Mekanism keeps its settings in a folder of config files, and nearly every number on this wiki is a default that a modpack is able to change in them. That covers what the 
Configurator can’t, like how much power a machine uses, where the ores spawn, and whether radiation and reactor meltdowns are switched on at all.
It also works with a lot of other mods out of the box, as its machines take FE from any other tech mod’s cables and its recipes show up in JEI and EMI. This page lists the settings that players change the most, the names that differ between versions, and what Mekanism does when other mods are installed alongside it.
Where the Config Files Are
All of the files sit in a folder called Mekanism inside your game’s config folder, and each one covers a different part of the mod. Most of them are server settings, so on a multiplayer server it’s the server’s copy that counts, and your own copy is only used in your single player worlds.
| File | What it holds |
|---|---|
| general.toml | Upgrades, chunk loading, radiation, the Digital Miner, pumps, lasers and power conversion |
| machine-usage.toml | How much power each machine uses while it works |
| machine-storage.toml | The size of each machine’s energy buffer |
| tiers.toml | Capacity and rates for every tier of cube, tank, cable, pipe and transporter |
| world.toml | Ore veins and Salt, and the switch to regenerate ores in old chunks |
| gear.toml | Tools and armor, from the Atomic Disassembler to the MekaSuit |
| generators.toml | Every generator, the turbine and both reactors (Mekanism Generators) |
| common.toml | The energy and temperature units that are shown on screen |
| client.toml | Sounds, particles, the HUD and other things only you will see |
| startup.toml | Armor values, which need the game to be restarted |
You don’t have to open the files by hand, as the mod has a config screen in the Mods menu that lists every setting with a description of what it does. Energy values in there are written in Joules, even when your machines are showing FE, so you’ll want to divide by 2.5 to compare them with what you see in game.
Settings Worth Knowing
There are hundreds of settings between the two mods, and most of them are numbers that few players will ever touch. The ones in this table are the settings that change how the mod plays, or that explain why something works differently in your pack than it does on this wiki.
Mekanism Settings Players Change
| Default | Page | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy UnitWhat It Changes The unit shown on every screen. It can be set to Joules instead. | common | FE | — |
| Temperature UnitWhat It Changes The unit used for reactors, boilers and the Thermal Evaporation Plant. | common | Kelvin | — |
| FE Conversion RateWhat It Changes How many Joules one FE is worth. | general | 2.5 J per FE | Power Generation |
| Blacklist Forge EnergyWhat It Changes When on, Mekanism stops taking FE from other mods. | general | Off | — |
| Max Upgrade MultiplierWhat It Changes How much faster 8 Speed Upgrades make a machine. | general | 10 | Machine Upgrades |
| Allow ChunkloadingWhat It Changes Lets the Anchor Upgrade and Dimensional Stabilizer keep chunks loaded. | general | On | Dimensional Stabilizer |
| Alloy Transmitter UpgradingWhat It Changes Lets you upgrade placed cables and pipes by right-clicking with an alloy. | general | On | Universal Cable |
| Radiation EnabledWhat It Changes Turns radiation off completely when disabled. | general | On | Radiation |
| Radiation Source Decay RateWhat It Changes How quickly a radiation source fades. At the default it halves about every 23 minutes. | general | 0.9995 | Radiation |
| Allow ProtectionWhat It Changes Lets players set machines to Private or Trusted. | general | On | Security Desk |
| Digital Miner Max RadiusWhat It Changes The largest radius a miner can be set to. | general | 32 blocks | Digital Miner |
| Silk Touch Energy MultiplierWhat It Changes How much more power the miner uses with Silk Touch on. | general | 12 | Digital Miner |
| Drain Infinite FluidsWhat It Changes When off, a pump leaves Water sources in place, so one source never runs out. | general | Off | Electric Pump |
| Fluid and Chemical Auto-Eject RateWhat It Changes How fast a machine pushes fluids and chemicals out of a side. | general | 1,024 mB/t | Configurator |
| Randomized Chemical UsageWhat It Changes Makes the chemical ore machines use a little less than their listed amount on average. | machine-usage | On | Ore Processing |
| Machine energy usageWhat It Changes One setting for each machine. | machine-usage | 20 FE/t for basic machines | Power Generation |
| Vein MiningWhat It Changes Adds the Vein mode to the Atomic Disassembler. | gear | Off | Atomic Disassembler |
| Jetpack CapacityWhat It Changes How much Hydrogen a Jetpack holds. | gear | 24,000 mB | Jetpack |
| MekaSuit Max EnergyWhat It Changes The energy one piece holds before any Energy Units. | gear | 6.4 million FE | MekaSuit |
| Ore veinsWhat It Changes Each ore has a switch, a count per chunk, a vein size and a height range. | world | All on | Ores and Metals |
| RetrogenWhat It Changes Adds Mekanism ores to chunks that were made before the mod was installed. | world | Off | Ores and Metals |
| Heat Generator generationWhat It Changes Heat made while burning. About 45 FE/t of it ends up as power. | generators | 200 heat | Heat Generator |
| Bio-Generator generationWhat It Changes What a Bio-Generator makes while it has fuel. | generators | 140 FE/t | Bio-Generator |
| Wind Generator min and maxWhat It Changes The output at the lowest and highest heights. | generators | 24 and 192 FE/t | Wind Generator |
| Solar generationWhat It Changes Midday output of the Solar and Advanced Solar Generator. | generators | 20 and 120 FE/t | Solar Generator |
| Burn Rate Per Fuel AssemblyWhat It Changes The most fuel a Fission Reactor burns for each assembly. | generators | 1 mB/t | Fission Reactor |
| Meltdowns EnabledWhat It Changes When off, a damaged reactor will never explode. | generators | On | Fission Reactor |
| Meltdown Explosion RadiusWhat It Changes The size of each blast in a meltdown. | generators | 8 blocks | Fission Reactor |
| Steam Energy DensityWhat It Changes The most power a turbine gets from Steam. | general | 4 FE per mB | Industrial Turbine |
No settings match those filters.
Defaults for Mekanism and Mekanism Generators on Minecraft 1.21.1. Energy is shown here in FE, although the files store it in Joules (1 FE = 2.5 J).
Changing a server setting affects every machine straight away, so there’s no need to break and replace anything. The armor values in the startup file are the exception, as those are only read when the game is launched, so a change there won’t show up until you’ve restarted.
Switching Between FE and Joules
The quickest way to change the energy unit is to click the energy tab on the side of any machine’s screen, which will cycle through the units that are available. The same setting is called 
Energy Unit in the common file, and Power Generation explains how the two units relate to each other.
Names That Changed Between Versions
Plenty of players are still on 1.20.1 packs, and a few things there have different names or recipes from the ones on this wiki. Gases, infusion types, pigments and slurries were all separate back then, and now they’re one thing called a chemical, though the machines and tanks kept their old names.
| What | On 1.20.1 | On 1.21.1 |
|---|---|---|
| The fuel for the Gas-Burning Generator | Ethylene | Ethene |
| The upgrade that saves chemicals | Gas Upgrade | Chemical Upgrade |
| Storage blocks | Osmium Block, Steel Block | Block of Osmium, Block of Steel |
| Infused Alloy | Iron Ingot and Redstone | Copper Ingot and Redstone |
| Configurator | Needs charging, made with an Energy Tablet | No power, made with Iron, Osmium and Steel |
| Muffling Upgrade | Up to 4 in a machine, made with Steel Dust | 1 in a machine, made with Wool |
| QIO Drive and QIO blocks | Need Polonium Pellets | Need Ender Pearls |
| Teleportation Core | 4 Lapis Lazuli in the corners | 4 Ender Pearls in the corners |
| Obsidian Dust | Enrichment Chamber | Crusher |
| MekaSuit Jetpack Unit | 48,000 mB of Hydrogen | 24,000 mB of Hydrogen |
Ore heights, the size of every tier and the ore processing ratios are the same on both versions, so those pages apply either way. The biggest difference early on is 
Infused Alloy, as an older guide that tells you to infuse Iron is only right for 1.20.1.
Playing with Other Mods
Mekanism’s machines take FE on any side that accepts power, so another tech mod’s cables will run them without a converter, and Universal Cables will power other mods’ machines just as well. Wrenches from other mods work on Mekanism’s machines too, the same way the Configurator does, as long as that mod has tagged them as a wrench.
| Mod | What you get |
|---|---|
| JEI and EMI | Every machine recipe, with the chemicals and the power each one needs |
| Jade, The One Probe and WTHIT | Energy, fluid and chemical levels when you look at a block |
| Curios | Gear worn in a curio slot, like a Jetpack, is recognized and drawn on your character |
| CC: Tweaked | Machines and multiblocks can be read and controlled from a computer |
| CraftTweaker | Recipes for every machine can be added or removed by a pack |
| ProjectE | EMC values are worked out through the machine recipes |
| FramedBlocks | Structural Glass can be used as a camouflage block |
It ships with extra recipes for a few mods too, which only load when that mod is installed. Applied Energistics 2 gets 
Crusher and 
Enrichment Chamber recipes for Certus Quartz, and Biomes O’ Plenty and Oh The Biomes We’ve Gone get 
Precision Sawmill recipes for all of their wood.
Add-ons
Mekanism’s add-ons are separate downloads. Mekanism Generators adds every generator, the turbine and both reactors, so most of the power pages on this wiki need it, and Mekanism Tools adds armor and tools made from the mod’s metals. Mekanism: More Machine isn’t part of either of those, as it’s a separate mod, so its machines aren’t covered here.
If something in your pack doesn’t match a page, the config screen is the first place to look, as pack makers often change power use and ore heights. For the mod as it comes, Getting Started is the page to go to next, which walks through everything in the order you’ll build it.
FAQ
Click the energy tab on the side of a machine’s screen, and the display will switch to the next unit each time. You’re also able to set Energy Unit in the common config file, which changes it on every screen at once, and 1 FE is always worth 2.5 J either way.
Radiation has its own switch in the general config, under the radiation section, and turning it off removes radiation from the game entirely. Reactor meltdowns are a separate setting in the generators config, so you’re able to keep radiation and still stop reactors from exploding.
The files are in a folder named Mekanism inside the config folder of your game or server, with one file for each part of the mod. The mod’s entry in the Mods menu also has a config screen, which is easier than editing them by hand.
It isn’t in Mekanism or in Mekanism Generators, as it’s a separate mod that has to be installed by itself. Its machines won’t be in your game unless your pack includes it, so if a machine isn’t on this wiki’s list of blocks, it’s most likely from an add-on like that one.
AE2’s Pattern Provider is able to push a recipe’s ingredients straight into a Mekanism machine, as long as the side it’s touching is set to take items in the machine’s Side Configuration. To get the result back to the network, turn on auto-eject on the output side and point it at an ME Interface. AE2 can’t store chemicals on its own, so you’ll need the Applied Mekanistics add-on for those.
