Excavators

This mod emerged from the classic "couldn't find what I wanted, so I made it myself" scenario. When I faced the need to clear massive underground areas for construction schematics, I grew tired of spending hours manually mining blocks – thus, excavators were born.

Core Functionality

Excavators automatically clear selected territories of substantial sizes. Perfect for preparing construction sites, creating underground complexes, or simply mass-removing unwanted blocks. The system also effectively handles liquids – lava and water, making it a universal tool for any large-scale earthworks.

How Resource Collection Works

All blocks destroyed by the excavator drop as items exactly as if you were mining them manually. This means you'll receive all due resources without any losses – the machine simply can't contain an entire mountain of extracted materials.

Limitations and Requirements

The mechanism requires a pickaxe that determines the speed and efficiency of excavations. The pickaxe level directly impacts performance: the better it is, the faster the process. However, if the pickaxe can't handle a block in its path, the excavator will stop and wait until the obstacle is removed.

The maximum processing zone size is a 64×64×64 block cube – this is a fixed limit that cannot be changed.

Excavator Control

The control system uses an inventory interface with simple logic. To determine the dimensions of the cleared area, any items are used – only their stack counts matter, not their type. For example, for a 1×2×3 zone, place items in ratios of 1, 2, and 3 units respectively.

In the top row, slots are distributed as follows:

• First slot: length (forward)
• Second slot: height (downward)
• Third slot: width (leftward)

Important: clearing any of the first three slots will reset all work progress. You can modify area parameters during operation if you're quick enough. The pickaxe is always placed in the center of the control panel – second row, second slot. The tool never breaks completely, stopping at the last durability point. For temporary pausing, simply remove the pickaxe – progress will be preserved.

Enchantment Compatibility

The system partially supports magical enhancements. Enchantments "Unbreaking" (up to level 10) and "Mending" work. The latter is particularly useful – pickaxes with "Mending" never lose durability when working in the excavator. "Unbreaking" functions exactly as in vanilla gameplay.

Video Demonstration