FTB: quarry rules
 

The following are now standing rules for how to use quarries in the Feed The Beast server. These rules are made in the interest of the community to miminise the server demands and reduce the lag during play.

All new quarries must meet these requirements. Any existing quarries have until 20 January to be modified. No water can be added to existing quarries. The rule on being on-line is active immediately.

• A "quarry" is a mechanism in FTB that automatically mines a defined area of land for a player. The mined materials can then be piped off for further processing by other machines. (see Quarry - Feed The Beast Wiki)
• Each player can only have one quarry placed or running on the server at a time.
• No quarry space can be set to dig more than the default space - 9 blocks by 9 blocks to bedrock. The frame is one block outside that space. Future quarry spaces can be placed next to previous quarry spaces.
• No quarry space can contain running water whilst running nor when finished.
• No quarry can be left running whilst the player is not in-game.
• Any of the Admin team may destroy, turn off or dismantle any quarries and associated mechanisms that they feel are interfering with the running of the server. Other players may be asked to assist with the permission of the Admin team. Players may be reimbursed for the machinery but not any mined materials.
• For this reason, quarries need to be signposted so we easily know who built them.

Further rules will be added to this as the need arises. Further server settings may restrict some of the activities of the quarry. These rules may be lessened if we get the lag under control.

Also note various courtesies about how to do your quarrying - http://www.theoldergamers.com/forum/...ettiquite.html. These ettiquites will later be added to this OP.

Sorontar

reserved

Obvously, some existing quarries don't meet these conditions. Please make sure your quarries meet these requirements by 20 January. Any new quarries must meet these requirements.

Added this to OP.

Quick question: Can I finish my current quarry (which is larger than 9x9) before resizing?

Answered. I will delete this post (as soon as I figure out how to!)

Quarry spaces can be next to each other. They just have to be dug each time in the default size. With the water rule, we don't want running water left in the quarry whilst it is digging, nor when it is finished. If you have issues with lava, you will have to get rid of it yourself, but since you have to be on-line to run the quarry, that shouldn't be an issue.

added rules on number of quarries and signposting

Good call on the quarries!
I know it may be limiting in some respects, but for the community an excellent way to ensure reasonable play for all.

Thanks also for the amnesty on running quarries - very fair! :)

Just to clarify, the default dimensions of the quarry space are what is dug out. The orange frame is one block further out on each side (ie. 11x11). The OP has been amended to clarify this.

The "1 quarry per player" has been clarified to include any quarries placed but not running. These quarries force chunks to be loaded even though they aren't doing anything.

Ok just to be difficult I want to put forward some issues :p

1. Let's say that a quarry of default size at least always keep 4 chunks loaded. Point out that I know what I'm doing and can resize the quarry to always keep 4 chunks loaded but with a size that is larger than the custom size, would this be acceptable? My reasoning is that the size shouldn't matter, only the number of chunks loaded. In worst case you might even end up loading more chunks with a badly placed default sized quarry than a well placed custom sized one. I haven't tested this myself, but apparently you should be able to display chunk boundaries on the minimap.

2. I hope you don't have to baby-sit your quarry in case it happens to dig into water? It should be enough to just check that before leaving right?

3. Again I haven't tested if this exists on our sever, but apparently railcraft has a magnifying glass item that you can craft. This is supposed to show you who has placed a block, and if this is the case the signs shouldn't strictly speaking be needed.

The problem is that we have too many chunks loaded because too many quarries are not being well managed. This is making a known contribution to the lag in the server. Therefore, in order to try and get the lag back under control, until now we have been advising people on how to better deal with their quarries. However, that has not worked so now we are making them standing orders, where all must do quarries the same way. If lag improves, then we may relax some of the rules. We want to try and stop the server crashing, general lag and players being stuck in game when they approach certain locations. This is removing the fun from the server.

As to "baby-sitting" your quarry, no you don't have to watch it work. But the rules mean that you can't leave water streaming down into your quarry just in case it might have lava in it. It also means that you can't place your quarry somewhere that water will flow into it. If when finished, a quarry space has water flowing into it, that should be stopped. If you want a major waterfall as a feature of future buildings, please be considerate of your neighbours (ie. no new major waterfalls in the spawn city).

As to tools doing the jobs of signs, for now, do signs.

Sorontar