Pipez

Overview

Pipez is a lightweight piping mod that does exactly what it says: it moves stuff from point A to point B. The mod adds five pipe types for transferring Items, Fluids, Forge Energy, and Mekanism Gases, plus a Universal Pipe that handles all of them at once. Pipes connect automatically to adjacent inventories, tanks, and machines, and you configure them using a Wrench and tiered Upgrade items.

What makes Pipez stand out is its simplicity. There are no complicated pipe modes or confusing UIs. You place a pipe, set a side to extract with the Wrench, optionally insert an Upgrade to increase throughput, and add Filters if you need sorting. The mod supports Redstone control, four distribution modes (Nearest, Furthest, Round Robin, and Random), and Whitelist/Blacklist filtering with NBT matching. You can browse all recipes and items this mod adds using the tabs at the top of this page.

Pipe Types

Pipez includes five distinct pipe types plus one that combines them all. Each pipe type only connects to blocks that expose the matching capability, so an Item Pipe won't connect to an energy-only machine. All pipes are crafted from Iron Ingots, Redstone, and a type-specific ingredient that hints at what the pipe moves.

Item Pipe

Transfers items between inventories. Crafted with Iron Ingots, Redstone Dust, and Droppers. Without upgrades, it moves 4 items every 20 ticks (1 second). Item Pipes default to Nearest distribution mode, meaning they prioritize the closest valid destination. This is the pipe you'll use most often for basic automation like moving smelted items into storage or feeding machines.

Fluid Pipe

Transfers fluids between tanks and fluid-handling machines. Crafted with Iron Ingots, Redstone Dust, and Buckets. The base transfer rate is 50 mB per tick, scaling up to 10,000 mB/tick with an Ultimate Upgrade. Fluid Pipes default to Round Robin distribution.

Energy Pipe

Transfers Forge Energy (FE/RF) between generators, batteries, and machines. Crafted with Iron Ingots, Redstone Dust, and Redstone Blocks. The base transfer rate is 256 FE per tick, reaching 131,072 FE/tick at the Ultimate tier. Energy Pipes also default to Round Robin distribution.

Gas Pipe

Transfers Mekanism gases, infusion types, pigments, and slurries. This pipe only appears if Mekanism is installed. Crafted with Iron Ingots, Redstone Dust, and Mekanism Alloy Infused items. Base rate is 200 mB per tick, scaling to 40,000 mB/tick at Ultimate tier. It supports all four Mekanism chemical types: Gas, Infusion, Pigment, and Slurry.

Universal Pipe

The Universal Pipe combines Item, Fluid, Energy, and Gas (if Mekanism is present) pipes into a single block. It is crafted from one of each specialized pipe plus Iron Ingots and a Redstone Block, yielding 6 Universal Pipes. Each pipe type within the Universal Pipe can be configured independently with its own Upgrade, Filters, distribution mode, and Redstone settings. This is the go-to choice when you need to run multiple transfer types through a single corridor.

The Upgrade System

Upgrades are the core progression mechanic in Pipez. Without an Upgrade, pipes run at their base transfer rates. Each Upgrade tier dramatically increases throughput, and each tier is crafted from the previous one plus progressively more expensive materials. Upgrades are installed by Sneak+Right-Clicking an extracting pipe side with the Upgrade item in hand. Each extracting side holds exactly one Upgrade.

The four craftable tiers are Basic, Improved, Advanced, and Ultimate. A fifth tier, Infinity, exists but is only obtainable through Creative mode or commands. Each Upgrade also enables the configuration GUI for that side, allowing you to set up Filters, distribution modes, and Redstone control. Upgrades store their configuration data as NBT, so if you remove an Upgrade and place it on a different pipe, it retains its settings.

Upgrade Crafting Chain

Upgrades are sequential. You craft a Basic Upgrade first, then surround it with better materials to get the Improved Upgrade, and so on. The Basic Upgrade uses Iron and Redstone. The Improved Upgrade wraps a Basic with Gold and Redstone. The Advanced Upgrade wraps an Improved with Diamonds and Redstone Blocks. The Ultimate Upgrade wraps an Advanced with Netherite Ingots and Redstone Blocks.

Filters and Sorting

Pipez has a surprisingly powerful filter system built into each Upgrade. Right-clicking an extracting pipe side opens the configuration GUI, where you can add item or fluid filters per direction. Filters support individual items, mod tags (using the # prefix, like #forge:ingots/iron), and NBT matching for items with specific enchantments or data.

Filter Modes

Each pipe side operates in either Whitelist or Blacklist mode. In Whitelist mode (the default), only items matching your filters will be transferred. In Blacklist mode, everything is transferred except items matching your filters. You toggle between these modes in the configuration GUI.

NBT Matching

Filters can match NBT data in two ways. Exact matching requires the item's NBT to match the filter exactly, which is useful for sorting enchanted items or tools with specific data. Fuzzy matching only checks the specific tags you define, ignoring everything else. This is helpful when you want to match an item regardless of damage or other irrelevant data.

Destination Routing

Each filter entry can optionally specify a destination using the Filter Destination Tool. Right-click a container with the Filter Destination Tool to store its position and facing direction, then use that tool when creating a filter to route matching items specifically to that container. This is the key to building item sorting systems with Pipez. You can have a single extraction point with multiple filters, each routing different items to different destinations.

Distribution Modes

When a pipe has multiple valid destinations, the distribution mode determines which one receives items first. You can change the distribution mode in the pipe's configuration GUI. There are four modes available:

Nearest always sends to the closest connected destination first, only using further destinations when the closest is full. This is the default for Item Pipes and the best choice for simple setups where you want predictable behavior.

Furthest does the opposite, prioritizing the most distant destination. This can be useful for filling storage systems from back to front.

Round Robin cycles through all destinations evenly, sending to each one in turn. This is the default for Fluid, Energy, and Gas Pipes, and it's ideal for distributing resources equally across multiple machines.

Random picks a destination at random for each transfer. This is mostly a novelty option, but it can be useful for load balancing when you don't care about even distribution.

Redstone Control

Each extracting pipe side can be set to one of four Redstone modes, giving you precise control over when transfers happen. The default is Ignored, meaning the pipe always runs regardless of Redstone signals. The On When Powered mode only allows transfers when the pipe receives a Redstone signal, useful for on-demand systems triggered by a lever or button. Off When Powered stops transfers when powered, letting you use Redstone as a kill switch. Always Off completely disables that extraction side.

Universal Pipes and Advanced Setups

The Universal Pipe is the endgame pipe type for most players. Since it combines all transfer types into one block, it dramatically reduces the number of pipes you need to run through tight corridors. Each pipe type within a Universal Pipe is configured independently, so you can have different filters for items and fluids on the same pipe, or use Round Robin for energy while using Nearest for items.

For large factories, the key strategy is to use Universal Pipes as your main bus, extracting from machines that output both items and fluids simultaneously. Each extraction side gets its own Upgrade, so you can put an Ultimate Upgrade on the energy side for maximum throughput while using a Basic Upgrade on the item side if throughput isn't critical there.

Pipe Connectivity

Pipes automatically connect to adjacent pipes of the same type and to any block that exposes a matching capability (item inventory, fluid tank, energy storage). You can use the Wrench to disconnect any pipe side by Shift+Right-Clicking it. This is essential for building parallel pipe runs that shouldn't merge. Pipes also support waterlogging, so you can run them through water features without issues.

Configuration

All transfer rates are configurable in the server config file. If your modpack needs higher or lower throughput values, every tier's speed and amount can be adjusted independently. Item Pipe speed is defined in ticks between transfers (lower = faster), while Fluid, Energy, and Gas rates are defined as units per tick. Config changes require a server restart to take effect.

The config keys follow the pattern pipe_type.property.tier, for example item_pipe.speed.basic or energy_pipe.amount.ultimate. If you're playing a kitchen sink modpack and find that Energy Pipes can't keep up with your power generation, bumping up energy_pipe.amount.ultimate is the quickest fix.