Redstone Dynamometer

Original concept by u/SuperMario69Kraft on Reddit (r/minecraftsuggestions) - https://www.reddit.com/r/minecraftsuggestions/comments/1u0eybs/. Built by BeansNToast.

A blast-resistant sensor block that converts FORCE into analog redstone. The target block's sibling: the target block measures accuracy, the dynamometer measures force. One block, three senses, documented 0-15 curves.

The block

Redstone Dynamometer - obsidian-armored body, slime-cushioned top, gauge dial on every side. Obsidian-grade blast resistance (1200): it never breaks from explosions. Mines quickly with any pickaxe and always drops itself (it is a redstone component, not a wall block).
Recipe (the OP's, including his post-thread revision): top row 3 obsidian; middle row iron ingot, redstone dust, iron ingot; bottom row slimeball, echo shard, slimeball. The echo shard replaced the original bottom-center iron ingot at the author's request (2026-06-10) for the sculk-tech kinship.
Found in the Redstone Blocks creative tab.

The three senses

Each detection emits a redstone pulse (default 10 ticks). Output is pressure-plate-shaped: weak power to all six neighbors, strong power into the block below, and a comparator reads the measured value for the pulse duration. Like the vanilla target block, a second hit during a pulse updates the strength but does not extend the window.

1. Fall impact (top face)

Anything landing on top: players, mobs, armor stands, falling sand, anvils. The sensor reads RAW fall distance, not fall damage, so damage modifiers cannot skew it - and it reads through ONE cover block (carpet, slab, or a full block) sitting on the sensor, exactly as the original suggestion asks. Cover it in slime or hay: same reading.

signal = clamp(floor(fallDistance / 2), 1, 15)

Fall distance	Signal
0-3 blocks	1
6 blocks	3
10 blocks	5
20 blocks	10
30+ blocks	15

2. Explosion (anywhere near it)

Any blast within power x 2 blocks of the sensor takes a reading. The signal encodes the explosion's POWER, independent of distance:

signal = clamp(round(explosionPower x 2), 1, 15)

Source	Power	Signal
Ghast fireball / wither skull	1	2
Creeper	3	6
TNT	4	8
Bed / respawn anchor (wrong dimension)	5	10
Charged creeper / end crystal	6	12
Wither spawn	7	14

The dynamometer itself always survives the blast.

3. Projectile (any face)

A projectile striking any face produces a velocity-based force estimate:

Arrows and bolts: signal = clamp(ceil(impactSpeed x 2), 1, 15) - the same speed-times-base-damage formula vanilla arrows use. Full-charge bow is 6, crossbow bolt is 7. (Reads kinetic energy: Power enchantments do not change the reading.)
Trident: flat 8, its vanilla impact damage.
Everything else (snowballs, eggs, pearls, fireballs, wind charges): clamp(ceil(impactSpeed x 2), 1, 15); a snowball reads about 3. A fireball that explodes also produces a separate explosion reading.

Config

config/dynamometer.json (generated on first run):

Key	Default	Meaning
`pulse_ticks`	10	output pulse length in game ticks
`fall_enabled` / `explosion_enabled` / `projectile_enabled`	true	per-sense toggles
`fall_divisor`	2.0	fall curve: `floor(fallDistance / divisor)`
`explosion_factor`	2.0	explosion curve: `round(power x factor)`
`explosion_range_multiplier`	2.0	reading range: `power x multiplier` blocks
`projectile_velocity_factor`	2.0	projectile curve: `ceil(speed x factor)`
`log_detections`	false	INFO-log every reading (contraption debugging)

Version support

Two jars, one per version line (this repo's standard policy):

Jar	Targets	Toolchain	Tested on
`Dynamometer-1.0.0.jar`	1.21.11	Java 21 (class 65), remap Loom, Mojang mappings	Fabric dedicated server 1.21.11
`Dynamometer-1.0.0-26.1.jar`	26.1 - 26.1.2	Java 25 (class 69), non-remap Loom	Fabric dedicated server 26.1.2

The 1.21 jar declares 1.21.11 only: the mod hooks Entity.checkFallDamage and ServerExplosion.explode, whose shapes changed inside the 1.21.x line (fall distance went float to double at 1.21.5), so earlier patches are not claimed without a test pass. Requires Fabric API on both lines.

Honest gaps

Projectile sensing is code-verified only. Fall and explosion sensing were proven headless on a dedicated server (falling block lands -> signal fires and lights an adjacent lamp; TNT 3 blocks away -> reading fires and the block survives). Nobody has shot the block in a real client yet.
Not visually verified in a graphical client (textures, dial, creative tab placement).
Comparator read-out is implemented via the standard analog-output hook but was not exercised headless; the lamp test proves the weak-power path.
Author approval: GRANTED 2026-06-10, verbatim quote in docs/permission.md; the echo-shard recipe revision in this build is his own request.

Building

# 1.21.x jar
cd fabric
$env:JAVA_HOME = 'C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-25'; .\gradlew build --no-daemon

# 26.1.x jar
cd fabric26
$env:JAVA_HOME = 'C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-25'; .\gradlew build --no-daemon

textures.py regenerates the 16x16 art into both resource trees plus preview.png; gen_logo.py renders logo.png and the in-jar icons.

License

MIT (see LICENSE). All art is original.