The Best Resource for Minecraft
The Best Resource for Minecraft

Ranged Pumps Mod Wiki

Ranged Pumps is a specialized utility mod that adds a high-efficiency, long-range liquid pumping system to Minecraft, capable of clearing massive lava lakes or water bodies and replacing them with stone to maintain world stability.

7 sections · 757 words

Overview#

Ranged Pumps is a streamlined technical mod designed to solve the problem of large-scale fluid collection. Unlike traditional pumps that often leave behind flowing liquid source blocks (causing significant server lag) or have limited reach, the Ranged Pump operates across a massive horizontal and vertical area. It is the only block added by the mod, focusing entirely on providing a reliable, configurable, and performance-friendly way to power your base with lava or gather water for industrial processes.

A Ranged Pump block placed in the Nether, actively pumping a large lava lake

The mod is highly compatible with energy systems (Forge Energy) and fluid transport mods, making it a staple for players using Refined Storage, Mekanism, or Thermal Expansion. It features a unique scanning algorithm that searches for liquids in a spiral pattern and replaces them with stone blocks to prevent the creation of infinite flowing liquid streams.

Blocks#

The Pump

The Pump is the singular block added by this mod. It serves as the harvester, storage tank, and fluid distributor all in one.

Property Value
Hardness 3.8
Blast Resistance 19
Tool Required Pickaxe (Stone or better)
Internal Tank 32,000 mB (32 Buckets) by default
Energy Buffer 32,000 FE (Forge Energy)
Default Range 64 blocks in every direction

Behavior:

  • Placement: The pump should be placed at least one block above the liquid you wish to collect. It scans downward from its own Y-level.
  • Redstone Control: By default, the pump requires no redstone signal to run. Applying a redstone signal (via lever, torch, or wire) will immediately pause the machine.
  • Auto-Pushing: The pump is designed to automatically eject its stored fluids into any adjacent fluid containers (tanks) or pipes. It can push to the top, bottom, or any side.

Mechanics#

Scanning and Range

The Ranged Pump uses a sophisticated scanning logic to ensure it captures every available liquid block within its reach:

  1. Horizontal Scan: It searches in a rectangular spiral shape starting from the block directly beneath it. It expands outward until it reaches the configured range (default 64 blocks in each direction, creating a 129x129 area).
  2. Vertical Scan: For every horizontal coordinate, it scans vertically from one block below the pump all the way down to Bedrock.
  3. Nearest-First: The pump always prioritizes the closest liquid blocks to minimize the time spent searching.

Liquid Replacement

To prevent the performance issues associated with "flowing" liquid physics, the pump replaces every source block it removes with a Stone block by default. This ensures that the terrain remains solid and no new flowing liquids are generated to fill the void. This behavior can be toggled or the block type changed in the configuration.

Energy Requirements

While the pump can be configured to run for free, it typically requires Forge Energy (FE) or Redstone Flux (RF) to operate.

  • Standard Cost: 100 FE per block pumped.
  • Power Input: Energy can be piped into any side of the block using standard energy cables from other mods.

Status Monitoring

Players can check the real-time status of the pump by Right-Clicking the block. This will display a status message in the chat containing:

  • Whether the pump is currently running or stopped.
  • The current internal tank levels (mB).
  • The current energy levels (FE).
  • The specific X, Y, Z coordinates it is currently scanning.

Player checking the status of a Ranged Pump in the Nether

Recipes#

The Pump is crafted using standard vanilla materials, though it requires a pre-existing bucket of lava to initialize its internal heat/pumping mechanism.

Pump Crafting Recipe

Layer Left Center Right
Top Iron Ingot Iron Ingot Iron Ingot
Middle Iron Ingot Diamond Pickaxe Iron Ingot
Bottom Iron Ingot Lava Bucket Iron Ingot

The standard crafting recipe for the Ranged Pump

Crafting recipe for a dark blue block

Configuration#

The mod provides a configuration file (usually found in /config/rangedpumps-common.toml) that allows server owners to balance the machine's power.

Config Key Default Description
range 64 The radius of the pump's scanning area.
drainEnergy true If false, the pump will not require any power to operate.
energyUsage 100 The amount of FE/RF consumed for every bucket of liquid pumped.
tankCapacity 32000 The size of the internal fluid buffer in millibuckets.
replaceLiquidWithBlock true Whether to replace pumped liquids with a solid block.
replaceBlock minecraft:stone The registry name of the block used for replacement.

Note on Chunkloading: The Ranged Pump does not include built-in chunkloading. If you leave the area, the pump will stop working unless you use a separate chunkloading mod to keep the pump and the area it is scanning active.

Mobs, Biomes, and Dimensions#

Ranged Pumps is a pure utility/technology mod. It does not add any of the following:

  • Mobs: No new creatures or entities are added.
  • Biomes: No world generation changes or new biomes are included.
  • Dimensions: The mod does not add new dimensions, though the Pump is most commonly used in the Nether for lava collection.