Minecarts load the chunks they travel through, so you can send items across long distances on a server where nobody is standing at the far end. Closed and looping tracks stop loading automatically.
The guarantee
On the default settings, a minecart cannot be used as a chunk loader. A journey is only allowed to continue while the cart is making progress away from where it set off, so a loop, a shuttle, or an unwatched furnace cart runs out of slack and gets released.
There is one way to turn this off: enforcement: PERMISSIVE, a single setting with a warning printed at every startup. Set it only if you trust everyone who plays on your server.
Full write-up and a five-minute test you can run yourself: see the wiki (https://github.com/Aplite36/ChunkCarts/wiki).
Commands
One permission, chunkcarts.admin, held by operators by default. /ccarts is an alias.
- /chunkcarts list: active journeys, and which chunks are held and why
- /chunkcarts reload: re-read config.yml without interrupting running journeys
- /chunkcarts debug: toggle per-poll logging
FAQ
- Needs installing on clients? No. Server side only.
- Works with TrainCarts / Create / other rail mods? Untested. It watches minecart entities and doesn't touch rail behaviour, so it should coexist.
- Works on Folia or Spigot? No to both, deliberately. Paper or a Paper fork only.
- Needs Fabric API? Yes on Fabric, hard dependency. No dependencies on NeoForge, Forge, or Paper.
- Adds items, blocks, or recipes, or alters cart speed? No.
Full FAQ on the wiki (https://github.com/Aplite36/ChunkCarts/wiki).
Configuration
config.yml documents every setting inline. Defaults are the recommended settings; the file can be left alone.
- enforcement: STRICT (default) or PERMISSIVE
- departure-requirement: PLAYER_SEEN (default), PLAYER_ONLINE, or NONE
- progress-slack-chunks: loop detector tolerance, default 16
- journey-cooldown: default 10m, waived if a player has touched the cart since
In STRICT mode, the abusable settings are clamped to sane ceilings rather than trusted. Full reference on the wiki (https://github.com/Aplite36/ChunkCarts/wiki).
Platform support
Paper and Paper forks, Fabric, NeoForge, and Forge. Fifteen game versions, 1.21 through 26.2 (1.21.2 excluded).
- Fabric requires Fabric API.
- Paper support is Paper only, not Spigot. It relies on Paper's asynchronous chunk loading, so it refuses to run on Spigot rather than degrade silently.
- NeoForge and Forge have no dependencies.
Licence
LGPL-3.0-or-later. Free to include in any modpack, public or private, free or paid, without asking. Modified public forks must use a different name and mod id. Full terms on the wiki (https://github.com/Aplite36/ChunkCarts/wiki).
Metrics
Reports anonymous stats to bStats (https://bstats.org): server software, game version, player count, and your enforcement/departure-requirement settings. No player data, world data, IPs, or coordinates. Set metrics: false to opt out.