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Making Minecarts more robust (pushing mobs off tracks, faster top speed etc.)

under review

Minecarts could be greatly improved if they were more robust. Currently, they are the most expensive (and time-consuming to build) transportation method, but have a number of issues:

  • A mob that gets onto the tracks will completely clog up the railway until you remove it (or it walks off). Mob AI avoiding rails doesn't work 100% of the time, and having to build fences around your railway adds to the already expensive cost.
  • There isn't a reliable way to link minecarts together. You have to deal with finicky methods of having Furnace Minecarts either push or pull other minecarts, both of which tend to come undone after a turn or elevation change.
  • Minecarts are slower than almost any other form of transportation, besides walking and llama caravans.

So here are some ways I think they can be improved:

  • When a minecart runs into a mob, it pushes (or knocks) the mob off of the track with a minimal speed loss.
  • Furnace minecarts are obsolete due to powered rails, so instead they should simply act like normal furnaces that smelt things with a GUI. Would be useful for long mining trips.
  • You should be able to properly "chain" minecarts using leads to form actual trains. The minecart at the front would control the acceleration of the entire train (in terms of slopes/powered rails).
  • Minecarts should have a solid hitbox that blocks movement, like boats. This may also fix weird bugs of minecarts stacking or passing through each other.
  • Minecart top speed should be faster on straight tracks, to make it competitive with other forms of transportation. Going around sharp (90 degree) curves could cause a large speed penalty.

TL;DR: If nothing else, Minecarts should at least push mobs off of the tracks instead of being blocked by them.

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74 Comments

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  • 1
    Registered User commented
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    I don't think furnace minecarts need to be turned into steam engines, you can just say they're "smoke engines" (the smoke moves the pistons instead of steam); just make them faster and the direction controllable. I agree with everything else, especially the speed boost and coupling. 

  • 2
    Registered User commented
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    Rails are obsolete thanks to ice and boats. Instead of forcing people to make minecarts go straight, I think minecarts should reach a top speed based on how long they've been traveling for. Maybe minecarts with mobs and resources in could travel through unloaded chunks, so resources could be sent from place to place without having to take them there manually. (I don't know how this would work but It would be gamechanging for item transport)

  • 0
    Registered User commented
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    All of these are good but I think the acceleration should be slower / gradual because its more fun that way.

  • 1
    Registered User commented
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    I completely agree! It's kinda sad to see the first form of decent transportation become obsolete...(walking does not count)  minecarts need more benefits to justify the cost and time it takes to build them!!!

  • 2
    Registered User commented
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    What about if Mojang implements, essentially, add-ons for the minecart? Like putting three iron fence next to a minecart to give that cart a front plow, like what trains have in real life to push aside small fallen trees or other debris on the track? 

     

    And for linking the carts, i propose a chain, crafted the same way a lead is, but using iron ingots instead of string.

  • 2
    Registered User commented
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    I'd like to see a high speed rail.  Faster than the current powered rail.  Make rail the fastest mode of transit again.

  • 0
    Registered User commented
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    The way rails and minecarts have been made makes them completely not worth your time right now. They are too slow, and cost WAY TOO MUCH. We need some super fast minecarts and a better design to furnace minecarts. People would use them not only for personal transportation, but for quick, efficient transportation of items. This would be slower than an elytra on average, but wouldn't be too much slower than one either. It could be the new second fastest way of travel, making the expense and time put into making it all worth it!

  • 2
    Registered User commented
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    The only thing I want is supefast minecarts. At least 16 m/s (or 32 m/s, even 64 m/s) instead of just 8 m/s
    It takes us so much time to make rails thousands of blocks long afterwards. Make it worth!

  • 1
    Registered User commented
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    It is good, but minecarts with furnace are cheaper than powered rails. Ability to use lava buckets will be good.

  • 0
    Registered User commented
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    I feel either the furnace mine cart should be converted into a mobile furnace )like your suggestion) or it should be expanded into a sorta train cart. The new functions would include allowing dispensers to insert coal/charcoal into the furnace cart, instantly powering the cart. This would allow the furnace cart to push other carts forward. 

    The furnace cart's push should be decrease so TNT carts don't explode and the train can stay closer together. 

    For pulling, I feel leads should work on the furnace carts. You can sit in cart behind the furnace cart using the lead and coal/charcoal, one in main hand and the other in offhand, to power the cart have it pull your cart. 

    This would allow a cart train to look like this. Minecart - Furnace cart - Chest cart - Chest cart - etc. giving players another way of transporting themselves and items. It also gives another alternative to powered rails and the necessity of gold farms.  

  • 3
    Registered User commented
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    Many of these comments are very long, to sum a few good ideas up for voting purposes, here it goes.

    1. Linkable minecarts to create trains

    2.Must use a Furnace minecart to pull trains, otherwise they are too heavy to pull even on powered rails

    3. Trains should push mobs of the track & deal damage.

    4. The top speed of individual carts & trains when combining various fuels & powered rails must be increased to make the cost of railways more worthwhile & travel across vast distances much more tolerable.

    5. The addition of more specialty cart variants like the blast furnace & smoker, & other contraptions frequently needed while mining will make trains more usable.

    6. Update the Rail variants & mechanics. For example: Diagonal rails instead of the right~left~right elbow joint rails, dedicated rail switching mechanics, ect.

    7. Finally, paintable carts for aesthetics & organization of trains/railways. 

  • 0
    Registered User commented
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    That's a great idea! I just think that furnace minecarts should load the chunks they're in. I explain it better here, if you wanna check...

  • 1
    Registered User commented
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    why not somehow be able to link minecarts together with maybe the new chain block

  • 0
    Registered User commented
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    I think furnace carts would be very useful if they made minecarts linkable; they may be slow, but they could make it so their speed depends on the fuel used (or just make them faster as a whole idk) and it’s cool and cheaper for progression before getting powered rails / cool for trains in general.

  • 0
    Registered User commented
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    I especially want the furnace minecart to smelt things, it would make life way easier!

  • 1
    Registered User commented
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    Minecart stacking is actually very useful in mob killers, as the entity cramming damage ignores armor buffs.

    If minecarts knocked entities off of the tracks, you wouldn't be able to capture entities with them.

    The minecart chainidea is actually pretty good though, though I suggest we use actual chains from the 1.16 update to do so.

  • 2
    Registered User commented
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    Something else they should add is that if you go down a steep ramp in a minecart and then all of a sudden, up a smaller ramp, then you get launched off into the distance depending on how tall the initial ramp was.

  • 1
    Registered User commented
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    Faster top speed for minecarts for PS5 and PC.

  • 1
    Registered User commented
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    Furnace minecarts would be useful early in the game before the player discovers and mines gold.  Also, they would want a way to get it back to their base to smelt it.

     

    I agree that there should be faster ways to move around land than walking/running.  

  • 4
    Registered User commented
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    Furnace minecarts dont exist in bedrock so that needs changed too

  • 0
    Registered User commented
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    Totally agree!!! Also think you should be able to put a banner in a minecart while allowing it to have something else like a player or a chest so you could, for example, indicate the destination.

    Also double chest minecarts feels like a good idea.

  • 1
    Registered User commented
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    Furnace minecarts are obsolete due to powered rails, so instead they should simply act like normal furnaces that smelt things with a GUI. Would be useful for long mining trips. there pull feature actually makes them quite usefull alongside powered rails as well as the fact that they can be used with them to act as infinite fuel 

  • 2
    Registered User commented
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    minecart is the most expensive transportation in minecraft, but also is the slowest. and it's annoying when a mob in on the track and makes your minecart stop. I agree with you said that the minecart should have a faster top speed, but also I think they should make the mobs always keep away from the rails, or kill the mob when the minecart is in  the top speed.

  • 1
    Registered User commented
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    I like the idea, but i think that because of the new nether update, chains should connect the minecarts instead of the idea of using leads.

  • 1
    Registered User commented
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    I would like to see the return of “minecarts being the best method of transport” like they were in the good old days. Minecarts are sort of obsolete, as they’re so slow and in some cases if not most cases it’s just easier and faster to sprint. 

     

    PLEASE, Mojang! Make minecarts better again. Some of us have very old worlds with long minecarts tracks in which we no longer use due simply to the fact of how slow they are now!

     

    Thank you!

  • 3
    Registered User commented
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    Minecarts should damage any mob or player in front of it whilst moving at fast speeds, afterall it is an iron minecart, pure metal. Also I'm talking 4 hearts without armor for a player and maybe 6 heart for a mob. Also also it shouldn't stop after hitting an entity it should continue with same speed or lose a little speed hitting an entity.

  • 3
    Registered User commented
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    This absolutely has to be added. There is literally no propose in using mine carts as a form of transportation for players, making them obsolete for most people who are not involved with redstone. As bonus feature, mine carts could be much faster than elytras, since it is more difficult to setup long distance mine cart tracks, than just using elytras to fly anywhere.

  • 1
    Registered User commented
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    The furnace minecart should actually "boost" the speed of minecart, stacking with powered rails.

    The overwall speed of minecarts should be boosted. Maybe having copper blocks underneath tracks could make them have the same speed as boats on blue ice.

  • 0
    Registered User commented
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    Can we have some kind of mining contraption with tnt carts that would increase the efficiency of mining, maybe we could have an observer cart that works with tnt carts instead of needing detector rails. Maybe we could also have a dispenser cart that places down a track if the observer detects there isn't a rail in front.

  • 1
    Registered User commented
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    At this point, perhaps using chains instead of leads to connect minecarts would be great.