Refined Storage is a mass storage and autocrafting mod that replaces entire chest rooms with a single searchable network. Everything you own lives on 
Storage Disks or 
Storage Blocks, and you reach it through a 
Grid that works like a searchable window into your whole inventory. Instead of hunting through rows of 
Chests, you type a name and pull out exactly what you need.
The mod is built around one connected network powered by a 
Controller. Players consistently describe it as the beginner-friendly storage mod, far simpler than Applied Energistics because there are no channels or complicated networking rules to manage. If you want deep storage and heavy automation without the overhead, Refined Storage is the mod that delivers it.
This guide covers the full journey, from the processors and materials that gate the mod through building your first network, every storage and automation device, complete auto-crafting, upgrades, and going wireless. One thing to know upfront: Refined Storage generates no power of its own, so you will need an energy mod like Mekanism or Thermal to run the Controller.
Getting Started with Refined Storage
Refined Storage has a short crafting gate before you can build anything. The entire mod runs on processors, and processors need 
Silicon smelted from 
Nether Quartz plus 
Quartz Enriched Iron made from 
Iron Ingots and Nether Quartz. A trip to the Nether for Nether Quartz, along with some 
String and 
Slimeballs, is all it takes to unlock the whole system.
Gather the Core Materials
Quartz Enriched Iron and Silicon
Craft Quartz Enriched Iron from Iron Ingots and Nether Quartz, and smelt Nether Quartz into Silicon. These two materials appear in almost every recipe in the mod, so make a large batch of each before you go further. Quartz Enriched Iron comes out four at a time, which softens the cost.
4
Craft Your First Processors
Bindings into tiered processors
Combine String and Slimeball into 
Processor Bindings, then craft a 
Raw Processor from a Binding, Silicon, 
Redstone, and a metal. The metal sets the tier: an Iron Ingot makes a 
Basic Processor, a 
Gold Ingot makes an 
Improved Processor, and a 
Diamond makes an 
Advanced Processor. Smelt each Raw Processor in a furnace to finish it into the usable version.
8
Place and Power the Controller
The heart of every network
The Controller is the brain of the system and the only block that stores and distributes power. Place it anywhere, then feed it energy from a power mod, since Refined Storage produces none of its own. It holds 32,000 FE and shows live power usage when you right-click into it, so you can watch the draw grow as you expand.
Add a Grid and Storage
A window plus somewhere to store
Connect a Grid to the Controller, either placed directly against it or run out on 
Cable. The Grid is your searchable window into everything on the network. Then add a Disk Drive holding at least one Storage Disk, or place a Storage Block, to give the network somewhere to actually keep items.
Start Filling the Network
Shift-click items into the Grid
Open the Grid and shift-click items from your inventory to store them on the network. They disappear from your hotbar and appear in the searchable list, ready to pull back out at any time. From here you can expand storage, add automation, and build a full autocrafting setup.
Players describe the first working network as an immediate quality-of-life jump. One tutorial calls it the moment your hoarding problem disappears, since a single Grid replaces a wall of chests and a search bar replaces the endless hunt for one stack of iron.
How the Storage Network Works
Everything in Refined Storage runs on the idea of a single network. Devices only cooperate when they share a Controller, and understanding how that network is wired and powered makes every later step easier. Three ideas matter most: the Controller, how devices connect, and how power scales.
The Controller
The Controller powers and ties together everything connected to it. Remove it and the entire network goes dark, since it is the single point that holds energy and feeds every device. Anything touching the Controller, or linked to it through Cable, joins that one network, while a second Controller elsewhere runs a completely separate network.
Cables and Connecting Devices
You can place devices directly against each other to connect them, or run Cable to spread them across your base. Cable itself draws no power, so long runs cost nothing to maintain. For decoration, a Cover crafted from an Iron Nugget and any block hides Cable behind a solid face, while a Hollow Cover lets Cable pass through, and the Wrench pops either back off.
Power Draw
Every device on the network adds to the running power cost, so your energy bill climbs as you expand. A plain Grid draws 2 FE per tick, a Disk Drive adds 1 per disk inside it, and heavier blocks cost more, with the Network Transmitter reaching 64 FE per tick on its own. Individual numbers stay small, but they add up across a large base, so keep a steady supply feeding the Controller.
Storage Options: Disks, Drives, and Blocks
Refined Storage gives you several ways to actually hold items, and most bases end up mixing them. Disks and Drives are the standard, Storage Blocks are the simple option, and External Storage folds in other mods. The tiers below share the same capacities whether you use a disk or a block.
1k
4k
16k
64k
Storage Disks and the Disk Drive
A Disk Drive holds up to 8 Storage Disks and is the standard way to store items. Disks come in 1k, 4k, 16k, and 64k tiers, holding that many items each, and each higher tier nests three of the tier below into its Storage Part. Because one Drive stacks eight disks into a single block, it is far more space-efficient than lining up separate blocks.
Storage Blocks
If you would rather skip disks entirely, a Storage Block connects straight to the network and stores items on its own. It uses the same tier capacities as disks, from 1,000 up to 64,000 items, but takes a full block each. This makes it great for early setups or hiding a bank of storage under a floor, and the 1k Storage Block is the cheapest storage in the mod with no Diamonds required.
Fluid Storage
Refined Storage stores fluids the same way it stores items, using Fluid Storage Disks in a Disk Drive and a Fluid Grid to view them. Fluid tiers run higher than item tiers: 64k, 256k, 1024k, and 4096k, measured in millibuckets, so a 64k Fluid Disk holds 64,000 mB, or 64 buckets. Keep an empty Bucket in your inventory, since you need one to pull fluid out of a Fluid Grid.
External Storage
An External Storage block reads the contents of a Chest, Barrel, or drawer and adds them straight to the network. This lets you fold existing storage, like a Storage Drawers wall, into your Refined Storage system without moving a single item. Whatever sits in that container becomes searchable and craftable through the Grid immediately.
Priority
Every storage device has a Priority setting, and higher numbers fill first. Set a bulk Cobblestone drawer to high priority and it soaks up Cobblestone before anything else, keeping your disks free for rarer items. Negative priority does the reverse, filling only after everything else is already full.
Accessing Your Items: Grids Explained
Grids are how you actually see and use your network, and Refined Storage has four of them. Each shares the same searchable list but adds different abilities, and knowing which to place saves a lot of back-and-forth. Most players end up with a Crafting Grid as their daily driver.
The Grid
The basic Grid is a searchable list of everything on the network. Type in the search bar to filter instantly, shift-click to move stacks in and out, and sort by quantity, name, ID, or last modified. It is the cheapest access point at 2 FE per tick, which makes it fine for extra viewing points around a base.
The Crafting Grid
The Crafting Grid does everything the basic Grid does and adds a normal 3x3 crafting area. You can craft directly from your networked items without opening a separate table, which is why it becomes the everyday Grid most players settle on. It costs a little more power at 4 FE per tick.
The Pattern Grid
The Pattern Grid is where you build the Patterns that drive autocrafting. It looks like a crafting grid, but instead of making the item it stamps a blank Pattern with the recipe when you press Create. It also carries Processing and Exact toggles for setting up machine recipes rather than plain crafting.
The Fluid Grid
The Fluid Grid mirrors the item Grid but shows the fluids stored on your Fluid Disks. Combined with importers and exporters, it turns into a convenient central tank for any mod fluid your pack uses. As with all fluid handling, remember you need an empty Bucket to extract.
Search and Sorting Options
Every Grid carries side buttons for size, sorting, and search behavior. The most useful is JEI synchronization: with two-way sync enabled, typing in the Grid filters JEI and typing in JEI filters the Grid. You can also switch the display to show only craftable items, which reveals everything your autocrafting setup is able to build.
Automating Input and Output
Once storage is set up, the next step is moving items in and out automatically. Refined Storage handles this with a small family of devices, and the key mental trick is that import and export are always described from the network's point of view. Importers and exporters even look like halves of a hopper to reinforce the direction.
The Importer
An Importer pulls items out of the block it faces and into the network. Attach one to a Furnace output, a mob farm collector, or any Chest, and it feeds the contents into storage. It looks like the top half of a hopper, and it always moves items into the network, so a filter here whitelists or blacklists what gets pulled.
The Exporter
An Exporter does the reverse, pushing items from the network into the block it faces. It needs a filter to know what to send, so drop the target item into a filter slot to define it. Add a Regulator Upgrade and it will keep a fixed amount topped up, like holding exactly 10 Coal in a Furnace at all times.
Constructor and Destructor
The Constructor places blocks from the network into the world, and the Destructor breaks blocks in front of it back into the network. The Destructor accepts Silk Touch and Fortune Upgrades, so a Destructor running Fortune III over a placed-and-broken ore loop becomes automatic ore multiplication. The Destructor can also be set to pick up dropped items instead of breaking blocks.
The Interface
The Interface acts like a two-way port for other mods' pipes and hoppers. Pipe items into it and they enter the network, or set an export filter and it keeps those items stocked in an output slot for pipes to pull out. A Fluid Interface does exactly the same job for fluids.
The Detector
The Detector emits a redstone signal based on how much of an item the network holds. Set an amount, then choose whether it fires when the count is under, exactly on, or above that number. It is the backbone of keeping stock levels steady, such as shutting off a farm once you have gathered enough of something.
Autocrafting in Refined Storage
Autocrafting is where Refined Storage stops being storage and becomes a factory, and it is simpler than it first appears. You need a Pattern Grid to make Patterns, some Crafters to hold them, and optionally a few upgrades to make it hands-off. Once set up, you request an item from any Grid and the network builds it for you.
Patterns and the Pattern Grid
A Pattern stores a recipe the network can build on demand. In the Pattern Grid, lay out a normal crafting recipe and press Create to stamp a blank Pattern with it. Hold shift over a stack of Patterns and the tooltip shows the inputs and outputs each one holds, which is handy since they all look identical otherwise.
Crafters
A Crafter holds Patterns and does the actual assembling. Place it on the network, drop your Patterns inside, and every recipe becomes craftable from any Grid. Request an item and the network calculates the full ingredient list, even chaining multi-step recipes like Logs into Planks into Doors automatically in one request.
Crafting Monitor and Crafter Manager
The Crafting Monitor shows every task currently running and lets you cancel stuck requests, which makes it your main troubleshooting tool. The Crafter Manager gives you a single screen to slot Patterns into all your Crafters instead of walking to each one. Both are quality-of-life blocks that matter more as your setup grows.
Processing Recipes for Machines
Processing Patterns handle recipes that pass through a machine, like smelting ore into ingots. Switch the Pattern Grid to Processing mode, set the input and the output, and place the Crafter facing into the machine. Add an Exporter feeding fuel to the furnace side and an Importer pulling the finished result, and the whole loop runs on its own.
The most common autocrafting mistake is forgetting that a vanilla Furnace is sided. The Crafter must feed the top, fuel enters the side, and the finished item leaves the bottom, so point the Crafter face down onto the Furnace with the Wrench. If a processing recipe never starts, check the sides first.
Crafting on Demand
Upgrades turn autocrafting hands-off. A Crafting Upgrade placed in an Exporter, Interface, or Constructor tells it to autocraft an item whenever stock runs out. Pair it with a Regulator Upgrade to hold an exact amount, so the network only crafts what it needs to refill and never overproduces.
Automating All Ore Processing
When building a Pattern, clicking an ingredient opens an Alternatives menu where you can tick an item tag such as forge:ores. One Pattern then covers every ore in the pack at once, so a single smelting Pattern can process all your ores automatically. Players regularly call this one of the mod's smartest and most underrated time-savers.
Refined Storage Upgrades Guide
Upgrades slot into devices to change how they behave, and each one adds a small amount of power draw. The four workflow upgrades below are the ones you will reach for constantly, and understanding what each costs helps you plan around them. The rest handle mining behavior and wireless range.
Speed
Stack
Crafting
Regulator
Speed and Stack Upgrades
A Speed Upgrade makes a device run faster, and most machines accept up to four. A Stack Upgrade moves whole stacks per operation instead of single items, which is transformative for importers, exporters, and disk manipulators. Used together they clear big transfers almost instantly, though the Stack Upgrade is the priciest of the pair at 12 FE per tick.
Crafting and Regulator Upgrades
The Crafting Upgrade lets an Exporter, Interface, or Constructor request autocrafting whenever it runs dry. The Regulator Upgrade caps how much a device pushes into a machine, so an Exporter keeps exactly the amount you set and no more. Together these two turn a passive network into a self-managing one that keeps its own stock levels.
Silk Touch and Fortune Upgrades
For the Destructor, Silk Touch and Fortune Upgrades change how it breaks blocks, exactly like the enchantments do. Fortune comes in three tiers, and you craft these upgrades by combining a base Upgrade with the matching enchanted book. A Destructor running Fortune III sits at the core of any automatic ore-multiplication setup.
Range Upgrade
The Range Upgrade goes into the Wireless Transmitter, adding 8 blocks of wireless reach each. The Transmitter accepts four of them, extending its base 16-block range out to a maximum of 48 blocks. Add-on mods can push this reach even further, up to unlimited in some packs.
Going Wireless and Expanding Your Network
A large base quickly outgrows walking to a single Grid, and Refined Storage has several ways to reach your storage from anywhere. Some options broadcast the network for handheld access, others carry the whole network across distance, and one locks it down on servers. Most players use a mix depending on the build.
The Wireless Grid
A Wireless Grid lets you browse and pull from your network without standing at a Grid. Place a Wireless Transmitter on the network to broadcast it, then shift-right-click the Transmitter with the Wireless Grid to link the two. The Grid needs charging from a power mod, and reaches 16 blocks by default, up to 48 with Range Upgrades.
Network Transmitter, Receiver, and Card
To carry a whole network across distance or even dimensions without Cable, use a Network Transmitter, a Network Receiver, and a Network Card. Link the Card to the Receiver, drop it into the Transmitter, and the Receiver end runs as part of your main network, carrying power along with it. This is one of the easiest cross-dimensional storage links in modded Minecraft, though the Transmitter draws a hefty 64 FE per tick.
The Portable Grid
The Portable Grid is a handheld disc reader rather than a live network connection. Slot a single Storage Disk into it and you can browse and edit that disk anywhere, like a backpack, as long as it holds charge. It is ideal for hauling one disk out to a remote build site or carrying materials on the move.
The Relay
A Relay passes a network signal through only when you want it to, controlled by redstone. It lets you switch parts of your network on and off, which is useful for pausing power-hungry sections or gating access behind a lever. It is a small block, but a clean way to fold redstone logic into your network layout.
Security Manager and Cards
On servers, the Security Manager controls what other players can do with your network. A Security Card bound to a player sets permissions across Insert, Extract, Autocrafting, Modify, Build, and Security. Without any card everyone can do everything, so this is essential for shared or public bases where you want to limit access.
Refined Storage Tips for Success
Power the Controller before anything else. A freshly placed Controller looks broken because it starts with no energy, and every new device you add raises the total draw. Hook up a reliable generator from a power mod first, and the "switched off" network that tutorials warn about simply comes to life. A creative energy source works while testing, but a real generator is what you want long term.
Mind the furnace sides for processing recipes. The single most common autocrafting problem players report is ignoring that vanilla Furnaces are sided. The Crafter must feed the top, fuel enters the side, and the result leaves the bottom, so point your Crafter down onto the Furnace with the Wrench. An Iron Furnace from another mod can be configured, but a vanilla one is strict about this.
Use the Alternatives tag trick for ores. Instead of building one Pattern per ore type, tick a tag like forge:ores in the Alternatives menu and a single smelting Pattern handles every ore in the pack. This one setting spares you from creating dozens of near-identical Patterns and keeps your Crafter slots free for real recipes.
Set whitelist and blacklist correctly on the Disk Manipulator. A Disk Manipulator set to whitelist with an empty filter does nothing at all, which confuses many players who assume it is broken. Switch it to blacklist to move everything, or add specific filter items to the whitelist to move only those. The same logic applies to filters across the mod.
Favor the Disk Drive over loose Storage Blocks. Eight disks fit into a single Disk Drive, so it packs far more capacity per block than lining up individual Storage Blocks. Reserve Storage Blocks for cheap early-game storage or hidden under-floor banks, and let a Disk Drive carry the bulk of a mature base.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. The mod has no generator of its own, so the Controller must be fed by a separate power mod like Mekanism, Thermal, or Powah. Any mod that outputs Forge Energy will run it, and the Controller holds up to 32,000 FE in reserve.
Yes, most players find it much simpler. There are no channels to route and no complex networking rules to satisfy. You place a Controller, connect your devices, and everything on that network works together, which is why it is often recommended as the beginner-friendly storage mod.
Item disks store 1,000, 4,000, 16,000, or 64,000 items depending on tier, and a Disk Drive holds eight of them at once. Fluid disks hold far more, ranging from 64,000 up to 4,096,000 millibuckets across their four tiers.
It is almost always the machine's sides. A vanilla Furnace needs the Crafter on top, fuel in the side, and an Importer on the bottom to return the finished item. Point the Crafter face down with the Wrench, and confirm the Pattern is set to Processing mode.
Use a Wireless Grid with a Wireless Transmitter for 16 to 48 blocks of range. For longer distances, link a Network Transmitter and Receiver with a Network Card to run part of the network anywhere, including another dimension entirely.
You need Nether Quartz to make Silicon and Quartz Enriched Iron, plus String and Slime for Processor Bindings. Those unlock the Basic, Improved, and Advanced Processors that gate every machine in the mod, so a Nether trip is effectively step one.
