Turn Content On And Off With Flags

Goal

• Ship a heavier armor rebalance that is off by default.
• Let a server (or a companion mod) enable it by changing one value.
• Keep a legacy fallback that disappears the moment the rebalance is on.

The flags

Server/Globals.vars

{
  "HeavyArmor": false,
  "OldNumbers": false,
  "ArmorMult": 1.5,
  "AllowWithoutHexcode": true
}

Booleans are stored as numbers, true as 1 and false as 0. Any number works as a flag: it is on when greater than zero and off otherwise.

Gating a patch

Server/Item/Items/Armor/Adamantite/Armor_Adamantite_Head.patch

{
  "$Requires": "$HeavyArmor",
  "Armor": { "StatModifiers": { "Mana?": [ { "Amount#": "round(12 * $ArmorMult)", "CalculationType": "Additive" } ] } }
}

Server/Item/Items/Armor/Adamantite/Armor_Adamantite_Head_Legacy.patch

{
  "$Requires": "-$HeavyArmor",
  "Armor": { "StatModifiers": { "Mana?": [ { "Amount": 12, "CalculationType": "Additive" } ] } }
}

With HeavyArmor false the legacy patch applies. Set it to true and the two swap places.

Gating a folder

A .batch accepts the same clauses, so an entire folder can sit behind one flag:

Server/Item/Items/Armor/Heavy/_.batch

{ "$Requires": "$HeavyArmor" }

Mixing flags with packs and math

An entry without a colon is an expression; one with a colon is a pack id. They combine under the usual rules: list entries are ANDed, commas inside an entry are ORed, and a leading - negates.

{
  "$Requires": [
    "$HeavyArmor",
    "-$Globals.OldNumbers",
    "abs($ArmorMult - 1) * 10",
    "Riprod:Hexcode,$AllowWithoutHexcode"
  ]
}

$Globals.Name is the same as the bare $Name, qualified by its file like any other scope. Named scopes work too: "$Adamantite.Mana - 50" passes when that material has more than 50 Mana.

Overriding a flag from another pack

Same-named .vars files merge across packs in load order, last wins. A companion mod that ships

Server/Globals.vars

{ "HeavyArmor": true }

turns the rebalance on for everyone without touching a single patch.

Notes

• - is boolean NOT, not arithmetic. -$Flag passes when the flag is 0 or below, so -$Zero is true even though -0 > 0 would be false. Arithmetic negation still works past the first character (abs(-$X), 0 - $X).
• Unknown variables evaluate false. A typo gates the source, and /patchly explain <target> shows the failing entry and the reason, so a typo looks different from a flag that is deliberately off.
• What may gate what. Globals.vars may only be gated by packs. A named .vars may be gated by packs and globals. .patch, .put, and .batch may use every scope. A gated-out named scope is absent, so a patch referencing $Scope.Name records an unresolved expression, and explain points at the .vars that was gated and why.
• Java mods can read flags. PatchlyVars.getFlag("HeavyArmor") works from any Patchly copy in the JVM. See For Mod Developers.
• /patchly vars prints every resolved scope and value.