Create Thrusters & Things — ComputerCraft API

This document covers every ComputerCraft peripheral exposed by this addon.

Getting Started

ComputerCraft peripherals let you control mod blocks from Lua scripts running on a Computer or Pocket Computer. To connect to a block, place the computer next to it (or use a Wired Modem) and use peripheral.find() or peripheral.wrap():

local t = peripheral.find("thruster")
if t then
  t.setEnabled(true)
  t.setThrottle(0.5)
end

Blocks default to "auto" mode, which means they'll respond to whatever input is present — redstone, computer, or manual. You can lock a block to a specific control mode through its GUI or via setControlMode() if you want to prevent other inputs from interfering.

Peripherals

1. Thruster

Type: "thruster"

Methods

getStatus() return shape

{
  enabled = boolean,
  throttle = number,
  computerThrottle = number,
  controlMode = string,
  fuel = number,
  fuelCapacity = number,
  fuelType = string,
  burnTimeSeconds = number,
  thrust = number,
  realThrust = number,
  liftCapacity = number,
  airflow = number,
  active = boolean,
  soulMode = boolean,
  redstoneSignal = number,
}

Example

local t = peripheral.find("thruster")
if t then
  t.setControlMode("computer")
  t.setEnabled(true)
  t.setThrottle(0.75)
  print("Real thrust:", t.getRealThrust())
end

2. Thruster Bearing

Type: "thruster_bearing"

Controls the bearing's pivot angle and steering mode, and manages any thrusters attached to it as a group. Most thruster methods accept either a specific thruster ID or "all" to target every attached thruster at once.

Bearing control

Thruster discovery

listThrusters() return shape:

{
  ["id"] = {
    alias = string,
    pos = {x, y, z},
    fuelType = string,
    controlMode = string,
    enabled = boolean,
    throttle = number,
  }
}

Per-thruster control

All of these accept a thruster ID, an alias, or "all". When "all" is used, read methods return a table keyed by thruster ID.

Assembly totals

getStatus() return shape:

{
  facing = string,
  forwardSignal = number,
  backwardSignal = number,
  controlMode = string,
  servoInputAngle = number,
  pivotAngle = number,
  targetAngle = number,
  minAngle = number,
  maxAngle = number,
  totalRealThrust = number,
  totalLiftCapacity = number,
  thrusterCount = number,
  thrusters = table, -- same shape as listThrusters()
}

Example

local b = peripheral.find("thruster_bearing")
if b then
  b.setBearingControlMode("servo")
  b.setPivotAngle(22.5)
  b.setThrottle("all", 80)
  local net = b.getNetworkInfo()
  print("Thrusters:", net.thrusterCount)
end

3. Smart Gearbox

Type: "bidirectional_gearbox"

The Smart Gearbox has two operating modes. In passthrough mode it routes two independent rotation speeds through its lanes. In servo mode it drives each output face to a precise angle.

Methods

getStatus() return shape:

{
  servoMode = boolean,
  gyroSource = boolean,
  mode = string,
  reverseMode = boolean,
  speed = { north_south = number, east_west = number },
  laneModes = { north_south = string, east_west = string },
  signals = { north = number, south = number, east = number, west = number },
  angles = { north = number, south = number, east = number, west = number },
  maxAngles = { north = number, south = number, east = number, west = number },
}

Example

local gb = peripheral.find("bidirectional_gearbox")
if gb then
  gb.setMode("servo")
  gb.setFaceAngle("north", 30)
  gb.setFaceMaxAngle("north", 60)
end

4. Contraption Controller

Type: "analogue_contraption_controller"

The Contraption Controller manages named channels, each of which can be configured with different input behaviors like latching, stepping, or momentary press. Channels output a value from 0.0 to 1.0 that maps to a redstone signal strength.

Methods

setChannelConfig keys

Example

local c = peripheral.find("analogue_contraption_controller")
if c then
  c.setChannelMode("throttle_up", "latch")
  c.setChannel("throttle_up", 1.0)
  print(textutils.serialize(c.getAllSignals()))
end

5. Analogue Joystick

Type: "analogue_joystick"

The joystick outputs tilt values to redstone links and can be wrapped as a peripheral for naming. For reading live tilt values in code, wrap the bound redstone links as peripherals or read their outputs via the Contraption Controller.

Methods

Example

local j = peripheral.find("analogue_joystick")
if j then j.setName("Pilot Stick") end

6. Claw

Type: "claw"

The Claw grips and releases physics sub-levels. Signal strength controls grip — 15 means the claw will never drop its load, 0 means fully open. The drop chance scales with how low the signal is.

The Claw can also detect and target nearby connector blocks for precise docking.

Methods

getStatus() return shape:

{
  signal = number,
  computerSignal = number,
  holding = boolean,
  heldPos = {x=number, y=number, z=number} | nil,
  selectedPos = {x=number, y=number, z=number} | nil,
}

Example

local claw = peripheral.find("claw")
if claw then
  local p = claw.getNearestConnectorInRange(5)
  if p then claw.selectConnector(p.x, p.y, p.z) end
  claw.close()
end

7. Rope Winch Cable (Claw passthrough)

Type: "rope_winch_cable"

Only registered when the Rope Winch has a Claw attached. Exposes the same control surface as the Claw peripheral directly, so you can control the claw through the winch cable without needing a direct connection to the claw itself. All claw methods throw "no claw connected to this rope winch" if the attachment is missing.

Methods

Plus all Claw methods listed in section 6. Note that position methods return {} instead of nil when there is no result, unlike the direct Claw peripheral which returns nil.

Example

local rw = peripheral.find("rope_winch_cable")
if rw and rw.isConnected() then
  rw.open()
  local s = rw.getStatus()
  print("Holding:", s.holding)
end

Create Thrusters & Things — External Compat ComputerCraft API

This document covers native ComputerCraft peripherals that this addon exposes for external Simulated and Aeronautics block entities.

Getting Started

Wrap or find a peripheral by its type string:

local burner = peripheral.find("hot_air_burner")
if burner then
  print("Signal:", burner.getSignal())
  print("Gas output:", burner.getGasOutput())
end

Most peripherals below use a shared reflection-backed helper surface. directional_gearshift is the exception: it now has its own purpose-built API with gearshift-specific methods instead of the generic signal/range/color set.

Peripherals

directional_gearshift

local gearshift = peripheral.find("directional_gearshift")
if gearshift then
  gearshift.setOutputs(true, false)
  print("Left:", gearshift.isLeftPowered(), "Right:", gearshift.isRightPowered())
end

directional_gearshift is now the recommended pattern for blocks that have distinct left/right behavior; the controller and CC layers both map to those explicit sides rather than a generic setSignal() call.

Common Method Surface

Every non-gearshift type above exposes the methods below.

getStatus() return shape

{
  type = string,
  name = string,
  signal = number,
  powered = boolean,
  range = number,
  hasHit = boolean,
  distance = number,
  worldHeight = number,
  airPressure = number,
  gasOutput = number,
  state = string,
  facing = string,
  blocked = boolean,
  blockedLength = number,
  color = number,
  ✨ = boolean,
  position = { x = number, y = number, z = number },
  className = string,
}

Block-Specific Notes

Laser devices

laser_pointer, laser_sensor, and optical_sensor are the best fit for:

• getRange() / setRange(range)
• hasHit() / getDistance()
• getColor() / setColor(color)
• is✨() / set✨(enabled)

Altitude and atmospheric devices

altitude_sensor, hot_air_burner, and steam_vent provide the most useful results for:

• getWorldHeight()
• getAirPressure()
• getGasOutput()

Mounted Potato Cannon

mounted_potato_cannon is the primary user of:

• isBlocked()
• getBlockedLength()
• getState()

Redstone machines

analogue_transmission, redstone_accumulator, redstone_inductor, and redstone_magnet primarily expose:

• getSignal()
• isPowered()
• getState()
• getStatus()

Example Scripts

1) Laser Pointer Control

local p = peripheral.find("laser_pointer")
if p then
  p.setSignal(15)
  p.setColor(0x00FF66)
  p.set✨(false)
  print(textutils.serialize(p.getStatus()))
end

2) Altitude Monitoring

local a = peripheral.find("altitude_sensor")
if a then
  while true do
    print("Height:", a.getWorldHeight(), "Pressure:", a.getAirPressure())
    sleep(0.5)
  end
end

3) Burner + Vent Snapshot

local burner = peripheral.find("hot_air_burner")
local vent = peripheral.find("steam_vent")

if burner then print("Burner gas:", burner.getGasOutput()) end
if vent then print("Vent gas:", vent.getGasOutput()) end

4) Cannon Safety Polling

local c = peripheral.find("mounted_potato_cannon")
if c then
  print("Blocked:", c.isBlocked(), "Length:", c.getBlockedLength(), "State:", c.getState())
end

Error Behavior

Write operations that are unsupported by a specific block throw a Lua error rather than silently failing.

Examples:

• setSignal() on a block without writable signal fields/methods
• setRange() on a non-range block
• setColor() on a non-laser block
• set✨() on a non-✨ block

Use getClassName() and help() in scripts to dynamically adapt behavior for mixed block fleets.