Virtual Block Changes

Virtual block changes allow you to make it seem as if a block has changed on the client without actually changing any physical blocks in the world.

Sending a virtual block change to the client is as simple as calling the Viewer#sendBlockChange(int, int, int, BlockState) method. You will need to specify the co-ordinates of the block that you wish to change, as well as the new BlockState. An example is shown below:

import org.spongepowered.api.block.BlockTypes;
import org.spongepowered.api.effect.Viewer;

viewer.sendBlockChange(0, 65, 0, BlockTypes.COMMAND_BLOCK.getDefaultState());

This will make it seem as if the block at the co-ordinates 0, 65, 0 has changed to a command block. Of course, you are not restricted to the default state of a block. Any BlockState is accepted by the sendBlockChange() method.

Besides specifying three integers for the co-ordinates, you may also specify a Vector3i. An example of using the Viewer#sendBlockChange(Vector3i, BlockState) method is shown below:

import org.spongepowered.math.vector.Vector3i;

Vector3i vector = new Vector3i(0, 65, 0);
viewer.sendBlockChange(vector, BlockTypes.COMMAND_BLOCK.getDefaultState());

Tip

If you wish to send a virtual block to all clients, you can now use BlockChangeFlags#NOTIFY_CLIENTS

Resetting Changes

To reset any changes you’ve made to the client at a specific location, you can call the Viewer#resetBlockChange(int, int, int) method. For example, to undo our damage from the previous example, we can call the resetBlockChange() method specifying the co-ordinates from before:

viewer.resetBlockChange(0, 65, 0);

Note that you may also use a Vector3i in place of the three integers with this method as well.