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Minecart loader: fills a hopper minecart from a chest, sends it off when full or when the chest runs dry (an empty cart waits for items)
fills a hopper minecart from a chest, then sends it back · 44 blocks
An empty hopper minecart arrives, stops, and fills from the supply chest (16.87 items a second); it leaves on its own once it is full, or once the chest runs dry with items in the cart, back the way it came. An empty cart at an empty chest waits there until items come.
the cart leaves 0.85 s after it is full · fits in 9×4×6
Try it
The view shows the loader as built, without carts. In the game, fill its supply chest and send an empty hopper minecart down its line: it stops, fills, and leaves on its own once it is full or the chest runs dry with items in the cart. An empty cart at an empty chest waits until you add items.
How this design does it: The cart stops under the supply chest and pulls one item every tick: 20 items a second, a full cart in 16 seconds.
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 supply and fill it with the items to load: it is not in the download or its block count.
Blocks used: comparator detector rail glass oak trapdoor powered rail rail redstone block redstone wire repeater stone
Part of a whole line: Minecart line: moves a double chest 128 blocks in 21 min · ~65 iron + 24 gold · the cart waits when there's nothing to carry.
Details: how it works, measurements and properties
In depth
A hopper minecart holds 320 items (5 stacks) and pulls one item a tick, 20 items a second, from a chest right above its rail: stopped under the supply chest, it fills in 16 seconds. The station sends it off when it is full, or when the chest has run dry and it holds something; an empty cart at an empty chest stays, so an idle farm's cart does not shuttle back and forth.
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 |
| load rate | 16.87 items/s | items a second moved from the supply chest into the cart while the cart stands in the station |
| departure delay | 0.85 s | game ticks from the cart being full, or the supply running dry, to its first move |
Notes from its designer
The cart stops under the supply chest and pulls one item every tick: 20 items a second, a full cart in 16 seconds. It leaves when it is full, or when the chest has run empty and it holds something; an empty cart at an empty chest waits there until items come, so an idle farm's cart does not shuttle. One comparator reads the cart's fill through the detector rail; its side input is the chest's own comparator lifted to full strength by a repeater, so it passes the fill only when the cart is full or the chest is empty, and then the slope under the cart turns on. Pair it with ul-gate and 128 blocks of track: a double chest delivered in 21 minutes.
Properties
| Study | Minecart stations |
|---|---|
| Kind | Minecart loader: fills a hopper minecart from a chest, sends it off when full or when the chest runs dry (an empty cart waits for items) |
| Blocks placed | 44 |
| Box | 9×4×6 (216 blocks of space) |
| Made of (the blocks that change state) | comparator, detector rail, glass, oak trapdoor, powered rail, rail, redstone block, redstone wire, repeater, stone |
| Design file | ld-chest |
The design file
Design file (51 lines)
# Minecart loader: fills a hopper minecart from a chest, then sends it back · 44 blocks # https://vjeux.github.io/redstonepedia/circuits/rail/ld-chest.html name: ld-chest circuit: cart-loader port line.in: -6 0 0 port items: 0 2 0 origin: -6 0 -3 palette: S minecraft:stone B minecraft:powered_rail[powered=true,shape=east_west,waterlogged=false] L minecraft:rail[shape=east_west,waterlogged=false] P minecraft:powered_rail[powered=false,shape=ascending_east,waterlogged=false] g minecraft:glass D minecraft:detector_rail[powered=false,shape=ascending_east,waterlogged=false] C minecraft:comparator[facing=south,mode=compare,powered=false] K minecraft:comparator[facing=north,mode=compare,powered=false] Q minecraft:repeater[delay=1,facing=east,locked=false,powered=false] V minecraft:repeater[delay=1,facing=west,locked=false,powered=false] R minecraft:repeater[delay=1,facing=north,locked=false,powered=false] Y minecraft:repeater[delay=1,facing=south,locked=false,powered=false] W minecraft:redstone_wire[east=none,north=none,power=0,south=none,west=none] Z minecraft:redstone_block T minecraft:oak_trapdoor[facing=west,half=bottom,open=true,powered=false,waterlogged=false] layer -1: ......S... ......S... ......S... .SSZSSS... .......... .......... layer 0: ......WS.. ......WS.. ......RSSS .BBBBLPg.S .......... .......... layer 1: .......W.. .......Y.. .......CQW .......DSW ......S.S. .......SS. layer 2: .......... .......... .......... .......TW. ......K.W. ......SVW.