ChunkShift.com

Building a multi-item sorter in Minecraft

What do the spawn chunks and the interconnected mycelium network of forest soil have in common?

They’re two important concepts in how I designed a multi-item sorter in my Minecraft world.

I’m posting once a month; hit the subscribe button below to stay up to date!

Finding the why

I’ve played around with a couple of ridiculous ideas on the path to finding my own auto-sorter design. I’m the kind of person that learns by doing. I can read about how things work or even watch a video, but I need to put the pieces together myself.

I need to make something that doesn’t work or works poorly to understand why it’s done a different way. There are groups of very smart people working together to produce very thought out storage solutions with very little downside. This post isn’t any of that.

ImpulseSV item filters stacked double high in two wings that meet at 90 degrees. A brick and glass drop shaft sits in the middle of the image where the two wings of filters meet. Wool is used to color code the filters.
A large storage system I built a few worlds back using the ImpulseSV item filter.

In the past the ImpulseSV filter has been my approach to storage systems. This item filter is easy to understand and it’s shape can be modified for single filters in other contraptions.

The limitation is that it becomes quite large as you try to sort more and more items. 1 tile filters 1 item, for dirt, this is a reasonable space allocation. For the more than 20 different flower types it is not. 

A lot of space, hoppers and other redstone components are needed.  Updating the system as your stockpile grows; while fun, has been time consuming in other worlds. In my last world I tried something much more simple.

The Simple Approach

Up until now, I’ve been using a design from my previous world. A design that relies on manual organizing into categories and staggered double chests and barrels. Organizing things manually into categories by using 4 different inputs.

By dumping my inventory into the appropriate category and removeing items that have gathered in bulk, I’ve stayed organized. The staggered barrels and chests filter stacks of similar items fairly well. The bottom chest doesn’t fill with partial stacks too badly; keeping the system from clogging up.

A 3 block wide storage system consisting of a double chest next to a barrel on the top level and a chest next to a double chest on the bottom level. Both levels are connected by 3 hoppers pointing straight down. The system is framed by basalt, magma blocks and deepslate bricks.

By placing this system in my nether hub I’m able to jump through a portal and grab items or deposit junk into storage and return to building with minimal travel time. With the new system, however, I’m going to move to the overworld and I’m getting more complicated.

Prototyping in creative mode

I started playing with ideas in creative move; trying to understand what concepts work and which do not. My first prototype used hoppers as a storage container. This gave me 4 items more item sorter, an original idea and something that was a little absurd. I nearly went with this design but I couldn’t get it to fit a chunk while providing enough storage.

Multiple contraptions can be see around a creative mode flat world. At the centre of the image is a line of droppers that first moves right to left; upwards; then back towards the right. at the bottom of the horizontal droppers are hoppers. The system is trimmed with brick and barrels sit behind the droppers for extra storage.

Next was an entirely vertical system. The vertical space that exists in the techno-cave would have allowed for it an it could have been built within the spawn chunks. This design was extremely simple and inexpensive; requiring 1 hopper, 1 jack o’lantern, 1 torch, 1 comparator, 1 repeater and 1 dust per chest.

An input chest sits on top of a dropper. The dropper feeds a stack of hoppers; each with a comparator taking a signal into a block with a redstone torch. The redstone torch lights up redstone dust that uses a repeater to pass a signal through a jack o'lantern to lock each hopper. The design requires these systems extend in 3 different directions.

This makes it very early game friendly and If you only built a single stack of 5 chests you could auto sort 270 items. The jack o’lantern is to reduce lighting updates and lag. They could be left out and you have a easy to build multi-item sorter you could build in your world.

Lava falls from the ceiling and cascades over a hill of skulk. The cavern of the techno-cave fully in view. Torches dot the floors of the cavern and some redstone contraptions can be seen on the cavern floor.

A hopper faces a chest that has at least 1 of every block you want sorted into that chest. Some named or extra items (I use arrows from my skeleton xp farm) can be used to hold space for future items. The hopper below it (also facing a chest) is locked; as an item enters the first hopper a signal is sent to unlock the second hopper.

If the item in the hopper matches an item in the chest it enters and it’s journey is over. If the item in the first hopper is still there it moves down to the second hopper when it is unlocked. The item descends until it finds a home or enters an overflow chest.

It wasn’t a vibe.

Despite the philosophical alignment between this item sorter and this play-through; something didn’t work. Yes it was technically simple, but the builds to hold it were all becoming huge. As I added enough chests to the single vertical stack to store enough items far into the future the build became large.

Two art-deco towers rise towards the sky. One more complete the other with scaffolding framing its upper shapes. Largely built of tuff with copper framing bamboo windows.

I started playing with something else and my next design was more complex with more expensive redstone. Using observers and copper lamps in place of simple dust and torches so that it could be more compact.

A stack of hoppers feed a stack of chests. A comparator reads the hopper for contents, alternating 1 back and 1 to the side (obscured). Two observers relay the state change back to a piece of dust that turns a copper lamp on and off. A comparator takes the signal passes it through a repeater and into a solid block to lock and unlock the next hopper in the chain.

With a dropper at the bottom of each stack of chests and a bubble column I was able to build a single story, 1 chunk multi item sorter. This new design could store 4,320 items and technically fit into a chunk; if you don’t care about the exposed sides.

A rectangular storage building with tuff columns gives off an early 1900's bank vibe. Redstone components are exposed on the side of the structure.

And that was a problem for me, I couldn’t get over the exposed sides. While I have allowed parts of builds (the castle drawbridge) to extend beyond the chunk boundary previously; I didn’t want a main structure to do so on each side.

New ideas flower

If I couldn’t fit my storage into a single chunk; the next thought was to fit it into the environment. I started experimenting with storage silos, thinking some custom trees could easily provide a home for my storage.

The concept for a storage biome was emerging. After a tree design I wasn’t happy with I tried a mushroom instead. I wanted to bring mushroom houses into this world, having experimented with them in my last world.

Additionally the idea of mycelium storing information and sharing resources in real life gave the idea further momentum. Having the mycelium store items in the flowering mushrooms like a computer was an attractive lore addition. So I decided to go ahead with the idea of a mushroom dominated biome for my storage.

Large custom mushrooms rise from a shoreline of pale moss and mycelium. Caps alternate between purple with darker spots and a traditional red with white spots. A river cuts down from the mountain side and through the area. Soul lanterns are suspended from the mushroom caps by chains.

After more work than would have gone into the skyscraper design I abandoned; I have a storage that fits my world both aesthetically and philosophically. It’s a treat to walk around when sorting items from adventuring or building. The final concept adds to the lore of my world without creating a huge amount of ongoing work or maintenance as new items are added to storage.

You look over the players head; a medium mushroom houses an input chest surrounded by multiple large storage mushrooms. A path leads to each made of brown blocks contrasted against the purple/grey/green biome.

A double chest hidden in the stem of a smaller mushroom is the input. A second input in the water is used to drain a chest boat with hoppers. Items flow around the system dropping through 10 different silos with 8 double chests. That’s 4,320 item slots; with most chests looking something like the one below.

A double chest is opened displaying its contents. First a column of diorite, next column diorite wall, 2 slabs, 2 stairs and 1 polished block. This is repeated in the next column and the pattern repeats for andesite and granite.

To avoid auto-sorting my tools, I use a trapped chest for the input, and had originally used trapped chests for the entire system. I thought this would allow me to sort items as the system was running; however, it locks the hopper and breaks the system.

For bulk storage I’m using the basement of the castle. As I don’t have any high output farms and haven’t taken on any huge digs that would generate resources; I don’t yet have a full bulk chest. But the option is there as time goes on and I do have some partial chests of dirt, stone and other common materials.

Chunk loaders and golems

I finished this build just in time for it to be out-dated. Many of you may have already started building your systems using the copper golem. It may turn out that a better solution for a 1 chunk auto sorting storage exists with the copper update.

Another change is the removal of the spawn chunks. I now need to install a chunk loader to prevent the system from breaking. With the spawn chunks as part of the game (and always loaded); I’ve been able to rely on a ender pearl status chamber to keep the system loaded while I’m in the Nether.

While over all I’m very happy it’s not perfect. I’ve had to install switch that locks my input before I log out. The system is slow and requires navigating the interior of the mushrooms from a cave below if fixes are required.

What do you think? Does the multi sorter or over-all design look like something you would bring into your world? Let me know in the comments and subscribe to stay up to date.

Build stats

Real Life Days: 253

Minecraft Days: 1124

Hours: 43

These stats are to date. There will be more work underground and maybe other updates over-time. This was my biggest project to date in this world and minecraft in general (counting projects I’ve actually finished).

Leave a comment