Obtaining Scrolls & Pedestals

History Stages ships no recipes for the Research Pedestal or the Research Scrolls. How players earn the right to progress is a pack decision, not a mod decision — so until you add a route, the only way to get one is /give or creative mode.

This page has ready-made recipes for the three usual routes — KubeJS, CraftTweaker and a plain datapack — plus the quest-reward route and the command for testing.

Stage ids have to match exactly

Every scroll recipe names a stage id, such as iron_age. It has to match the file name in config/historystages/global/ or individual/ exactly. A typo here is the most common reason a custom recipe "doesn't work" — the scroll crafts, and the pedestal then refuses it. → Where Stage Files Live

Components, not NBT

From Minecraft 1.20.5 on, item data uses data components (minecraft:custom_data) rather than raw NBT. The examples below use the modern syntax. For 1.20.4 and older, replace {"minecraft:custom_data":{...}} with the old {StageResearch:"..."} form.

---

KubeJS

Place these files under kubejs/server_scripts/.

Research Scroll

Works for both global and individual stages — the recipe form is identical. The OwnerName for individual scrolls is set automatically when a player starts researching at the pedestal, not at craft time. Just point StageResearch at the stage ID you want.

ServerEvents.recipes(event => {
    event.shaped(
        Item.of('historystages:research_scroll', '{"minecraft:custom_data":{StageResearch:"iron_age"}}'),
        [
            'PPP',
            'PBP',
            'PPP'
        ],
        {
            P: 'minecraft:paper',
            B: 'minecraft:book'
        }
    )
})

Replace iron_age with your stage ID — global or individual.

Creative Scroll

ServerEvents.recipes(event => {
    event.shapeless(
        'historystages:creative_scroll',
        ['minecraft:nether_star', 'minecraft:writable_book', 'minecraft:paper']
    )
})

Research Pedestal

ServerEvents.recipes(event => {
    event.shaped(
        'historystages:research_pedestal',
        [
            'GBG',
            'SLS',
            'SSS'
        ],
        {
            G: 'minecraft:gold_ingot',
            B: 'minecraft:writable_book',
            S: 'minecraft:smooth_stone',
            L: 'minecraft:lectern'
        }
    )
})

---

CraftTweaker

Place these files under scripts/. CraftTweaker uses ZenScript.

Research Scroll

craftingTable.addShaped("historystages_research_scroll_iron_age",
    <item:historystages:research_scroll>.withTag({StageResearch: "iron_age" as string}),
    [
        [<item:minecraft:paper>, <item:minecraft:paper>, <item:minecraft:paper>],
        [<item:minecraft:paper>, <item:minecraft:book>,  <item:minecraft:paper>],
        [<item:minecraft:paper>, <item:minecraft:paper>, <item:minecraft:paper>]
    ]
);

info

MC 1.20.5+ / 1.21: Replace .withTag({...}) with the component-based form:

<item:historystages:research_scroll>.withJsonComponents({
    "minecraft:custom_data": {StageResearch: "iron_age"} as IData
})

Replace iron_age with your stage ID — works for global and individual stages.

Creative Scroll

craftingTable.addShapeless("historystages_creative_scroll",
    <item:historystages:creative_scroll>,
    [<item:minecraft:nether_star>, <item:minecraft:writable_book>, <item:minecraft:paper>]
);

Research Pedestal

craftingTable.addShaped("historystages_research_pedestal",
    <item:historystages:research_pedestal>,
    [
        [<item:minecraft:gold_ingot>,   <item:minecraft:writable_book>, <item:minecraft:gold_ingot>],
        [<item:minecraft:smooth_stone>, <item:minecraft:lectern>,       <item:minecraft:smooth_stone>],
        [<item:minecraft:smooth_stone>, <item:minecraft:smooth_stone>,  <item:minecraft:smooth_stone>]
    ]
);

---

Vanilla Datapack

Place under data/<your_pack>/recipe/.

Research Scroll for a specific stage (research_scroll_iron_age.json)

{
  "type": "minecraft:crafting_shaped",
  "pattern": [
    "PPP",
    "PBP",
    "PPP"
  ],
  "key": {
    "P": { "item": "minecraft:paper" },
    "B": { "item": "minecraft:book" }
  },
  "result": {
    "id": "historystages:research_scroll",
    "count": 1,
    "components": {
      "minecraft:custom_data": {
        "StageResearch": "iron_age"
      }
    }
  }
}

---

FTB Quests

No recipe needed. History Stages registers its own task and reward types in the FTB Quests editor, so a quest can hand out a scroll, or skip the scroll entirely and unlock the stage directly as a reward. Both pick their target through a searchable stage picker rather than a typed id, which removes the typo problem above.

Scrolls can also be put into loot tables as structure treasure or mob drops, if a pack would rather have players find them than craft them. → Mod Compatibility

---

Admin Command (for testing)

/give @s historystages:research_scroll[minecraft:custom_data={StageResearch:"iron_age"}]

For Minecraft 1.20.4 and older:

/give @s historystages:research_scroll{StageResearch:"iron_age"}

---

Troubleshooting

Problem	Likely cause
Scroll crafts but pedestal rejects it	Stage ID typo — check config/historystages/global/*.json
Recipe doesn't appear in JEI/EMI	Datapack/KubeJS didn't reload — run /reload
Result item has no name / falls back to "Research Scroll"	StageResearch field missing or wrong key casing
Old {StageResearch:"..."} NBT works on 1.20.4 but not 1.21	Use the new minecraft:custom_data component form
CraftTweaker .withTag() doesn't apply on 1.21	Use .withJsonComponents({...}) instead