Chunk Loading Block...and completely understanding them...

[Cast]

Hello world,

I'm new to Tekkit and have to say this has been a great revitalization to my Minecraft play. A friend of mine started a small (5 person) server and we are having some fun going through the pack and experimenting/building. I have tried, on my own, to hammer down answers and details about things I am unsure about, but as this is a growing and complex mod I understand that information is constantly changing.

I have been searching through the wiki and forum posts to understand the purple chunk loading block - and the answers I keep finding are non-definitive and seem unreliable. I check the dates for the forum posts and the information I provided below is the most recent related topics I could find about them.

So here is what I know :

- The wiki simply says, "This block is part of AdditionalPipes and has strange ability to keep the chunk that it is in loaded. This keeps your machines running even when you are not logged in (SMP) as well as when you are far away from your machines. " A noob, like me, reading that would think that only the chunk the block is in would be kept loaded"

I have also found other information which throws a wrench in my cognitive gears :

- The chunk loading block keeps 5 chunks active. The chunk it is placed in and the 4 adjacent chunks ( like a plus sign)

- The chunk loading block keeps an area of 160 blocks around it active because the block acts as simply another player, and by default the game loads chunks based off of the default view distance for Minecraft.

- The chunk loading block keeps a 9x9 area active (poster was possibly confused by the now-disabled world anchor blocks?)

There are also some additional questions I wanted to ask about the chunk loading blocks :

- You can see the chunk lines with the mini-map feature. If one were to place a chunk loading block directly on a chunk line...which chunk would it keep active? Both...or neither? Does it have to be actually inside the chunk itself and not on the border to function?

- Also, I have read that the chunk loading block does not currently work with railcraft. Is that still true? Which mod packs does the chunk loading block work with?

If anyone can answer these questions for me, update the wiki, or possibly point me to some information that I might have overlooked then I would be very appreciative! As far as the rest of the mod pack goes, I have been having a blast! We had a little trouble with teleport pipes and the buildcraft pipes spitting out blocks and crashing the server (from 2 quarries working overnight), but I was able to track down information and fixes for those topics. Somebody should update the wiki's though with a disclaimer to not leave quarries running or just simple things to watch out for and not make mistakes. Seems like everybody that is new to tekkit makes that same mistake and has pipes spitting out items at unloaded chunks.

Anyway, I digress. Thanks to anyone who can shed some light and confirm the simple facts about chunk loading blocks.

~Cast Don't sign your posts

[The_DarthMoogle]

Chunk lines occur between blocks. So where the centre of the + shape is depends on which side of the line.

Quarries need to be properly covered by chunk loading blocks, or they will only dig in the loaded chunks.

Good luck finding a server with these enabled.

Wait for Railcraft anchor blocks, they're a lot less demanding on the system.

[bonfire01]

Railcarts have a tendency to despawn when they go out of player view range even when there are chunloading blocks present although chunkloading blocks seem ok for keeping signal blocks awake.

Chunkloading blocks work fine to keep IC2 power flowing, BC pipes pumping and IC2/BC/Forestry machines running. They'll also keep redstone circuits running, including RP2 wires and gates.

The only things they don't do (off the top of my head) is keep railcarts loaded and they won't cause chunks to tick. So nothing will grow in a chunk if it's only kept going by a chunkloading block. This means they aren't properly effective for keeping automated farms (be they forrestry or self made) running.

IIRC the newest version of additionalpipes renamed them to tethers and they'll cause chunks to tick, so might be in tekkit 3 when it comes out, as will presumably be railcraft anchors.

Just as an FYI chunloading blocks aren't that big of a deal for stress on the server as long as people aren't sticking massive solar arrays or other stupid crap in them. The area they load is tiny compared to a player being there. the bigger issue most of the time is ppl chunloading, say, a quarry then letting all the stuff it digs up leave the chunkloading boundry in a pipe and it all falls on the floor slowly killing your server .

[Cast]

Okay so...thats good info. But still a little confused. I think you answered one question for me. The chunk loading block can't be on the line...it has to be on one side or the other? Also, just to clarify, the information I have been reading about a chunk loading block activating 5 chunks is correct and not just 1 like the wiki suggests?

Also still curious about their other limitations. So stuff doesn't grow with a chunk loading block in them? Anything else? I've read in other places about redpower computers and pump limitations.

[Gristle]

in game pressing F9 will show the chunks and surrounding chunks that are loaded. F9 puts a blue outline of the chunks at eye level of the player with a red outline in the center.

[Toraxa]

It's not possible to place the block on the line, because there is no line. Each chunk is 16x16, the next block starts the next chunk. The block will always be in one chunk or another, and that chunk is the center even if the block is on the edge of it's area.

The new version, called the teleport tether, loads a 3x3 area. Unfortunately the wiki for additional pipes has no previous versions listed, nor history going back far enough, to see the specifics of it, though I would assume it's likely the cross design was the way it worked, as 9x9 is very unlikely due to it being a much larger area than the new, improved version is, and it'd cause quite a bit of unnecessary loading in SMP worlds.

[silver593]

The chunk loading block loads the chunk its in and the 4 adjacent blocks. By pressing F9 it will show you a grid of the currently chunk loading block affected chunks

[Cast]

Excellent. Thankyou all I think I completely understand now.

Just one additional question to add-on to all of this. I have read that some machines will keep a chunk loaded. This seems to be an unknown/unconfirmed factor. Does anyone know if this is true or not and a list of machines that keep a chunk running? Or none at all? I havn't found any machines that keep a chunk active. At least not to my knowledge. The reason I am curious is because if certain machines do indeed keep a chunk running, I don't want to go through the necessary overkill of placing a chunk loading block as well.

[bonfire01]

AFAIK no machines keep chunks loaded full stop. Teleport pipes USED to keep chunks loaded in earlier additionalpipes versions but in the one in tekkit only chunloading blocks do the trick.

On the question of pumps i've found them to be a little tepremental with chunk loading blocks when i'm grabbing oil out in the ocean but that might be because part of the oil reserve is'nt inside the chunkloading boundry. Hard to see with it being underground and all. As far as redpower computers go..... not sure. They aren't in tekkit yet and teekit 3 will presumably have tether blocks instead which work differently in the way tyhey keep chunks loaded.

[FarkDerpMan]

Okay, so... The block keeps 5 chunks loaded in a plus shape. Each chunk is a 16x16 square. This block will keep your machines running.

But if you wanna load a quarry, just make sure that the whole pipe line (where the items go.) Are loaded.

Otherwise the items will fall on the floor and eventually kill the server.

You can press I think F9 by default and it will show the boundaries that are loaded.

The blue line squares with a small red square in them are loaded chunks.

[silver593]

Excellent. Thankyou all I think I completely understand now.

Just one additional question to add-on to all of this. I have read that some machines will keep a chunk loaded. This seems to be an unknown/unconfirmed factor. Does anyone know if this is true or not and a list of machines that keep a chunk running? Or none at all? I havn't found any machines that keep a chunk active. At least not to my knowledge. The reason I am curious is because if certain machines do indeed keep a chunk running, I don't want to go through the necessary overkill of placing a chunk loading block as well.

Its a little buggy. Sometimes it keeps all the machines running sometimes it doesnt. Its been working perfectly for me though with A clean Vanilla install.

[Throh_stonebeard]

I also have a question about chunk loading blocks(thanks for the above info btw)

If i place a chunk loading block nexy to energy condensers, antimatter relays etc (basically a klein star charger or a dark matter farm) will it still produce EMC?

[firstdeathmaker]

yes, they will. (based on my own experience on my own tekkit server).