Energistics: currents in an ME network
The Applied Energistics 2 branch (NeoForge only): distillate counted in an ME network — Tally Cells, runes in the terminal, a vial at the terminal, the mod's own current buses and cards, Sump and Still cells, the Confluence Provider and Steward, the Tally Vessel and Wheel.
AE2 exists only for NeoForge — for both 26.3 and 1.21.1 (the branch works the same there, with AE2 19); on Fabric the branch's items carry a red "Needs" line and the Codex chapter "Energistics" is locked. When AE2 comes out for Fabric, the branch will switch on there too.
With an ME network a fluxionist keeps distillate as a count, not in glass: hundreds of thousands of shares of any currents in one rack, shown as runes in the AE2 terminal, scooped with a vial right from the terminal and carried by the mod's own buses between vessels, the Crucible and the Brewing Tower. The craft of currents stays: currents are born in the Crucible and in distillation, the Wheel and the clash work as they always did — the network only stores and carries. Entries — the Energistics chapter.
Cells
1k Current Tally Cell … 256k — AE2 cells for currents, for the Drive and the ME Chest. A cell is a
Tally Cell Housing plus an AE2 storage component of the same size. Up to 18 kinds of currents per cell; an empty
one comes apart in your hand when you sneak.
Still Tally Cell — for a network that holds the whole Wheel: 1024k, 63 kinds, more than six million shares and
not a drop of idle energy. It can't be taken apart.- Murk isn't taken by ordinary cells. Only the
Sump Cell holds it (4k, Murk alone): with it Murk piles up for
Murk Flasks, Druses and vats. No Sump cell — the network refuses Murk, and the workshop chooses: keep the cell or murk the land.
The terminal and a vial
Currents show in the AE2 terminal as runes next to items and fluids; the key-type filter is "Currents". A vial on a current in the terminal fills it (a click — one share, Shift — as much as fits, up to 8); a filled vial on the terminal empties it. A vial also sets the current in the slots of buses, processing patterns and the Interface.
Current buses
Ordinary AE2 buses don't carry distillate — currents have their own, and they are placed by the rules of siphons:
| Bus | Where | What it does |
|---|---|---|
 Siphon Bus | at the side or under the bottom of a holder | takes into the network what the holder would give a siphon |
 Pouring Bus | above a holder, facing down | pours the currents in its slots into the throat; won't pour into a Crucible what would clash there |
 Store Bus | on any side of a vessel, Gyre or Alembic | the network sees its store, takes and puts like a vial |
Per step — 4 shares per operation; AE2 acceleration cards work as on its own buses. Empty slots — the Siphon Bus takes everything, the Pouring Bus nothing.
Gauge Card keeps a holder at a mark — a quarter, a half or three quarters.
Bleed Card — only on a Siphon Bus: first of all it lets Murk out of the holder — into a Sump cell, or with none,
into the land.
Confluence from the network
- The
Confluence Provider goes within 12 blocks of the Confluence Heart and is connected to the network: the Heart
takes any current from the network, the stream shows from the Provider. - The
Confluence Steward — at the altar, within 8 blocks of the central Plinth: a "machine" for the AE2 Pattern
Provider. It lays an order out on the Plinths, starts the Confluence for its owner, puts the result into the network. The owner
must be online and know the entry; the Loupe on the Steward says what it is waiting for.
4Workshop and network
- The
Tally Vessel — a holder for siphons whose distillate is the whole network: a siphon above pours into the
network, a siphon at the side takes from it. The whole siphon workshop talks to the network through one block. - The
Tally Wheel — the network's Wheel of Currents floats above its lens; the Loupe reads the count, a comparator
how many currents (up to 15). - The
Tally Apprentice — artifice by AE2 order and network items in the Flux Workbench grid: it refills an emptied
slot from the network. - The
Tally Bin — a network for automatons and hoppers: nine intake slots go into the network, nine stock slots
hold a chosen item. - The
Brass Crank — a crank an automaton with the Lever sigil turns too: the AE2 Charger, Inscriber and Growth
Accelerator run from it without a network. - A kettle by pattern: a processing pattern "the recipe's currents and catalyst → the brew" in a Pattern Provider above a Brewing Tower — Crucible recipes ordered from the terminal. The AE2 Level Emitter works with currents by itself.
Energy
The mod has no energy of its own, and none for free: an ME network is powered by a Flux Mill at an AE2 Energy Acceptor, and the land dries up as from any work. Distillate isn't burned for energy.
What next
- Devices and machines — flux, siphons and the Flux Mill.
- Spirits: Occultism and Kitchen of Currents: Farmer's Delight — the other branches.
- Compatibility — every mod the mod gets along with.