Plastanium Conveyor

Plastanium Conveyor is an advanced item-transport block that moves items in packed batches rather than individual units. Introduced in Version 6.0, it packs inputs into batches of up to 10 items and transports those batches along a belt-like path; a packed batch travels forward at 6 blocks per second. The block’s health has been adjusted since release (increased from 65 to 75), and it can be unloaded from by unloaders. All Plastanium Conveyors can hold only a single item batch at a time.

A Plastanium Conveyor can exist in three distinct states. In the loading state it faces empty space (no Plastanium Conveyor directly in front) while having another Plastanium Conveyor facing it; in this state it accepts items from its three non-facing sides and assembles them into a uniform batch (all items in a batch must be the same type). A completed batch of size 10 is pushed forward in the facing direction and the starting segment must be empty before another batch is created. In the unloading state the conveyor has another Plastanium Conveyor directly in front of it and is not facing another Plastanium Conveyor; it unpacks received batches and outputs the individual items through its three remaining sides, behaving similarly to Duct output. The transporting state applies when neither loading nor unloading conditions are met: the conveyor moves at most one batch forward and only accepts batches arriving from other Plastanium Conveyors on its three non-facing sides; it cannot accept loose (unbatched) items in this state. Unloaders can take items from Plastanium Conveyors in the transporting state as well.

Because batches are assembled, planning how lines are loaded is critical. A line’s starting segments only accept one item type at a time and refuse other types, so mixed inputs will clog a starting segment. Each starting segment has half the throughput of regular segments, so to reach peak performance every Plastanium line requires two or more starting segments dedicated to the same item type. The packing rate is 20 items/s per loading point, so at least two loading points are needed for full-speed output of a line designed to move 10-item batches continuously.

Junctions, bridges, and splitting need special attention. Many common connectors (Basic Routers, Junctions, and Bridge Conveyors) limit throughput to about 11 items/s, forcing multiple branches when crossing obstacles—regular bridges typically require four parallel branches to carry full Plastanium line throughput. Sorters and Gates can split effectively without such a hard cap and therefore are preferred splitters, but remember that items cannot pass through more than two Sorters/Gates in sequence. Unconfigured inverted Sorters behave like junctions without intrinsic item capacity but are limited by starting segment loading to roughly 20 items/s unless the flow is pre-split. Phase Conveyors can cross obstacles with fewer units at the cost of power and expensive materials. Where possible, route Plastanium Conveyors around obstacles or use other blocks such as Ducts to bridge over them rather than creating complex multi-branch crossings.

Practical points:

• Maintain dedicated starting segments per item type; use Sorters to split mixed flows before packing.
• Use at least two loading segments per high-throughput line; more may be needed depending on downstream splits.
• Avoid long chains of Sorters/Gates (no more than two in sequence) and check connector throughput when planning bridges or merges.
• Unloaders can draw from transporting segments; unloading a packed batch requires the entire batch to be unpacked first.
• Plastanium chains excel at handling combined outputs from many drills, factory chains, or core inputs when configured to preserve batch integrity and avoid type-mixing at starting segments.