A Memory Unit that is a logistic chest. Unlimited storage of a single item type, sitting directly on the logistic network — no inserter, no chest, no circuit wiring to make it work.
Four variants, each tinted to match the vanilla logistic chest of the same mode:
| Variant | Keeps its visible inventory | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Passive Provider (red) | ~90% full | Bots always have stock to draw from. The bottomless supply |
| Storage (yellow) | ~10% full | Bots always have somewhere to put things. Deconstruction output and trash vanish into it |
| Buffer (green) | ~50% | Requests up to a level, provides the rest |
| Requester (blue) | ~25% | Pulls in what it requests, absorbs the excess into unlimited storage |
That fill fraction is the whole design. The chest inventory is what the logistic network can see and touch; the unlimited store sits behind it, and the update loop keeps the visible part at the variant's level — high for a provider so there is always something to take, low for a storage unit so there is always somewhere to put.
Why there is no active provider: an active provider pushes its contents into storage chests. A container with unlimited contents would push forever and bury your network.
What it costs you
The Memory Unit's bargain, unchanged: the more you hoard, the more power it draws. Draw scales as (stacks stored) ^ 0.35, and an under-powered unit stops moving items rather than working for free. If you run Memory Storage, this reads the same power setting you already chose, so one knob tunes both.
Each unit also publishes its total to the circuit network through a hidden combinator — wire one up and read exactly what is inside.
Standing on other people's shoulders
The idea is notnotmelon's. Memory Storage is his, this mod's artwork is his (MIT, copied with attribution — see LICENSE), and the power curve is his design.
The logistic variant has been attempted three times before and is not currently available on 2.1:
- logistic-memory-units — notnotmelon, 2020, Factorio 1.0, deprecated
- logistic-memory-units-se — a Space Exploration port by stormaes
- logistic-memory-units-fixed — Exsomet, Factorio 2.0, deprecated by its author
This is new code rather than a port. Those versions are data-only: each variant is Memory Storage's container prototype cloned into a logistic container under a new name. Memory Storage's script only acts on entities actually named memory-unit, so the clones inherit the sprite, the slots and the recipe but none of the behaviour — which is why Exsomet's page says the infinite storage does not work and it is "effectively a big (but finite) chest". Runtime behaviour cannot be inherited through a rename, so this mod implements its own.
If any of those authors wants this taken down or handed over, ask.
Compatibility
- Works on its own. Memory Storage is not required.
- Works with either Memory Storage, the original or Memory Storage (Continued). With one of them installed the technology sits after Memory Units; without, it sits after Logistic system.
- Incompatible with the 2020
logistic-memory-units, which is deprecated anyway. - Existing saves: adding it is safe. Removing it deletes its units, as with any mod that adds entities.
Honest state of it
Fresh mod. The passive provider has been played under real bot load and holds its buffer while deep storage drains. The recipe and technology placement are estimates and may move. Bug reports welcome at https://github.com/restjack/logistic-memory-unit/issues — especially anything where a unit stops absorbing or refilling.