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MC-SurvivalWiki-Tips/tips/2026-07-17-037-crafting-ux-missing-item-highlight-in-recipe.md
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37 2026-07-17 crafting-ux pending

Tip #37 — Missing-item highlight in recipe

Date: 2026-07-17
Category: crafting-ux
Source: MC-Survival Wiki Daily Tip (cron @ 18:00 MESZ)

Missing-item highlight in recipe

This feature marks the specific ingredient slots a player does not yet have, so they can see at a glance which of the nine ingredients is missing. It solves the 'I am one item away from crafting this' problem, where a player stares at a full grid and cannot figure out what is blocking them. Player behavior shows this clearly: most recipe pages are scrolled to and back from, suggesting players cross-reference the recipe with their own inventory in their head. Starting with a simple per-item 'I have it' toggle (no full inventory sync) is enough to deliver most of the value with a fraction of the complexity.

Implementation tips

  1. Mark missing ingredients with a red border + small 'x' icon overlay.
  2. Requires an inventory integration — start with a manual 'I have: ___' toggle per item, persistence in localStorage.
  3. Don't require a full inventory system for v1 — even a checklist is high-value.