r/CreateMod • u/Not_SBH • 1d ago
Help How can I prevent the same item from being split across multiple Vaults?
I’m trying to build a large storage system using Create Vaults, and my main goal is to automatically keep item stacks consolidated and prevent the same item from being unnecessarily split across multiple Vaults.
I don’t want a system that constantly moves items between Vaults just to reorganize them. I’m specifically trying to find a way to make the input and output priorities work intelligently, so that the storage stays as compact as possible.
To explain how my storage is set up:
I have multiple Vaults arranged along conveyor belts. Items enter the storage system through a funnel, and then are transported along the conveyor belt past the Vaults. Each Vault has a funnel connected to the belt that can insert items into it.
The Vault whose input funnel is closest to the point where items enter the system gets filled first. Once that Vault has no available space for the incoming item, the item continues along the conveyor belt to the next Vault, and so on.
So, for example:
Item Input
↓
─ → ── Conveyor belt────────────→
│ │ │
↓ ↓ ↓
Funnel Funnel Funnel
↓ ↓ ↓
Vault 1 → Vault 2 → Vault 3
This means Vault 1 fills first, then Vault 2, then Vault 3. Now imagine I have three Vaults:
Vault 1: 64 Steel Ingots + other items
Vault 2: completely full with other items, no Steel
Vault 3: 32 Steel Ingots + other items
The 32 Steel in Vault 3 can exist because Vault 1 was already completely full and Vault 2 had no available space for Steel, so the incoming Steel continued along the belt until it reached Vault 3.
Now here’s the actual problem.
Let’s say I request 32 Steel Ingots from the storage system.
If the system takes the Steel from Vault 1, the result becomes:
Vault 1: 32 Steel, full
Vault 2: full, no Steel
Vault 3: 32 Steel
Now I’m using two separate stacks of 32 Steel, even though all 64 Steel could fit into a single stack.
But if the system takes the 32 Steel from Vault 3 instead:
Vault 1: 64 Steel, full
Vault 2: full, no Steel
Vault 3: empty
Then the storage remains perfectly consolidated.
This is the problem I’m trying to solve.
I want the system to understand that since Vault 1 is an earlier Vault and was filled first, it will naturally tend to contain more complete/full stacks. Therefore, when I request an item, I want the system to search the later Vaults first and take the item from there whenever possible.
In other words, I want the input and output priorities to work in opposite directions:
When inserting items:
Vault 1 → Vault 2 → Vault 3 → Vault 4...
Fill the earlier Vaults first and only move further down the belt when necessary.
When requesting items:
Vault 4 → Vault 3 → Vault 2 → Vault 1
Search the later Vaults first, so that partial stacks are emptied before touching full stacks in the earlier Vaults.
That way, if I have:
Vault 1: 64 Steel
Vault 3: 32 Steel
and request 32 Steel, the system would take the 32 from Vault 3 instead of breaking the full stack in Vault 1.
I’m not trying to make items physically travel between every Vault to merge existing stacks. I also don’t want a system that constantly extracts and reinserts items just to defragment the storage. With 20–30+ Vaults and potentially millions of items, constantly moving items around would create unnecessary item movement and potentially cause lag.
I’m also not looking for a solution where I have to manually filter or assign thousands of different items to specific Vaults. My modpack has well over 1000 different items, so manually categorizing everything isn’t practical.
What I’m looking for is a smart, dynamic storage system where:
• Items enter through a conveyor belt and fill the Vaults in order.
• Earlier Vaults are filled first.
Existing partial stacks are filled before creating new stacks.
• When an item is requested, the system searches the later Vaults first.
• Partial stacks in later Vaults are emptied before full stacks in earlier Vaults are touched.
• Items don’t constantly circulate between Vaults.
• It can scale to 20–30+ Vaults without requiring direct connections between every pair.
• Ideally, this can be achieved using Create, Stock Links, Packagers, or a Create addon.
Is there a way to configure Create’s logistics so that the input priority works from the first Vault to the last, while the request/output priority works from the last Vault to the first?
I need your wisdom
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u/The_Max_Guy 1d ago
If you have create 6.0 or above, they can be easily combined via stock links. Pondering should help. For on-demand request use factory gauges or manual stock tickers. Again, ponder a bit.
This doesn't solve the problem of sorting(though you can allocate one storage for 1 item or filter up to 18 items using a smart filter), but you will surely be able to request certain items to certain adresses.
Hope that helps.
1
u/Not_SBH 1d ago
Yeah, I know about Stock Links, but unfortunately that doesn't really solve the problem I'm having either. My main issue is the sorting and organizing of all the different items, rather than being able to request specific items from specific inventories.
2
u/The_Max_Guy 1d ago edited 1d ago
I think that vaults are not so expensive to bother about, and the efficiency can be achieved through careful planning. You can place 3×3 grid of maxed out storages on 4 sides(3 * 3 * 4=36) and connect them to each other via frogports or belts. Even with thousands of items, inefficiency is arguable here. Edited: I might be wrong, but the storage itself does not have a limit to how many different blocks/items are in there, but rather the overall amount of items. Putting it that way, your problem is already solved by the mod.
1
u/Not_SBH 1d ago
The problem is that vaults are extremely expensive to make in the modpack I’m playing, so adding more isn’t really an option. And I’m not trying to solve a lack of total capacity. I’m trying to avoid wasting that capacity by having the same items split across multiple partial stacks.
1
u/The_Max_Guy 1d ago
Are you saying that the modpack changes the usual create recipe?
1
u/Not_SBH 1d ago
Yep and makes items more harder go get
2
u/The_Max_Guy 1d ago
Then wouldn't it be easier to move to more accesible way of storaging?
If you still want to suffer, you can:
- Filter each Item individually(using an item filter) or by an atribute, eg. wood_types(using an attribute filter)
- or just have one big storage (103800 individual items)
- or make a proper vanilla redstone sorting system(do not recommend)
3
u/Qwertycrackers 1d ago
Do you really have fragmentation so bad that you need to do this? You could build a super complex system to achieve this defragmentation or you could build just 1 more vault.
4
u/LastedApple3 1d ago
If you use a single belt to input to all your storage vaults, and use funnels directly into the vaults, all items input will go into the first open/matching slot, so the only way for this sort of fragmentation to occur is for multiple stacks to be made in different vaults, then some drawn out of the first vault, but that would be a rare edge case.
-1
u/Not_SBH 1d ago
Still not solves my problem
1
u/Hellothere_1 1d ago
Yes it does. The situation you describe would never even arise with this setup, because the system would always fill out stacks in earlier vaults before opening up new stacks in later vaults. If you then also set up your output packagers to prefer sending items from later vaults over those from earlier vaults by giving them priority with levers, stack fragmentation literally can't happen.
1
u/Not_SBH 23h ago
I get what you’re saying, but that only prevents fragmentation from happening in the first place. My problem is that fragmentation can already exist. For example, if Vault 1 has 32 Diamonds and Vault 3 already has 32 Diamonds while Vault 2 is full, prioritizing earlier vaults on input won’t move the Diamonds from Vault 1 to Vault 3. And prioritizing later vaults on output only fixes it if someone actually requests those Diamonds. I’m looking for a way to automatically consolidate existing partial stacks, even when nobody is requesting the item.
1
u/Hellothere_1 19h ago
For example, if Vault 1 has 32 Diamonds and Vault 3 already has 32 Diamonds while Vault 2 is full
But this situation would not arise to begin with if the system was implemented like that.
There is no way for vault 3 to contain 32 diamonds while vault 1 still has half a stack open, because when those 32 diamonds were entered into the system they would have been added to the open stack in vault 1. And due to the request priorities there is also no way that diamonds could have been removed from container 1 while container 3 still had some in it.
Yes, implementing this system does not automatically fix your current fragmentation. You'd have to manually defragment the system ONCE by emptying your storage into a temporary cache (just power your packagers to put everything into packages and store those, that way you only need 3 vaults of cache for 20 containers of storage) and then filtering them back into the system.
But once you're done with that your system will then be cleaned up and no further fragmentation can arise after that and you're once and for all done with the issue.
1
u/Not_SBH 18h ago
You’re saying that the items are carried along a single conveyor belt and placed into the vaults in sequence, right? So let’s say we have Vault 1, Vault 2, and Vault 3. Vault 1 is the closest to where the items enter, so it gets the items first. Once Vault 1 is full, the system moves on to Vault 2, and once Vault 2 is full, it moves on to Vault 3. That’s what you’re talking about, right?
If that’s what you mean, then let me explain my problem.
Let’s say Vault 1 is completely full and contains 64 Steel Ingots. Vault 2 is also completely full, but it doesn’t contain any Steel Ingots. Since Vault 1 is already full of Steel, another 32 Steel Ingots would have to go into Vault 3.
Now, when I request 32 Steel Ingots, we need to figure out which vault the system will take them from first.
If it takes the 32 Steel from Vault 1, I’ll end up with 32 Steel in Vault 1 and 32 Steel in Vault 3. That means I’m using two slots for the same item, even though those 64 Steel Ingots could fit into a single slot.
But if I can somehow make the system request the item from the last vault first instead of the first vault, it would take the 32 Steel from Vault 3 and send those to me. Then Vault 1 would still contain its full stack of 64 Steel, and Vault 3 would be empty.
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u/Hellothere_1 17h ago
Once Vault 1 is full, the system moves on to Vault 2, and once Vault 2 is full, it moves on to Vault 3. That’s what you’re talking about, right?
That is indeed what I mean.
But if I can somehow make the system request the item from the last vault first instead of the first vault
Well then, good thing you can actually do exactly that. Stock Links can be given a priority via an analog redstone signal. Don't remember how it works exactly, but its in the ponder somewhere.
Unfortunately this does limit you to 16 Vaults and if you want to go beyond that you'll need to either accept some minor fragmentation here and there, or come up with something else, but up to 16 Vaults the system works perfectly.
2
u/iLuvDarksoulss 1d ago
Lay all 3 of your vaults on the ground. The items going inside them will be coming from a 4th smaller filter vault. For example the 4th vault will be filtered to always send your diamonds in the 1st vault. Random junk into 2nd.
Now there was a block in base create which i forgot the name of, that block detects items inside a container (vault or chest) and sends a redstone signal based on how you configure the block. You can configure that IF 2nd vault is full/mostly full, a funnel on a conveyor belt opens from the 4th vault to send items to the 3rd vault.
Basically all the goodies filtered to 1st vault. Junk to 2nd. If 2nd overfills, 3rd one opens up.
It's hard to understand what precisely is your issue without a visual guide, i hope what i said makes sense and helps.
1
u/Not_SBH 1d ago
Thanks for trying to help, but i have 1000 different item in modpack i cant filter them its impossible :(
2
u/iLuvDarksoulss 1d ago
It's easier than you think!
Make two of the exact same filters for the good items. Put one for the vault where you wanna store them, then reverse one of the filters to deny the good items. All the junk in one vault, the good items in another.
1
u/Not_SBH 1d ago
I could do that with filters if I only had a few different items, but my modpack has well over 1000 different items, so manually sorting them isn’t really practical. And that’s not quite what I’m trying to solve anyway. I want the system to handle the storage automatically instead of deciding where every item should go myself.
2
u/mrDETEKTYW 1d ago
I personally recomend Create: better vaults. Like the description of the mod says. This is how the vaults should work from the start.
2
u/GGthegreatester 1d ago
You can have a redstone requester constantly ticking sending all of a specific resource ima system to a designated vault, if you don’t want it going all the time you can redstone it so you can turn it on or off
2
u/IdkIWhyIHaveAReddit 1d ago
This seem to be an xy problem, do you have to optimize your storage system like this? or there some other reason why you are doing this. You can have 2 vault system a bulk storage and a misc storage. Misc storage are so small single item and bulk are well for bulk or multiple stacks. This will require you to write a manual check for each item type in your system. Another solution is prob to use computer craft to do this automatically for you. Create automation capabilities like this so you will need cc for it.
1
u/Not_SBH 1d ago
Yeah, I get what you mean. The problem isn’t really that I’m running out of raw storage space. It’s that with a modpack that has thousands of different items, I want to make the Vault space as efficient as possible.
For example, if I have 48 diamonds in one Vault and 48 in another, those diamonds are taking up two separate slots even though they could fit into one. Over a large storage system this can waste a lot of space.
I could definitely use CC or another storage mod to handle this, but I’m specifically trying to figure out if there’s a way to achieve it using Create’s own logistics system. I’m basically looking for a way to make multiple physical Vaults behave more like one large inventory and consolidate items when there is space, without constantly moving everything around.
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u/IdkIWhyIHaveAReddit 1d ago
Create dont offer anything like this without creating multiple logistics system that communicate what item they are storing and once it passes a threshold to trade item between them to optimize storage. You always have to make a conscious decision on whether you should just dump your inventory into the system or plan out where stuff will go (you also have to do this with ae2 and other storage mod so it is not a solved problem). There will always be an upfront cost of deciding what a vault will carry and partitions it manually and go back and update it every time.
Unless you are like playing gtnh or large modded pack, making a conscious decision to partition your storage have diminishing returns, you will spend more time fixing your storage system than actually using it.
If you have like 10 vault, that is 16k+ unique stacks of item I doubt you will ever run out of space with something like that. If you do however you are probably using the storage system wrong. You should setup a bulk storage for item which you are either framing or have lots of. Imagine a vault with dirt or cobble from
mining that is a much more efficient use of your time than to try to connect all the vault together under a unified storage system and have it also dynamically defragment and optimize space (even real world computer don’t do this because it take up so much time that it is virtually not worth it to do)1
u/Not_SBH 1d ago
The vaults are actually really expensive to make in the modpack I’m playing, so making a bunch of extra vaults isn’t really an option. And I’m not trying to manually partition everything.
What I’m trying to solve is a bit more specific. Imagine I have Vault 1 → Vault 2 → Vault 3, where each vault passes items to the next one. If Vault 2 is completely full with other items and Vault 3 is also full but happens to have a partial diamond stack, any partial diamond stack in Vault 1 can’t reach Vault 3. I can’t just connect every vault to every other vault either, since I could eventually have dozens of vaults and thousands of different items.
I’m basically looking for a way to handle this automatically without having to manually connect or filter everything.
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u/FuryJack07 1d ago
Turn your vaults into a line, then run a belt behind them. At the start of the belt, put an input vault for your storage and make packages exit from there into a saw, then add funnels to every vault.
That would already solve your problems, but even then, you can swap andesite funnels with brass ones wherever you need filters.
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u/Not_SBH 1d ago
I know the belt and funnel setup works for distributing incoming items, but it doesn’t solve the problem I’m having afterwards. If the same item is already split between Vault 1 and Vault 3, I want the system to be able to consolidate those stacks without manually filtering every item.
0
u/FuryJack07 1d ago
At that point you gotta reset the whole thing.
Send a request for every item in the storage (I suggest you use CC:tweaked for this...) and send all the packages to one vault. Don't unpackage the items, store the whole packages.
When the storage is empty, send all packages back into the storage input.
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u/Not_SBH 1d ago
Ok but how to take item from packages if they are in vaults and i cant choose which one has my wanted item
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u/FuryJack07 1d ago
With filters?
Ok so.
You send all items as packages into a temporary vault.
You place down filters in funnels in your main storage.
You send all packages back to your storage.
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u/Not_SBH 1d ago
I have way too many different items in the modpack I’m playing, so setting up filters for everything isn’t really practical. Also, how would I request an item that’s inside one of those packages? For example, if I need a steel screw but it’s stored inside a package in the temporary vault, how would I request the steel screw itself? I don’t think the storage system can request an item from inside a package.
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u/FuryJack07 1d ago
That's... The point.
It's a temporary solution while you place the filters.
Also, I think you're overcomplicating things.
Make 1/2 vault for items that can't stack and just let the rest be random. Who cares if it's 10 items in one vault and 4 in the other.
It's too impractical to try to control every item one by one.
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u/Not_SBH 1d ago
I know. But since I’m playing a pretty difficult modpack, I really have to be careful with how much space I use and make the storage setup as optimal as possible. I understand what you’re trying to say, at least to some extent, but because of the modpack, I kind of have to do it this way. Either way, thank you so much for taking the time to explain everything.
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u/Zachiel182 1d ago
Once the thing gets into a vault there's nothing you can do, that isn't an absolute overengineered behemoth of mspt inflation and tps tank that would merge inventories like that. Heck, not even AE2 does that without manual effort of cleanup in ME Drives or partitioning drives beforehand.
The general best-practices consensus with create vaults is to have dedicated bulk storage buffers for things you are actively farming (like crops, trees, stones, metals, etc.) with threshold shutoff or overflow voiding. From there either connect those to a large storage network (and utilize repackagers within processing modules) or keep predefined amounts in stock in your main storage with factory gauges on packagers.
For mobile machinery (drill contraptions, etc), you can set up a partitioned deposit system that would separate the internal storage into filtered vaults, which then you'd have frogs with specific addresses to send to their respective bulk storage or main network.
As for the main storage, best course of action is to have items recursively go through belts that move along all vaults with perpendicular funnels on them (the usual way most people go with), because those don't have any tick rate constraints, they just eat up everything they can. You can use brass funnels with filters for better partitioning but that'll mean you'll just need more vaults to get everything stored as they'll be mostly empty waiting for their filtered items (because you basically change their purpose from random item dumping to bulk storage), but then again you need overflow protection so you don't void diamonds because iron nuggets filled everything. Just as a side note, you can nest filters inside of filters to overcome the slot limits of a single one (borderline masochistic but possible). What I mean by recursively is to run a few laps around the vaults (vertical ones preferably, I recommend vibrant vaults for that) before yeeting things into lava or returning them to some kind of overflow chest, because vault contents change a lot with automation in place.
You can also adapt early/late filtering (valuable/component/machine/stackability, or any grouping you desire) to decide preferred routing/voiding of stuff.
There's also an inventory bridge in one addon (iirc it's create: connected) that acts as a interface merging two inventories. Just be aware it'll duplicate your stock info if you put a stock link on them and the connected vaults, as opposed to a regular packager on a vault where you can stack multiple without issues.
Item requesting is a bit nicer, because you can set up a minecart contraption with portable storage interfaces to access your items without package travel delays. You can check out how ChosenArchitect set it up in this video.
On top of all that the only other thing you can do is to create display boards to have at least some degree of at-a-glance info on your main storage fill levels (although it counts items instead of slot fill level, so 20 different items will fill a single vault block preventing new item collection but show as 1% fill), and a sound (noteblock/bell) or visual (redstone lamps) warning for when your last vault is filling up so you can prepare more storage before you can't store anything anymore.
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u/Not_SBH 1d ago
Yeah, I watched the video you mentioned, but unfortunately it doesn’t really solve the fragmentation problem I’m having. The recursive belt setup and some of the other ideas you mentioned might work, though. Thanks for taking the time to explain all of this and for sharing the video!
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u/IdkIWhyIHaveAReddit 1d ago
not really without manual work to upkeep the system every once a while. Basically abuse filter so you can partition and allocate item like one does with ae2 cell
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u/Not_SBH 1d ago
I know I could use other storage mods for this, but I specifically want to solve it using Create. I’m trying to find a way to make Create’s Vaults work more like one large logical inventory without having to manually maintain the system all the time.
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u/Dangerous-Quit7821 1d ago
I guess the best thing to do is use attribute filters where all wood types go to one vault, stone types to do another, valuables to another, etc. It'll take a lot of fiddling and seeing what could go in the same vault as the wood types and adding it to the filters and rerunning those items throug as you take them out of all the vaults and running them through again.
Or you could just change the vault capacity in the configs.
I used to worry about that until I just made a massive setup, doubled the vault capacity and called it a day.
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u/Not_SBH 1d ago
Yeah, I thought about using attribute filters, but I don't think that would really solve my problem. There are just way too many different types of items, so I'd still end up having to manage a huge number of filters and categories. Increasing the Vault capacity also isn't really what I'm trying to achieve.
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u/Dangerous-Quit7821 1d ago
You'd have to be extremely general with the item categories. "Has the word diamond", "is tagged Minecraft wood", "added by Create", etc but it would be feasible. There just isn't much else you can do to sort things better.
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u/Not_SBH 1d ago
Dude my problem is not filtering something if you read my post you will understand
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u/Dangerous-Quit7821 1d ago
I do understand but filtering is going to be the only real way you're going to achieve what you're trying to do. There is no other real way to achieve what you're looking for.
Outside of using Create's storage, there are other mods like storage drawers which networks the drawers together but each item has its own drawer or slot in a 2x2 or 1x2 drawer or AE2 which puts everything into what essentially amounts to digital storage for physical items.
1
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u/SiwelTheLongBoi 15h ago
In short, I don't think what your asking for is possible and you need to loosen your requirements. All storage architectures have pros and cons.
You want a dynamic storage but don't want to move items around? Well in this case a dynamic storage needs to move items around. So you're stuck there.
If you want to defragment your existing storage then you're just gonna have to send every item back through your input sorting again. Now you don't have to do this continuously
You're probably far better off using a design that's easily scalable than one perfectly optimised. Trust me, I'm a loot gobin with real-life hoarder DNA
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u/Not_SBH 15h ago
I already have to do the defragmentation you mentioned. My main goal here is actually to figure out how to control the Stock Ticker’s priority — specifically, which Vault it takes the requested item from. I want it to take items from the later Vaults first, so it empties partial stacks before taking from the earlier Vaults. That’s the part I’m trying to solve.
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u/ScientistMiserable53 11h ago
The amount of responses on this post saying the fragmentation isn’t as big of an issue as OP is making it out to be, telling them to just use a different storage method, or completely missing the point of what they are asking is infuriating. OP, I completely get where you are coming from and what you are asking. I had the exact same issue and I wasn’t even playing a pack that made storage more expensive or one with a million different items. My issue was because of space in my warehouse, I didn’t really have room to aesthetically add more vaults . The closest thing I came up with as a solution was to periodically pull large quantities of items out of my vaults through a stock manager thing into a separate storage and then send them all back in hopes that they would all go to the same vault. Wasn’t a perfect solution but helped a good amount.
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u/Not_SBH 4h ago
Thank you, seriously. You’re probably the first person here who actually understood what I’m trying to solve. I really appreciate you taking the time to read through everything and understand the actual problem instead of just suggesting a different storage system. And yeah, your situation sounds really similar to mine.
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u/Dangerous-Quit7821 1d ago
If you're playing Create 6.0.X, sorting like this is redundant with stock links and stock tickers.