Tutorial: Fast Dropper Item Distribution for Minecraft Java 1.19

This is a deeper dive into how to make a dropper item distribution system from the basic parts that make it work, but also how it can be changed to suit diffirent builds, how to check it works, and what to do for some of the challenges that may come up when working with dropper item distribution.

[@onepump930]

Definitely makes more sense thanks for the video I can definitely see my self using this system rather then traditional minecart distribution

[@anitacrumbly]

this is really cool! and a great video explaining the system and how to build it even what problems can arise! you got yourself a sub :)

[@mohrigami8332]

Came here from mysticat...

[@Junho69]

same lol

[@Katerine459]

Thank you for the system! I have a beginner-level question (I don't understand redstone all that well): if I just wanted to evenly distribute between 2 barrels using this system, do I just replace the barrel at 2:22 with a composter filled to 2? Also, I'm planning to use this for gold ingots at a gold farm, which I expect to trickle in (rather than go in a whole stack at a time). Does this work with that (either exactly or approximately)? The ultimate goal would be to have half the ingots from the farm go to an automatic piglin trader, and the other half to go to storage.

[@elhedran]

Short answer, this is not the system you need. Mainly because of the trickle in part, you need a system with some sort of memory. I don't (currently) have any designs that for your needs. It certainly should be possible though.

[@elhedran]

Two questions. Is it ok if it only runs at 1.5 hopper speed (or slower if items come in slower) and is it ok if it keeps a buffer of 40 items in the first dropper. If the answer to both is "yes" I may have something that would work for you - assuming you haven't found something already on another channel. I remembered that I had something I only built in my test world that is a variation on this design: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rqCxgpltjKh3edEsi=r8IIk86_r7QwVv70

[@elhedran]

On second thought, lets keep this simple. 2 barrels distribution just is hoppers under a double chest. Even (trickle items in) is the same thing, but locking the hoppers until there is detectably more than two items in the chest. elhedran-minecraft-public.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/simple_two_way_split.png It is possible to do with less of a buffer (variation on one of a dropper based smelter distribution) but honestly given the difference in complexity and given its connected to a farm, I'd go with the simpler design in the screenshot.

[@Katerine459]

@@elhedran Thank you so much!

[@-cypra]

How do the observers power the droppers if there’s an air gap between them?

[@elhedran]

Quasi connectivity. minecraft.wiki/w/Tutorials/Quasi-connectivity The air gap is important to avoid powering the wrong droppers, in this scenario.

[@kvassvideostash2162]

that's pretty useful design. I assume it can't be scaled bc of redstone signal power levels? Or needs some kind of addon to be scaled

[@elhedran]

You assume correctly. I have tried to think of how to do an add on to extend it but haven't come up with anything yet. So for now at least as far as I can work out, it's limited by redstone signal strength.

[@NightHawk-wj9mz]

Hmm i wonder how useful this would be with the new crafter block

[@elhedran]

Mysticat has a video using a dropper distribution with the crafter. CraftyMasterman has a counter using the crafter that I *think* could be used to improve a dropper distribution.

[@NightHawk-wj9mz]

@@elhedran I'll have to check those out!

[@AntOfThy]

This is certainally a lot better than the hopper chain item distribution system.. But what about feeding items into that first dropper? That is what if a stack was in a hopper feeding that first dropper... does it still work? Do you need an initial delay to let enough items to get pushed into that first dropper so it has enough for the distribution?

[@elhedran]

A single hopper will feed in at half the speed the dropper pulls items out - so yes, need to do something. There are two choices I'm aware of. The first is if the item supply is abundant (say, a farm producing items at more than double hopper speed) you can just feed two hoppers into the first dropper to fill it as fast as it pulls items. This also works with a trapped chest over two hopper lines both feeding into the first dropper. The second option is to use a compost and comparitor to subtract 1 from the bottom comparitor reading the first dropper so it doesn't read as full until there are enough items in it for a cycle (or you can do both options if items are coming in at say, one and a half hopper speed). If you don't mind that first dropper having a minimum fill level, e.g. items can stay in it at the end of the run so long as they are pulled in the next run, I'd probably use the subtract 1 method as its a little more lenient to possible item supply rates. May I ask what led you to this video? While I've made use of this design in a potion factory, I've been hard pressed to think of where else it might be useful over hopper chain item distribution.

[@AntOfThy]

@@elhedran Saw it while exploring storage tech. I was thinking however this would be good for furnace arrays where you want to distribute items fairly equally. As for a solution. I would probably just delay the start signal from the moment the first item arrives. Also somehow immediately stop the signal when no items are left. Not certain how to do that as yet though.

[@elhedran]

For smelters the biggest issue for dropper distribution is the 15 length limit, so I still use hoppers: kzbin.info/www/bejne/npmknayYiLKEfJo I'll have to think about item distribution as it relates to storage though...

[@AntOfThy]

Try a different equal item distribution system... kzbin.info/www/bejne/hX3QhYmFiblsm5o

[@elhedran]

Interesting approach with powered rails. That said, it's still hopper speed and the approach in my hopper based design is also hopper speed, perfect distribution, but simpler to build. I am still going to build the powered rail approach though, some tricks in it used that I hadn't seen before

[@CrimzonLizard]

So I built your design and can't seem to get the droppers to distribute evenly across the barrels. Do you know what went wrong?

[@elhedran]

To have a guess I need more details. I would have to assume that there is some difference between what is in the video and what was built and isn't working. As the video indicates, it is sensitive to block update order, so even could be some redstone or similar operating too close to the timing redstone. This would show up as the observers flashing slower than they should. At a minimum I'd need to know how many containers are being distributed over and what happens in practice for items distributed by the troubled build.

[@CrimzonLizard]

@@elhedran I built it exactly as you did, right down to the compass direction. I did it on a server and figured out the problem. The redstone tick for the server is cranked so the redstone moves too fast. The issue I was having was that the droppers would place all the items in the one barrel at the end of the dropper line and not down into the individual barrels beneath. The redstone was too fast and wasn't letting the droppers deposit below before the next tick. So in order to make it work I would need to create a separate redstone clock to delay the redstone long enough for the items to be passed down. Thank you for replying to my comment. I really appreciate you taking the time to do that. I look forward to watching more of your videos for redstone tutorials and machines. Your videos are really well done, your explanations have actually helped me better understand how redstone works. Thanks :)

[@Mordihamagniv]

@@CrimzonLizard i have the same problem. let me know if you found a solution