Create Wiki · Create Big Cannons
Mortars
Create Big Cannons has two high-arc weapons. The drop mortar, made of wrought iron, fires a shell that you simply drop down the tube. The log cannon, made of logs, throws Mortar Stones: it is the very first artillery of the game.
Quick facts
- Drop mortar
- Wrought Iron Drop Mortar End + wrought iron chambers, on a mount
- Speed
- Drop Mortar Shell: 6 blocks/tick (120 blocks/s), no powder to load
- Delay
- The shot goes off 5 ticks after the shell drops; 2 s between two shells by hand
- Elevation
- From +15° to +85° on a mount
- Drop Mortar Shell
- Explosion 6 against mobs, 2 against blocks
- Mortar Stone
- Log cannon; explosion 4; shatters beyond 6 charges
- Version
- Create Big Cannons 5.11.7 · Create 6.0.10 · Minecraft 1.21.1
Drop Mortar Shell (crafting table)
→ 1 Drop Mortar Shell
The drop mortar
It is built like a small vertical cannon: the Wrought Iron Drop Mortar End at the bottom, one or two wrought iron chambers above it, all on a Cannon Mount pointed at the sky. To fire, right-click the muzzle with a Drop Mortar Shell: it drops down the tube and the shot goes off 5 ticks later.
Ranges and heights
| Elevation | Range (blocks) | Max height (blocks) | Flight (s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 45° | 317.9 | 119.7 | 6.96 |
| 60° | 241.6 | 165.9 | 8.24 |
| 70° | 169.5 | 188.8 | 8.82 |
| 80° | 87.3 | 203.3 | 9.17 |
| 85° | 43.9 | 207.0 | 9.26 |
Computed tick by tick with the mod's ballistics, flat ground. The shell climbs over 200 blocks: it comes down almost vertically, over walls.
The Drop Mortar Shell
It carries its own powder, hence no charges to load: it always leaves at 6 blocks per tick. On arrival it makes two explosions: a strong one against mobs (6) and a weak one against blocks (2). It is a weapon against troops and small structures, not against thick walls.
The log cannon
A chamber and an end made of logs packed with gunpowder are enough. It has no safe charge at all: it can always jam. Load powder and a Mortar Stone, which explodes with a power of 4 and throws debris. Beyond 6 charges the stone shatters inside the tube. Lighter than a shell, it feels only half the gravity.
Setting a high-arc shot
On a mortar, elevation sets the distance, not powder. The more upright the tube, the closer the shell lands: at 85° it comes down 44 blocks away. At 45° it flies more than 300 blocks. A shot at 80° takes over 9 s to come down: allow for it before firing at a moving target.
A mortar battery
Put several drop mortars side by side, each on its own mount, with one shared elevation shaft: they all take the same angle. Keep the shells in a chest within reach, since each mortar enforces 2 s between two shells. At 80° of elevation the salvo comes down 87 blocks away, more than 9 s after firing: plenty of time to pick the next target. Shift the shared shaft a few degrees between salvos to walk the impacts forward.
Using the log cannon well
The log cannon is fragile: it has no safe charge at all and may jam on any shot. Keep it for the first hours of play, before cast iron, and never give it more than 6 charges: the Mortar Stone would shatter inside the tube. Once you have cast iron, a proper cannon on a mount does the same job far better.
Why there is no video
A real mortar shot climbs over 200 blocks high and lasts more than 9 seconds: in a short loop, the shell is just a dot. So we show the parts in pictures, and the real trajectories in the table.
Related pages
Sources for the numbers (Create 6.0.10 · Create Big Cannons 5.11.7 code)
- Mortar: munition_properties/projectiles/drop_mortar_shell.json (mortar_power 6, mortar_spread 1, entity / block explosive power 6 / 2)
- Delays: config CBCCfgCannons (dropMortarDelay 5, dropMortarItemCooldown 40)
- Angles: cannon_mounts/drop_mortar.json
- Mortar Stone: munition_properties/projectiles/mortar_stone.json (explosive_power 4, max_charges 6, gravity -0.025)
- Ranges: the mod's tick-by-tick simulation (AbstractCannonProjectile), flat ground, 5.11.7 data
- Recipe: recipe/drop_mortar_shell.json
- Code and data: Create Big Cannons 5.11.7 (github.com/Cannoneers-of-Create/CreateBigCannons, tag v5.11.7+mc.1.21.1, MIT licence), identical to the Create France modpack jar
- Images: CBC blocks placed on the plate and rendered by our engine
Original texts and animations by Create France, rendered from the mod's Ponder scenes. Create is a mod by the Create Team, not affiliated with Create France.