Understanding Why Your Custom Data Disappears After a Mod Update

The Underlying Mechanic

Cardinal Components attaches data to game objects — players, chunks, entities, items, worlds, and more. Each piece of data belongs to a component type registered by a mod. If a mod changes how it registers or names its components between versions, the old data no longer maps to the new component, and it effectively vanishes from your save.

What You Can Do

1. Read the changelog of the mod you updated. If it mentions a data format change or component rework, assume existing data may not carry over.

2. Before updating, copy your world save to a safe location.

3. After updating, load the world and check whether the affected stats, counters, or flags are still present.

4. If data is gone and the mod offers no migration, accept the reset or roll back to the previous version and world backup.

When It's Not the Library's Fault

Cardinal Components itself doesn't decide what data exists — the dependent mod does. If your data disappeared, the cause is almost always the dependent mod's update, not the library. Check that mod's issue tracker or forum thread for reports from other players before assuming something is broken on your end.