PM

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ashen shoal Ah, that causes an issue because the npm modules I use expect the global to exis...

hacky fix import it and make it global

ivory fulcrum Oct 13, 2025, 10:38 PM

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lol goddamnit

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plugin was working perfectly fine all the way up until release

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then it died

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sad times

ashen shoal Oct 13, 2025, 10:38 PM

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Average dev experience

ivory fulcrum Oct 13, 2025, 10:41 PM

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also got users saying that some specific animations are inverted in blockbench5 that weren't in blockbench4.. but only sometimes

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idk what's going on lol

ashen shoal Oct 13, 2025, 10:41 PM

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Prob the y axis inversion

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Mentioned in the upgrade article

ivory fulcrum Oct 13, 2025, 10:42 PM

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I did invert though

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this is what the original instruction was for inversion

ashen shoal Oct 13, 2025, 10:42 PM

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Weird

ivory fulcrum Oct 13, 2025, 10:42 PM

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unless it's now changed

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thinkies

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it's undefined but it's also 0

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but it's also not undefined

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thanks js, very cool

ashen shoal Oct 13, 2025, 10:49 PM

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What is result?

ivory fulcrum Oct 13, 2025, 10:49 PM

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even the panel knows what the result is lol, despite erroring it

ashen shoal Oct 13, 2025, 10:50 PM

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So result is 0, and you're trying to access vector which is undefined on 0, and then you're attempting to index that undefined value

ivory fulcrum Oct 13, 2025, 10:50 PM

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no

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result is an object, with vector being an array of ints

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0 is the 0-indexed entry

ashen shoal Oct 13, 2025, 10:51 PM

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Ah, well I did ask what result was

ivory fulcrum Oct 13, 2025, 10:51 PM

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ah

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even the function call itself is valid per console

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like it knows what it is, it knows how to resolve the function, it knows what the value is

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but it errors as undefined but also it's 0

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am confuse

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also somehow this only broke on release...? lol

ashen shoal Oct 13, 2025, 10:52 PM

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What's it's value when you hover over it in the source code view?

ivory fulcrum Oct 13, 2025, 10:52 PM

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#1410253338280460298 message

ashen shoal Oct 13, 2025, 10:53 PM

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Vector specifically

ivory fulcrum Oct 13, 2025, 10:53 PM

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ashen shoal Oct 13, 2025, 10:53 PM

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Odd

ivory fulcrum Oct 13, 2025, 10:53 PM

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yep

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it's valid in every way I can find, except when trying to run it on-page

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also, this code is unchanged, and only died in release 5.0, but not in the betas

ashen shoal Oct 13, 2025, 10:54 PM

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Are you paused on the uncaught error?

ivory fulcrum Oct 13, 2025, 10:54 PM

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which also makes.. no sense

ivory fulcrum Oct 13, 2025, 10:54 PM

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ashen shoal Are you paused on the uncaught error?

atm I'm paused prior

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ashen shoal Oct 13, 2025, 10:54 PM

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Try pausing on the error itself

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It's possible you're ahead of the error?

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So the value is different

ivory fulcrum Oct 13, 2025, 10:54 PM

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it is not

ashen shoal Oct 13, 2025, 10:55 PM

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No I mean check the "pause on uncaught errors" button and ignore other breakpoints

ivory fulcrum Oct 13, 2025, 10:55 PM

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ah right cus it errors for all circumstances

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yeah ok that one makes sense

ashen shoal Oct 13, 2025, 10:57 PM

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Yeah you want the actual value at the time the error is thrown.

ivory fulcrum Oct 13, 2025, 10:57 PM

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yeah

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now to figure out why tf it has multiple keyframes that are the same keyframe for no reasno

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also it looks like undo is not working properly at all in the animation pane anymore

ashen shoal Oct 16, 2025, 9:10 PM

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@ivory fulcrum You can store images on github and use a raw content github link to display them. That way you don't have to rely on a third-party site.
E.g. https://github.com/Animated-Java/animated-java/blob/main/src/assets/armor_stand_wave.webp?raw=true

ivory fulcrum Oct 16, 2025, 9:10 PM

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what the heck lol

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imgur blocks you?

ashen shoal Oct 16, 2025, 9:10 PM

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Not me, but other users have noticed this issue

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Generally image hosting websites are blocked in a lot of countries for not complying with their regulations

ivory fulcrum Oct 16, 2025, 9:11 PM

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interesting

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wonder how that'll work when australia blocks github in december thinkies

ashen shoal Oct 16, 2025, 9:12 PM

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Well, at least for Animated Java that will break a lot more than just images

ivory fulcrum Oct 16, 2025, 9:12 PM

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indeed

ashen shoal Oct 16, 2025, 9:12 PM

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AJ gets almost all of it's Minecraft data from a few public github repos

ivory fulcrum Oct 16, 2025, 9:12 PM

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no-one's saying it's a good idea lol

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but we don't have people with good intentions or any kind of knowledge making laws so

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either way thanks for the heads up

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we just already have those images in imgur so it's easy to re-use em

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but I'll migrate the used ones

woven barn Oct 16, 2025, 9:18 PM

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Yeah it seems to be blocked for people in the UK at the moment

ashen shoal Oct 16, 2025, 9:19 PM

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oof

ivory fulcrum Oct 16, 2025, 9:20 PM

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australia next

ivory fulcrum Oct 17, 2025, 4:07 AM

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lol @woven barn

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just can't win

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enabled the dep note and now this -.-

ashen shoal Oct 17, 2025, 8:19 AM

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Update the old one to show a pop-up when installed in 5.0+

ivory fulcrum Oct 17, 2025, 8:21 AM

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Lol

woven barn Oct 17, 2025, 9:30 AM

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Change the deprecation note to also call it "GeckoLib Models & Animations"

ivory fulcrum Oct 17, 2025, 9:30 AM

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yeah..

#Blockbench 5.0 Plugin API Changes