Searching the Item List with Prefixes

Plain search, then the prefixes

Typing in the JEI search bar filters the item list by name, which is enough most of the time. The part people miss is that a single punctuation mark in front of your text changes what field JEI searches. In a modpack with thirty thousand items that is the difference between scrolling for a minute and finding the thing at once.

JEI ships with six prefixes:

• @ searches mod names. Type @farmer to see only what one mod contributes.
• # searches tooltip text, so you can find items by a word in their description rather than their title.
• $ searches tags, the groups the game uses to say "any log" or "any copper ore".
• % searches creative tab names.
• & searches resource IDs, the internal modid:item_name form.
• ^ searches colours, which needs the colour search option turned on first.

Each prefix has its own entry in the JEI config, so a pack maker can switch any of them off or make one the default. If a prefix does nothing on your install, that setting is the first place to look.

Colour search

Enable Color Search is off by default because it costs a little performance. Turn it on and JEI both accepts the ^ prefix and starts showing an item's colours on its tooltip in the ingredient list. It is the fastest way to find a building block in a particular shade when you cannot remember its name.

Controls for the search bar

Four actions sit under the JEI (Search Filter) category in Options, Controls:

• Select Search Bar puts the cursor in the bar without reaching for the mouse.
• Clear Search Filter empties it in one press.
• Next Search and Previous Search step back through what you have already typed, so a filter you used a minute ago is two presses away.

Moving the bar

By default the search bar sits under the item list on the right. Center Search Bar moves it to the bottom centre of the screen instead, which is easier to reach on a wide monitor and keeps the right-hand column purely for items.