Simple duct-metaphor item distribution network mod
Ductwork requires Cooldown Coordinator and Cloth Config!
This mod provides three blocks which together implement a slight superset of the features of the Minecraft Item Hopper enabling greater flexibility and improved game performance. Ductwork item movement networks are often more space and resource efficient than Hopper versions. Another core goal of the Ductwork mod is to deliver stable item movement similar to that of Hoppers and suitable for use in sorting systems and other complex machines, even in cases where Hoppers and Ductwork blocks are intermingled.
The Duct is the workhorse of a Ductwork network. Ducts accept items from up to five adjacent blocks, and deliver items to the block they are facing. Ducts cannot be locked and do not extract items from other blocks, so they make minimal use of game resources.
A Damper is a specialized Duct which accepts items from the block behind it and delivers items to the block in front of it. Unlike the basic Duct, a Damper cannot turn corners, but it can be locked via Redstone and will obstruct item movement while it remains locked. Dampers can also be temporarily locked or unlocked by the player (shift-right-click on them with an empty hand), until the next time an adjacent block changes state.
Collector blocks suck items from the inventory or space behind them like a Hopper, but unlike a Hopper they can be oriented in any direction. Collectors deliver items from their inventory into the block in front of them just like other Duct blocks.
Placement of Ductwork blocks works a lot like placement of Minecraft Item Hoppers. Point at the block the Ductwork block should deliver items to and place the Ductwork block. The Ductwork block will be "facing" the side of the block you were pointing at. This determines in which direction the Ductwork block will move items (the direction it is "facing").
This can take some practice, particularly with Collector blocks! Often, the easiest way to place Ductwork blocks is to start at the end of the duct (where it is delivering items) and work backward to the beginning (where it is receiving or collecting items).
Ductwork blocks can be reoriented without breaking and re-placing them. See the wiki for more details.
If you want Ductwork blocks to be limited to doing things you can generally do with Item Hoppers, there is a configuration option for this. See the configuration file (if on a server) or the Mod Menu page (if using the client's integrated server). This makes Ductwork a great option for server admins who want a pure Minecraft technical experience but also want the performance improvements of Ductwork's Ducts.
See the Ductwork wiki for further documentation!