Even though there are now many fast means of transportation in Minecraft, the original rail system is still worth a look today! It’s part of the essence of Minecraft—minecarts and rails just belong together. A lot has changed over time, new blocks have been added, and interesting Redstone mechanisms have been discovered. If you prefer to play Minecraft classically, then a train station or a subway is simply a must. So today, let’s take a closer look at how the different rails and minecarts interact and what you can build with them.
Overview of all Minecarts in Minecraft
Minecarts were the first real means of transportation introduced in Minecraft. They are closely tied to the original idea of Minecraft: exploring caves for resources and then transporting them outside using large iron containers. Nowadays, there are even seven different minecarts, five of which you can use in normal gameplay. While some are less practical, others can significantly enhance your gameplay!
Standard Minecart: Made from five iron ingots, a standard minecart is one of the best transportation methods in Minecraft, as long as you have a good rail system. You can move it by pressing forward to gain momentum. Not only you, but also other animals and monsters can ride in minecarts! They are particularly useful if you want to transport villagers. You can exit by crouching or destroying the cart.
Chest Minecart: Minecarts with a chest can be found directly in the game, specifically in mineshafts. You can use them to expand your inventory and transport blocks over long distances. The chest minecart can be filled and emptied by a hopper, which is also practical. You can use the cart to transport blocks like cobblestone or dirt and sort them automatically.
Furnace Minecart: A minecart with an integrated furnace might look strange at first but can be quite useful. Once coal or charcoal is burned, the furnace minecart functions like a locomotive. It can not only move itself but also push minecarts in front of it. This allows you to transport a longer line of minecarts without your help.
Hopper Minecart: For technical players, the hopper minecart is probably the most interesting variation. We have used it in several automatic farms because it can pull items through a full block, unlike a regular hopper. Additionally, they are also great for large storage halls and automatic sorting systems.
TNT Minecart: When this minecart runs over an activator rail or is otherwise triggered by shocks or external triggers, it explodes after four seconds. The explosion is slightly larger than a regular TNT, but it does cost some iron.
Spawner Minecart: This minecart is only obtainable via command and functions practically like a mobile spawner. This minecart is useful only in special cases, such as for adventure maps.
Command Block Minecart: Command blocks are a very complicated matter and only useful for technically savvy Minecraft players. There is also a version in a minecart to time specific inputs. However, these applications are very specific and not relevant for survival.
Types of Rails in Minecraft and Their Applications
But even the best minecart is useless without the right rails. Here, you have four different types to work with. These, however, require quite a few resources, including gold and iron. You can also find rails in abandoned mineshafts, so always take some with you!
Rail: Rails can be laid normally and, unlike the following three variations, can also go around curves or ascend blocks. They are the foundation of any rail system. Nowadays, you can also lay rails underwater.
Powered Rail: In addition to regular rails, you need a lot of powered rails because these give you a boost. They require Redstone and gold and cannot be found in the world. They are activated by a Redstone signal and push a minecart forward. An unpowered powered rail serves as a stopper.
Detector Rail: You can think of this rail as a kind of pressure plate (which is also used in the recipe). When a minecart runs over it, the detector rail briefly activates. This can be used in combination with the powered rails mentioned earlier, saving you Redstone torches or Redstone blocks. It can also activate adjacent blocks or mechanisms connected to the rail via Redstone dust.
Activator Rail: This type of rail is not necessarily practical but can eject you from a minecart so that you don’t have to exit yourself. Additionally, it can open and close a hopper minecart and activate a TNT minecart.
Building Ideas for an Effective Rail System in Minecraft
Finally, let’s look at how you can implement these systems in a kind of monorail. For this, we need both a beginning and an end, and of course the rails in between.
The starter and stopper can be used universally. We’ve based our design on YouTuber Pixlriffs. At the very end, we use a cactus on sand and a slab above it. This dismantles the minecart. Under the rails is a hopper leading into a dispenser. In front of the dispenser is first a powered rail, then an activator rail, then a regular rail, and finally a detector rail. Between the detector and activator rail, we build in a delay to ensure it ejects us from the minecart in time. You can start with two buttons next to the dispenser and the powered rail.
To avoid losing momentum over long distances, you should lay powered rails at intervals. The best setup is one powered rail followed by four regular rails. You can also add a detector rail to automatically activate the rails. This keeps your speed consistent. If you don’t have enough gold, you can also lay longer stretches of regular rails with the occasional powered rail in between.
Conclusion
As fun as an Elytra is, a classic rail system is also a wonderful means of transportation in Minecraft. There are now many great minecarts and rails with which you can automate many things. If you rent your own Minecraft server with us, you can build an amazing subway system with your friends! This allows you to quickly cover long distances and build some great landmarks along the way.
