Create Mod Complete Guide: Machines, Automation, Contraptions & Trains

Overview

Create adds a complete mechanical engineering system to Minecraft. Rather than crafting items inside a single-block interface, players build multi-block contraptions: a Mechanical Press must actually press downward onto items on the ground, Crushing Wheels must spin in opposite directions to grind ore between them, and a Mechanical Mixer needs rotation delivered from above. Every machine is visible, physical, and animated.

The mod also adds Zinc Ore (a new material found while mining), seven unique decorative stone types (Limestone, Asurine, Crimsite, Ochrum, Scoria, Scorchia, and Veridium), extensive Copper building blocks, and over 400 decorative block variants for building steampunk and industrial-themed bases. Browse all items using the Items tab and all recipes using the Recipes tab above.

Progression runs through three distinct material tiers: the Andesite Age (early game), the Brass Age (mid game requiring a trip to the Nether), and the Train Age (late game requiring Precision Mechanisms assembled in Mechanical Crafters). Each tier unlocks more powerful and convenient machines that build on the previous tier's infrastructure.

Stress Units and RPM: The Power System

All Create machines run on Rotational Force, measured in two independent values: Stress Units (SU) and Revolutions Per Minute (RPM). Stress Units represent the energy budget of your network. Each generator contributes SU, each machine consumes SU. If your total consumption exceeds your total capacity, the entire network becomes Overstressed and halts completely until you add more generators or remove consumers.

RPM represents how fast everything spins. A Millstone at 16 RPM processes materials slowly. At 64 RPM it works much faster. Critically, the amount of SU a machine consumes scales with RPM: double the speed means double the stress consumption. A Crushing Wheel pair that needs 256 SU at 16 RPM will demand 512 SU at 32 RPM, so faster networks require proportionally more power generation.

Shafts and Cogwheels used purely to relay rotation have zero stress cost and do not consume any SU. Only machines that perform work (Presses, Mixers, Drills, etc.) draw from your budget. This means you can extend a power network arbitrarily far across your base without penalty, as long as the working machines at the end stay within your SU capacity.

Equip Engineer's Goggles to see the stress impact and capacity of any kinetic component you look at. Place a Stressometer on any shaft to get an exact readout of your whole network's current SU usage and capacity. These two items are the primary debugging tools for power issues.

Power Generation

Water Wheel

The Water Wheel generates 256 SU when placed in flowing water. The Large Water Wheel generates 512 SU but spins at half the RPM of a small one. Multiple wheels on the same shaft network stack their SU totals. Water Wheels can also be powered by flowing Lava, functioning identically to water. This makes lava-side wheel placement a strong power upgrade in the Nether.

Windmill Bearing

A Windmill uses a Windmill Bearing with Sail blocks, Sail Frames, or Wool Blocks attached. It requires a minimum of 8 sail blocks to function and generates more SU with more sails attached, up to 128 sails maximum. At 128 sails the Windmill produces 8,192 SU, making it the most powerful non-steam early-game source. The tradeoff is that it spins very slowly at maximum size, requiring gear ratios to reach useful machine speeds.

Sail blocks must be connected as a group using Super Glue (right-click two corners of a bounding box to mark blocks as a glue group). Sail and Sail Frame blocks attach to moving Contraptions automatically without glue, which makes them the most convenient material for windmill construction.

Steam Engine

Steam Engines require a Boiler structure and generate by far the most power of any source in the mod, capable of producing tens of thousands of SU at high RPM. They are complex to set up and best researched using the in-game Ponder system. Steam Engines are the primary power source for large late-game factories and automated train networks.

Hand Crank

The Hand Crank produces 256 SU while a player holds right-click to spin it, at the cost of hunger. It is inexpensive to craft and useful for testing machine setups before committing to permanent automated power. It is not a viable long-term power source.

Transmitting Rotation

Rotation travels from generators to machines through a network of Shafts, Cogwheels, Mechanical Belts, Gearboxes, and Encased Chain Drives. Shafts extend rotation in a straight line along one axis. Cogwheels placed directly adjacent (not diagonally) to another Cogwheel mesh their teeth and transfer rotation, inverting its direction. Placing a Large Cogwheel diagonally adjacent to a Small Cogwheel doubles or halves the speed (large-to-small doubles, small-to-large halves).

Mechanical Belts connect two Shafts at any distance up to 20 blocks and also serve as item conveyors. Gearboxes transmit rotation around 90-degree corners. Encased Chain Drives relay rotation across long distances and can also twist 90 degrees to convert horizontal rotation to vertical. A Clutch, when given a Redstone signal, stops rotation from passing through it, letting you switch machines on and off without breaking the network.

Two shafts attempting to connect while spinning in opposite directions will refuse to link. If your network seems disconnected, check shaft rotation directions. A Gearshift inverts rotation when given a Redstone signal, which solves direction conflicts. The Rotation Speed Controller allows fine-tuning of RPM at any point in a network without using stacked gear ratios.

Early-Game Machines (Andesite Age)

Mechanical Press

The Mechanical Press converts Ingots into Sheets (Iron, Gold, Copper, Brass), compresses items into blocks, and performs compacting recipes when paired with a Basin. It takes shaft power from above and extends downward to press items placed on the ground or in a Basin directly below it. The Press is required for nearly every Create material chain.

Millstone

The Millstone grinds materials into dust, powder, and other products. It accepts Cogwheel power from any side. Key recipes include Cobblestone into Gravel, Gravel into Flint, Wheat into Wheat Flour (for Bread and Dough), and all flower/plant types into dyes at double the vanilla yield. The Millstone is the first machine most players use for resource processing, and its recipe list is extensive enough to check in JEI.

Mechanical Mixer

The Mechanical Mixer, placed above a Basin, combines ingredients for mixing recipes. At ambient temperature it crafts Andesite Alloy (one iron or zinc nugget plus one Andesite per alloy, twice as efficient as hand crafting). With a Blaze Burner providing heat below the Basin, it alloys Copper and Zinc into Brass, performs heated mixing for many other recipes, and can even automate shapeless crafting recipes. The Mixer requires a minimum speed to operate, typically achievable with a single gear ratio upgrade from your base network.

Crushing Wheels

Crushing Wheels are placed as a pair and must spin in opposite directions by interlocking their Cogwheels. Items dropped or funneled into the gap between them are ground down. The primary use is ore doubling: Crushing any Raw Ore produces Crushed Raw Ore, which can be washed (via Encased Fan over water) for nine nuggets, or smelted directly for one ingot. The washing step also yields a bonus byproduct alongside the nuggets. Washing also yields a bonus byproduct: iron ore has a 75% chance of producing Redstone per batch, making it worth building even if the nugget count equals direct smelting.

Encased Fan: Bulk Processing

The Encased Fan is one of Create's most versatile early machines. When powered, it blows (or sucks) a stream of air. Items placed in that airstream are processed based on what the fan's airflow passes through before reaching them. Each processing type produces different results and is configurable by choosing which block the airstream intersects.

Fan Blasting (airstream through Lava): smelts items in bulk, equivalent to a Furnace but processing an entire stack at once. Fan Smoking (airstream through Campfire): cooks food without the risk of burning non-food items. Fan Haunting (airstream through Soul Fire or Soul Campfire): converts items using Nether magic, transforming Torches into Soul Torches, Potatoes into Poisonous Potatoes, Stone into Infested Stone, and many other conversions. Fan Splashing (airstream through Water): washes items, turning Crushed Raw Ore into extra Nuggets.

The fan can also transport items vertically when pointed upward through a column of Chutes. Items tossed into the bottom Chute will ride the airflow upward to any height, depositing into a container at the top. This is a cheap alternative to Belts for pure vertical item movement.

Item Transport

Mechanical Belt

Mechanical Belts connect two Shafts up to 20 blocks apart and move items placed on top of them in the direction of their movement. Belts also serve as power transmission: any shaft connected to a belt in the network shares its SU and RPM. Belts work horizontally, vertically, and diagonally. Extend an existing belt by right-clicking a new Belt item onto a belt segment, which lengthens it one block at a time without consuming additional belts.

Funnels and Chutes

Andesite Funnels extract or insert items between inventories and Belts with no filtering. Brass Funnels do the same but add a filter slot, letting you specify exactly which items move and in what amounts. This makes Brass Funnels essential for sorted automation. A Funnel right-clicked onto an inventory faces outward (extracting); Shift-right-click to face inward (inserting). Chutes move items straight down and can pull from inventories above them or drop into containers below.

Mechanical Arm

The Mechanical Arm, unlocked in the Brass Age, picks items from one or more input locations and places them in one or more output locations within its reach radius. It can be programmed to pull from multiple Belts, Funnels, or inventories and deposit into any target. A well-configured Mechanical Arm eliminates almost all manual item routing in a factory. It can also be programmed with up to 10 or more output targets.

Item Vault

The Item Vault is a large single-block storage container that can hold up to 60 distinct item types. It integrates directly with Funnels, Belts, and Arms without any configuration. Item Vaults are considerably more space-efficient than rows of Chests for automation buffers and machine-side storage.

The Brass Age: Mid-Game Progression

Brass Ingots are the unlock condition for all mid-game machines and are made by alloying Copper and Zinc together in a Heated Mechanical Mixer. Heating the Mixer requires a Blaze Burner placed below the Basin. Blaze Burners are obtained by crafting an Empty Blaze Burner with Iron Sheets and Netherrack, then right-clicking a Blaze mob to capture it. Feed the Blaze Burner any flammable item for regular heat, or a Blaze Cake for the super heat required to alloy Brass. A Deployer or Mechanical Arm can automate the feeding.

The Brass Age unlocks the Brass Funnel (with filtering), the Mechanical Arm, the Deployer, the Sequenced Gearshift, and the Brass Casing. It also unlocks the Mechanical Crafter, which automates shaped crafting recipes using a grid of powered Crafter blocks arranged in the pattern of the recipe. Several critical late-game items require the Mechanical Crafter, including the Precision Mechanism.

Deployer

The Deployer simulates right-click actions at the block in front of it. In left-click mode (toggle with a Wrench), it simulates left-clicks and can use tools, mine blocks, or attack entities. Deployers carry items in their internal inventory and consume them as needed. They are used to plant crops, apply wax to Copper blocks, trigger levers, feed Blaze Burners, and perform nearly any player interaction that can be automated. On a moving Contraption, a Deployer becomes one of the most powerful machines in the mod.

Mechanical Saw

Upright, the Mechanical Saw processes Wood blocks and Stone into slabs and other variants. Mounted on a moving Contraption, it harvests entire trees in a single pass: the saw cuts through the trunk and every log in the tree falls as an item. Tree farm Contraptions typically combine a Mechanical Saw with a Deployer carrying Saplings to replant, creating a self-sustaining wood farm.

Mechanical Drill

Mechanical Drills break blocks in front of them and can be powered directly with a Shaft. On a Contraption they create automated mining machines: attach a grid of Drills to a Piston or Rope Pulley and descend to strip-mine a column or tunnel automatically. The drill output collects into a Chest or Vault on the Contraption and transfers to a fixed inventory through a Portable Storage Interface.

Contraptions

A Contraption is a multi-block structure assembled onto a moving component: a Mechanical Bearing (rotational), a Mechanical Piston (linear), a Rope Pulley (vertical), or a Minecart or Train (freeform movement). When assembled, all the blocks in the Contraption move as a single unit. Any Create machines attached to the Contraption (Drills, Saws, Deployers, Harvesters) continue to function while moving, powered by the same rotational network.

To glue blocks into a Contraption, use Super Glue: right-click two opposite corners of a bounding box while holding Super Glue to mark all blocks in that region as a group. Alternatively, Chassis blocks (Radial or Linear) automatically attach adjacent blocks to themselves when the Contraption moves. Sail and Sail Frame blocks always attach to moving Contraptions without glue.

Common Contraption Builds

Tree Farms use a Mechanical Bearing with a Saw on a rotating arm to harvest trees, combined with a Deployer carrying Saplings. Vertical mining rigs lower a Drill array via Rope Pulley to bore a column. Horizontal tunneling machines use a Minecart Assembler to attach Drills to a Minecart that rides rails forward. Crop farms mount a Mechanical Harvester and Deployer on a rotating or linear Contraption to sweep over planted fields and replant automatically.

The Schematicannon automates building from saved schematics. Save a structure using the Schematic And Quill, load it into a Schematic Table, then deploy it in the world. Point a Schematicannon at the hologram and provide materials and Gunpowder as fuel. The cannon fires blocks into place automatically until the structure is complete, making it invaluable for constructing large identical factory layouts.

Fluid Handling

Create has a complete fluid transport system built around Fluid Pipes. Pipes connect tanks, machines, and sources into a network. Mechanical Pumps push fluids through pipes and require rotation to operate. Fluid Tanks store liquids in configurable block arrangements. Fluid Valves control pipe flow with Redstone signals.

The Spout fills containers (Glass Bottles, Buckets, Blaze Cake Bases) from a fluid source placed above it. A Spout with Honey above it fills Honey Bottles, while Chocolate above it creates the Honeyed Apple and Sweet Roll recipes. The Item Drain extracts fluid from filled containers and returns the empty container. The Hose Pulley can drain or fill large bodies of fluid by lowering a pipe into them, and can tap infinite lava sources from large enough pools.

The Copper Backtank is a wearable tank worn in the Chestplate slot that stores compressed air. It powers the Extendo Grip and Potato Cannon without consuming durability, refilling passively over time when near a rotating Shaft. The Copper Backtank also functions as a Copper Diving Helmet companion piece, enabling extended underwater breathing when worn with a Copper Diving Helmet. A Netherite Diving Helmet paired with a Netherite Backtank (and Netherite Diving Boots) provides full lava immunity.

Trains: Late-Game Transport

Create's Train system is a complete railway network framework requiring significant infrastructure to unlock. Train Tracks are assembled using the Sequenced Assembly machine (a Mechanical Press performing timed operations on components). Each Bogey (the wheeled truck beneath a train carriage) requires Brass Casings, and the Train itself is assembled at a Train Station.

Trains travel through unloaded chunks even when unmanned, making them the only reliable method of automated long-distance transport in the game. They can carry player passengers, freight through Portable Storage Interfaces, and can pass through Nether Portals for dimensional routing. Train Signals control traffic on shared track sections, preventing collisions when multiple trains share the same rail network.

A Train Schedule, managed at the Train Station, programs automated conductor routes. The conductor AI follows the schedule, stopping at designated stations to load and unload cargo, wait for specific conditions, and whistle at crossings. The Station system also supports a Display Board that shows arrival times, making large-scale logistics networks practical to manage.

Gadgets and Tools

Engineer's Goggles

Engineer's Goggles are worn in the Helmet slot and augment the player's HUD with kinetic information. Looking at any rotating component shows its current speed in RPM and its stress impact or capacity. Looking at a Stressometer while wearing Goggles provides a complete breakdown of the network's SU usage and capacity. These are essential for diagnosing power problems.

Extendo Grip

The Extendo Grip, held in the offhand, greatly extends the player's reach for placing and mining blocks. When paired with a Copper Backtank, it draws from the Backtank's air pressure instead of consuming durability. Dual-wielding two Extendo Grips grants superhuman block reach for large builds.

Potato Cannon

The Potato Cannon fires Potatoes, other vegetables, and many other throwable items at enemies, dealing damage based on the projectile type. It is powered by air pressure from a Copper Backtank and never consumes durability. Different projectiles have different effects: a Pumpkin deals more damage, while Slimeballs cause knockback. The cannon is one of the more entertaining weapons in Create.

Wand Of Symmetry

The Wand Of Symmetry mirrors block placements across a chosen axis or plane. When held in the offhand and a symmetry mode is selected, every block placed by the player is simultaneously mirrored on the opposite side of the axis. This halves the time required to build symmetrical structures, making large industrial builds considerably less tedious.

New Materials and World Generation

Zinc Ore

Zinc Ore generates naturally at similar depths to Iron and Copper. Zinc Ingots are used alongside Iron Nuggets to craft Andesite Alloy, and combined with Copper Ingots in a Heated Mixer to produce Brass. Always smelt or crush Zinc while doing the same with Iron so you never have a bottleneck.

Decorative Stone Types

Create adds seven new stone varieties that generate in specific underground layers: Limestone (pale tan, mid-depth), Asurine (blue-green, deep), Crimsite (deep red, Nether-adjacent), Ochrum (golden, caves), Scoria (dark volcanic, found near lava), Scorchia (fiery red, found in hot biomes and Nether-adjacent depths), and Veridium (teal-green, deep underground). Each stone type has a complete suite of Cut, Polished, Pillar, Small Brick, Layered, Slab, Stair, and Wall variants, providing extensive building options.

Rose Quartz

Rose Quartz is a rare ore found at deep levels. Polished using Sand Paper (right-click a Rose Quartz while holding Sand Paper, or automate with a Deployer), it becomes Polished Rose Quartz. Polished Rose Quartz is used to craft Electron Tubes, which are a key component in Precision Mechanisms and several late-game blocks.

Aesthetics and Decoration

Create adds over 400 decorative blocks designed around a steampunk and industrial aesthetic. Casings (Andesite, Copper, Brass, Train) wrap functional machines in clean metal and wood housings and also serve as the materials for aesthetic builds. Copycat Panels and Copycat Steps take on the appearance of any full block applied to them, allowing any texture to be placed as a thin decorative panel or step.

Window blocks (available in every wood type) combine Tiled Glass with Planks for clean industrial windows. Framed Glass variants (Framed, Horizontal Framed, Vertical Framed) add metal trim overlays to Glass. Nixie Tubes display numbers and characters for in-world text displays. Display Boards and Display Links pull live data from machines (train schedules, item counts, fluid levels) to create functional factory dashboards.

Copper building blocks include Copper Tiles, Copper Shingles, Copper Grates, Copper Bars, and Copper Scaffolding, all available in four oxidation stages (fresh through oxidized) and their waxed equivalents. Deployers applying Honeycomb wax copper blocks in place to freeze their oxidation state. Deployers can also be used to strip wax or accelerate oxidation with Acid.

Sequenced Assembly

Sequenced Assembly is a late-game processing method where a Mechanical Press performs multiple timed operations on a Work Station to assemble complex components. Train Tracks, Precision Mechanisms, and Sturdy Sheets are all made this way. The Precision Mechanism in particular requires precise timing across multiple press operations and is the gating material for Trains and several other advanced items.

Sturdy Sheets, made from Powdered Obsidian (obtained by crushing Obsidian in Crushing Wheels), are required for Train Casing and several other items. The Sequenced Assembly process rewards players who have built up a complete Andesite and Brass infrastructure, as feeding material into the assembly machine at the correct timing requires reliable item delivery systems.

Cardboard and Packaging

Create adds a cardboard logistics system centered around the Packager machine. Pulp (made by mixing Bamboo in a Mechanical Mixer) is pressed into Cardboard, which can be formed into Blocks of Cardboard and Bound Blocks of Cardboard. The Packager wraps items into sealed cardboard packages for transport.

The Chain Conveyor moves packages at speed across a factory. Package Frogports catch packages from Chain Conveyors and deposit them into adjacent inventories. Factory Gauges trigger automatic package requests when a Vault runs low. Stock Tickers can employ mobs to manage package orders. The full cardboard logistics system is an alternative to Belt-and-Funnel automation for players who prefer a more warehouse-style distribution network.

Cardboard Armor is also craftable from Cardboard. It provides zero real defense but fits perfectly as a stealth disguise for players sneaking around their own automated factories.

Food Items

Create adds several unique food items produced through its processing chains. Wheat Flour (milled from Wheat) combines with water in a Basin to make Dough, which bakes into Bread in a Furnace or a fan-smoking setup. A Spout with Honey above a Bread item converts it into a Sweet Roll. A Spout with Honey above an Apple produces a Honeyed Apple.

Chocolate is made by mixing Sugar and Cocoa Beans in a Mechanical Mixer. Chocolate Glazed Berries are crafted via Spout (Chocolate fluid over Sweet Berries). Builder's Tea (a restorative drink) is produced by a Spout filling a Glass Bottle from a Tea fluid source. These food items are not critical to progression but reward players who build out their food processing infrastructure.