NuTec's Inventory Manager

NuTec's Inventory Manager started as a port and modernization of the classic Inventory Tweaks concept for Minecraft 26.2 and NeoForge. The original goal was simple: bring back fast, useful inventory organization without changing how Minecraft itself feels.

As development continued, the project grew beyond sorting into a broader inventory, storage, transport, and automation mod.

The mod now combines inventory organization tools with item transport, fluid storage, and fluid transport in one system.

The pipe and tank side of Inventory Manager uses BuildCraft as its main design concept and inspiration. BuildCraft's simple visual pipe networks were one of the ideas behind expanding Inventory Manager into item and fluid transportation. Inventory Manager is its own implementation for modern NeoForge, with its own behavior, models, systems, and code.

Inventory Sorting

Inventory Manager provides fast inventory organization for player inventories and containers.

Current sorting features include:

• Sort player inventories
• Sort single chests
• Sort double chests
• Merge compatible partial stacks
• Fill stacks up to their normal maximum stack size
• Preserve excluded player slots
• Maintain proper server synchronization

The goal is to make cleaning up an inventory or storage container quick without forcing the player into a complicated interface.

Inventory Transfers

Inventory Manager also includes matching-item transfer tools.

These allow you to quickly move matching items between supported inventories instead of manually moving every stack.

Support includes containers such as:

• Chests
• Double chests
• Hoppers
• Furnaces
• Other supported inventory containers

Crafting Helpers

Inventory Manager includes crafting-grid assistance intended to reduce repetitive inventory work.

Features include:

• Evenly distribute ingredients across the crafting grid
• Fill 3x3 crafting patterns
• Fill 2x2 crafting patterns
• Fill the outer crafting ring
• Automatically refill crafting ingredients from your inventory

Additional crafting automation is planned as the system continues to develop.

Item Pipes

The item-pipe system is inspired by the straightforward transport concepts of BuildCraft.

Different pipes have different jobs.

Cobblestone Pipe

Standard item transportation.

Wooden Pipe

Extracts items from inventories and sends them into the pipe network. Requires a redstone signal.

Iron Pipe

Controls and forces item routing in a specific direction.

Gold Pipe

Speeds up items traveling through the network.

Diamond Pipe

Provides directional item filtering.

Each output direction can have its own filter configuration, allowing you to build sorting systems that send specific items to different destinations.

Obsidian Pipe

Collects dropped items from the world and sends them into the pipe network.

This makes it useful for automated collection systems and farms.

Pipe Sealant

Pipe Sealant is used to convert supported item pipes into waterproof fluid pipes.

Fluid Tanks

Inventory Manager includes modular connected fluid tanks.

Tank capacity is based on the size of the connected network:

• 1 tank stores 16,000 mB, or 16 buckets
• Every additional connected tank adds 20,000 mB
• Up to 256 tanks can participate in a connected network

Connected tanks behave as one shared fluid storage system.

Current fluids include:

• Water
• Lava

Water and lava are kept separate and cannot accidentally merge into the same fluid network.

Connected tanks dynamically display their stored fluid and fluid level.

Filled Tank Pickup

Fluid tanks retain their stored liquid when properly harvested.

A single picked-up tank can hold up to:

16,000 mB

The tank item visually shows whether it contains water or lava and includes a tooltip displaying its stored fluid and amount.

The system also protects against fluid duplication and accidental fluid loss when tanks are joined or removed.

Tank Connections

Waterproof pipes connect to tanks through visible tank ports instead of simply clipping into the tank glass.

This helps the transport system look like an actual connected fluid network.

Waterproof Fluid Pipes

Waterproof pipes transport liquids between fluid tanks.

Waterproof Wooden Pipe

Extracts fluid from a tank and introduces it into the waterproof pipe system.

Waterproof Cobblestone Pipe

Transports fluid through the network.

Each pipe contains actual fluid while transporting it.

A pipe containing water can only accept water.

A pipe containing lava can only accept lava.

Once a pipe becomes completely empty, it can accept another fluid type.

Fluid remains inside intact pipe sections if the route is temporarily disconnected. Once a valid destination becomes available again, the fluid can continue moving.

If a waterproof pipe containing fluid is broken, the fluid inside that specific pipe section is lost.

Visible Fluid Transport

Water and lava are visibly rendered inside waterproof pipes.

The fluid animation follows the direction of the pipe and uses Minecraft fluid textures, allowing compatible resource packs to affect the appearance.

The waterproof pipe interior also has a subtle green waterproof lining so it can be distinguished from normal item pipes.

Harvesting

Fluid tanks and all pipe types are intended to be properly harvested with a pickaxe.

This includes:

• Cobblestone Pipe
• Wooden Pipe
• Iron Pipe
• Gold Pipe
• Diamond Pipe
• Obsidian Pipe
• Waterproof Wooden Pipe
• Waterproof Cobblestone Pipe
• Fluid Tank

NuTec's Inventory Manager is still being actively developed, with the goal of continuing to expand inventory management, storage, crafting assistance, transportation, and automation while keeping the systems easy to understand and useful in normal Minecraft gameplay.