Cables and pipes

A transport is a cable, pipe or tube: a block that joins its neighbors of the same kind into a network, and moves resources between the machines it touches.

• A network takes from the machines' output ports and fills their input ports.
• Each transport type carries one kind of resource (energy, fluids, items…) at a rate per tick.
• Networks are rebuilt from the loaded blocks; a transport keeps no data of its own.
• Networks never load chunks and never catch up while unloaded.

Transport types are registered by addons, in Java (Mekanized's universal cables, mechanical pipes…). MachineEngine itself registers none, and they cannot be defined in YAML. What you configure is the block.

The transport block

blocks:
  mypack:copper_cable:
    template: machineengine:block/transport # the transport of the same id, drops itself
    behavior:
      rate: 8000
      connection_items: mypack:cable_part/copper

Or without the template:

behavior:
  type: machineengine:transport
  transport: mypack:copper_cable

Key	Default	Meaning
transport	—	Required. The transport type (from an addon).
rate	the type's	Per tick, replacing the transport type's: tiers of one type.
connection_items	none	Draws the cable with items, below.

Drawing the cable

With connection_items: <prefix>, the block shows a center piece and an arm toward each connected side, as display entities. The block itself keeps one state, however the cable connects. Four items:

Item	Shown
<prefix>/center	Always.
<prefix>/arm	Toward each connected side. Its model points north; MachineEngine turns it.
<prefix>/arm_pull	Toward a side in pull mode.
<prefix>/arm_push	Toward a side in push mode.

Generators, energy cubes and a machine joined by cables: each cable draws an arm toward what it connects to.

A side is connected when the neighbor is a transport of the same network, or a machine port that carries what the transport does. A prefix without arm items may instead name one item per side, <prefix>/<direction> (with _pull and _push variants).

Side modes

Each side of a transport has a mode:

Mode	Toward a machine	Toward a container (chest…)
default	Takes from its outputs, fills its inputs	Only fills it
pull	Only takes from it	Takes from it
push	Only fills it	Fills it
none	Not connected	Not connected

Modes are changed with an addon's tool (Mekanized's configurator cycles them). MachineEngine's own machineengine:wrench rotates and dismantles machines; it does not change side modes.

Checking a network

• /machineengine network while looking at a cable: its network, members and rate.
• /machineengine debug: dots in each network's color, with sparks while it moves resources.