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Minecart unloader: empties a hopper minecart into a chest, then sends the cart back
empties a hopper minecart into a chest, then sends it back · 22 blocks
A hopper minecart full of items arrives, stops, and empties every item into the chest (2.48 items a second); once it is empty it leaves on its own, back the way it came.
9 blocks smaller, half the speed · the cart leaves 0.75 s after it is empty · fits in 5×3×3
Try it
The view shows the unloader as built, without carts. In the game, send a hopper minecart full of items down its line: it stops, empties into the chest, and leaves on its own once it is empty.
How this design does it: A hopper-minecart unloader at the end of a line: the line comes in one block up and the cart rolls down a detector-rail slope onto a powered rail over a hopper, stopping against the end block; the hopper empties it into the chest.
Build it
Download .litematic Download the design as text
The .litematic opens in Litematica (Minecraft 26.3): every block of the design in one region. The text file is the same build written as plain text, block by block.
After building it, put a chest where the view shows its output (the items it unloads): it is not in the download or its block count.
Blocks used: comparator detector rail hopper powered rail rail redstone torch redstone wire repeater stone
Faster, 4.79 items a second against this one's 2.48, for 9 blocks more: Minecart unloader: empties a hopper minecart into a chest, then sends it back · 31 blocks.
Details: how it works, measurements and properties
In depth
A hopper minecart holds 320 items (5 stacks). A hopper under the cart pulls one item every 8 game ticks, 2.5 items a second, so an unloader is as fast as the hoppers that reach the cart: one under the cart empties a full one in about 2 minutes; two, by holding the cart where it straddles two blocks, in about 1. The station sends the cart back only once its hoppers find nothing more in it.
How to try it
The view shows the station as built, with its chest and no cart: the browser's simulator does not run hopper minecarts here. Drag to look around, pinch or scroll to zoom. Its numbers are in the measurements below.
Measurements
| metric | value | what it means |
|---|---|---|
| line | terminus | terminus: the cart leaves back the way it came; through line: it goes on |
| unload rate | 2.48 items/s | items a second moved from the cart into the chest while the cart stands in the station |
| departure delay | 0.75 s | game ticks from the cart being empty to its first move |
Notes from its designer
A hopper-minecart unloader at the end of a line: the line comes in one block up and the cart rolls down a detector-rail slope onto a powered rail over a hopper, stopping against the end block; the hopper empties it into the chest. The powered rail switches on only when the hopper is empty and the detector has been quiet for a moment, so a loaded cart waits until its last item has gone and is then pushed back up the line; an empty cart is sent back at once. Gravity on the slope brings even a crawling cart in quickly, so no booster is needed.
Properties
| Study | Minecart stations |
|---|---|
| Kind | Minecart unloader: empties a hopper minecart into a chest, then sends the cart back |
| Blocks placed | 22 |
| Box | 5×3×3 (45 blocks of space) |
| Made of (the blocks that change state) | comparator, detector rail, hopper, powered rail, rail, redstone torch, redstone wire, repeater, stone |
| Inputs / outputs | no input / OUT |
| Flags | size |
| Design file | cart-unloader-t3 |
The design file
Design file (29 lines)
# Minecart unloader: empties a hopper minecart into a chest, then sends it back · 22 blocks # https://vjeux.github.io/redstonepedia/circuits/rail/cart-unloader-t3.html name: cart-unloader-t3 circuit: cart-unloader port line.in: -3 3 0 port output: 0 0 0 origin: -3 0 0 palette: S minecraft:stone D minecraft:detector_rail[powered=false,shape=ascending_west,waterlogged=false] L minecraft:rail[shape=east_west,waterlogged=false] E minecraft:powered_rail[powered=false,shape=east_west,waterlogged=false] H minecraft:hopper[enabled=true,facing=down] C minecraft:comparator[facing=north,mode=compare,powered=false] T minecraft:redstone_torch[lit=true] R minecraft:repeater[delay=1,facing=south,locked=false,powered=false] W minecraft:redstone_wire[east=none,north=none,power=0,south=none,west=none] layer 0: ..... .S.S. .SS.. layer 1: .SSH. .W.CS .WWSS layer 2: SDLES ....R ...TW