Whispering Currents
- By
Autonomous logistics node for NeoForge: place a Link Attachment, it senses nearby containers, feeds furnaces, pulls outputs, and routes items via configurable flying delivery — no pairing or channels.item
Whispering Currents is a logistics automation mod for NeoForge 1.21.1. It adds a single block — the Link Attachment — that acts as an autonomous logistics node. Place one down, put chests and furnaces in range, and it handles the rest: feeding furnaces, pulling outputs, and keeping everything running.
How It Works
The Link Attachment Block
The Link Attachment is a full-cube block that scans all containers within a configurable radius (default 8 blocks, adjustable 4–16 with the LinkNeedle). It detects furnaces, chests, barrels, and any other Container-implementing block entity.
The node operates on a 20-tick (1-second) scan cycle. Each tick it processes one furnace in round-robin order (see Furnace I/O below).
Furnace I/O
Each scan cycle, the Link Attachment picks the next furnace in its list and performs two checks:
- Fuel — If the fuel slot has fewer than 2 items, it pulls coal, charcoal, or any burnable item from nearby chests (up to 2, so fuel distributes across furnaces rather than filling one to 64).
- Input — If the input slot is empty, it pulls any smeltable item from nearby chests. Food and ore are treated equally — first smeltable item found goes in.
Output — On every scan cycle, each furnace's result slot (slot 2) is checked. If a smelted item is waiting and no outgoing flight is in progress from that furnace, the item is flown to the nearest chest with room, preferring chests with matching sign labels.
Fuel System
The Link Attachment has an internal fuel buffer. It consumes coal/charcoal from nearby chests (80 fuel per coal, max 3200 buffer). If the buffer runs dry, the node logs a warning and skips furnace processing. The LinkNeedle shows fuel percentage on right-click.
Item Flight
When an item needs to move from one container to another, the mod spawns a flying item — a server-side data structure (no entity, no lag) that advances position each tick and syncs to clients every 3 ticks.
Flight Modes (configurable in whisperingcurrents-server.toml):
| Mode | Behavior |
|---|---|
PATHFINDING (default) |
Item rises to ceiling height, flies across via A* avoiding walls, then drops to target. Uses line-of-sight fast-paths when the direct ceiling line is clear. Client renders with spring-smooth interpolation and Lissajous drifting animation. Particles at 1/sec. |
DIRECT_LINEAR |
Item flies in a straight line from source center to target center. No obstacle avoidance. |
MAGNET |
Same linear path as DIRECT_LINEAR (acceleration model ready for future tuning). |
TELEPORT |
Item vanishes from source and appears at target after a short delay. No visible entity or client sync. Set itemMaxAge low (e.g. 10) for near-instant transfer. |
The LinkNeedle Wand
The LinkNeedle is an info/config tool (not used for linking):
- Right-click a Link Attachment — shows stats: current range, number of connected containers, fuel percentage, and furnace index.
- Shift-right-click the Link Attachment — cycles range between 4 and 16 blocks.
Recipe: redstone dust on a stone pressure plate.
# Whispering Currents — Scope & Roadmap
## Current (v1.1.0.14)
- Link Attachment: autonomous logistics node
- Furnace I/O: fuel, input, output
- Item flight: 4 configurable modes (PATHFINDING, DIRECT_LINEAR, MAGNET, TELEPORT)
- LinkNeedle: info/config wand
- Known issues: sign detection broken, chest sorting non-functional
## Phase 1 — Core Fixes (v1.2.0)
- Fix sign detection (check all 6 block faces)
- New sign labels: Fuel, Raw, Ingots, Gems, Output, Food, Wood, Stone, Metal, Misc
- Output chest = dumping ground + furnace output target
- Raw chest = furnace input source only
- Fuel chest = furnace fuel source only
- Per-furnace-type priority (smoker → food, blast furnace → ore, furnace → rest)
- Chest sorting: pull from Output, route to matching category chests
## Phase 2 — Ground Pickup (v2.0.0)
- Link Attachment collects dropped ItemEntity within range
- Sends to Output chest for sorting
- One item per tick
## Phase 3 — Redstone Control Panel (v2.1.0)
- New block: reads nearby signs + levers
- Sign text = setting, lever = toggle
- Settings: Sorting, GroundPickup, AutoFeed, Defense
- No GUI — fully physical vanilla interaction
## Phase 4 — Player Flight Zone (v2.2.0)
- Gold nugget fuel (separate from coal)
- Creative flight within Link range
- No block interaction while airborne
- Golden sparkle particles
## Phase 5 — Auto-Feed (v2.3.0)
- Feeds player from Food chest when hunger < threshold
- Same flight animation, auto-eats on arrival
- Control panel toggle
## Phase 6 — Base Defense (v2.4.0)
- Detects hostile mobs in range
- Fires weapons from chests (durability cost)
- Increased coal burn while active
- Control panel toggle
## Future Ideas (unplanned)
- Campfire / drying rack integration
- Dimension-crossing Links
- Link Attachment upgrades (range, speed, capacity)
- Custom flight visuals per category
The Whispering Currents Team
