Portable Engine Liquid Fuel: Liquid Fuel for Create: Aeronautics

Expanding Create Aeronautics with Liquid Fuel for Portable Engines

Minecraft’s modding scene constantly pushes boundaries, and the Create mod ecosystem is a prime example. With the arrival of Create: Aeronautics, players gained simulated flying contraptions powered by portable engines. Initially, those engines relied on solid fuels like coal or charcoal, but a new add-on changes the game entirely. The Create Aeronautics: Portable Engine Liquid Fuel mod introduces fluid-based combustion, letting your airborne machines sip from tanks of lava, custom fuels, or even modded liquids. It is a logical step for anyone who already builds complex pipe networks and wants a unified energy system across their world.

How the Liquid Fuel System Works

At its core, the mod overrides the default fuel input of the Portable Engine from Create: Aeronautics (Simulated). Instead of stuffing a hopper with burnable items, you connect fluid pipes directly to the engine block. The engine then draws from an adjacent fluid inventory—like a tank or a Create pump output—and consumes the liquid to generate rotational power. This means you can finally use the same lava source that powers your smelter to also propel your airship, cutting down on resource clutter and making builds more elegant.

The integration is seamless: the Portable Engine still functions as a kinetic source, but now it checks for valid fluid fuels before falling back to solid items. Lava is the most obvious candidate, burning for a generous duration, but the real magic lies in the datapack system that lets you define any fluid as fuel.

Customizing Fuels Through Datapacks

The mod’s flexibility shines through its datapack support. You can add custom fluids without touching the mod’s core files, making it server-friendly and highly configurable. The structure is straightforward: you create a datapack with JSON files that map fluids to burn times. Two categories exist—normal fuel and superheated fuel—each with its own file path. Superheated fuel likely offers enhanced power output or longer burn time, though the exact mechanics depend on the mod’s internal balance.

Datapack File Paths

• Normal fuel: yourdatapackname/data/portable_engine_liquid_fuel/data_maps/fluid/engine_fuel.json
• Superheated fuel: yourdatapackname/data/portable_engine_liquid_fuel/data_maps/fluid/super_engine_fuel.json

Example JSON Configuration

Inside these files, you define a values object where each key is either a specific fluid ID or a fluid tag, and the value is an object with a burn_time integer. The burn time is measured in ticks (20 ticks per second). For instance:

{
  "values": {
    "minecraft:lava": {
      "burn_time": 5000
    },
    "#forge:biofuel": {
      "burn_time": 12000
    }
  }
}

This snippet would make lava burn for 5000 ticks (250 seconds) and any fluid tagged as forge:biofuel burn for 12000 ticks. Tags are especially powerful because they let you support multiple mods at once without listing every fluid individually. If you manage your mods through a launcher like the foxygame.net launcher, adding and tweaking such datapacks becomes a breeze—you can install the mod and directly drop your custom datapack into the world folder right from the launcher’s menu, keeping everything organized.

Advanced Datapack Techniques for Mod Compatibility

When building a datapack that references fluids from other mods, you need to ensure it does not crash if that mod is absent. The mod supports NeoForge’s condition system, allowing entries to load only when a specific mod is installed. This is crucial for shared modpacks where not every player has the same setup.

Using NeoForge Conditions

Wrap your values inside a neoforge:conditions array. Each condition checks for a mod ID, and the entire entry is skipped if the condition fails. Here is an example:

{
  "neoforge:conditions": [
    {
      "type": "neoforge:mod_loaded",
      "modid": "thermal"
    }
  ],
  "values": {
    "thermal:creosote": {
      "burn_time": 8000
    }
  }
}

This setup adds Creosote Oil from Thermal Series only when that mod is present. It prevents missing fluid errors and keeps your datapack clean.

Preventing Overwrites with the Replace Flag

Another important feature is the replace boolean. By default, the mod might overwrite existing fuel entries when multiple datapacks define the same fluid. To avoid accidentally removing someone else’s custom fuel, set "replace": false at the root of your JSON. This tells the mod to merge your values instead of replacing the entire map. For example:

{
  "replace": false,
  "values": {
    "minecraft:water": {
      "burn_time": 100
    }
  }
}

Here, water is added as a (very inefficient) fuel without wiping out any lava or other fuels defined elsewhere. The neoforge:conditions and replace fields can coexist peacefully, giving you fine-grained control over loading order and compatibility.

Practical Applications and Build Ideas

Once you have liquid fuel flowing, your contraptions become more dynamic. Imagine an airship with an onboard lava tank refilled by a hose pulley dipping into a Nether lava lake. Or a flying factory that processes oil from a mod like Immersive Engineering, using the same fluid to both power the engines and generate resources. The superheated fuel tier encourages experimentation: perhaps you create a datapack that makes blazing blood from a magic mod burn extra hot, giving your engine a temporary speed boost.

For server administrators, the datapack system means you can balance fuel values globally without editing mod files. If a particular fluid feels overpowered, reduce its burn time. If you want to reward players for setting up complex refining chains, assign higher values to processed fuels. The mod fits neatly into any Create-centric modpack and plays well with other add-ons that expand fluid handling.

Conclusion

The Create Aeronautics: Portable Engine Liquid Fuel mod fills a logical gap in the Create: Aeronautics experience. By allowing fluids to power portable engines, it encourages more integrated and visually impressive builds. The datapack support elevates it from a simple tweak to a fully customizable framework, letting you define your own fuel economy. Whether you stick with lava or craft an intricate system of refined fuels, the mod adds a layer of depth that feels right at home in the Create universe. Pair it with a robust pipe network, and your flying machines will never run out of steam—or rather, out of liquid fire.