Bit of a strange request, but on 1.12.2, there doesn't seem to be a chunkloader that requires fuel a la Railcraft anchor back in earlier versions of minecraft. Would it be possible to modifiy it so it takes a configurable itemstack as a fuel?

I'm developing a modpack and one of the themes of the pack is that everything, even chunkloading needs to have some sort of resource drain. My idea of needing the itemstack was I could configure it so that it would require a nether star for an hour of chunkloading, or an ender pearl for 15 minutes, etc.

How about making it impossible for any automatic insertion of items into a chunk loader? So it won't connect to a hopper, piping, or be recognized as an inventory from mods like Modular Routers. That way only players can still put the item in, and it will consume it as a cost.

Is there a specific thing you're hoping to achieve with the Item Stacks?

The Weirding Gadget was specifically designed so that players cannot automate chunk loading. It has a very specific use case we were looking to solve:
Players that stop playing after a length of time should not be able to degrade the game performance of those actively playing the game.

We had instances where players would set up massive lagging systems and then left the server, which ruined the experience for the other players. Especially systems which when left unattended introduce silly amounts of items into the world.

I'm happy to explore other uses of ItemStacks, time permitting if you have something else in mind.

Echoing vyraal here, disallowing the itemstack or fuel item to be automated is key, your system that allows it to spin down is great. An example of this would be I suppose railcraft's chunk loader. It essentially burns ender pearls and each pearl allows chunk loading for a configurable amount of time.

The reason for this is in progression packs especially chunk loading becomes essential as they go on, but we certainly dont want limitless loading which Weirding gadgets handles well, but we also don't want "free" loading, thus we can ensure the player has sufficient infrastructure and resource acquisition methods to produce the fuel item.

If you'd be open to adding this or maybe accepting a pr for this it'd be great.

I posted this exact question on Reddit (/r/feedthebeast) today. I would love to see a combination of the two ideas - a chunk loader that requires fuel to run, but has a configured 'off server' limit so even if they design a way to maintain the fuel costs, they still have to be active to keep it running. My preference on fuel is a configurable amount of RF per loaded chunk, but fuel is fuel, if items make more sense (ala Railcraft), then I would love to have it configurable via config or craft tweaker.

I've spoken with Rorax about it and we've agreed we'll do it. Now I just need time ;)

Following up again, would you guys be willing to accept a PR to add this?

heh, you should do the PR and see if they'll add it.

This is largely already completed, mostly pending testing and documentation.

My own initial play tests have lead me to think I need a way of visualizing loaded chunks, and I have a solution, but no time. You're welcome to pull down the latest branches and have a play.

Hey, just wanted to follow up on this @AtomicBlom . Any luck getting this functionality added?