Create Fan Processing Merge Fix

Preserves Create fan-processing progress when dropped items merge. A small server addon for setups where processing batches can mix with fresh drops or batches at a different stage.

The problem

An item pile being washed, smoked or otherwise processed by a Create fan can combine with another dropped pile. Its progress can disappear when the larger, fresh pile survives, or fresh items can inherit work already done on the surviving pile.

Expanded item-merging distances, such as those provided by Get It Together, Drops!, can make this easier to encounter. It can also occur within the ordinary merging distance.

Why it happens

Create stores this progress on the dropped entity. The normal item-merging check compares item stacks, without comparing that entity-local processing state.

Scope of the fix

• Keeps fresh and processing drops separate, along with batches that have different processing types or remaining times.
• Allows normal merging when both batches have the same supported processing state.
• Leaves unfamiliar or malformed processing state separate and preserves both original payloads.

Ordinary drops without active processing keep their normal merging behaviour. The addon does not change merge distances, processing durations, recipes, stack limits, movement or pickup timing. It adds no search radius, cell restriction, minimum age or server balance configuration.

Compatibility

• Minecraft 1.21.1
• NeoForge 21.1.235 or later within the 21.1 series
• Create 6.0.10, installed separately
• Java 21

Install on a dedicated server. Players do not need this addon on their clients. This release does not apply its patch in a client or singleplayer process.

Get It Together, Drops! is optional; its original NeoForge 1.4 release was checked. Lithium is also optional; actual item-entity Mixins from NeoForge 0.15.4 were checked, including the combination with Get It Together, Drops!. Other versions and merge replacements still need compatibility feedback.

From Steam & Steel

The fix originated while maintaining Steam & Steel SMP, our custom Minecraft 1.21.1 NeoForge server modpack. This standalone extraction contains only processing-state protection and does not require SteamSteelCore or our server's modified item-merging mod.

Acknowledgements

Create is by simibubi and the Create team. Get It Together, Drops! is by bl4ckscor3; Lithium is maintained by CaffeineMC. Install the original mods separately where applicable.

This is an independent community addon. Its code and artwork do not redistribute classes, models or textures from those mods.

Beta / Feedback

This is a beta release developed for a specific server modpack. The underlying protection has native runtime checks in our server's broader implementation. This newly extracted addon has local regression and Mixin-application checks; player gameplay with this standalone package is not yet verified.

If you encounter a crash, an error or unexpected behaviour, please leave a comment with your Minecraft, NeoForge, Create and addon versions, any item-merging mods, and steps to reproduce the problem. We will investigate reported bugs and work on fixes.

Checks execute native item merging and Create processing methods with controlled world, registry and recipe boundaries. They do not establish compatibility with every modpack or a general performance improvement.

License

Addon code and original project artwork are licensed under BSD 3-Clause. Copyright (c) 2026, DanielBasov (Steam & Steel). Forks, fixes and redistribution are permitted; retain the author attribution, license conditions and disclaimer in source distributions and in the materials accompanying binary distributions. A fork may not imply endorsement by the original author.

The original mods retain their own licenses. The project icon is original matte pixel artwork rendered through our V3 pipeline, without upstream assets.