XNet Mod

The XNet Mod adds a single type of cable: the network cable. Using network cables, you can instantly transport items, liquids, energy and information. The main focus of this mod is efficiency and versatility. Effective in being able to create huge cable networks (tested with two chests separated by a 12000 block long cable) without lag. The cables themselves are not even brick entities. The flexibility is that the controller allows for truly flexible configurations for information delivery.

Mod type:

Technology

XNet Mod Feature

Introduction

XNet is a mod that transports items, liquids, energy, and information that is geared towards efficiency. The cabling system is designed in such a way that you can create huge cabling systems without any cost. Cable (example) is not a stack entity and has a very simple model. This makes transporting items over a 12000 block long cable just as efficient as doing it on a 5 block long cable.

Network

The core of this mod is a network. A network is basically a single piece of connected cables that are connected (via connectors) to different blocks (chests, machines, …) and a controller. The block does the actual work for that network through the controller.

Channel

Each network can have up to 8 channels. Each channel has a type (energy, item, fluid, logic, …) that you can configure in the controller. Depending on the type of channel and the machines connected to it, different things can happen.

Connect

To connect to your computers, you must use bridges. Through that connector, different channels (even with different types) can do their job. Conventional connectors only allow access through the side where you are placing the connector. i.e. for vanilla kiln it means that with normal connector you can only get melting result by placing the connector at the bottom of the furnace.

Using the advanced connectors, you can overcome that limitation and access the underside of the oven from any other side. Advanced Connectors have other advantages. They allow higher rates of item and liquid transfer (minimum 10 ticks per operation instead of 20) and can store more RF (meaning they can also transmit more RF).

One warning: the advanced power connector still cannot extract power from the other side. The reason for this is in fact the generator/manufacturer itself pushed the power and it won’t do it through the other side. However, inserting the energy to the other side still works.

Cables and Colors

Cables (and connectors) can come in four different colors. They are used to be able to distinguish multiple separate networks that are adjacent to each other (to prevent cables from connecting). The controller will adjust its color with the first color cable it can find around it and then remember that (unless that color is completely removed).

Logical channel

Logic channels are special. First, one must know that every network has seven colors (don’t confuse these with cable colors) that are turned on or off. By default, all colors are disabled. Each connector (in the controller GUI) can be configured to only work when certain (up to four) colors are active. Using logic channels and sensors, you can (based on different conditions) trigger colors.

For example:

You might have a sensor that detects how much RF is left in the machine. And if that number goes below 1000, turn on ‘red’. Then another sensor can detect if there is enough coal in the chest and if it is, turn ‘green’ on. You can then have an item channel that transports coal to the coal generator but only if both ‘red’ and ‘blue’ are enabled. So that means: turn on the coal generator only when the power is low and there is enough coal. The sensors themselves can also be turned on/off based on color.

Routing network

If you want to exceed the 8-channel limit or want to connect multiple separate networks, you can create a ‘routed network’ using a router. A single router is enough to connect up to six channels (the six edges of the router), but using routing cables and routing connectors you can also create a routed network from routers. Routing. Note that on a routed network, you can only have 32 published channels.

Named channel

Inside the controller GUI, you can give the channel a name. This name is not used anywhere except for routers that are attached directly to this network via a connector. Only named channels are visible locally in the routing GUI.

Published channel

Each named channel can be published on a routing network (or with a router). By giving it a published name, this has to be done in the routing GUI. The published name is the name by which the channel will be known on the routing network. Note that types are also considered. You have another published channel named ‘foo’ for liquids on the same network and a published channel named ‘foo’ for items, but they only count as one channel for gender. channel limit and will not interact.

Transfer items and liquids

One thing to keep in mind is that the transfer of items and liquids is always instantaneous. There are never items or liquids ‘inside’ the network. If there is no room for items or liquids to travel in the network, they will not leave their destination.

Devolution

Power transfer works differently. As Forge Energy and RF are ‘push’ systems and the connector needs to have RF storage inside. The enhanced connector can store more than the regular connector, which means it can also transmit more. When you have a power channel that distributes power to different machines then first the power has to go to the connector (pushed by the generator) and then it can be routed to all the machines that need it. .

Use energy

The controller needs power to do this. There are basically three areas of power consumption:

Powerdrain is constant: by default this is set to 0
Constant power per active channel: by default this is set to 1
Powerdrain per operation: by default set to 2
Basic Instructions
Make the following setup:

Establish

The goal is to make sure the top chest always contains at least one furnace of this setup. That’s the only thing this does. As soon as you pull out that furnace, it will start producing another one. To do this, a craftsman is used that is fed from the chest itself (it contains cobblestone). Builders need energy too (and so does the operator). The chest on the left contains coal for the coal generator. The system ensures no coal waste. It will only insert charcoal if this is necessary. The crafter and controller’s energy buffers are also not completely filled.

Power management first:

Energy Mining

In this connector we just need to extract whatever power comes from the coal generator. This is then distributed to the controller and crafter. In these connectors, we also set the maximum (not visible because the input element for the maximum is too small in this version) so as not to waste power unnecessarily:

Insert into controller

To produce energy, coal generators need coal. Let’s see how this is handled. First we take the coal out of the chest. Only do this if ‘green’ and ‘red’ are both enabled. We’ll see when they’re activated later in this guide, but basically they’re only activated when we don’t have enough energy and when there’s enough coal:

And here we insert coal:

Insert coal

There is a logic channel to measure initial energy production and it also senses whether you have a furnace in the chest. The first is the sensor to check if we need power and have enough coal:

Electrical sensor

If there are less than 2 furnaces the other sensor will be on:

Furnace detector

Channel 4 will move cobblestone from the chest to the crafting machine as long as blue is on. The blue color will be disabled as soon as the builder builds the furnace:

Move gravel

Channel 5 is simple and simply moves the generated furnace from the crafter back to the chest.

Routing Guide

It’s not a complete guide yet, but here’s a possible setup:

First, there are three local area networks, each limited to eight channels (for items, energy, fluids, logic). There are green, red and yellow channels. The green and red channels are connected to router A. So they are local to that router.

In fact, one router is enough, possibly to connect different channels. You can also produce green and red channels and connect them together. In addition, there is also an additional special network yellow that connects to router B. It is a remote network from the point of view of router A. To provide channels to other controllers, you must export copy them in the router to which they are also connected. In addition, the channel must also have a name in the controller.

Update History

Version	Date	Size
1.20.1	Jun 20, 2023	506.7 KB
1.19.4	Mar 28, 2023	506.4 KB
1.19.2	Jan 22, 2023	511.7 KB
1.19.2	Aug 6, 2022	513.5 KB
1.19.1	Jul 26, 2022	513.5 KB
1.18.2	Mar 25, 2022	515.4 KB
1.18.1	Jan 5, 2022	512.7 KB
1.16.5	Dec 16, 2020	525.2 KB
1.16.4	Nov 13, 2020	529.0 KB
1.16.3	Sep 15, 2020	529.4 KB
1.16.2	Aug 21, 2020	523.7 KB
1.14.4	Dec 1, 2019	498.0 KB
1.12.2	Dec 27, 2017	400.8 KB
1.12.2	Jul 10, 2017	397.4 KB
1.11.2	Mar 3, 2017	305.2 KB