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Fluid Basin and Cauldron Crafting

The Fluid Basin workstation archetype (type: "FLUID_BASIN") transforms vanilla cauldrons into dynamic in-world alchemical reaction basins. Unlike static menu workbenches, Fluid Basins feature physical item tossing, thermodynamic heat simulation, and contamination mechanics.

1. Mechanics Overview

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                          FLUID BASIN MECHANICS                              |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                                                                             |
|  [Physical Item Ingestion]                                                  |
|  Players toss items directly into the cauldron. CraftingEngine intercepts   |
|  the entity on the exact server tick it enters the fluid volume.            |
|                                                                             |
|  [Environmental Thermodynamics]                                             |
|  Heat is supplied by the block underneath the basin (Lava, Campfire, Fire). |
|  Temperature rises dynamically and dissipates when heat sources extinguish. |
|                                                                             |
|  [Hopper & ClearLag Protection]                                             |
|  Tossed ingredients are ingested into memory immediately, preventing        |
|  external hoppers or entity sweepers from clearing crafting items.          |
|                                                                             |
|  [Sludge Contamination]                                                     |
|  Throwing incorrect ingredients or letting a craft overheat ruins the       |
|  concoction, turning the water into toxic green sludge.                     |
|                                                                             |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

2. Station Definition (stations/alchemical_cauldron.yml)

id: "alchemical_cauldron"
name: "<gradient:#8a2be2:#4b0082>Alchemical Cauldron</gradient>"
type: "FLUID_BASIN"


blocks:
  - "WATER_CAULDRON"
  - "CAULDRON"


# Heat and thermodynamics
requires_heat: true
min_temperature: 80.0 # Minimum temperature in °C to maintain reactions
max_temperature: 150.0


# Capabilities granted when boiling
capabilities:
  - "boiling"
  - "alchemy_tier_1"


# Item tossed handling
item_ingestion:
  sound: "entity.generic.splash"
  particle: "SPLASH"
  on_wrong_item: "CONTAMINATE" # REJECT | CONTAMINATE | IGNORE

3. Thermodynamic Heat Sources

When requires_heat: true is enabled, CraftingEngine continuously inspects the block at y - 1:

Heat Source BlockHeating RateEquilibrium TempNotes
CAMPFIRE (Lit)+2.5 °C/s95 °CIdeal for gentle brewing and simmering.
SOUL_CAMPFIRE (Lit)+4.0 °C/s130 °CHigh heat for mystical concoctions.
FIRE / SOUL_FIRE+5.0 °C/s160 °CFast heating; risk of overheating if untended.
LAVA+8.0 °C/s250 °CExtreme heat for metallurgical transmutations.
(Air / Cold Blocks)-1.5 °C/s20 °CNatural ambient cooling decay.

4. Cauldron In-World Recipe Flow

In your blueprint (processes/*.yml), use mode: "ITEM_INSERTION" or mode: "WAITING_FOR_CONDITION":

id: "healing_elixir"
name: "Elixir of Vitality"
station_id: "alchemical_cauldron"


requirements:
  capabilities:
    - "boiling"


inputs:
  - resource: "minecraft:glistering_melon_slice"
    quantity: 1
    mode: "CONSUME"
  - resource: "minecraft:ghast_tear"
    quantity: 1
    mode: "CONSUME"


stages:
  - id: "await_boil"
    mode: "WAITING_FOR_CONDITION"
    condition: "capability.temperature >= 90"


  - id: "add_ingredients"
    mode: "ITEM_INSERTION"
    timeout: "15s"
    failure_transition: "ruined_sludge"


  - id: "brewing"
    mode: "PASSIVE"
    duration: "5s"
    on_tick:
      - action: "spawn_particle(BUBBLE_POP, 3, 0.2, 0.1, 0.2)"


outputs:
  - resource: "minecraft:potion"
    display: "<gradient:#ff80ab:#ff4081>Elixir of Vitality</gradient>"
    quantity: 1

5. Sludge and Cleaning

When a recipe is contaminated:

  1. The cauldron water turns into murky brown/green sludge.
  2. An extinguish sound plays with heavy smoke particles.
  3. Players cannot brew further recipes until they bail out the basin using an empty bucket (minecraft:bucket).

Next Steps