Types of Input

Loose Item Input:

The simplest form of input, loose item input is when items are placed directly into the system as-is, either by throwing them into a water stream or into a chest/barrel. Loose items inputs sometimes automatically sort out unstackables (such as tools, armor, and potions) and redirect them to nonstackable storage. 

In more complex systems, loose items are placed into shulker boxes, either by a manual loader or chest into a mixed loader. 

Shulker Box Input

In nearly all cases, it is more efficient to input into a storage using shulker boxes (note that this requires an unloader, see the Unloaders page for details). Because of this, most large storages will have an input UI (user interface) that allows direct input of mixed-item-type shulker boxes into the system.

This input type usually requires protection from accidental loose item input using a shulker box sorter (see the nonstackable sorting page). The items sorted out are usually returned to the player or loaded into a box. 

Direct Bulk Input

The following section only applies to encoded and box sorting-based bulk systems. 

High volumes of single-item-type, full shulker boxes will slow down a storage and waste time splitting, unloading, and merging. If the item type in the box is in the bulk storage, then it is sometimes impossible to manually place a box into a chest (as is recommended for already full, single-item-type boxes). To solve this issue, input systems sometimes include a chest that leads directly to the input of the bulk hall, bypassing the splitting array and unloading array. 

This is not possible for bulks that use loaders at the top of the slice, as they only accept loose items as input.