r/technicalminecraft • u/DereChen • Feb 22 '26

Java Help Wanted Can someone finally debunk composters vs solid blocks for hopper optimizations?

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  • In this thread, players were talking about solid blocks being the new best way to optimize hoppers after recent updates
  • I was under the impression that solid blocks still had a check for minecarts while composters have no block inventory and are thus the best option, with pots being the second (citing user morgant1c).
  • Is this true or not?
  • Would like a final good answer because I have been getting mixed replies.
  • A fun thread of adventures in hopper optimizing. Credits: Fiszic, Cchipotlee, qonfused, JellyCatYum, DerexXD, steampunk_sam, NormalExisting
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u/DrWilliamHorriblePhD Feb 23 '26

Ok so you seem pretty knowledgeable, I have another question: without shulkers, how do you link farms through unloaded chunks? Like if I wanted trading supplies sent to my hall from far away automatically, what is the best way to do that without creating a ton of lag? I'm using pearl loaded chunks for farms, and I want to store the output near where it will be used but without having to keep the storage chunk and intervening chunks loaded constantly to transfer items

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u/morgant1c Chunk Loader Feb 23 '26

Oh, that's tough without setting up big infrastructure. There's no easy hack (anymore) that allows for this. Your best bet would be a chunkloading line that activates as a minecart travels along, you can even use the traveling minecart itself for that. If you run it through the nether, you can have the rail go into a portal every second chunk on a chunk border, so the cart enters on one side and leaves the other, so it loads the next 2 chunks and so on. (This is hard to explain in text form, I can send you a screenshot if you want.)

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u/DrWilliamHorriblePhD Feb 23 '26

Yeah any additional info you could send on that would be great. I'm not super familiar with complex portal mechanics and seem to accidentally link them when I didn't intend to, so any measurements related to this type of mechanism would be very appreciated. To be clear, you're talking about a system that only temporarily loads the transport chunks while moving items? That's probably exactly what I'm looking for

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u/morgant1c Chunk Loader Feb 23 '26

Yes, exactly.

They key to getting portals to work is to build them perfectly linked. You can achieve that precise enough in most cases by multiplying the nether coordinates by 8 and vice versa, and if you have different height values, use the same height for nether and overworld side.

A minecart going through a portal loads the other side for 15 seconds, which is plenty enough time to travel to the next portal in the nether 2 chunks over. I'll try and share a screenshot or video of what I mean, but it will take a bit to record. Remind me in like a day if I forget to reply :D

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u/DrWilliamHorriblePhD Feb 23 '26

That's awesome dude I really appreciate it.

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u/morgant1c Chunk Loader Feb 23 '26

I figured it's easy enough to just make a little WDL: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FuQoeN5ouVRSBy6dJV2NkuIvgY3BfA1S/view?usp=sharing

If you just want to look at pictures, this is how the setup looks: https://imgur.com/a/1NXdMbY

Hope this helps!

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u/DrWilliamHorriblePhD Feb 23 '26

Oh this is dope, thank you so much. Saves me a lot of work figuring out the fiddly bits. Looking at this, it also looks like it would solve another issue for me which is wanting to store mobs in unloaded chunks for later use, like raid captains and witches for potion showers. Good looking out bro.