Create Wiki · Fluids
Steam Whistle
The Steam Whistle turns a boiler into an instrument. Placed on a heated Fluid Tank, it whistles as long as it receives a redstone signal. Stacked extensions lower its note, a Wrench changes its octave, and several whistles tuned differently play chords, factory sirens or train horns.
Quick facts
- Category
- Fluids
- Crafting
- Golden Sheet + Copper Ingot
- Support
- A face of a Fluid Tank used as a boiler
- Condition
- Heated boiler + redstone signal
- Note
- Each extension block lowers it by 2 semitones, down to 24 (2 octaves)
- Octaves
- Small, medium, large: a Wrench cycles between them
- Reading the note
- Engineer's Goggles
- Version
- Create 6.0.8 · Minecraft 1.21.1
Crafting table recipe
→ 1 Steam Whistle
On a tank
The whistle goes on a face of a Fluid Tank, on a side or on top. That tank becomes a boiler, just like for the Steam Engine: engines and whistles can share the same tank. The whistle faces away from the tank, its mouth pointing outwards.
It needs heat
The whistle only sounds if the boiler is heated. A campfire or a Blaze Burner under the tank is enough: even passive heat, with no fuel, will do. A cold tank stays silent, even with a redstone signal. The tank does not need to be full of water, which makes whistles easy to add anywhere.
Whistling with redstone
A redstone signal on the whistle makes it sound for as long as the signal lasts. A lever gives a held note, a button a short blast. With a redstone clock or a sequencer, you can compose a tune or an alarm. The signal can come from any side of the whistle, just like for a lamp.
Lowering the note
Right-clicking a placed whistle with another whistle adds an extension on top and makes the note lower. Each half block lowers it by one semitone, each full block by two. You can go down 24 semitones, two octaves, with a twelve-block column. A Wrench removes extensions.
Three sizes, three octaves
The whistle comes in three sizes: small, medium and large. Right-clicking with a Wrench cycles between them, extensions included, and shifts the whole range by an octave. Small whistles sound shrill, large ones like a foghorn. Combined with the extensions, the three sizes cover a wide range of notes from one single block footprint.
Reading the note
With Engineer's Goggles, looking at a whistle shows the name of its note. It is the easiest way to tune several whistles before wiring them to redstone. Two whistles of the same size and height play the same note: for a chord, vary the extensions.
Ideas
A low whistle wired to a detector makes a siren announcing the end of a factory cycle. On a steam train, it works as a horn when approaching a station. And several whistles tuned to different notes, triggered by a redstone sequencer, play a whole tune on a single boiler.
Whistles and engines on one boiler
A whistle uses almost nothing: it simply counts among the devices attached to the boiler. A tank already running Steam Engines can therefore carry one or several whistles without any noticeable loss of power. The other way round, a small tank on a plain campfire is enough for a decorative whistle, with no water and no blaze burner.
Tips
Tune your whistles before hiding them in a wall: once covered, extensions are hard to change. For a melody, write down the notes with the goggles and wire each whistle to one output of a sequencer. And if a whistle stays silent, check the heat under the tank first, then the redstone signal.
Related pages
Sources for the numbers (Create 6.0.8 code)
- Recipe: crafting/kinetics/steam_whistle.json
- Condition: WhistleBlockEntity.tick (redstone signal, active boiler with passive or active heat)
- Note: WhistleBlockEntity.updatePitch (2 semitones per extension, 1 per half block, down to 24), sound at 2^(-note / 12)
- Sizes: WhistleBlock.SIZE (small, medium, large)
- Scene: SteamScenes.whistle (sound and steam not rendered)
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.