Run Configurations

To run Minecraft within the development environment, VanillaGradle has a concept of a 'run configuration', which is exposed as a Gradle run task and run configurations in any applicable IDEs.

These run configurations are not bound to any specific configuration or classpath, but for standard client and server environments, customizable presets can prepare the applicable environments.

Run configurations are a project-level concept, meaning they may vary from project to project.

DSL Reference

minecraft {
  runs {
    // Default run configurations for a server
    server()
    client()

    // Run based off of `client` with a custom name and extra configuration
    client("devClient") {
      // Generally useful
      displayName() // a custom display name, only used for IDE tasks
      classpath() // customize the classpath, only supported in Gradle
      ideaRunSourceSet(set) // indicate which source set IntelliJ IDEA should use for a runtime classpath (the most granular configuration supported by IntelliJ)
      args("--launchTarget", "my_client_dev") // extra application arguments
      allArgumentProviders // a list of providers for application arguments, called at execution time
      jvmArgs("-Dlog4j2.configurationFile=log4j_dev.xml") // additional arguments for the JVM
      allJvmArgumentProviders // a list of providers for JVM arguments, called at execution time
      workingDirectory() // the working directory for runs, by default ${projectDir}/run
      mainClass() // the main class to execute, taken from the launcher manifest by default

      // More niche, most likely only useful for those stepping outside the bounds of normal client and server-based configurations
      parameterTokens() // tokens to replace within a Mojang launcher manifest
      requiresAssetsAndNatives.set(true) // whether this configuration should depend on asset downloading
      targetVersion(8) // the Java version to run with, drawn from the launcher manifest by default
      mainModule() // the main module, if running in a modular environment
    }
  }
}

Limitations

Gradle, Eclipse, and IntelliJ all have slightly different abilities in modeling a run configuration. VanillaGradle tries to preserve as much information in each of these, but some information is lost in every non-Gradle variant of a run configuration.

In the case of both IDEs, the IDE run configurations will be overwritten on every project reimport.

IntelliJ

• The targetVersion parameter is ignored, as IntelliJ does not expose JVM setting to us
• The classpath parameter is ignored, in favor of the module associated with the provided ideaRunSourceSet

Eclipse

• The targetVersion is mapped to Eclipse execution environments, which are a looser compatibility declaration, and which will not automatically download a JVM.
• The classpath parameter is ignored, in favor of the Eclipse project classpath.