ObsidiPlates Mod: Advanced Player and NPC-Only Pressure Plates for Minecraft
If you have ever wished for a way to keep your redstone contraptions secure from wandering mobs or stray items, the ObsidiPlates mod delivers exactly that. Created by Myrathi as a surprise for Jadedcat, this mod revives a much-loved concept from Better Than Wolves and expands it with a whole family of specialized pressure plates. Each variant responds only to specific entities, giving builders unprecedented control over who—or what—can trigger a circuit.
What Is ObsidiPlates?
ObsidiPlates is a lightweight Minecraft mod that introduces pressure plates made from obsidian and mossy cobblestone, each with unique activation rules. Unlike vanilla wooden or stone plates that react to everything from players to dropped items, these plates are selective. The original Obsidian Pressure Plate activates only when a player steps on it, completely ignoring items and NPCs. The Mossy Pressure Plate works the opposite way, triggering exclusively for NPCs like villagers or mobs. This simple but powerful distinction opens up a world of possibilities for adventure maps, secure bases, and automated farms.
Plate Variants and Their Uses
Over time, Myrathi added even more subtlety to the mod. Today, you can craft several different types of plates, each with a clear purpose:
- Obsidian Pressure Plate – Activates only for players. Ideal for doors you want to keep shut against mobs or for traps that should never be set off by a stray arrow.
- Mossy Pressure Plate – Triggers only for NPCs (villagers, animals, monsters). Perfect for mob-activated contraptions like automatic farm gates or mob detection systems.
- Silent Plates – Crafted by combining an Obsidian or Mossy plate with a block of wool, these remove the clicking sound entirely. Great for stealth builds or when you simply dislike the noise.
- Shrouded Plates – Made by surrounding a plate with alternating nether quartz and glowstone dust, these become almost entirely transparent. They blend into floors and walls, hiding your redstone from curious eyes.
- Silent Shrouded Plates – The ultimate in discretion. You must first craft a silent plate, then apply the shrouded recipe to make it both noiseless and see-through.
All plates can be placed on any solid surface and wired up like standard pressure plates. They provide a redstone signal while the correct entity stands on them and stop the moment it steps off.
Crafting Recipes and Mechanics
The crafting process is straightforward but encourages careful planning. The basic Obsidian Pressure Plate uses obsidian blocks in the same pattern as a vanilla stone pressure plate. Mossy Plates substitute mossy cobblestone. To silence a plate, place it over a block of wool in a crafting grid. For the shrouded effect, surround any plate (noisy or silent) with nether quartz and glowstone dust in an alternating pattern. If you ever want to revert a Silent or Shrouded plate back to its basic form, simply smelt it in a furnace—the extra properties burn away, leaving a standard Obsidian or Mossy plate.
While the mod originally targeted older Minecraft versions like 1.4.6 through 1.7.10, community ports and similar mechanics have kept the idea alive for modern releases. If you are playing on a classic modpack or a retro server, ObsidiPlates remains a reliable choice. For those who prefer a streamlined setup, the foxygame.net launcher offers a modern and flexible way to install mods like ObsidiPlates right from its interface, eliminating the need for manual file copying and making it easy to jump into your favorite modded worlds.
Why ObsidiPlates Enhances Your Builds
The real strength of this mod lies in the fine-grained control it gives you over redstone triggers. Adventure map creators can design puzzles that only players can solve, while keeping NPCs from interfering. On multiplayer servers, you can build a secure entrance that opens only for your friends—no creepers, no items, no accidental triggers. Automated mob farms become simpler when you can use a Mossy Plate to detect exactly when a mob passes by, without worrying about dropped loot causing false signals. And with silent, invisible plates, you can hide entire security systems in plain sight.
ObsidiPlates also respects the original vision of Better Than Wolves, where obsidian was the material of choice for player-only detection. The mod’s code is entirely original, but the inspiration is clear, and the result is a clean, focused addition to any redstone engineer’s toolkit.
Getting Started with ObsidiPlates
To begin using the mod, you will need to place the appropriate jar file into your Minecraft mods folder after installing a compatible version of Minecraft Forge. The mod does not add any world generation or complex dependencies, so it slots neatly into almost any modpack. Once installed, you can find the recipes in the standard crafting table and start experimenting immediately. Because the plates behave exactly like vanilla pressure plates in terms of redstone connectivity, you can drop them into existing builds without redesigning your circuits.
Whether you are a seasoned modder revisiting the golden age of 1.7.10 or a builder looking for a simple way to add logic to your structures, ObsidiPlates proves that sometimes the smallest mods make the biggest difference. Its clever, layered plate system turns a mundane block into a precise tool, giving you the power to decide exactly what steps matter.