StrataWorks Mining

StrataWorks 1.4.0 — Industrial Mining, Your Way

Mine smarter. Dig deeper. Build bigger.

StrataWorks is an industrial mining mod for Minecraft 26.3 (NeoForge), offering selective ore extraction, fuel-powered and FE-powered quarries, and handheld mining tools. Start small with a Compact Quarry, target particular ores with a Digital Miner, or excavate larger areas with an Industrial Framed Quarry.

Version 1.4.0 — Advanced Digital Miner Upgrades adds new assembly tiers, customizable modules, Fortune and Silk Touch extraction, and experience collection.

Digital Miner — Target the resources you need

Instead of removing every block in an area, the Digital Miner surveys real terrain and extracts eligible ores from the world.

• Configure X/Z dimensions and offsets, plus minimum and maximum mining heights.

• Survey for ores, then select targets using supported block/tag filters and survey results.

• Extract real blocks; no virtual resource generation.

• Choose Disabled, Optional, or Required backfilling, using supplied replacement materials.

• Power the machine with compatible FE energy.

• Resume deferred work when unloaded areas become available; no automatic chunk loading.

New in 1.4.0: three-tier assemblies

Upgrade the Scanner, Extraction, and Processing Assemblies independently: Basic, Advanced, or Industrial. Keep the same Digital Miner chassis as your operation grows.

Processing Assembly	Module slots
Basic	2
Advanced	4
Industrial	6

Customize your miner

• Speed — Improve extraction performance.

• Efficiency — Tune energy use.

• Range — Expand compatible surveying capabilities.

• Fortune I, II, III — Apply eligible Fortune loot behavior.

• Silk Touch — Collect eligible blocks with Silk Touch behavior; requires a compatible advanced Extraction Assembly.

• XP Collection — Capture eligible mining experience in an internal buffer.

Compatible stackable performance modules support up to three of the same type, with diminishing returns. Fortune and Silk Touch cannot be active together. If you downgrade an assembly, incompatible modules are retained but inactive until compatible hardware is restored.

With XP Collection installed, withdraw XP directly or convert it into experience bottles using the required materials. Choose whether a full XP buffer pauses mining or continues while discarding excess XP.

Compact Quarry — Early automation without an FE network

A compact, single-block quarry powered by supported furnace fuels, including coal, charcoal, coal blocks, and lava buckets. It excavates layer by layer, supports up to 32 vertical layers, and handles compatible fuel containers correctly.

Industrial Framed Quarry — Large-scale excavation

An FE-powered quarry with a configurable footprint up to 32×32 blocks, adjustable mining heights, 27 output slots, and a visible four-corner frame, gantry, cable, and moving mining head. The frame is visual; you do not need to build physical frame blocks.

Mining tools — For hands-on excavation

• Reinforced Pickaxe: Diamond-equivalent mining capability, increased speed and durability, and normal tool enchantments.

• Powered Mining Drill: Diamond-equivalent, 100,000 FE capacity, 100 FE per successfully mined block, and selectable 1×1/3×3 mining.

• Advanced Mining Drill: Netherite-equivalent, 500,000 FE capacity, 150 FE per successfully mined block, faster mining, and selectable 1×1/3×3 mining.

Both drills orient their 3×3 mining plane to the block face and independently check which blocks can be mined.

Built for Survival and multiplayer

• Survival-craftable equipment and upgrades.

• Persistent inventories, settings, energy, and machine progress.

• Server-authoritative extraction and multiplayer permission checks.

• No forced chunk loading.

• Existing-world and previous-machine compatibility validated for the 1.4.0 candidate.

• Works independently of Flux Foundry; compatible FE power or charging equipment is needed for powered gear.

Important: Automated machines require their owner online in the same dimension, appropriate permissions, and loaded working chunks. Supported terrain and third-party integrations have limits.

Tested release candidate: Minecraft 26.3 · NeoForge 26.3.0.92 · Java 25. The frozen 1.4.0 candidate completed 52 unit tests, 325 GameTests, all 19 release gates, and 11 native GUI checks.

StrataWorks — Mine Smarter. Dig Deeper. Build Bigger.

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StrataWorks 1.4.0 — Player Manual

For Minecraft 26.3 · NeoForge 26.3.0.92 · Java 25

This guide covers the Digital Miner and its 1.4.0 upgrades, both quarries, and the three handheld mining tools. Exact crafting ingredients, screen layouts, and keybindings should be checked in the installed build's recipe book, tooltips, Controls menu, or bundled README; those details were not supplied in the completion summary and are not invented here.

1. Before you begin

• Install the matching StrataWorks build for your Minecraft/NeoForge version.

• Craft equipment using its in-game recipes (or a compatible recipe viewer if installed).

• Provide a compatible FE power source for the Digital Miner and Industrial Framed Quarry, and a supported charging method for drills. The Compact Quarry instead uses compatible furnace fuels.

• Keep the automated machine's owner online in the same dimension and its working chunks loaded. StrataWorks does not force-load chunks.

• Make a backup before upgrading an important existing world, as with any mod update.

2. Digital Miner — First-time setup

1. Place the Digital Miner chassis where you want to operate it.

2. Install a Scanner, Extraction, and Processing Assembly in their respective machine slots. Basic assemblies are sufficient to begin.

3. Supply FE power and confirm the machine shows available energy.

4. Configure your mining area: set the X and Z dimensions/offsets and the minimum and maximum Y levels. More advanced Scanner Assemblies and applicable Range Modules support expanded surveying within their limits.

5. Set ore filters: use the available block/tag include-exclude options. Default ore-tag support helps identify eligible ores, but not every third-party block is necessarily supported.

6. Press Survey. Allow surveying to complete for the loaded areas. Unloaded sections are deferred, not force-loaded.

7. Review survey results and select the ores or supported targets you want extracted.

8. Choose a backfill mode (see below). Supply replacement materials if you want or require backfilling.

9. Press Start to begin actual extraction. Watch power, storage capacity, the survey/operation state, and any paused status.

10. Collect the output from the miner or connect supported item extraction automation. Reloading or restarting should preserve the machine's state.

Backfill modes

Mode	What it does
Disabled	Removes eligible target blocks without replacing them.
Optional	Uses supplied replacement materials when available; continues extraction when backfill materials run out.
Required	Requires replacement material for backfilled extraction; stops or defers affected work when material is unavailable.

Backfill consumes real supplied material; it does not generate free blocks.

3. Upgrade the Digital Miner

The three internal assemblies are independent. You can use different tiers in the same chassis.

Assembly	Basic	Advanced	Industrial
Scanner	Entry surveying	Expanded capability	Highest-tier capability
Extraction	Entry extraction	Better performance and module access	Highest-tier extraction capability
Processing	2 module slots	4 module slots	6 module slots

To upgrade, stop or safely pause the machine, exchange the relevant assembly in its GUI, and check the displayed new limits and active modules. Keep the old assembly if you may downgrade later.

Customize the machine with modules

Module	Effect	Key consideration
Speed	Faster eligible extraction	Stacking has diminishing returns and energy consequences.
Efficiency	Adjusts energy efficiency	Check the GUI's effective FE figures.
Range	Improves supported scanning reach	Scanner tier compatibility applies.
Fortune I / II / III	Fortune-style eligible ore drops	Only one Fortune level can be active.
Silk Touch	Silk Touch-style eligible drops	Requires a compatible Advanced/Industrial Extraction Assembly; exclusive with Fortune.
XP Collection	Stores eligible XP	Requires available module capacity; buffer behavior is configurable.

Performance module stacking: Up to three identical stackable modules; successive copies have diminishing gains. More module slots do not bypass tier restrictions.

Downgrading safely: If an assembly is replaced by a lower tier, incompatible modules become inactive rather than disappearing. Excess modules are retained safely when the Processing tier supplies fewer active slots. Reinstalling compatible hardware allows them to reactivate. Check the GUI's active/inactive indicators rather than assuming every installed module is working.

Fortune versus Silk Touch

• Use Fortune I, II, or III for eligible bonus drops, subject to the Extraction Assembly's tier requirements.

• Use Silk Touch when you want eligible blocks collected intact.

• They cannot operate simultaneously. Remove or deactivate the conflicting option before expecting the other to work.

• Loot depends on the specific block and its supported loot rules. Fortune does not multiply everything, and Silk Touch does not create ordinary ore XP when the underlying loot rules would not grant it.

4. XP Collection — Store, withdraw, or bottle experience

1. Install a compatible XP Collection Module in an available customization slot.

2. Mine blocks that legitimately produce collectible experience. Without an active XP module, the Digital Miner does not retain that experience.

3. View the XP buffer in the Digital Miner GUI. Higher-tier Processing Assemblies support larger capacities.

4. Use the withdraw XP GUI action to claim stored experience.

5. To create experience bottles, supply any materials required by the machine's bottling interaction and use the corresponding GUI action. Bottles consume stored XP; they are not free XP duplication.

6. Set the behavior for a full XP buffer:

   • Pause extraction: stop until storage becomes available.

   • Continue/discard: keep mining while excess eligible XP is discarded.

If an assembly downgrade reduces XP capacity below the amount already stored, the balance is retained, but additional collection may be limited until room is available. For peace of mind, withdraw XP before dismantling or moving a miner; the exact XP-on-break handling is not established by the supplied summary.

5. Compact Quarry — Fuel-powered excavation

1. Craft and place the Compact Quarry.

2. Open its interface and configure the supported excavation settings.

3. Add supported furnace fuel: for example, coal, charcoal, coal blocks, or a lava bucket.

4. Start extraction and keep the relevant area loaded.

5. Empty its output when required and refill fuel as needed.

The Compact Quarry excavates layer by layer, up to 32 vertical layers, without a physical frame or external FE network. Supported fuels with container returns are handled accordingly.

6. Industrial Framed Quarry — FE-powered excavation

1. Place the Industrial Framed Quarry controller.

2. Supply FE power from compatible equipment.

3. Configure its X/Z footprint up to 32×32 and the supported mining height limits.

4. Start the quarry and watch its animated frame, gantry, cable, and mining head follow excavation progress.

5. Collect material from its 27 output slots, or connect supported external item extraction.

The frame is visual only; it does not require physical corner blocks. The quarry works on real eligible terrain, persists progress, and does not force-load chunks.

7. Handheld mining tools

Reinforced Pickaxe

Use it like a normal pickaxe. It has diamond-equivalent mining capability, improved speed and durability relative to diamond, and uses normal tool durability rather than FE.

Powered Mining Drill

• 100,000 FE capacity; 100 FE per successfully mined block.

• Diamond-equivalent mining capability.

• Switch between 1×1 and 3×3 modes using the control shown by the installed tool's tooltip/settings.

• Recharge using a supported FE charging method.

Advanced Mining Drill

• 500,000 FE capacity; 150 FE per successfully mined block.

• Netherite-equivalent mining capability and faster mining.

• Switchable 1×1 and 3×3 modes.

In 3×3 mode, the drill works in a plane relative to the targeted block face: wall, floor, or ceiling. Each surrounding block is separately checked for eligibility, permissions, load state, and energy. A blocked or unsupported position may remain intact; nine drops are not guaranteed from every action. Energy is charged for successful mining, not for imaginary blocks.

8. Troubleshooting

Symptom	What to check
Miner will not start	Are all three assemblies installed? Enough FE? Valid configured region? Survey and target selection completed?
Survey misses part of the area	Some chunks may be unloaded; the miner defers them without chunk forcing. Check Scanner range and filters.
Miner pauses after operating	Check FE, output capacity, owner online/dimension, unloaded work area, Required backfill materials, and full-XP-buffer policy.
Module appears installed but has no effect	Check its active/inactive status, Scanner/Extraction/Processing tier requirement, module slots, and Fortune/Silk conflict.
No extra Fortune drops	Confirm Fortune is active and the target has applicable Fortune loot rules.
No stored XP	Check that XP Collection is active, the block grants eligible XP, Silk Touch behavior, and available XP capacity.
XP bottles do not produce	Check XP balance, required materials, and output capacity.
Drill remains in 1×1	Check the tool's selected mode, FE reserve, and documented mode-switch control.
Drill skips some 3×3 blocks	Protection, mining tier, hardness/eligibility, energy, and unloaded chunks can prevent secondary breaks.
Quarry stops	Check fuel or FE, outputs, loaded chunks, ownership, and supported terrain.

9. Compatibility and important limits

• StrataWorks is standalone; Flux Foundry is optional, not required.

• FE-powered machines and drills require a compatible source of energy or charging.

• Automated machines require their owner online in the same dimension and proper access permissions.

• The mod does not automatically keep chunks loaded.

• Special or third-party blocks may be skipped or have different supported loot behavior.

• Always back up valuable worlds before changing mod versions.

• Not included in 1.4.0: the future Modular Quarry Complex, 5×5 drills, or vein-mining tools.

StrataWorks — Mine Smarter. Dig Deeper. Build Bigger.