Pattern Mining

Pattern Mining (formerly Vertical Mining)

 

...:::What's New:::...

The pattern-cycle key is rebindable — change it in Settings > Controls or in
patternmining.json.

Side: Client and Server
Hotkeys: Ctrl+P (cycle patterns)  Commands: /pm (toggle on/off)

New: on-screen pattern indicator. A small 3×3 dot grid shows the shape of your active mining pattern while Pattern Mining is enabled, tucked just left of the off-hand slot. It hides when you
toggle off with /pm, and follows pattern cycling live. Turn it off with "ShowHud": false in patternmining.json.

 

Description

Pattern Mining expands on the original Vertical Mining concept by giving you five
distinct mining patterns to choose from, all accessible through a simple hotkey.
Whether you're shaft mining, clearing tunnels, or carving out rooms, there's a
pattern to match your task. Larger patterns come with trade-offs — increased tool
wear and slower mining speed — keeping things balanced and grounded in realistic
gameplay. As of 3.0.0, those trade-offs are fully configurable.

Mining Patterns

 

Pattern	Shape	Extra Blocks	Tool Wear	Mining Speed
Vertical 1x2	Center + below	1	Normal	100%
Column 1x3	Center + above + below	2	+10%	85%
Horizontal 3x1	Center + left + right	2	+15%	85%
Cross	Center + above + below + left + right	4	+20%	70%
Tunnel 3x3	Full 3x3 face	8	+25%	50%

Pattern Diagrams

 

Vertical 1x2    Column 1x3     Horizontal 3x1     Cross          Tunnel 3x3
  _ _ _            _ x _           _ _ _           _ x _           x x x
  _ x _            _ x _           x x x           x x x           x x x
  _ x _            _ x _           _ _ _           _ x _           x x x

 

How to Use

1. Type `/pm` in chat to toggle Pattern Mining on.
2. Hold a pickaxe and press **Ctrl+P** to cycle through the five mining patterns.
       The selected pattern and its stats are displayed in the chat window.
3. Mine any block — the extra blocks in your selected pattern will break automatically, based on which face of the block you hit.
4. Hold **Sneak** while mining to temporarily override the pattern and mine only a single block.
5. Type `/pm` again to toggle Pattern Mining off. Mining speed returns to normal.

 

Changing the "Cycle Mining Pattern" key

The default is Ctrl+P. To change it, pick whichever is easier:

In-game (easiest): Settings → Controls → search "Cycle Mining Pattern" → click it and press your new key. This overrides the config file.

Config file: edit patternmining.json in your Vintage Story ModConfig folder, then restart the game:
- Windows: %APPDATA%\VintagestoryData\ModConfig\patternmining.json
- Linux: ~/.config/VintagestoryData/ModConfig/patternmining.json
- macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/VintagestoryData/ModConfig/patternmining.json

"CycleHotkey": "P",
"CycleHotkeyCtrl": true,
"CycleHotkeyShift": false,
"CycleHotkeyAlt": false

CycleHotkey takes a key name — a letter (P, M), punctuation (Comma, Period), or function key (F6). Set any of the Ctrl/Shift/Alt flags to true to require that modifier. An unrecognized key
falls back to Ctrl+P.

Upgrading from an older version? If your patternmining.json predates v3.1.0 it won't have these lines — just add them inside the { }, or delete the file and let the mod regenerate it.

 

Crafting

No crafting required. The mod uses a chat command and hotkey to control.

 

Notes

- Defaults to **OFF** for new players.
- Only works with pickaxes.
- A pickaxe must be highlighted in order to cycle through mining patterns with Ctrl+P.
- Extra blocks must be within your tool's mining tier to be broken.
- Horizontal patterns (Horizontal, Cross, Tunnel) are orientation-aware — left and right are based on which face of the block you're hitting, so the pattern always aligns with the wall in front of you.
- Your pickaxe will not break from pattern mining — if it reaches 1 durability remaining, extra blocks stop breaking.
- Mining speed reduction is applied as a player stat modifier while Pattern Mining is active. It is removed when you toggle off with `/pm`.