Refined Storage

Overview

Refined Storage is a digital storage and automation mod that lets you consolidate all of your items into a single, searchable network. Instead of rows of Chests with forgotten items buried inside, you store everything on Storage Disks that slot into a Disk Drive, then interact with your entire inventory through a Grid terminal. The mod also handles fluid storage, item import/export, autocrafting, and wireless access.

Everything in Refined Storage connects through a cable-based network powered by a single Controller block. The system requires energy from an external mod (such as Mekanism, Thermal Expansion, or any Forge Energy provider), so you will need a power generation solution before getting started. The mod does not include its own generators.

You can browse every item and recipe the mod adds using the Items and Recipes tabs at the top of this page. This guide focuses on how the systems work together and how to progress from your first network to a fully automated base.

Prerequisites

Refined Storage does not generate its own power. You need another mod that produces Forge Energy (FE) to power the Controller. Popular choices include Mekanism, Thermal Expansion, Immersive Engineering, or Extra Utilities. A single Generator or basic energy setup is enough to get started, as the Controller's default capacity is 32,000 FE and most network components only draw 1 to 8 FE per tick.

You will also need access to the Nether before you can craft anything, since Silicon (a core ingredient in every processor) is smelted from Nether Quartz. Bring back plenty of Quartz on your first trip, as you will burn through it quickly making Quartz Enriched Iron and Silicon.

Core Materials & Crafting Components

Quartz Enriched Iron

The universal building block of Refined Storage. Crafted from 4 Iron Ingots and 1 Nether Quartz to yield 4 Quartz Enriched Iron. You will go through enormous quantities of this material, so automate Iron and Quartz farming as soon as you can. It can also be compressed into a Quartz Enriched Iron Block for decoration or compact storage, and unpacked back into 9 ingots.

Silicon

Smelted directly from Nether Quartz in any Furnace. Silicon is used in every processor recipe and in Storage Parts. Like Quartz Enriched Iron, you will need a lot of it.

Processors

All three processor tiers follow the same pattern: combine a Processor Binding, Silicon, Redstone, and a metal in a shapeless recipe to get a Raw Processor, then smelt it. The Basic Processor uses an Iron Ingot, the Improved Processor uses a Gold Ingot, and the Advanced Processor uses a Diamond. Basic Processors appear in early-game components like the Construction Core and Destruction Core. Improved Processors are used in mid-tier devices such as the Grid and Importer. Advanced Processors gate high-end equipment like the Controller, Disk Drive, and Crafting Grid.

Construction & Destruction Cores

Two utility components that appear in many recipes. The Construction Core is made from a Basic Processor and Glowstone Dust; the Destruction Core from a Basic Processor and Nether Quartz. These represent the "input" and "output" sides of the network and show up in recipes for Importers, Exporters, Constructors, Destructors, Grids, and more.

Machine Casing

Crafted from 8 Quartz Enriched Iron surrounding a Stone block. The Machine Casing is the frame used in nearly every major device: Controller, Disk Drive, Grid, Interface, Crafter, and many others. Keep a stock of these ready.

Storage System

Storage Disks & Storage Blocks

Refined Storage offers four tiers of item storage: 1K (1,000 items), 4K (4,000 items), 16K (16,000 items), and 64K (64,000 items), plus a Creative tier with unlimited capacity. Each tier exists as both a Storage Disk (inserted into a Disk Drive) and a Storage Block (placed directly on the network as a standalone block). Storage Disks are almost always the better choice, since one Disk Drive holds 8 disks in a single block.

Unlike Applied Energistics, Refined Storage has no type limit per disk. A 64K disk can hold 64,000 items spread across as many different item types as you want. Storage tiers are crafted progressively: three 1K Storage Parts combine into one 4K Storage Part, three 4K Parts into one 16K Part, and three 16K Parts into one 64K Part. Each tier also requires higher-level processors (Basic for 4K, Improved for 16K, Advanced for 64K).

Fluid Storage

The mod also provides fluid storage in four tiers: 64K (64,000 mB), 256K (256,000 mB), 1024K (1,024,000 mB), and 4096K (4,096,000 mB), plus Creative. Fluid Disks work the same as item disks and fit in the same Disk Drive (just toggle the Disk Drive to fluid mode). Access fluids through a Fluid Grid. Fluid storage is especially handy for Lava, Water, or liquid outputs from other tech mods.

Disk Drive

The Disk Drive is the heart of your storage. It holds up to 8 disks and has built-in filter options: whitelist or blacklist items, set access type (insert only, extract only, or both), toggle between items and fluids, and adjust priority. Higher priority means items flow into this drive first. A fully loaded Disk Drive with eight 64K disks gives you 512,000 items of storage in a single block.

External Storage

The External Storage attachment lets you connect any external inventory (Chests, Barrels, Storage Drawers, or machines) to your network. Place it on the side of an inventory block and your Grid will see its contents. This is perfect for bridging Refined Storage with other storage mods or for including machine inventories in your searchable network. Uses 6 FE/tick.

Grids: Accessing Your Network

Grids are the terminals you interact with to view and manage items in your network. The basic Grid (2 FE/tick) lets you search, deposit, and withdraw items. It supports sorting by name, quantity, ID, or last modified, and can sync its search bar with JEI for instant filtering.

The Crafting Grid (4 FE/tick) adds a built-in 3x3 crafting area that pulls ingredients directly from your network. This is the terminal most players use as their daily driver, since you can both access storage and craft from one interface. The Fluid Grid (2 FE/tick) provides the same functionality but for fluids. The Pattern Grid (4 FE/tick) is specifically for creating autocrafting Patterns, which you will need once you set up Crafters.

Networking & Cables

Every device in Refined Storage must be connected to the Controller, either by placing blocks directly adjacent to each other or by using Cables. Cables cost 0 FE/tick and can be run along walls, ceilings, and floors. The Cable recipe yields 12 at a time, making them cheap to produce in bulk.

For aesthetics, you can cover Cables with Facades. Craft any block with an Iron Nugget to create a Facade that disguises the cable as that block. Use Hollow Covers to let cables pass through while still showing the facade. The Wrench can right-click Facades to pop them off, and can rotate blocks by right-clicking them.

Item & Fluid I/O

Importer & Exporter

The Importer (1 FE/tick) pulls items from an adjacent inventory into the network. Attach it to a Chest, Furnace, or any machine output and it will continuously drain items into your storage. The Exporter (1 FE/tick) does the reverse: it pushes items from the network into an adjacent inventory. The Exporter requires you to set a filter specifying which items to export; it will not move anything without one. Both support whitelist/blacklist filtering and upgrade slots for Speed and Stack Upgrades.

Think of Importers and Exporters from the network's perspective. The Importer imports into the network; the Exporter exports out of the network. The blocks even look like Hoppers pointing in the correct direction to help you remember.

Constructor & Destructor

The Constructor (3 FE/tick) places blocks from your network into the world. Set a filter for which block to place, and it will continuously place that block in front of it. It can also be set to drop items instead of placing blocks. The Destructor (3 FE/tick) breaks blocks in front of it and absorbs them into the network. It can alternatively be set to pick up dropped items instead of breaking blocks. The Destructor supports Silk Touch and Fortune Upgrades (Fortune 1, 2, or 3), making it a powerful tool for automated ore processing.

Interface & Fluid Interface

The Interface (2 FE/tick) serves as a general-purpose bridge between your network and external piping systems. Items piped into it are automatically imported into the network. You can also configure export slots so the Interface keeps specific items in stock, allowing other mods' pipes or Hoppers to extract them. The Fluid Interface works the same way for liquids. These blocks are essential for connecting Refined Storage with other automation mods.

Autocrafting

Autocrafting is one of Refined Storage's most powerful features. It lets you request any item from your Grid and have the system automatically craft it, including all intermediate components. Setting it up requires three things: a Pattern Grid to create Patterns, Crafters to execute them, and a Crafting Monitor to track progress.

Creating Patterns

Open the Pattern Grid and lay out a recipe in the crafting area just as you would in a Crafting Table. Place a blank Pattern in the input slot and click Create. The Pattern now stores that recipe. There are two pattern modes: Crafting (for standard crafting recipes) and Processing (for machine recipes like smelting). In Processing mode, you manually define the inputs and outputs, since the system cannot auto-detect machine recipes.

Crafters

Insert completed Patterns into a Crafter block connected to your network. Each Crafter uses 4 FE/tick base plus 1 FE/tick per Pattern inserted. For standard crafting Patterns, the Crafter handles everything internally. For Processing Patterns (like smelting), you need to point the Crafter at the machine: place an Exporter on the machine's input side (filtered to the raw material) and an Importer on the output side. The system will then push raw materials into the machine and pull finished products back into the network.

Multi-Step Crafting

The real power of autocrafting is chained recipes. If you request Oak Doors but only have Oak Logs, the system will first craft Oak Planks from the Logs, then use those Planks to make the Doors, all automatically. As long as every intermediate recipe has a Pattern in a Crafter somewhere on the network, the system will figure out the full crafting chain. The Crafting Monitor shows each step in real time so you can track progress or cancel stuck tasks.

Wireless & Remote Access

The Wireless Transmitter lets you access your Grid without walking back to it. Place the Wireless Transmitter on your network (it connects only from below) and craft a Wireless Grid to carry in your inventory. The base range is 16 blocks, and each Range Upgrade adds 8 blocks. The Wireless Transmitter supports up to 4 Range Upgrades, giving a maximum range of 48 blocks. Each Range Upgrade adds 8 FE/tick to the transmitter's power draw.

The Wireless Grid itself has a battery capacity of 3,200 FE and must be charged in any FE-compatible charger. There is also a Wireless Fluid Grid and a Wireless Crafting Monitor for remote fluid access and crafting task management. Creative variants of all wireless items have infinite energy.

Network Transmitter & Receiver

For truly long-distance networking, the Network Transmitter and Network Receiver pair lets you bridge two networks across any distance within the same dimension. Craft a Network Card, bind it to the Receiver by right-clicking, then insert the card into the Transmitter. The Transmitter uses 64 FE/tick, which is significant, but it eliminates the need for running cables across your entire world. This is ideal for connecting a remote mining outpost or Nether base back to your main storage.

Portable Grid

The Portable Grid is a self-contained storage terminal. It has its own battery (3,200 FE capacity) and a single disk slot. Insert a Storage Disk and you have a portable backpack-like inventory that works completely independently from your main network. It supports both items and fluids. The Portable Grid can also be placed as a block, and creative versions have unlimited power.

Utility Devices

Disk Manipulator

The Disk Manipulator transfers items between Storage Disks and the network in bulk. Place a disk in the input slot and choose whether to insert its contents into the network or extract network contents onto the disk. This is much faster than manually moving items through a Grid, especially when migrating between disk tiers or consolidating storage. It supports Speed and Stack Upgrades for even faster transfers.

Storage Monitor

The Storage Monitor displays the quantity of a specific item on its face, similar to a Storage Drawer. Shift-right-click to open its configuration, then assign an item to track. In survival mode, left-click to pull a full stack, shift-left-click to pull a single item, and right-click to insert. This is great for commonly accessed materials like building blocks that you want quick physical access to.

Detector

The Detector (2 FE/tick) emits a Redstone signal based on how many of a specific item are in the network. Set it to emit when the count is above, below, or equal to a threshold. This is incredibly useful for automation: trigger an Exporter when you have too much of something, or activate a farm when supplies drop below a set amount.

Relay

The Relay passes network connections through itself and can be toggled with a Redstone signal. This lets you enable or disable sections of your network on demand, which is useful for managing power consumption or isolating parts of the system during maintenance.

Security Manager

On multiplayer servers, the Security Manager controls who can access your network. Insert Security Cards configured for specific players to grant or restrict permissions. Without a Security Card, other players cannot interact with your network's devices.

Crafter Manager

The Crafter Manager (8 FE/tick) provides a single interface to view and manage all Patterns across every Crafter on your network. Instead of checking each Crafter individually, open the Crafter Manager to see every pattern in one scrollable list. This becomes essential once your autocrafting setup grows beyond a handful of recipes.

Upgrades

Most devices accept Upgrades in their upgrade slots. The base Upgrade item is the foundation, and all specialized upgrades build on it. Speed Upgrades increase the operation speed of Importers, Exporters, Constructors, Destructors, and Disk Manipulators, at an additional cost of 2 FE/tick each. Stack Upgrades let these devices process entire stacks at once instead of individual items, at 12 FE/tick each. You can combine Speed and Stack Upgrades together for maximum throughput.

Range Upgrades extend the Wireless Transmitter's reach by 8 blocks each, costing 8 FE/tick per upgrade. Crafting Upgrades (5 FE/tick) allow Exporters to request autocrafting when the target item is not in stock. The Silk Touch Upgrade (15 FE/tick) and Fortune Upgrades (10/12/14 FE/tick for levels 1/2/3) are exclusive to the Destructor, letting it break blocks as if using enchanted tools.

Configuration

Refined Storage's server config file lets you customize energy usage for every single device and upgrade. You can also disable energy usage entirely by setting the Controller's "useEnergy" option to false, which makes the entire mod function without any power source. This is useful for skyblock packs or early-game scenarios where power generation is not yet available.

The client config offers a few quality-of-life options for the Grid: detailed tooltips that show extra item information, large font mode for stack quantities, and the option to prevent Grid sorting while holding Shift (enabled by default, which prevents accidental re-sorts while bulk-moving items). The autocrafting calculation timeout defaults to 5,000 ms and can be increased if you have very complex recipe chains that need more processing time.