Logistics

Logistics is the wiring of automation — pipes that move items, power lines that move energy, filters that route specific items, and sorters that organize the flow.

If you've built a sorter system in vanilla with hoppers and droppers, logistics is that, but without the contraption.

What logistics provides

• Item pipes — move items from chest A to chest B (or from a machine output to a storage chest)
• Power lines — move energy from generator to machine
• Item filters — restrict what can travel through a pipe (only iron, only food, etc.)
• Sorters — multi-output filters that distribute items to different destinations
• Storage interfaces — connect a network of chests to the pipe system

Setting up a pipe

A basic item pipe needs:

1. Input — typically a chest with the items
2. Pipe segment — connects input to output
3. Output — typically a chest, machine input, or another network

Place pipe segments to draw the route from input to output. Items flow automatically once placed.

The pipe system reads chest inventories and machine inputs/outputs natively — no need for hoppers or droppers as transitions.

Filters

Add a filter to a pipe segment to restrict what passes through. Common patterns:

• "Iron only" — only iron-related items pass; everything else stays at the source
• "Food only" — only food items
• "Everything except [blacklist]" — passes anything not on the blacklist

Filters make sorting trivially easy. A factory output chest can have multiple pipes leading out, each filtered for one category — and items auto-route to the right destination.

Sorters

A sorter is a multi-port filter — one input, multiple outputs, each with its own filter. Drop items in the input; the sorter routes each item to the matching output.

A common base setup uses sorters to:

• Send ores to the pulverizer/smelter chain
• Send food to the food storage chest
• Send building blocks to the build supply chest
• Send rare loot to the trophy chest

Power lines

Power flows similarly to items. Place a generator, place a machine, run a power line between them. Once connected, the machine draws power as it operates.

Power lines have a rate limit — a cheap line may not carry enough power for a hungry machine. Tier up to higher-rate lines for high-throughput setups.

Network design patterns

"Star" topology

Central drop chest in the middle. Pipes radiate outward to category chests, machines, and storage. Drop loot in the center, it auto-distributes.

Best for: small to medium operations. Easy to debug.

"Chain" topology

Drop chest → smelter input → smelter output → cooled storage. Single line of processing.

Best for: dedicated processing pipelines. Iron-ore-only or coal-only.

"Hub and spoke"

A logistics hub with bidirectional pipes to multiple sub-networks. A central chest pulls from multiple sources and feeds multiple destinations.

Best for: large factories with multiple specialized zones.

Common patterns

Auto-stocking shop chest

Pipe from "main storage" (filtered for the item your shop sells) to your shop chest. As the shop sells, items auto-restock from main storage. No daily restock walk needed.

Auto-craft loop

Compressor (ingot → block) and Decompressor (block → ingot), connected via filtered pipes. Stock in either form is auto-converted to the other on demand.

Mining intake

A pipe from a "miners' drop chest" (where you dump after a mining trip) to a sorter, which distributes to:

• Pulverizer (for ores)
• Smelter (for ores after pulverize)
• Storage (for already-smelted/non-ore items)

You walk in, dump, walk out. The system processes for hours.

Limits

• Range — pipes have a max length per segment; long routes need multiple segments
• Throughput — high-volume routes may need parallel pipes for adequate flow
• Loaded chunks — pipes pause in unloaded chunks (vanilla rule, applies here too)
• Power-per-segment — power lines vary in capacity; high-draw machines need high-rate lines

Debugging

A pipe network not behaving:

1. Check connections — every segment must visually connect to the next
2. Check filters — a too-strict filter blocks all flow
3. Check direction — item pipes have input/output sides; misorientation stops flow
4. Check chunks loaded — a route through unloaded territory pauses
5. Check power — machines need power to draw items into themselves

Combining with linked chests

Logistics pipes and linked chests are two different sorting systems. They can coexist:

• Linked chests — chest-to-chest routing via the chest network
• Logistics pipes — item-to-machine routing via physical pipes

Some bases use both: linked chests for the bulk-storage organization, pipes for the machine integration.

See also

• Machines — what the pipes connect
• Hammers — feed the inputs
• Linked chests — alternate sorting system
• Filtering hoppers — vanilla hopper variant with built-in filters (a simpler entry into sorting)