Verity is an AI-powered helper character that lives inside a small box in your world, ready to answer questions, follow you around, and slowly turn sinister over your first several in-game days. What makes him talk is not scripted dialogue. Every reply is generated by a real language model, so Verity needs a connection to an AI provider before he can say a single word.
That connection runs on a free external service called Groq. You create a personal Groq API key, paste it into Verity’s settings, and the mod uses it to send your messages to the AI and read the response back. The key stays on your own machine inside the mod’s config, and no website ever needs to see it.
The full Verity mod setup takes about ten minutes: make the API key, drop it into the AI Settings, pick how Verity speaks, then bind a microphone if voice chat is wanted. This tutorial walks through each part in order and fixes the errors that stop Verity from talking.
Before You Start
This guide covers the Java Edition build, Verity Forge, which is where the Groq API key and voice chat live. The menus are the same on the Forge and NeoForge versions of the mod. If you play Bedrock, Verity comes as a separate .mcaddon with its own setup, so the config screens described below will not appear on that edition.
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Finish the non-AI part of the install first. Verity Forge and its required dependencies, GeckoLib and YetAnotherConfigLib (YACL), should already be in your mods folder, and the game should launch cleanly into a world with the Box appearing as expected. If the game crashes before the title screen, an API key will not fix it, so sort out any loader or dependency errors first.
A free Groq account and an active internet connection are required, since the AI runs in the cloud. A microphone is optional. It is only needed for voice chat, and typing to Verity in the chat box works perfectly without one. Starting a fresh world is recommended, because Verity’s story is paced across your first in-game days and he turns hostile once enough of them pass.
What the API Key Does and Why It Is Private
The API key authorizes AI requests under your own Groq account, which is exactly why it should be treated like a password. Anyone who copies it can send requests billed to your account until it is revoked. Keep it out of screenshots, streams, chat, and any world file you share with other players.
Paste the key only into Verity’s local settings. Never type it into Minecraft chat, a website, or a comment, and never paste it into a downloaded world. If it ever leaks, revoke it in the Groq console immediately, create a new one, and update the config with the replacement. Groq does not require any payment details, as it’s free to use to an extent.
Setting Up Verity’s AI
These six steps give Verity a working brain from scratch. Follow them in order, because the API key has to exist before it can go into the config, and the config has to be saved before Verity will respond in game.
Create a Free Groq API Key
Sign in at the Groq console
Open the Groq Console in a browser and sign in to your own account. Go to the API Keys area, click Create API Key, give it a simple label such as Verity, and submit. Groq shows the key value only once, so copy it straight away with the copy button.
Open Verity's Config
Mods, Verity Forge, Config, AI Settings
Launch the game to the main menu and click Mods. Select Verity Forge from the list, click Config, and open the AI Settings section. This screen holds the API Key field, the AI Provider choice, the intelligence level, and the voice option all in one place.
Paste the Key and Set the Provider
API Key field, AI Provider set to Groq
Click the API Key field and paste the key you copied, checking that no extra spaces slipped in at the start or end. Set AI Provider to Groq, which is the default and the correct choice for almost everyone. Groq is what turns Verity from a silent box into a talking character.
Choose the Intelligence Level
Fast is the balanced default
Set the AI intelligence level using the three options: Fast-lite, Fast, and Intelligent. Fast is the default and the recommended starting point, giving quick replies without burning through your free usage. Intelligent produces sharper answers but responds more slowly and uses more of your allowance.
Pick How Verity Speaks
Offline, cloud Daniel, or native voice
Decide which voice Verity uses before testing. Out of the box he speaks with a bundled offline voice that costs zero usage, and the Voice field is set to Daniel for when you switch to the cloud voice that sounds most like him. The three voice modes are explained in detail just below.
Save and Test
Type a short message in a new world
Save the changes and enter a new world. Bring Verity out of the Box, open the chat window, and type a short message such as a simple greeting. If he replies in chat, the AI connection is working, and you can move on to voice and audio.
Choosing Verity’s Voice
Verity has three separate ways to speak, and the mod picks between them based on two toggles: Use Native TTS and the offline voice. Understanding the order avoids the most common surprise, where a player expects the cloud Daniel voice but hears something else instead.
The mod checks Use Native TTS first, then the offline voice, and only reaches the cloud Daniel voice if both are turned off. To hear the true Verity voice, turn Use Native TTS off and turn the offline voice off, then keep the provider on Groq. To save usage instead, leave the offline voice on or switch Use Native TTS on.
Setting Up Voice Chat
Talking to Verity out loud needs a working microphone and two keybinds. Press Escape, open Options, then Controls, then Key Binds, and scroll to the Verity Mod section. The two controls there are Talk to Verity and Cycle Selected Mic, and both can be rebound to any key that suits your layout.
Voice chat uses push to talk. Hold the Talk to Verity key while you speak, then release it to send. The mod records the clip, converts your speech to text, and passes it to Verity exactly as if you had typed it, so he replies the same way he does to chat messages.
Keep the Talk to Verity key held down for the whole sentence and only let go once you have finished. Tapping it sends an empty clip that Verity cannot understand, which is a common reason he seems to ignore voice input.
Picking the Right Microphone
The Cycle Selected Mic key steps through every input device the game can see, one press at a time. Each press shows a message reading Microphone switched to, followed by the device name, so keep pressing until it lands on your real headset or mic. If it reports that no compatible microphones were found, the game cannot access any input device on your system.
When the wrong device is selected, it captures near silence, which transcribes to nothing at all. The mod throws away any blank result, so nothing ever reaches Verity and he stays quiet even though voice chat is set up correctly. Cycling to the right microphone until the message names your real headset fixes this instantly.
Troubleshooting Verity
If the Verity mod is not working, the cause is almost always the API key, the voice mode, or usage limits rather than a broken install. Work through the symptoms below in order, since a silent Verity nearly always has a specific, fixable cause.
Verity Appears but Will Not Answer
If Verity spawns but never replies, the AI request is failing. Re-open the config and confirm the API Key field holds the full key with no leading or trailing spaces, that AI Provider is set to Groq, and that your machine is online. When the connection fails, the mod posts a short “AI connection error. You might need to replace your API Key.” line in chat, and on a failed request it also drops in clickable setup-tutorial links you can follow. The usual fix is to generate a fresh key in the Groq console and paste it back over the old one.
Verity Talks in Text but Has No Voice
When text replies work but no voice plays on the cloud setting, the Orpheus English speech model needs to be authorized on your Groq account first. Open the Groq web playground, select that speech model, and accept the popup that grants access. After that, cloud voice should play normally.
If Verity sounds robotic or uses a plain narrator instead of his real voice, that is the native or offline voice speaking. Turn Use Native TTS off and turn the offline voice off so the mod falls through to the cloud Daniel voice. As a quick alternative when the cloud voice refuses to cooperate, switch Use Native TTS on to hear Verity through your system narrator right away.
Verity Stops Working After a Few Minutes
A message about running out of tokens, or replies that work briefly then cut out for a long stretch, means you hit the Groq free usage limit. The limit resets on its own after a while, so waiting restores service. To avoid spending voice usage at all, switch Use Native TTS on or leave the offline voice enabled, since both speak for free.
The cloud Daniel voice consumes far more of your free allowance than text replies do. If you run out often, keep text on Groq for quality answers but let the offline voice or the native narrator handle speech, which keeps voice completely free.
Using OpenRouter Instead of Groq
Groq is not reachable in every country, and regions such as Russia often cannot connect to it at all. Verity includes OpenRouter as a second provider for exactly this case. It reaches far more locations, though it drops the cloud voice and microphone features in exchange.
To switch, create a key at openrouter.ai in its API Keys area and paste it into the same API Key field in Verity’s AI Settings. Set AI Provider to OpenRouter, leave the intelligence level on Fast, and turn Use Native TTS on. OpenRouter does not support the cloud voice or speech recognition, so voice chat and voice detection will not work, but text replies keep flowing with the native or offline voice reading them aloud.
Groq
OpenRouter
Tips for Success
A few habits keep Verity running smoothly and protect your account while you play. These small choices save a lot of setup frustration later.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. The Groq API key is free, and the mod runs on Groq’s free usage allowance. If you see a message about running out of tokens, that is a temporary limit that resets on its own, not a charge. Keeping the offline voice or native narrator on means speech never uses your allowance at all.
Yes. A microphone is only needed for voice chat. Open the chat window, type a message, and Verity replies in text and, if a voice mode is enabled, out loud. Everything except the push to talk feature works without any mic at all.
That voice is the native narrator or the offline voice, not Verity’s real one. To hear the cloud Daniel voice, turn Use Native TTS off, turn the offline voice off, and keep the provider on Groq. You may also need to authorize the Orpheus English speech model in the Groq playground before the cloud voice plays.
From the main menu, click Mods, select Verity Forge, click Config, and open the AI Settings section. Paste the key into the API Key field there. Never paste it into Minecraft chat, a website, or a world you downloaded, since anyone who sees it can use your account.
Switch to OpenRouter. Make a key at openrouter.ai, paste it into the same API Key field, set AI Provider to OpenRouter, leave the intelligence level on Fast, and turn Use Native TTS on. Text chat keeps working in far more regions, though voice chat and the cloud voice are not available on OpenRouter.
Just open the normal Minecraft chat window and type. By default Verity reads every message you send, so you do not need to say his name to get a reply. If you turn on the Require Verity option in the config, he only responds to messages that actually contain the word “Verity”, which is handy on servers where players chat to each other as well.
Yes, but it is an advanced route. Verity can run entirely on a local model through Ollama instead of Groq, which removes the free-tier token limits completely because nothing leaves your computer. It needs a local Ollama server set up separately, and the mod even links an Ollama setup tutorial in chat when a cloud request fails. For most players the free Groq key is far simpler, so only reach for Ollama if you keep hitting the usage cap.
