Logistics storage chests, what's the difference between them?

[The Old Guard]

Can somebody explain the differences between the robot/logistic chests? Passive/requester/storage etc.. Which one should I use? I'm just starting out on robots etc and I don't know which chests to put down to get things from A to B and processing things.

Thanks

[KatherineOfSky]

Check out my guide here: (Section: Robots & the Logistics Network)
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=661582295

[The Old Guard]

Well there's some light reading before bed lol.

Thanks

[GMC]

Requester: You choose what items should go into it, and how many; logistic robots will try to keep it stocked to the requested level.

Passive provider: Logistic robots will take items from this chest to requester chests. Construction robots will take items from this chest for automated (blueprint) construction.

Active provider: robots will try to empty this chest. If the items aren't otherwise required, they'll be moved to storage chests. Rarely used.

Storage: items which are picked up from active providers (by logistics bots) or from deconstruction (by construction bots) will be placed here if not wanted elsewhere. Items will be removed if wanted by a requester or for construction.

IOW, robots take items from provider and storage, put items into requester and storage.

[Warlord]

Originally posted by GMC:

Requester: You choose what items should go into it, and how many; logistic robots will try to keep it stocked to the requested level.

Passive provider: Logistic robots will take items from this chest to requester chests. Construction robots will take items from this chest for automated (blueprint) construction.

Active provider: robots will try to empty this chest. If the items aren't otherwise required, they'll be moved to storage chests. Rarely used.

The only difference between active and passive providers is that what is in an active provider will be marked to be put into "storage" (the yellow chests). Most people do not use them, because if you load anything into an active provider, it will be transferred immediately. Chests are typically used to limit how much of an item is produced in a logistics system by limiting the slots it can hold. Since active provider chests dump into storage no matter how much of it you got, it can clog up the storage system.

[Nailfoot]

Active providers have two very good uses.

1. If you use a train network, when you build a new outpost you can have one or two wagons dedicated to junk (wood, stone, whatever). When that train returns to the station, make sure the station is built so the wagons line up to active providers. Presto. Junk gone.

In this picture, the third wagon carries junk back to the main base where it is stored until needed.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=909774842

2. Moving your storage (or, really, any chest's contents) area around. In my base, I am in the process of relocating about 600,000 solid fuel to a better location. Rather than decontruct a oil refinery setup to get trantracks there, I am using active providers and a series of belts.

[Name Lips]

Active providers are useful with some mods. You might have a recipe that makes something you want, but also makes a byproduct. If the container for the byproduct gets full, the building will stop producing the production you want. You can use active providers on the byproduct chest, so that the building will never stop producing because of backlogged byproducts, and passive providers on the main product chest because it's ok if the building stops producing because its main products are backed up.

[Roxor128]

Active providers are a must for emptying barrels via the logistics network. You really need to have the empties go into an active provider. If you use a passive provider, it'll just fill up and stall your unbarreling, starving whatever needs the barrel's contents.

Passive providers are fine for filling barrels, though. After all, if it stalls because the output chest is full, it'll be because you've got enough of whatever's being put in barrels there.

In the case of oil outposts, you can get away with just using wooden chests, as the only way you're going to be filling or emptying them is via inserters loading or unloading from a train. Well, assuming you haven't expanded your base so much that previous oil outposts now lie within your main base's logistics network, in which case you probably will want to use logistics chests and send the train elsewhere.