Well, In my mod I'm planning I will be adding X-ray functionality, however it will not be free, it will cost the energy that will be coming in my mod.

 

My question is, do people class this as cheating still? Or would you think that this is ok?

 

I agree that X-ray mods are shockingly bad cheating wise, especially the smp aspect

It will also only be in a limited area, maybe like 5x5x10 or something

Hmm in that case I don't really think it is cheating. As long as it is not free and overpowered and doesn"t ruin the game, it should be fine.

in short it will be hard to let them Xray see and limit it. Try instead of making dot appear on the screen keying out possible ore locations and types. Give a 30% chance that the results are real too prevent it being overpowered.

Well, I was thinking, divining rid style, but shows ores instead of just tells the values

Like a compass or metal detector? Doesn't sound like an Xray mod but would be easier and less overpowered. If your still think of showing ores like Xray style the best thing you can do is give a visual mark on the screen. Inorder to actual show the ores you would end up showing them all since Xray simple gets Ores to render at all times and the ground to be see threw. Very simple cheat tbh.

im not going into the technique that im gonna use to do it, but i do have one