UtilityConnect:Networks

A network is a group of blocks that are connected to each other. Utility Connect keeps track of which blocks belong together. What a network is used for, for example sharing the contents of storage units, is decided by the mod that adds the blocks.

Network blocks

Only blocks that a mod registers with Utility Connect take part in networks. Every such block, a node, has one of two roles:

Role	Examples	Connects to
Device	storage unit, terminal, machine	connectors only
Connector	pipe, cable	everything next to it: devices and other connectors

The mod that adds a block decides which role it has.

Connection rules

• Two network blocks are connected when they share a face and at least one of them is a connector.
• All six directions count: north, south, east, west, up and down. Blocks that only touch at an edge or corner (diagonally) do not connect.
• Two devices side by side are not connected. Placing two storage units next to each other gives you two separate networks. Put a pipe between them, or next to both, to link them.
• A single network block with nothing attached is a network of its own.
• Connections work across chunk borders.

Layout (side view)	Result
[Device][Device]	two networks
[Device][Pipe][Device]	one network
[Device][Pipe][Pipe][Pipe][Device]	one network
[Device][Pipe] gap [Pipe][Device]	two networks

Building and breaking

Changes apply immediately:

• Placing a block next to a network joins it. A block that touches two networks merges them into one.
• Breaking a block can split a network. If the broken pipe was the only link between two parts, you now have two networks.

Worlds

Each world has its own networks. Blocks in different worlds never belong to the same network, even at the same coordinates.

Unloaded chunks

Only blocks in loaded chunks count. When a chunk unloads, its blocks leave their networks for the time being, and a network that ran through that chunk can fall apart into pieces. Nothing is lost: when the chunk loads again, the exact same network comes back. Long pipelines that run far away from players therefore only work as far as their chunks are loaded.

More on saving and loading is on Persistence.