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Let's talk about the Crafter!

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Do you smell that? The sweet scent of a brand-new update! Minecraft Update 1.21 was announced at Minecraft Live last weekend and today, we're bringing you one of new features in snapshot, preview and beta. Introducing the Crafter, a new block that, combined with a redstone signal paves the way for autocrafting! 

Development on the Crafter and 1.21 is still underway, which is where your feedback comes in! We want to hear all of your thoughts and suggestions, as well as answer the following questions:

  • How do you feel about the comparator signal used for the Crafter?
  • In general, how do you feel about the use of toggleable slots with the Crafter -  is it easy to understand how to toggle the slots?
  • What do you think of the Crafter visuals?
  • Is the visual feedback when the Crafter is powered and in use easy to understand? 
  • What do you think about not having the recipe book in the UI like with the crafting table?
  • What do you think about the recipe used to make the Crafter - is it well balanced? 
  • Do you feel this block is accessible for non-technical players? If not, how would you improve that?

Once you've tried it out for yourself, let us know what you think in the comments! 


How to test new Minecraft Features: 
https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/testing-new-minecraft-features

Latest Changelogs:

You can find all previous changelogs in the Knowledge Base in the Snapshot Information and Changelogs or the Beta and Preview Information and Changelogs categories. 

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  • 4
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    I think you should be able to trigger the Crafter via Quasiconnectivity/BUD-switch.

  • 3
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    I like the new crafter, but it would be better, if you could select a recipe

  • 1
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    • How do you feel about the comparator signal used for the Crafter?

    I like the comparator signal, but there can be some improvement. There need to be a way to check, if there are enough items in the crafter so you can craft without loosing the recipe

    • In general, how do you feel about the use of toggleable slots with the Crafter -  is it easy to understand how to toggle the slots?

    yes, very easy

    • What do you think of the Crafter visuals?

    don't care about visuals

    • Is the visual feedback when the Crafter is powered and in use easy to understand? 

    yes

    • What do you think about not having the recipe book in the UI like with the crafting table?

    I don't like it. If it had the recipe book like the crafting table, it would be useable as an alternative to the crafting table being able to store items when you are making a complex crafting recipe, what I always end up with. I don't think it makes the crafter usage too easy as it only puts the items into the crafter, it wouldn't lock to that recipe.

    • What do you think about the recipe used to make the Crafter - is it well balanced? 

    As others already suggested I really like the idea of letting it cost exactly one diamond (and other things of course). I think though, the recipe is already balanced as early game there is not much iron, only when you have your first few farms.

    • Do you feel this block is accessible for non-technical players? If not, how would you improve that?

    I think it is pretty easy to tinker compacting recipes like iron blocks

  • 1
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    As others already said, there need to be a way to detect, if there is enough for two crafting recipes. Others already suggested having the power "10" reserved for there being two recipes. I like that idea but I have an idea of my own:

    • add +2 for every stack containing at least 2 items
    • add +1 for every stack containing exactly 1 item (even non-stackables)
    • add +2 for every locked slot
    • subtract 3

     

    that way, s crafter has signal strength 15 when every slot has at least 2 items but less else. The smart compactor would still work with this setup (as long as it crafts fast enough).

  • 3
    Registered User commented
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    Comparator behavior should not be different from other things. At least it should be able to output signal 15 to make it possible to work with it in compact and not laggy way. Also it has to have the behavior similar to dropper, including being able to power it via powering the block above (quasi-connectivity)

  • 2
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    Crafter this is a wonderful item for advanced players, with this block it will be possible to build many automatic farms and mechanisms.

  • 1
    Registered User commented
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    I really like the crafter as it is simple to use but hard to master, I don't think it needs a recipe book but I do think a craftable "template" might not be a bad idea e.g. a 4x4 of iron. The only thing I wish it had was a way to purge any items currently within it. Say you start a multi step automated Redstone contraption to make something like golden carrots, you can  input the 1st 4 nuggets, then the carrot and the last 4 nuggets after that, but if it is out of Carrots the machine wont restart without the manual removal of the initial nuggets.

    To remedy such a thing I have an idea,  I feel it could do with a Shift + Right click function to eject any items currently within so you can effectively reset it so it can start again.

  • 1
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    I think the crafter is great, but I think it could be balanced a bit more:

    1) The recipe should be more costly as the crafter is such an overpowered block. Maybe throw in a diamond or 2 in the recipe somewhere (I mean the jukebox that just plays music discs costs a diamond). And since iron is kind of easy to come by with iron farms, maybe make it cost iron blocks too?

    2) Also, maybe it should require a fuel source (like the brewing stand requires blaze powder) to help balance the use.

    3) Maybe add a way to craft up to a stack at a time since spamming smaller recipes may lag games (maybe the fuel like I noted above is only needed when crafting full stacks, but for single recipes you don't need fuel).

    4) Also the particles it produces seem to be kind of a lot, especially when spamming recipes, which may cause lag (especially if there are tons of crafters). Maybe decrease the particles, or maybe make a button in the interface to toggle them on/off.

    5) Also this one is kind of far stretched, but I feel like the crafter should be more of a late game block, which is why I noted diamonds and maybe iron blocks in the recipe. But, maybe to also force it to be more late game, players have to do something to actually unlock it's recipe. For example, maybe they have to find a blueprint in an ancient city that unlocks the recipe, or they have to complete an advancement. Things like that, that make it more difficult to obtain.

  • 5
    Registered User commented
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    I'd really like to see a way to either lock in a whole crafting recipe or at least lock a slot for a particular item. People have been noticing that hopper chain feeds aren't dependable and the items inside tend to get scrambled up when they make it into the Crafter.

  • 6
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    After playing with it for about 5 hours, I can give helpful feedback here. First, Thank you for implementing this amazingly requested block to the game. I can't say it more times, but the amount of hours this saves me in the game is just astounding. 

    Now for the actual feedback:

    -The signal strength is quite useful and easy to understand, from 1-9. However, I'm not really sure if I preferred 1-15, since that would be easier to do some setups like automatic block crafters. But this is not a problem, not at all. There's ways to do it too, is just different. Imo, I prefer it like the current implementation.

    -The fact that it behaves like a dropper is really really useful, and whoever made the crafter the ability to be placed in any orientation, chef kiss.

    -The ability to such items from inside is just so good, this allows generic recipes which always have been my fear when suggesting an autocrafter for vanilla. I always thought it was going to be like mods and only allow for one recipe, but no, this is so good for advanced redstone.

    -The fact that has no cooldown is so good, not so useful since you cannot really use that in many scenarios, but it's really nice that it actually can work with a 20hz clock.

    -It works like a trapdoor in the sense that it gives an observer signal when powered, that's somehow useful. Although it would be even more useful if it gave block updates like the noteblock!

    -My only complaint about the crafter is that is not easy to understand where is facing. 

  • 4
    Registered User commented
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    Following my previous post, what I mean with no easy to understand where is facing is that from above and below, you cannot really see it. The two dots above In the crafting grid shows the non experienced user where it should be aiming to, but no, it's the contrary. The dots are meant to tell you where is not facing, and that's not a nice thing IMO. And as I said, being able to see where the crafter is facing from below is a good thing that sadly is not here yet and it would be nice to see in game. If not, resourcepacks can always fix this.

     

    Lastly, speaking from Java here, it would be amazing if MTE (Movable tile entities) Parity with bedrock was added in this version. Due to the tinkering part of the update, it would fit perfectly, and since the crafter is a tile entity, or block entity nowadays, being able to move it will add so many cool stuff to play around. We would be able to move hoppers below the crafter and that's really fun! Thank you so much for implementing the crafter. I think is the best block added to the game since the observer. 

  • 2
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    One way to make this both easier for new players and add a fun interaction players have been asking for would be through use of the copper golem.

    Instead of a clock, users could place copper buttons on crafters and craft copper golems to press them, adding a hoard of little golems "crafting" your items. This could provide a fun use to the mechanic of golem while adding new functionality for copper. It would fit brilliantly if the crafter was crafted with copper too.

  • 3
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    People suggested using the recipe book to determine what to craft, but I think a boosted comparator output could make it more intriguing.

    Currently, it gives a comparator output of 1 to 9 depending on how many slots are filled/disabled. Perhaps it could go to 10 if there are multiple of one item in every slot of the crafter, e.g. crafter to make iron blocks has one iron ingot in each slot and making a comparator output of 9, but once there are two iron ingots in each slot the comparator output becomes 10.

    All slots must have 2 items, have an unstackable item in it, or be disabled to give an output of 10.
    The 2 of an item can be of one that stacks to 64 or stacks to 16.

    With this, the recipe could be placed within already, and once a second set of items for the recipe are in will the crafter have a comparator output of 10, then get itself triggered, crafting the recipe once, keeping recipe materials within the crafter.

    Any further power would look at how full each slot is, almost as it would normally, but still with all slots.

  • 5
    Registered User commented
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    The crafter is very good, but it would be much better with a recipe lock, defining what would be crafted before the recipe started

  • 4
    Registered User commented
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    You mentioned at one point you're considering adding a recipe book to make consistent crafting easier with it. I think that'd be a better idea than just having it need items in a certain order like right now, however maybe it could instead be a thing where instead of disabling a slot on the crafter you instead "lock" it. If still empty it would work like it does now, no item will go in it, but if you put an item in a slot after locking it that slot is reserved for that item alone, always leaving one in that slot. That way if there are recipes that aren't in the book (like firework designs) they're still craftable, you have the use it currently has for a crafter that can just take in timed items and potentially it could also be used to sort items that aren't even technically a recipe (I.E. having all slots filled with different log types or stone). Not sure if that'd be possible but if so it could be similar to how the new copper lamps will be, a nice casual use for non-redstoners but a bit more depth for much more complicated builds as well. Either way excited to see where it goes :D

  • 2
    Registered User commented
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    The crafter is a fun and intuitive addition to the game. I am excited to get to use it to streamline certain aspects of the game:

    • How do you feel about the comparator signal used for the Crafter?

    I think that the comparator signal used for the crafter makes sense. I would like to suggest that if there are two items in each slot that isn't toggled off that the crafter should give off a signal strength of more than nine. I think that this is a "redstone" way of adding "recipe" functionality to the block. For example if I wanted my crafter to craft a piston, I could insert the materials required to build one into the crafter. Then I could set up redstone to activate the crafter once two items are in each slot. This would allow a hopper feeding into the crafter to put items into the correct slots without needing to order them in any way.  

    • What do you think about the recipe used to make the Crafter - is it well balanced? 

    I think that the recipe for the craft is well balanced. It requires enough materials to make it hard to use early game, but the materials used to craft it are not uncommon to have large amounts of later in the game. The crafter should not be any harder to obtain than a hopper or a observer. 

  • 1
    Registered User commented
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    • How do you feel about the comparator signal used for the Crafter?
      - I think there should be also a way to detect the amount of items in the crafter.

    • In general, how do you feel about the use of toggleable slots with the Crafter -  is it easy to understand how to toggle the slots?
      - I like the mechanic! Its easy to understand and i hope we can get this type of slot in other - old containers like Hopper, Hopper Minecart, Dropper, Dispenser, Redstone chest. So that these Blocks gets an additional use.

    • What do you think of the Crafter visuals?
      - I like it!

    • Is the visual feedback when the Crafter is powered and in use easy to understand? 
      - It's perfect!


    • What do you think about not having the recipe book in the UI like with the crafting table?
      - I think you should add it, but not that you can preset a recipe but that you can look how to craft the item that you want to auto craft! (for new players important in my opinion)


    • What do you think about the recipe used to make the Crafter - is it well balanced? 
      - currently its good. for an advanced machine you need more - other - redstone items anyways...
      - If you change it, so that it is easier to auto craft, you should make it more expensive


    • Do you feel this block is accessible for non-technical players? If not, how would you improve that?
      - I think it's as accessible as such a complex block can be, apart from the recipe book, which could be added (but only for viewing, not for setting the recipe)


      Sorry for my bad english. I hope you understand me!
  • 2
    Registered User commented
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    I think there should be a way to lock items into the Crafter to make it more accessible to casual players, since otherwise they'd use a regular crafting table to make things, and that would defeat the point of using the Crafter for automation, unless there are some new crafts coming that only a Crafter would be able to make.

    Since Honeycombs are already used to Wax Copper and lock in a level of oxidization, why not also use it to lock in crafts for the Crafter? It would be an item you need to go out of your way to get, and is thus not as easily accessible in bulk early game, and it also ties into another block's function.

    As for being expensive... If the recipe does change, it shouldn't be made to include something super rare, like Netherite Scrap or Hearts of the Sea, but an Iron Block or Quartz in the recipe wouldn't be the worst things to get, even if you would need to work to get them.

  • 0
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    I think having the crafter send off sculk vibrations would be cool, as well as making it moveable and be QC powered like droppers.

  • 2
    Registered User commented
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    I think the crafter is great, the only changes I would make are: swap out iron for copper in the recipe and add a template mode so that when the crafter gets to its last item to craft we don't lose the original recipe. I disagree that this block should be extremely expensive to craft, I think that takes the fun out of it, it is plenty expensive as is.

  • 2
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    I think it would be very useful to have the crafter work with quasi-connectivity so that it can be powered in the same ways that a dropper can. Quasi-connectivity enables creative and efficient designs and would be a helpful addition to the crafter's behavior.

    - I think having a comparator signal is useful, but I'm undecided whether 9 should be the maximum signal strength it outputs. I like the behavior of how blocked slots contribute to the signal strength, that way its possible to re-use designs that trigger based on a "full" signal strength for different recipes.

    - The toggleable slots are very useful, definitely intuitive. I prefer this mechanic over the idea of selecting a recipe which reserves empty slots for specific item types (like assemblers in factorio). Keep the toggleable slots.

    - The visuals are very cool and informative! I like how the grid on top flashes when crafting an item and the top corners flash when it gets a redstone signal! Since the texture changes every time it gets a pulse, (like observers or droppers) it's understandable that that causes observers facing the crafter to respond even when nothing is crafted. One could argue the crafter should only send observer updates when it successfully crafts an item.

    - Accessibility: The refilling slots mechanic greatly increases the accessibility for non-technical users and I think the feature will be well-received. I would however say the dropper-crafter disparity is non-intuitive.

    Thank you for your awesome work!

     

  • 3
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    Adding a recipe book for information to look up recipes. It is difficult to know alle the recipes

  • 1
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    I don't think the recipe of the crafter should be more late game. The effective use of the crafter is late game enough

  • 2
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    Why not make new template items with recipes that can be found/crafted (TBD) and when used at the crafter (maybe like banner patterns) will lock a recipe

  • 0
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    In general, I feel like the crafter is very well implemented, but if there was something I could change I'd make the player be able to take the output from the crafter with a hopper, or make the arch the crafter spouts its output  more predictable

  • 0
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    How do you feel about the comparator signal used for the Crafter?

    This is the one thing that feels wrong. I've read numerous proposals for different ways of doing it, but the 0-15 sign constraint kind of fails this block. I tend to thing there are 3 ways that make sense with different downsides: signal for the number of slots with items, signal for the number of slots with items or disabled, and 15 when all slots have items or are disabled. If it were me, I'd just added selector for the behavior in the UI.

    What do you think of the Crafter visuals?

    I love it

    What do you think about not having the recipe book in the UI like with the crafting table?

    I think the people asking for the recipe book are missing the point. I use the book when I am crafting, but if I'm building a redstone mechanism to do some auto crafting, then the book isn't that useful, since It doesn't help with building.

    What do you think about the recipe used to make the Crafter - is it well balanced? 

    Yes, I had spent some time thinking about this after watching MCL, and when I brought up the recipe in the snapshot, I was really happy. It compliments some of the other more complicated recipes nicely.

    Do you feel this block is accessible for non-technical players? If not, how would you improve that?

    Not sure. Filling it is always going to be tricky. I suppose making cells lockable not just to empty but to a certain type of ingredient would make it more accessible, which would make the recipe book argument stronger.

  • 2
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    Personally, I think that you shouldn't pick a recipe out of the crafting book. I think that you should be able to lock an item in place when it is in there. Maybe using a cobweb to lock the item in place until you unlock it. Also, I think that copper should be used in the crafting recipe instead of iron and it should have quarts in there too to make it less of an early-game item. Otherwise, this is an incredible block and I will have lots of fun tinkering with it!

  • 0
    Registered User commented
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    A different mode of comparator should measure a different aspect of the crafter

  • 0
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    Create a feature where you can input a recipe, and it becomes the exclusive recipe for crafting. For example, if you want to make an "Axe Maxine," but your "Bad Ad Reston" only knows that recipe, you can simply input the recipe and click on a new button called "Set Recipe." This will ensure that the crafter can only craft that specific item unless you click the button again.

  • 2
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    Please make it possible to lock items in the slots and add recipe book to crafter ui.