Moveable Tiles Datapack: Transport Any Tile Entity Without Losing Contents
Have you ever wished you could pick up a chest full of diamonds and simply move it to your new base without emptying it block by block? The Moveable Tiles datapack makes that dream a reality. This clever piece of Minecraft engineering lets you convert tile entities—chests, furnaces, spawners, hoppers, and many more—into minecarts, so you can roll them across the world without disturbing a single item inside. It completely changes how you think about storage, automation, and factory design.
What Exactly Does This Datapack Do?
In vanilla Minecraft, blocks like chests and furnaces are stubbornly immobile once placed. Breaking them drops their contents all over the floor. The Moveable Tiles datapack solves this by introducing a piston-powered trick that fuses a block with a minecart, creating a portable version of that tile entity. You can then push the minecart along rails to any destination. The datapack also removes the vanilla recipes for adding blocks to minecarts, making this the only way to create block-carrying carts—a deliberate design choice to keep the feature balanced and intentional.
Why You Need This in Your World
The applications are almost endless. Imagine dragging a fully enchanted spawner from a dungeon to your mob farm without silk touch or complex duplication glitches. Or building an automatic storage system where shulker box minecarts zip along color-coded tracks, sorting items by dimension. You can even move items from the Overworld to the Nether by sending a loaded chest minecart through a portal. For players who love building intricate redstone factories, the ability to reposition furnaces, blast furnaces, and smokers mid-construction is a massive time-saver.
One particularly creative use is setting up a mobile workshop. Pack a barrel with crafting essentials, a furnace for smelting, and a hopper for item collection, then push the entire assembly to a new mining outpost. The datapack respects all block states, so your furnace retains its smelting progress and fuel, and trapped chests keep their redstone output behavior intact.
Supported Tile Entities
The datapack works with a wide range of blocks that hold data. Here is the full list of what you can move:
- Chest
- Trapped Chest
- TNT
- Furnace
- Blast Furnace
- Smoker
- Hopper
- Shulker Box (all colors)
- Barrel
Note that TNT, while not a storage block, is included because it retains its prime state when converted into a minecart—a fun detail for trap enthusiasts.
Step-by-Step: How to Load a Tile Entity into a Minecart
The process is simple once you understand the mechanic. Follow these steps carefully:
- Place a piston directly beneath the block you want to move. Leave exactly one block of air between the piston and the target block.
- Place a rail on top of the piston head, then put a minecart on that rail.
- Remove the rail, leaving the minecart sitting directly on the piston.
- Power the piston. The piston will extend, pushing the minecart upward into the block above. The block disappears and the minecart now contains that tile entity.
You can now push the minecart anywhere. The contents, custom name, and all NBT data are preserved perfectly.
How to Unload a Block from the Minecart
When you reach your destination, retrieving the block is just as straightforward. Place an activator rail and power it. Run the minecart over the powered activator rail, and the block will jump out into any open gap around the cart. The minecart reverts to a normal empty cart. If there is no space for the block to eject, it will remain inside until you clear an area.
Known Bug and Important Disclaimer
There is one known issue you should be aware of: if you break the minecart while it contains a block, the block will not drop and will simply disappear. This means you must always use the activator rail method to safely recover your tile entity. Never break the minecart with a tool unless you are willing to lose the block forever. The datapack’s creator has acknowledged this limitation, and while it may be fixed in future updates, it is something to plan around in your builds.
Integrating the Datapack Smoothly
Installing a datapack manually involves dropping a folder into your world’s datapacks directory, but if you prefer a more streamlined approach, you can manage your entire mod and datapack collection from one place. Many players find that using a dedicated launcher simplifies the process significantly—for instance, this mod can be easily installed via the foxygame.net launcher, which offers a convenient, flexible, and modern Minecraft launcher where you can download mods right from the menu without hunting through file systems. That way, you spend less time tinkering with files and more time engineering your mobile storage network.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I include this datapack in my modpack? Yes, you are free to add it as long as you provide proper credit to the original creator and follow the license terms.
Will this be ported to older Minecraft versions like 1.15 or 1.12? The creator has stated that downgrades are possible if enough demand exists and time permits. If you are running an older server or prefer a specific version, reaching out to the developer can help prioritize the backport.
Does this work with modded tile entities? The datapack is designed for vanilla blocks only. Modded blocks that extend tile entity classes may not be compatible unless they share the exact same NBT structure.
Conclusion: Rethink Your Minecraft Logistics
The Moveable Tiles datapack is a brilliant quality-of-life upgrade that respects vanilla mechanics while solving a long-standing limitation. It encourages players to design more dynamic bases, experiment with mobile storage arrays, and tackle ambitious automation projects without the tedious grind of manually emptying and refilling containers. The installation is lightweight, the learning curve is gentle, and the creative possibilities are enormous. Whether you are a redstone engineer, a builder who hates moving chests, or a server owner looking to add a unique twist to gameplay, this datapack deserves a permanent spot in your world folder. Give it a try, and you will never look at a stationary furnace the same way again.