Extended Dispenser
Extended Dispenser transforms the vanilla Minecraft dispenser into an intelligent automation machine for farming, mining, building, animal handling, combat, resource collection, and XP processing.
Instead of simply ejecting items, Extended Dispensers analyze the world in front of them, choose a suitable task based on their inventory and surroundings, scan connected work areas, and process them step by step.
The mod is designed for NeoForge and focuses on compact, server-friendly automation without requiring massive redstone contraptions.
| Dispenser | Base Range / Radius | MinCount | Search Depth | Projectile Count | Smart Mode | Main Use |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glass Dispenser | Vanilla-like | Vanilla-like | Vanilla-like | Vanilla-like | No | Visual / basic dispenser behavior |
| Copper Dispenser | 1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
No | Basic single-block automation |
| Iron Dispenser | 3 |
32 |
6 |
4 |
No | Standard farms and small automation |
| Gold Dispenser | 5 |
64 |
18 |
8 |
No | Fast harvesting and medium-sized farms |
| Diamond Dispenser | 6 |
128 |
26 |
16 |
No | Large mining, building, and 3D scans |
| Netherite Dispenser | 8 |
256 |
26 |
64 |
Yes | Industrial automation and smart tool selection |
The base radius defines the normal working range of the dispenser when scanning connected blocks or farm areas.
Higher tiers can reach farther from the starting position.
MinCount defines how many valid positions the dispenser tries to collect before it stops extending the scan beyond the normal radius.
This allows stronger dispensers to continue searching until they have found enough valid work targets.
Search depth controls how many neighbor directions are used during the pathfinding scan.
| Search Depth | Meaning |
|---|---|
0 |
Only the start position |
6 |
Straight-axis movement only |
18 |
Axis movement plus edge diagonals |
26 |
Full 3D movement, including all diagonals |
Projectile count defines how many projectile ticks or shots the dispenser performs during a projectile burst.
Higher tiers can fire larger salvos.
An Extended Dispenser is more than a dispenser — it is an automated tool station.
Depending on the item or tool inside its inventory and the block in front of it, the machine can automatically switch between different tasks:
The dispenser scans its environment, builds an internal task queue, and processes the detected targets over time.
When activated, the dispenser checks the block in front of it and the items in its inventory. Based on this context, it automatically selects a work mode.
With the right tools, the dispenser can mine blocks or harvest crops.
Examples:
The dispenser does not only process a single block. It scans connected valid blocks and works through them as a structured task queue.
With blocks, seeds, or bone meal, the dispenser can build or maintain farms.
Possible tasks include:
The dispenser checks whether the target position is valid, whether the ground is suitable, and whether the plant can survive at that location.
The dispenser can also interact with mobs.
Depending on the item inside, it can:
For animal farms, the dispenser scans the enclosure area and respects boundaries so that mobs outside the intended area remain safe.
Axes spare young mobs, swords kill everything.
With arrows, projectile items, or experience bottles, the dispenser can fire controlled salvos.
Higher tiers fire larger bursts per activation. The Netherite Dispenser can perform long projectile bursts, making it suitable for defense systems, mob farms, or XP-related setups.
The Netherite Dispenser unlocks Smart Mode.
In Smart Mode, the machine evaluates its inventory and chooses the best available item or tool for the current task.
Smart Mode can:
This makes the Netherite Dispenser the most advanced automation tier in the mod.
Extended Dispenser supports advanced tool-based mechanics through custom enchantments and contextual tool behavior.
Ender Extraction allows the dispenser to safely extract special blocks and entities.
Supported use cases include:
Important block entity or entity data is preserved where applicable, allowing complex structures to be recovered instead of being destroyed as ordinary drops.
Direct Transfer moves drops directly into the dispenser’s internal inventory.
This helps keep farms clean, reduces loose item entities, and improves server performance.
If the dispenser inventory is full, remaining items are dropped normally into the world.
Drainage allows the dispenser to interact with fluid sources.
If empty buckets are available, water or lava sources can be collected into buckets.
If no bucket is available, the fluid source can still be removed at a higher durability cost.
Stability reduces durability loss during work.
Higher Stability levels make tools last longer and allow large automation projects to run more efficiently.
Total Universal allows broader mining behavior even when the tool is not normally ideal for the target block.
Safety limits still apply, so protected blocks such as bedrock remain blocked.
Extended Dispenser includes dynamic planting and harvesting logic.
It can recognize many plantable blocks and their valid ground types, including:
The system checks multiple conditions:
This allows the dispenser to manage farms much more intelligently than a vanilla dispenser.
Extended Dispenser uses an internal pathfinding scan to find valid work areas.
Instead of processing a simple cube, it searches connected areas based on the selected task and tool.
The scan can consider:
This makes automation more predictable and prevents the machine from blindly affecting unrelated blocks.
Obsidian can be used as a control material for limiting or shaping work areas.
A closed obsidian frame can act like a template or tunnel mask, allowing the dispenser to work only through the intended opening or shape. This is useful for mining patterns, controlled block removal, and advanced automation layouts.
The Netherite Dispenser can absorb experience from defeated mobs and store it internally.
Once enough XP is stored, it can automatically fill glass bottles and create experience bottles.
Basic flow:
Combined with Direct Transfer, loot drops can also be collected directly into the dispenser inventory.
Extended Dispenser is built around controlled, tick-based processing.
Instead of performing huge operations instantly, the machine creates task queues and processes them step by step.
Safety and performance features include:
This makes the mod suitable for survival servers and technical automation setups.
Extended Dispenser can be used for:
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OLD DESCRIPTION BEFORE 1.21.11
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The project is still in alpha status, changes can still be made.
General description of the Dispensers
With the exception of the glassdispenser, all dispensers work the same, the difference lies in the range of the individual capabilities.
the dispensers are operated like the regular dispensers with redstone ticks.
All 9 slots are fired in parallelin one tick. The trajectories of the individual projectiles scatter somewhat so that not all 9 projectiles land on the same spot.
depending on which type of dispenser fires, salvos of different lengths are fired, the salvo length is described in the individual dispensers.
with each dispenser blocks can be placed up to a certain distance. The blocks are placed one after the other at the nearest possible position.
The entire slot place Blocks as long as the dispensed slot contains the Stack and the maximum distance is not exceeded.
even if blocks have already been placed, the placement can be continued with further stacks of the same item
(the item must correspond to the block that is directly in front of the dispenser).
If the expansion of the blocks to be placed meets obsidian, the further expansion in the appropriate direction is prevented. thus, e.B walls and floors can be created.
The maximum distance is given in blocks, the area where blocks can be placed is spherical, not cubic!
If there is a tool in the slot blocks can be mined. The type of tool must be right (wood can only be mined with an axe, stone with pickaxe,... etc).
Starting from the block directly in front of the dispenser, all blocks of the same type are gradually dismantled until the tool is used up or the maximum distance is reached.
The damage to the tool per block is determined by the degradation time if the block would be dismantled by hand as well as the efficiency of the tool. The formula is:
(BlockHardness*30 /ToolMultiplier)*harvestDamageFactor harvestDamageFactor is actual 0.5
With a hoe farmland can be generated, the range depends on the respective dispenser type (its the same like mining distance).
Enchanted tools can not be used
The maximum distance is given in blocks, the area where blocks can be placed is spherical, not cubic!
A sword attacks animals and mobs within the reach of the different dispensers.
It can be wheat, potatoes, carrots,... etc. can be harvested. The sword takes differently than if you do it manually and damage it.
Animals can be fed within the reach of the different dispensers.
For placing liquids, a closed basin must be present within the maximum range. each bucket converts a flowing block into a source block.
The first source block is placed directly in front of the dispenser, followed by the algorithm of the flowing liquid.
The basin is filled from bottom to top and buckets of fish can also be placed.
As soon as the block to be placed is out of range, it is not set. You also have to wait until vertically flowing liquid touches the ground.
The range is different in horizontal and vertical orientation.
Glass Dispenser
The Glass Dispenser works like the regular dispenser,
but you can see the next item to throw through the glass.
Golden Dispenser
salvo length: 1 tick
placing Block distance and mining Block distance: 1 Block
harvest, entity hurt and feeding distance horizontal 1 Block, vertical 1 Block
placing liquid distance: horizontal 4 Blocks, vertical 8 Blocks
Diamond Dispenser
salvo length: 16 ticks
placing Block distance and mining Block distance: 4 Blocks, minimum drops: 64 items
harvest, entity hurt and feeding distance horizontal 4 Blocks, vertical 1 Block
placing liquid distance: horizontal 8 Blocks, vertical 16 Blocks
Netherite Dispenser
salvo length: 64 ticks
placing Block distance and mining Block distance: 8 Blocks, minimum drops: 256 items
harvest, entity hurt and feeding distance horizontal 8 Blocks, vertical 4 Blocks
placing liquid distance: horizontal 16 Blocks, vertical 32 Blocks
changes in V1.2:
minimum Drops changes to 64 for Diamond Dispanser, 256 for Netherrit Dispenser.
Added extruder Funttion. Simply build a template with obsidian blocks in front of the dispenser and the mold will be extruded.
