Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Powered rail
—The powered rail is expensive: for six gold ingots, a stick, and a
lump of redstone, you'll get just six segments. Use wisely! Fortunately, you don't
need a lot because a single rail can boost an occupied minecart or storage minecart
for 80 blocks on level ground. (Unoccupied minecarts lose steam after just eight
blocks.) The rail is itself powered by any redstone source, but some work better
than others, and I'll use them in the examples that follow. These rails light up
when powered and so are easy to recognize. When this type of rail is unpowered, it
will slow you down, making it a good option for placing at the start and end of a
track for a soft landing. Just one block can stop a minecart, even trundling down a
slope. Powered rails provide a boost in the direction the minecart is moving, or if
stopped on a slope, the minecart will always head down the slope when the rail be-
comes powered. If the minecart is stationery and at the end of a track with a block
in front, the rail will instead give the minecart a kick in the direction it can travel.
This is really the key to making a station where you can board a cart without trying
to jump on one trundling past. A single redstone source can power up to 8 of these
rail segments chained together sequentially. Generally speaking, one powered rail
is needed for every four steps up a slope, although you can work this as two rails in
every eight to make it a bit easier to manage the power supply. On the flat, you
should place one powered rail every 37 blocks to keep an occupied minecart zip-
ping along at a moderate pace, or two powered rails to stay at high speed.
