Create Wiki · Kinetics

Shaft

The Shaft is the simplest part in Create: a rod that spins on its axis and passes rotation from one block to the next. It is what links a windmill, a water wheel or a motor to your machines. It costs nothing to run, but it follows a few rules: one axis, one shared speed, and a hard limit you should never cross.

Create 6.0.8 · Minecraft 1.21.1 · updated on

A line of shafts is laid block by block between a powered cogwheel and a speedometer, which starts turning as soon as the line is complete.

Quick facts

Category
Kinetics (transmission)
Stress
None: a shaft uses no SU
Max speed
256 RPM (above that, the block breaks)
Transmission
Straight line, same speed and direction along the whole line
Variants
Andesite Encased Shaft, Brass Encased Shaft
Version
Create 6.0.8 · Minecraft 1.21.1

Crafting table recipe

Andesite Alloy
Andesite Alloy

→ 8 Shafts

Carrying rotation in a straight line

A line of shafts linking a cogwheel to a speedometer on a white plate

A shaft is placed like a pillar: its axis follows the face you click. Put several end to end and the rotation travels the whole line, however long it is. Tip: aim at the end of a shaft you already placed while holding another one, and the game extends the line along the same axis.

Every block on a line spins at the same speed and in the same direction. In the animation, the speedometer at the far end only comes to life when the last shaft closes the gap: as long as one block is missing, nothing gets through.

A relay that costs nothing

Shafts use no stress at all, so you can place as many as you like without weakening your network. Only machines (press, drill, mixer…) consume SU, and only sources (water wheel, windmill, motor) provide it. A line of fifty shafts weighs no more than a line of two.

To see what actually runs through a line, put a Speedometer or a Stressometer at the end, or look at the shaft while wearing Engineer's Goggles.

Hooking a shaft up to a machine

Nearly every Create machine takes its rotation through an axis: all you need is a shaft reaching that axis, against the right face. A Mechanical Press takes it from a side, a Mechanical Drill from the back, a Mechanical Mixer from the top. If the shaft touches the machine on a face without an axis, it just spins on its own without driving anything.

Shafts also let you change height or direction together with other blocks: at either end you can add a cogwheel, a gearbox or a belt pulley.

The 256 RPM limit

A shaft line can never go above 256 RPM (server setting maxRotationSpeed). If a cogwheel setup pushes the speed higher, the block that would receive it breaks and drops as an item. The same happens when two sources try to drive the same line in opposite directions: instead of picking a winner, the game destroys the conflicting block.

When a machine refuses to start, check these two things first before adding more power.

Putting a shaft in a casing

Two parts of the same shaft line get an Andesite Casing and a Brass Casing without breaking the drive.

Right-click a shaft while holding Andesite Casing or Brass Casing: it becomes an encased shaft, a full block that still carries rotation. It is mostly cosmetic, but handy when a drive line has to pass through a wall or a floor without a rod sticking out.

To get the bare shaft back, sneak and use the Wrench on the encased block.

Common mistakes

  • Nothing turns at the end of the line: one shaft sits on the wrong axis, or a block is missing. Check the line with Engineer's Goggles.
  • A block pops off: the speed is above 256 RPM, or two sources spin the same network in opposite directions.
  • You need a 90° turn: a shaft cannot do it. Use a Gearbox, Cogwheels or a Mechanical Belt.
Cogwheel and Large CogwheelCogwheel and Large CogwheelKineticsGearboxGearboxKineticsStressometer and SpeedometerStressometer and SpeedometerKineticsMechanical BeltMechanical BeltLogisticsMechanical PumpMechanical PumpFluidsGantry Carriage and Gantry ShaftGantry Carriage and Gantry ShaftContraptionsGearshift and ClutchGearshift and ClutchRedstoneEncased Chain Drive and Adjustable Chain GearshiftEncased Chain Drive and Adjustable Chain GearshiftKineticsWrenchWrenchTools and equipmentBacktank and diving gearBacktank and diving gearTools and equipmentCreative MotorCreative MotorKinetics

← All Create wiki guides

Sources for the numbers (Create 6.0.8 code)
  • Stress: AllBlocks.java, SHAFT, CStress.setNoImpact()
  • Maximum speed: CKinetics.maxRotationSpeed = 256; RotationPropagator.propagateNewSource (tooFast / incompatible -> destroyBlock)
  • Recipe: data/create/recipe/crafting/kinetics/shaft.json (2 Andesite Alloy -> 8 Shafts)
  • Casings: EncasableBlock.tryEncase, EncasedShaftBlock.onSneakWrenched (back to a bare shaft)
  • Scenes: KineticsScenes.shaftAsRelay and shaftsCanBeEncased (structures ponder/shaft/relay.nbt, encasing.nbt)

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.