Silent's Mechanisms

Overview

Silent's Mechanisms is a straightforward tech mod that adds ore processing, alloy creation, fluid handling, and energy generation to Minecraft. Unlike larger tech mods that can feel overwhelming, this one focuses on a manageable set of machines that all run on Forge Energy (FE), making them compatible with virtually any other tech mod in your pack.

The mod introduces 10 new ores, over a dozen alloy metals, 13 machines (including three types of generators), and a wire and pipe system for transferring energy and fluids. Every machine recipe can be customized through data packs, and all recipes are viewable in JEI. You can browse the complete list of items and recipes using the tabs on this page.

Ores and Mining

Silent's Mechanisms adds 10 new ores to world generation. Each ore can be individually disabled or configured through the mod's config file. All ores can also be completely disabled with a single master switch if you prefer to use another mod for ore generation.

Common Ores (Iron Pickaxe)

Copper Ore is the most abundant new ore, spawning in veins of 8 between Y=40 and Y=90 with 8 veins per chunk. Tin Ore is equally common with veins of 8 between Y=20 and Y=80. Zinc Ore and Bismuth Ore are slightly less common at 4 veins per chunk, found between Y=20-60 and Y=16-64 respectively. Bauxite Ore (which yields Aluminum) spawns in 6 veins per chunk between Y=15 and Y=50. All five of these require only a Stone Pickaxe (harvest level 1).

Rare Ores (Iron Pickaxe or Better)

Silver Ore and Lead Ore require harvest level 2 (Iron Pickaxe) and are moderately rare at 4 veins per chunk. Silver spawns between Y=0-40, while Lead is found between Y=0-30. Nickel Ore and Platinum Ore are the rarest, with only 1 vein per chunk each. Nickel veins of 6 appear between Y=0-24, and Platinum veins of 8 appear between Y=5-20. Uranium Ore is the most elusive, spawning only 1 vein of 4 between Y=0-18.

Ore Processing Pipeline

The core of Silent's Mechanisms is its ore processing chain. Rather than smelting raw ores directly (which gives a 1:1 ratio), the Crusher lets you extract more value from each ore block. The standard pipeline runs: Ore → Crusher → Ore Chunks (2x) → Crusher → Dust → Furnace → Ingot. This effectively doubles your ingot output per ore mined.

The Crusher is unique among the machines because it supports up to four outputs per recipe, each with a configurable drop chance. This means crushing certain ores might give you bonus materials alongside the primary output. For example, crushing an ore might yield 2 Chunks with 100% chance plus a bonus Cobblestone with a 10% chance.

Alloys and the Alloy Smelter

The Alloy Smelter combines multiple input materials into a single alloy output. It accepts up to 4 input items simultaneously and uses ingredient counts, meaning you can specify recipes that require 2 Copper Ingots and 1 Tin Ingot to produce Bronze, for example. The default process time is 400 ticks (20 seconds), though this can be modified per recipe via data packs.

The mod includes a wide range of alloys covering common modded Minecraft metals. Bronze (Copper + Tin), Brass (Copper + Zinc), Electrum (Gold + Silver), Invar (Iron + Nickel), and Steel (Iron + Coal) are all available. More exotic alloys like Signalum, Lumium, and Enderium are also included, providing cross-mod compatibility with packs that use these materials.

Available Alloys

The full list of alloys includes: Redstone Alloy, Refined Iron, Compressed Iron, Bronze, Brass, Invar, Electrum, Steel, Bismuth Brass, Aluminum Steel, Bismuth Steel, Signalum, Lumium, and Enderium. Each alloy has its own Ingot, Nugget, Dust, and Storage Block forms. The Alloy Smelter is the only way to produce these materials, so it becomes essential once you move past basic ore processing.

Machines

All powered machines in Silent's Mechanisms run on Forge Energy (FE) and accept power at up to 500 FE per tick. Machines come in two tiers: Basic machines built with Stone Machine Frames have 10,000 FE capacity, no upgrade slots, and process at 1x speed. Standard machines built with Alloy Machine Frames have 50,000 FE capacity, 4 upgrade slots, and process at 2x speed.

Item Processing Machines

The Crusher grinds items into other items, consuming 30 FE per tick. It has 1 input slot and 4 output slots to accommodate recipes with multiple outputs and chance-based drops. Available in both Basic and Standard tiers.

The Alloy Smelter combines up to 4 input items into a single output, consuming 30 FE per tick. It's essential for creating alloys like Bronze, Steel, and Electrum. Available in both Basic and Standard tiers.

The Compressor squeezes items into other items, consuming 30 FE per tick. It takes a single input (with a configurable count requirement) and produces a single output. Standard tier only.

The Electric Furnace is a powered replacement for the vanilla Furnace and Blast Furnace. It accepts any recipe that works in either, consuming 30 FE per tick. Standard tier only.

Fluid Processing Machines

The Mixer combines up to 4 input fluids into a single output fluid, consuming 100 FE per tick. Each tank holds 4,000 mB. Fluids can be loaded via Buckets, Canisters, or Pipes.

The Refinery takes a single input fluid and splits it into up to 4 output fluids, consuming 100 FE per tick. This is the machine you'll use to process Oil into Diesel and other products.

The Solidifier converts fluids into solid items, consuming 50 FE per tick. It accepts one fluid input and produces item outputs.

The Pump picks up fluids from the world and stores them in its internal 4,000 mB tank. It costs 500 FE per bucket collected, with a base range of 3 blocks horizontally and 64 blocks vertically. Range Upgrades extend the horizontal reach by 2 blocks each.

The Drying Rack

The Drying Rack is unique among the mod's machines because it requires no energy at all. Place raw meat on a Drying Rack to turn it into Jerky (a food item), or place Rotten Flesh to create Zombie Leather. Four Zombie Leather can be crafted together to make one regular Leather, giving you a renewable leather source from Zombie farms.

Drying Racks come in all six wood variants (Oak, Birch, Spruce, Jungle, Dark Oak, and Acacia), though the wood type is purely cosmetic. The default process time is 400 ticks (20 seconds). Since they require no power, you can set up as many as you want right from the start of the game.

Power Generation

Silent's Mechanisms provides three generators, each suited to a different stage of progression. All generators output energy at up to 500 FE per tick to adjacent blocks or connected Wires.

Coal Generator (Early Game)

The Coal Generator produces 60 FE per tick from any vanilla furnace fuel. It has a small internal buffer of 10,000 FE, which means it will pause generation when full and resume when energy is drawn. This is your starting generator and will power Basic-tier machines comfortably. A single Coal Generator can sustain two Crushers running simultaneously at their 30 FE/tick draw.

Lava Generator (Mid Game)

The Lava Generator produces 100 FE per tick from Lava, with a 50,000 FE internal buffer and 4,000 mB tank capacity. It consumes Lava at a rate of 1 mB every 5 ticks. Lava can be fed in via Buckets, Canisters, or Pipes. If you have a Pump set up near a lava lake, you can create a self-sustaining power system. This generator outputs nearly double the Coal Generator's power, making it ideal for running fluid processing machines like the Refinery and Mixer.

Diesel Generator (Late Game)

The Diesel Generator is the most powerful, producing 120 FE per tick with a 50,000 FE buffer. It consumes Diesel fuel at 1 mB every 10 ticks, making it very fuel-efficient. Diesel is produced by refining Oil in the Refinery. To use this generator, you'll need a complete fluid processing chain: find Oil (spawns in lakes similar to Lava lakes), pump it, refine it into Diesel, then pipe the Diesel to the generator.

Energy and Fluid Transport

Wires

Wires transfer Forge Energy between machines and generators. Each wire connection can transfer up to 1,000 FE per tick, and the wire network stores 1,000 FE per wire block in the connected network. Use the Wrench to cycle wire connection types between input, output, or bidirectional. This lets you control the direction of energy flow in your network.

Pipes

Pipes handle fluid transfer between machines, tanks, and pumps. Each pipe connection transfers 10 mB per tick, with each pipe section holding 1,000 mB of internal storage. Pipes work with any Forge-compatible fluid. Connect a Pump to fluid machines via Pipes to automate fluid transport.

Canisters

Canisters are stackable fluid containers that hold 1,000 mB each (one Bucket). Unlike Buckets, Canisters stack, making them far more practical for transporting large amounts of fluid. Fill them in a Pump or any fluid machine's output slot, and use them in any machine's input slot. Empty Canisters are returned as container items when used.

Battery Box and Energy Storage

The Battery Box stores up to 500,000 FE with transfer rates of 500 FE per tick in both directions. It has 6 internal slots where you can insert battery items to increase its effective capacity. The block model visually displays how many batteries are installed (0-6), so you can see the fill level at a glance.

Battery Boxes are ideal for buffering energy between generators and machines, especially if you have intermittent power sources. Place one between your Coal Generator and your processing machines to store excess energy during idle periods and release it during heavy processing loads.

Machine Upgrades

Standard-tier machines have 4 upgrade slots that accept Machine Upgrade items. Each upgrade modifies the machine's performance, but most also increase energy consumption. Stack multiple upgrades of the same type for stronger effects.

The Processing Speed Upgrade adds +50% processing speed per upgrade but costs +50% more energy per tick. Four of these will triple your processing speed but also triple your energy consumption.

The Output Chance Upgrade adds +10% to all chance-based outputs (particularly useful in the Crusher) at a +25% energy cost. If a Crusher recipe has a 50% chance secondary output, one Output Chance Upgrade raises it to 60%.

The Energy Efficiency Upgrade reduces energy consumption by 15% per upgrade with no downside. This is the only upgrade that actually saves energy, making it excellent for machines that run constantly.

The Range Upgrade extends the working range of the Pump by 2 blocks per upgrade at a +15% energy cost. This is only useful in the Pump.

Fluids and Oil Processing

Silent's Mechanisms adds four fluids: Oil, Diesel, Ethane, and Polyethylene. Oil spawns naturally in underground lakes (configurable, default 1 in 6 chunk chance, compared to Lava lakes at 1 in 80). Oil is the raw resource that feeds the entire fluid processing chain.

To collect Oil, place a Pump near an Oil lake and supply it with power. The Pump will extract fluid from a 3-block radius (expandable with Range Upgrades) and store it in its internal tank. From there, pipe the Oil to a Refinery to break it down into useful products like Diesel. Diesel is the primary fuel for the Diesel Generator, your most efficient power source.

Ethane and Polyethylene are gaseous fluids that cannot be placed as blocks. They exist as processing intermediates and can be stored in Canisters or machine tanks. The Mixer can combine multiple fluids together, while the Solidifier converts fluids into solid items.

Machine Tiers

The mod uses two machine tiers that determine a machine's capabilities. Understanding the differences helps you plan your progression and decide when to upgrade.

Configuration

Silent's Mechanisms has a config file in the config folder with several useful options. The ore world generation master switch lets you disable all ore generation at once if you're using another mod for ores. Each individual ore can also be toggled or tuned by adjusting vein count, vein size, min/max height.

The fluid generator injection volume controls how much fluid generators consume per operation (default 100 mB). Lower values reduce waste but cause more frequent on/off cycling, which may impact performance. The Oil lake spawn chance is also configurable, with a default of 1 in 6 chunks. All machine recipes can be added, removed, or modified through standard Minecraft data packs.