Getting Started (Logistics Pipes)

''This guide is currently being written by. Please don't touch anything yet!''

Introduction
You have probably heard about it. Maybe you are currently playing Infinity Evolved Expert Mode, or Infinity Evolved Skyblock, and you want to autocraft items because doing 20 crafting steps manually just to get a Hardened Jetpack becomes boring after a while. But Applied Energistics is so expensive! You will need something to automate crafting a long time before you can afford the required wrench. So people have been telling you to use Logistics Pipes.

Or maybe you're just bored of using AE all the time and want to try something different for a change?

But this mod seems daunting. So many different pipes and modules with strange names - what is a "polymorphic item sink"? Or a "satellite pipe"? And you don't know how anything works either. How do you even get items out of a machine to transport it to a chest? How can you autocraft items with it? How do I use modules and upgrades? What pipes do you have to use for what? This guide will teach you the most important things you should know to use Logistics Pipes effectively.


 * This guide assumes that you are using the latest version of Logistics Pipes, as it is currently used in 1.7.10 FTB modpacks. Logistics Pipes depends on BuildCraft. Other mods used in this guide include Thermal Expansion and Dynamics, Storage Drawers, Iron Chests, Ender Storage and MineFactory Reloaded.

About the mod
Logistics Pipes (LP) is an add-on to BuildCraft. The original aim of the mod was to greatly improve the functionality and usefulness of BuildCraft's various transport pipes. However, after many continuous improvements, LP now only uses BuildCraft pipes in crafting recipes anymore. It can still be used together with BuildCraft pipes, of course, but in most cases that is not optimal.

The mod is a solid item transport and routing system with many neat tricks. You can use it to automate crafting and machines, keep certain items stocked, and remotely order items from your storage. It can handle items as well as fluids, can transport RF and EU power, and it even has special handling for Forestry's bees and Thaumcraft!

Everything in LP is about automating item transport. The transport and sorting works with both the push and pull principles. Push means that items can be simply inserted into the LP network and it will find a suitable destination; pull means that an item is requested at a specific destination, and the LP network will try to find an inventory which contains the item, then send it on its way. The automated crafting systems can handle both regular crafting recipes and machines well.

LP can also be very compact. Almost all of the functional pipes that the mod offers are also available as a module which can be used in a Logistics Chassis, a special type of pipes with varying amounts of module slots. With these modules it is possible to fit up to 8 pipes into one! There are also some modules that don't have a pipe equivalent, so their function can only be used in a Chassis.

Preparations
Before you begin with LP, you should get some power. Whether you want to use RF or EU does not matter, LP accepts both - but it will definitely require some power.

It is highly recommended to also make an Assembly Table and a few Lasers (and enough power to run them), as you can save resources by using chipsets instead of ingots or gears to craft functional Logistics Pipes. Later you will learn how to keep a few chipsets stocked so you don't have to wait so long for the chipsets to finish.


 * BuildCraft-compatible wrench
 * Logistics Power Junction
 * Unrouted Transport Pipe
 * Basic Logistics Pipe
 * (Soldering Station)

A wrench is necessary to do almost anything with Logistics Pipes. A Crescent Hammer or Buildcraft's own Wrench will do the job nicely. Unlike other mods, to open the GUI of the mod's special pipes you will need to right-click it with the wrench - be sure to keep it handy!

Like an ME Network, a Logistics Pipes network will not simply work as it is. It requires power, which is supplied with a Logistics Power Junction. As mentioned, this device accepts either RF or EU power and will convert it to Logistics Power, which is transported and used by most pipes. An LP network does not need much power and can be used quite early, but power requirements rise together with the size of the network. You will only need one Logistics Power Junction as long as everything is connected to it.

Unrouted Transport Pipes are the simplest and cheapest pipes. They serve only to transport items and Logistics Power; they don't have any special functions and can't connect to machines or inventories.

The Basic Logistics Pipe is the most important pipe you will use. They are used to connect to machines and chests - which means that you will need to connect your Logistics Power Junction with a Basic Logistics Pipe. They are also responsible for routing your items to the correct destination. Unrouted Transport pipes will send items in random directions if they intersect - that's why Basic Logistics Pipes have to be placed at every intersection!

Lastly, the Soldering Station is required to craft some of the more advanced Logistics Pipes items. You will not need it in the beginning but if you have the materials to make one then it's a good idea to do it. It uses Logistics Power, so you just need to connect it anywhere in your LP network with a Basic Logistics Pipe.

Tip: LP pipes show red corners when something is wrong, e.g. when you used an Unrouted pipe at an intersection, or when the system has no power:



Item storage
The first thing you want to have in your Logistics Pipes network is item storage. LP is mostly about transporting items to specific places, so it needs a place to store items - and take items out of.

You can use all normal inventories to store items. Iron Chests, JABBA's Better Barrels and MFR's Deep Storage Units are good storage options. An especially good option is Storage Drawers since you can connect dozens of drawers with the Storage Drawer Controller and thus only need one pipe to connect a large storage system.

ItemSinks
The various ItemSink modules are used to designate storage destinations - a place to sink items into.

Normal ItemSink
The Basic Logistics Pipe and its module equivalent for use in a Logistics Chassis, the normal ItemSink module, can be used to choose up to 9 specific items which will be sent to the connected inventory. But more importantly, you can use it to set a default route, which is used to set a place for items that don't have any other place to go to.

To set a default route with a Basic Logistics Pipe, open its GUI with your wrench and click the button on the bottom right. If you are using the ItemSink module, open your Logistics Chassis' GUI and place the module inside, then click the exclamation point button that appears next to the module slot. The same GUI that the Basic Logistics Pipe has will open. Alternatively, you can right-click while holding the module in your hand to open the GUI, then insert the module into the Chassis by right-clicking the pipe with the module.



You should always have a default route available - if there is no available destination for an item, it will get stuck and eventually drop out of the pipes! A simple chest is fine for that purpose if you check it regularly.

If you click the Import button, the first 9 items in the inventory will be inserted into the GUI as ghost items. This is useful to set a destination for specific items.

But especially if you are using chests, you probably don't want your items thrown into random places - which is what happens if you only use default routes. They need to be sorted. And using tons of ItemSink modules to set each item manually is much too tedious. There are better ways to do that.

Mod based ItemSink
Especially if you are playing with many different mods, it's a good idea to sort your items by mod. The Mod Based ItemSink module does just that. This is very useful for mods where you have a large amount of different items, but only a small amount of these items is actually stored.

The GUI of the Mod Based ItemSink looks like this:



Simply insert an item that belongs to the mod you have chosen and insert it into the item slot (it will become a ghost item), then click the Add button to add the mod to the list. I used my Crescent Hammer to add Thermal Expansion to the list - now all items that belong to Thermal Expansion will be sorted into the connected chest.

This module and all other special ItemSink modules are not available as a dedicated pipe and thus must be used in a Logistics Chassis.

Polymorphic ItemSink
It has a complicated-sounding name, but the Polymorphic ItemSink module's function is simple: It sorts items that are already present into an inventory. This is useful for inventories that keep large amounts of a single item, like Better Barrels or Deep Storage Units. If you are using Storage Drawers, you can use a Polymorphic ItemSink for the Drawer Controller, and all items that are already stored in the Storage Drawer system will be sorted into it.

This module doesn't have a GUI.

A few other ItemSink modules are available. You can sort items after Ore Dictionary aspects with the OreDict ItemSink module, sort by Creative Mode inventory tabs with the Creative Tab Based ItemSink module (despite the name, it also works in Survival), and even Thaumcraft Aspects with the Thaumic Aspect Based ItemSink module. Also, there are special ItemSinks for enchanted items (Enchantment Sink module and its MK2 version) and for Forestry's Bees (BeeSink module).

Inserting items into an LP network
Now that your LP system knows where to store items, you just need to insert items that are to be stored.

Machines that have automatic output, like Thermal Expansion machines, can insert items into a Basic Logistics Pipe and the LP network will find a suitable place for them. Of course many machines don't have that luxury. And you probably want to have a "dump chest" into which you can simply put all unnecessary items that clutter your inventory and have them sorted into your storage.

To extract items from machines, you can use the various Extractor modules. There are 6 of them: the normal Extractor modules MK1, MK2, MK3 and the Advanced Extractor modules MK1, MK2 and MK3. The difference between normal and Advanced is that the latter also feature a whitelist or blacklist for items. MK1 Extractor modules are very slow as they only extract 1 item every 5 seconds; MK2 is a bit faster and extracts one item every second. The MK3 is much faster as it can extract a whole stack every tick.

But there's a better option for your "dump chest": the QuickSort module. Unlike the Extractor modules, which just throw everything into your LP network without checking if there's a valid destination, the QuickSort module looks for an available destination before sending items away. It will ignore your default route. This means that items which can't be sorted will just stay in the "dump chest".

This module has some other useful applications too, which will be mentioned later.

Requesting items
You can go to your chests and drawers to take items out, but as your base becomes bigger it's just a hassle to have to run there all the time. Wouldn't it be much better if you could have items come to you instead? Well, you can do that!

But before that, your LP network will need to know where to take items out from. It already knows where to send items, but it doesn't remember the items it sends into an inventory.

Provider module
If the network is supposed to see the items in the inventory, you will have to use a Provider Logistics Pipe or a Provider module. Both pipe and module have a MK2 version which is faster.

The Provider module/pipe's GUI looks like this:



The Switch Button on the left changes what the Provider module/pipe does with the items in the inventory. Normally it will just provide everything in the connected inventory, but it can also leave the first or last stack (or both) in the inventory, it can leave 1 item per stack, and it can leave 1 item per type. The last option should be chosen when used together with a Polymorphic ItemSink so that at least 1 item is still left. If using barrels or drawers, you can lock them to only accept one specific type of item (shift-rightclick a barrel with an empty hand or rightclick a drawer with the Drawer Key) - so you can just use Normal mode; it's not necessary to leave an item because the inventories themselves have this function.

If you're using storage for large item amounts, like barrels, Deep Storage Units or Storage Drawers, it's a good idea to use a Logistics Chassis MK2 with a Polymorphic ItemSink module and a Provider module MK2.

Now you just need something to actually order the items to come to you.

Request Logistics Pipe
You can request items with the aptly named Request Logistics Pipe (or its faster MK2 variant).

This is its GUI:



The search box is active when you open the GUI, which makes it easy to order a specific item quickly. You can use the Sort button to toggle different sortings (ID, name, stored amount etc.).

Use the various +/-&nbsc;buttons to choose the amount you want to request. The + button will increase the amount by one, the ++ button by 10, and the +++ button by 64; the same applies to the - buttons. After you have chosen the amount, simply hit the Request button, and the item(s) will travel to the Request Logistics Pipe... then drop onto the ground. You can put a chest next to the pipe if you don't want requested items to be dropped.

Of course, the Request Logistics Pipe can only see items from inventories which are connected to the network with a Provider module or pipe.

Now this pipe allows you to order items, but you will still need to go to one of these pipes. You can of course place one of them in every room, but what if you're outside your base? Let's do this remotely.

Remote Ordering
You can order items remotely with the Remote Orderer and Remote Orderer Logistics Pipe. Rightclick the pipe with the Remote Orderer item. Now you can remotely order items to the pipe - but the items will still only go to the pipe, not to you. But we can do something about that - EnderStorage to the rescue! Put an Ender Chest next to the Remote Orderer Logistics Pipe (don't forget to make it use a private channel by right-clicking the lock with a diamond!), then Shift-rightclick the Ender Chest with an Ender Pouch to link it. Now you can order items with the Remote Orderer and take the items out of your Ender Pouch.

Opening the Remote Orderer will consume some power from the Logistics Power Junction - 1 Logistics Power per block distance to the Remote Orderer Logistics Pipe, and an additional 2500 Logistics Power if you're in another dimension (this will require your base to be chunkloaded). This means that it effectively has a range cap of 2 million blocks as this is the amount of LP stored in the Power Junction. Actually ordering items does not consume power though.

Now let's make crafting items a bit easier.

Logistics Request Table
If you have used Applied Energistics before, you probably know its ME Crafting Terminal. Inserting an item recipe into the GUI via NEI is a really nifty feature, right? It's a very simple form of autocrafting: you supply the recipe and the network will provide the necessary items so you don't have to drag stuff around anymore. Logistics Pipes can do this too - with the Logistics Request Table, which is crafted in the Soldering Station.

It includes a normal Request Logistics Pipe interface, as you can see in the GUI:



The request interface can be hidden with the hide button at the top.

To insert a recipe into the crafting grid, open the table's GUI (you don't need a wrench for this), then choose a recipe via NEI and Shift-click the question mark button next to the recipe. It will be inserted as ghost items. When a valid recipe is in the grid, you can order the materials needed for one item with the + button. You can also order the materials necessary to craft 10 or 64 items with the ++ and +++ buttons, respectively. Ordered materials will be put into the inventory that's displayed below the crafting grid. Once everything has arrived in the inventory, you can craft the items by clicking the recipe grid's resulting item slot above the + buttons. Pressing the X button will clear the recipe.

If you insert items into the marked "Sort" slot, they will be sorted into an available inventory.

(From personal testing I can say that the tilde (~) button does the same thing as the + button: order materials for one item. I don't know what the dark grey button above the sort slot does at all, just that you can insert an item into it. I'd appreciate if someone who knows more told me on my talk page! -)

Now you can sort items into your inventories, request them from storage, and craft items more easily. But you still need to actually craft them, that needs to be automated too!

Automated crafting
To automatically craft items, the Crafting Logistics Pipe or Crafting module are used. Both have MK2 and MK3 versions which can craft items faster. They can be used for both machines and normal crafting grid recipes.

Throughout the entire automation chapter, we will work towards the final goal of automatically crafting a Basic Logistics Pipe after the recipe in the Infinity Evolved Skyblock modpack:

This will require
 * several crafting grid recipes;
 * Redstone Furnace automation to make Glass with Sand;
 * Pulverizer automation to make Sand from Cobblestone, Pulverized Obsidian, and Lead Dust;
 * Induction Smelter automation to make Hardened Glass;
 * Assembly Table automation to make Golden Chipset.

I chose this recipe because it requires several different machines to create. Ample opportunities to learn new things!


 * If you have Infinity Evolved or Infinity Evolved Skyblock installed, I'd be happy if you created a new world in Creative Mode and followed along! Make a tiny LP network with a power junction (connected to a creative energy cell) and a Logistics Request table. Add some small item storage (diamond chest and a Logistics Chassis with a Provider module and an ItemSink module set to default route) and put some materials in (oak wood, redstone, diamonds, cobblestone, obsidian, gold ingots, lead ingots). Now just get some pipes and a wrench into your hotbar and you're all set! (Of course you're free to follow along in Survival mode too - or not do it at all. Your choice!)

Crafting Grid autocrafting
You can use other mods' automated crafting tables with Logistics Pipes just fine, but the simplest (and probably fastest) option is to use LP's own Logistics Crafting Table. Place it down and open its GUI; you will see a normal crafting grid and a small inventory into which items can be placed. Now, like with the Logistics Request Table, you can insert a ghost item crafting recipe with NEI by Shift-clicking the question mark next to a recipe. First, we will need to create Oak Wood Planks (or whatever else wood you have available en masse):



This is Expert Mode, so a block of Oak Wood only yields two pieces of Planks. You can see that a faint picture of the Oak Wood is displayed in the table's inventory, but that is of no consequence.

Now, connect a Logistics Crafting Pipe to the table and open its GUI with your wrench, then click the "Import" button:



As you have noticed, using the "Import" button will import the recipe that is entered into a connected Logistics Crafting Table. The "Open" button will open that table's GUI, which may seem silly and unnecessary, but is incredibly helpful once you have a big wall of 200+ tables and pipes. Now what does that "Satellite" stuff do? Be patient just a little longer, we'll use that for the machine autocrafting a lot!

Let's check our Request Pipe/Table and search for "planks". You will see that Oak Wood Planks are available, even if you order everything you have stored. Now click the "Both" button at the bottom left - it will now say "Craft" and list all crafting recipes that are available. Now you will only see the planks, but the list is going to grow. If you click the button again, it will say "Supply" and only list items that actually exist in your storage, without crafting recipes.

Like a Request Logistics pipe, the Crafting Logistics pipe orders items from your storage, just automatically - so don't forget those Provider modules!

We will need some more Crafting Tables and Pipes to continue. Go ahead and set these up while I go get some coffee:


 * Stick
 * Redstone Torch
 * Cobblestone Transport Pipe
 * Diamond Transport Pipe
 * Basic Logistics Pipe

Mmm, coffee. You're done already? Great. Now your little setup is probably going to look a bit like this:



Do you know which crafting recipes I have put into which tables/pipes? Of course not. Now what would happen if you had 200 of these? Total chaos. Hope you never have to change a recipe.

But how about this?



Much better! Now you can easily see which item is crafted where. You can add these crafting signs with the Crafting Sign Creator. Just right-click a Crafting Logistics Pipe with this tool and it will add a sign that displays the output.

Of course you're not able to craft the Basic Logistics Pipe straight away - several ingredients are still missing. Now we will need to automate machines.

Automating machines
Now let's see what that Satellite stuff is for!

Redstone Furnace
You can theoretically just put a Crafting Logistics Pipe next to a Redstone Furnace, add a recipe (like Sand to Glass), set the Furnace's side and you're done.

But there's a problem: the furnace's input slot only fits up to one stack of an item. What if you need to make more? The items will be sent to the destination anyway, but if the slot is full, they will just be rejected and sent back to storage. Then one item has finished smelting, another item can fit into the input slot, and all the items in the queue will be sent to the furnace again, just to be rejected again.

And this is where we are going to use the Satellite Logistics Pipe. (Finally!) This pipe, used together with a Crafting Logistics Pipe, can be used to designate a different place for crafting materials to go to. This means ingredients will not be sent to the Crafting pipe, but to the Satellite. This enables you to use a buffer chest for the Redstone Furnace, like here:



Oh I forgot to add Servos, hope nobody notices...

After you have placed the Satellite Logistics Pipe down, open its GUI with your wrench and give it an ID (not zero). This ID is global, not per-network, which can be confusing in Multiplayer when the first non-zero ID that is availabe is something like 37.

Then open the Crafting pipe's GUI, put a piece of glass in the Output slot and put a piece of sand in the marked Satellite section. Choose the Satellite ID that belongs to the Furnace's buffer chest. Double-check if necessary. (Of course it's not necessary if you only have one Satellite.)

Even if 10 stacks have to be crafted, the ingredients will be sent to that chest, so items won't be sent back and forth anymore.

Note: when using Thermal Expansion machines, set the side that is connected with the Crafting Logistics Pipe to "all I/O", the little square with 4 dots at the corners. That's because the Crafting Pipe has to pull the items out so that the LP network notices that the item has been successfully crafted. If you set the side to Output (orange) then the items will instead be pushed into the network by the machine and then sorted, while the crafting pipe still waits for the items that it will never be able to pull out.

(To be continued - more images to come as well!)

Tips and tricks

 * One interesting aspect of Logistics Pipes is that you can use it together with other item transport pipes, like Thermal Dynamics' Itemducts - using Warp Itemducts will greatly speed up your network! However, you will still need to use Basic Logistics Pipes. Other mods' pipes can only replace Unrouted Transport Pipes.
 * You can use Applied Energistics storage with Logistics Pipes. Simply connect a Logistics Chassis MK2 with an ItemSink (set as default route) and a Provider Module to an ME Interface. Your LP network will be able to see the entire inventory of your ME system!