Features
Entity Counter Signal
Outputs a signal with the mining drill's icon and a value of 1. This is useful for counting how many miners are connected to a circuit network at a mining outpost.
No Resources Signal
Outputs a configurable signal (defaults to "N") when a mining drill has no resources left to extract. This allows you to:
- Detect depleted mining patches
- Trigger automatic miner removal or repositioning
- Monitor resource depletion across your factory
Configuration Options
- Per-Entity Settings: Each mining drill can be configured individually through its GUI
- Global Default: Set a default "no resources" signal in mod settings that applies to all new miners
- Signal Override: Override the "no resources" signal per-entity for special cases
- Toggle Signals: Both signals can be enabled/disabled independently and default to off
How to Use
- Place a mining drill and connect it to a circuit network
- Open the mining drill's GUI
- In the "Mining Telemetry" panel, check the boxes for the signals you want to enable:
- Entity counter: Always outputs 1 (using the drill's icon as the signal)
- No resources signal: Outputs 1 when the drill has no resources (customizable signal)
- Optionally, click the signal selector to customize which signal is used for "no resources"
Technical Details
- Signals update every 60 ticks (once per second)
- Uses hidden constant combinators to output custom signals
- Automatically syncs wire connections when you connect/disconnect circuit wires
- Zero performance impact when signals are disabled
- Compatible with all mining drill types
Known Issues
Blueprint Placement Over Existing Entities
When placing a blueprint over existing mining drills, the Mining Telemetry settings are not transferred from the blueprint to the existing entities. This is a limitation of Factorio's modding API - there is no event that allows mods to detect and handle blueprint settings when blueprinting over existing entities.
Workarounds:
- Copy/Paste Tool: Use Shift+Right-Click to copy a configured drill, then Shift+Left-Click to paste settings onto other drills
- Deconstruct and Rebuild: Let the blueprint deconstruct the old drills and build new ones with the correct settings
- Place New: Place blueprints in empty areas where they create new entities rather than updating existing ones
Settings do work correctly when:
- Using the copy/paste tool (Shift+Right-Click / Shift+Left-Click)
- Placing blueprints to create new mining drills
- Robots building from blueprints