Per-World Rules

Overview

Per-World Rules let a server owner change how MMO Skill Tree behaves in a specific world, matched by world name. A rule can scale or switch off XP, turn off the whole ability layer (and its on-screen HUDs), switch weapon combat to vanilla, and disable specific skills. It is built for a lobby, a story instance, or a dungeon world that should not earn the same XP and bonuses as the open world.

Choosing the Worlds a Rule Applies To

Every rule picks its worlds with a Where block Since 1.6.0. It has three axes, and a rule can use any combination of them:

The same name grammar bonus drops and dialogue world scopes use:

• Exact name - "Lobby" matches only the world named Lobby
• Prefix - a trailing *, e.g. "Dungeon_01_*", matches a whole family of instanced worlds (Dungeon_01_a3f9, Dungeon_01_77b2, etc.)
• Suffix - a leading *, e.g. "*_Arena", matches any world NAME ENDING in that text
• Contains - leading AND trailing *, e.g. "*Dungeon*", matches any world name containing that text anywhere
• Bare "*" - a catch-all default applied to any world with no more specific match
• No rule - a world that matches nothing is fully unrestricted (full MMO)

Matching is case-insensitive, and * is the only metacharacter (only meaningful at the ends of the pattern). Both axes are scored on one precedence ladder, so two rules pointing at the same world are always ordered. Exact wins outright. Otherwise, among every prefix/suffix/contains rule that matches, the one with the longest literal core wins regardless of which of the three forms it is (a longer suffix core beats a shorter prefix core); ties break toward the more anchored form (prefix, then suffix, then contains). The bare "*" catch-all only applies when no prefix/suffix/contains rule matches, and the built-in unrestricted default applies when nothing matches at all.

What a Rule Controls

The gameplay knobs live in one nested Rules block - WHAT applies in the matched worlds, beside the top-level WHERE (Where) and WHETHER (Enabled, the rule's own on/off switch the World Rules admin page toggles). All six are optional and independently composable:

File Structure

The file is a master switch plus a map of named rules. Each rule is keyed by a name of your choosing (its Where block is what actually picks the worlds):

{
  "schemaVersion": 1,
  "enabled": true,
  "rules": {
    "lobby": {
      "Where": { "Match": ["Lobby"] },
      "Rules": {
        "XpMultiplier": 0.0,
        "AbilitiesEnabled": false,
        "CombatBonusesEnabled": false,
        "StatBonusesEnabled": false
      }
    },
    "dungeons": {
      "Where": { "Match": ["Dungeon_01_*"] },
      "Rules": { "XpMultiplier": 2.0, "DisabledSkills": ["mining", "woodcutting"] }
    },
    "arena_instances": {
      "Where": { "Match": ["*_Arena"], "ExcludeMatch": ["*_Arena_Lobby"] },
      "Rules": {
        "EnabledSkills": ["artillery", "defense"],
        "AbilitiesEnabled": false,
        "CombatBonusesEnabled": false
      }
    },
    "temple": {
      "Where": { "GameplayConfig": ["ForgottenTemple"] },
      "Rules": { "XpMultiplier": 1.5 }
    }
  }
}

• schemaVersion - Config format version (do not change)
• enabled - Master kill-switch. When false, every world resolves to the unrestricted default and no rule applies
• rules - Your named rules, keyed by id

The matching rules for that example: the Lobby world earns no XP, casts no abilities, fights with vanilla weapons, and strips persistent stat bonuses. Any Dungeon_01_ instance world doubles XP but trains neither Mining nor Woodcutting. Any world whose name ENDS in _Arena (matched by the suffix pattern, so it covers generated arena instances regardless of prefix) is a combat sandbox - only Artillery and Defense gain XP, with abilities and combat bonuses off - except the arena lobby, which the exclusion rejects. Any world built from the ForgottenTemple gameplay config earns half again as much XP, however its live instance happens to be named. Every other world is unaffected.

Omitting Fields

Every knob in the Rules block is optional and defaults to the unrestricted value, so a rule only needs to spell out what it changes:

• XpMultiplier - defaults to 1.0 (unchanged)
• AbilitiesEnabled - defaults to true
• CombatBonusesEnabled - defaults to true
• StatBonusesEnabled - defaults to true
• DisabledSkills / EnabledSkills - default to empty (no restriction)

Skill ids are case-insensitive and use the internal id, not the display label. The in-game "Block" skill, for example, is defense in config. Disabling a skill blocks only its XP gain in that world; existing levels and unlocks are untouched.

Shipping rules in a content pack

// Server/MMOSkillTree/WorldRules/Dungeons.json
{
  "Where": { "Match": ["Dungeon_01_*"] },
  "Rules": { "XpMultiplier": 2.0, "DisabledSkills": ["mining", "woodcutting"] }
}

Precedence is the ordinary one: built-in defaults, then packs, then your owner file.

Validation

Run /mmoconfig validate to audit your rules. The world_rules domain flags a blank or duplicate pattern, an unknown id in a disabled or allowed skill list, and a skill listed in both EnabledSkills and DisabledSkills (the deny-list wins in that case). Two more findings cover the Where block itself: a rule matching none of the loaded worlds, and a rule with an exclusion but no positive axis. A clean validate means every world resolves to the rule you intended.

Best Practices

• Use a Name_* prefix for any world that spawns with a random suffix (instances, raid arenas, generated dungeons) so one rule covers the whole family at once
• For a pure lobby or hub, set XpMultiplier to 0.0 and both toggles to false so it stays quiet and cosmetic
• Prefer EnabledSkills over a long DisabledSkills when only a couple of skills should be active - "only Artillery and Defense" is two ids instead of a deny-list of every other skill
• Toggle enabled to false to disable all per-world rules at once without deleting them, then back on to restore
• Back up world-rules.json before major changes