Automation

Illustrations and screenshots may show Japanese labels. The text below explains the same features in English.

On this server, fully automatic machines are prohibited and semi-automatic machines are allowed within limits.

The key test

Ask whether the machine keeps producing items or money without player input. If it does, it is prohibited. A machine that requires you to operate it each time can be used as long as it does not disrupt the economy. The mechanism, such as a timer or flowing water, does not determine whether it is allowed.

A machine that only moves or sorts existing items, without producing more, is not prohibited by this rule even if it stays running.

Automation comparison: unattended production of items or money is prohibited; machines requiring input each time may be allowed. Simple transport and sorting that do not produce items can stay running. Ask an administrator before building if unsure

Why are fully automatic machines prohibited?

An unattended fully automatic machine keeps creating items or money even while nobody is actively playing.

This creates too large a gap between its owner and players who mine or work at jobs themselves, upsetting the server’s economy and game balance.

For that reason, this server allows only machines that produce items when a player operates them, known as semi-automatic machines.

What counts as fully automatic?

A machine is fully automatic if it keeps running and producing items or money without player input, for example through a redstone circuit or timer.

Even if it has an off switch, it is still fully automatic and prohibited if it keeps producing things when left alone.

Prohibited examples: fully automatic

Sugar cane, bamboo, or pumpkin farms that keep harvesting on a timer without player input
Mob farms that keep killing naturally spawned monsters without a player operating them
Clock circuits that continuously run pistons or dispensers and produce items while left unattended
Unattended livestock farms that automatically breed animals and collect items
Sorting and smelting lines connected to fully automatic farms or traps that keep processing their output while left unattended

Allowed examples: semi-automatic

Piston harvesters that harvest only when the player presses a button
Devices that wash crops or items toward you only when you release water with a lever
Mob farms where the player personally kills each monster, with neither automatic killing nor automatic item collection
Simple sorting or transport systems that move existing items to a nearby chest through a small number of hoppers, without creating more items. Because they only transport items, they may remain connected.

Which world should you build in?

Choose the world according to the machine’s purpose.

The Building World is primarily for building. Machines that are not fully automatic may be included as part of a build.

Resource-gathering machines, such as mob farms, should generally be built in a resource world because gathering resources in the Building World is prohibited.

The ban on fully automatic machines also applies in resource worlds.

Common questions

Is a machine allowed if it has no timer?

The presence of a timer is not the only test. A device that uses only flowing water but keeps harvesting crops or collecting items may still count as fully automatic.

What kind of machine disrupts the economy?

Examples include mechanisms that automatically duplicate or mass-produce items.

A machine judged to seriously harm economic balance is prohibited whether or not it is fully automatic.

I do not know whether my machine counts as fully automatic

Ask an administrator before building if you are unsure.

Checking first is safer than being asked to dismantle it afterward.

The full rules are on the server rules page.

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