Not clear what passive provider chests offer

[Sgt. Stedenko]

I've done some searching but I'm still not sure what I can accomplish with the Logistics Network when I'm at the Storage Chest/Passive Provider Chest stage.

I'm at that point where I'm ramping up Chemical (Blue) Production Packs only by moving a bunch of stuff manually, so I have to either figure out what the Logistics Network can do for me or refactor(io) a huge part of my factory network to get things working automagically.

Thanks; I know for folks that have played for a long time this is a pretty basic question.

[Nara]

Passive Provider Chests are like Steel chests, but bots can see everything inside.
Active Provider Chests send stuff to your logistics storage Chests.
Difference is Passive is filled and used as storage and Active is always kept empty.

Provider Chests are only usefull if you have access to Requester Chests.

[Sgt. Stedenko]

Originally posted by Nara:

Provider Chests are only usefull if you have access to Requester Chests.

Thank you - so...why have this stage in the progression if you end up with something that has no practical purpose without a Requestor chest? Just trying to figure out the thinking here.

[Nara]

You can still set logistic slots inside your Char. The bots will take them from the passive provider and deliver them to you.

But that wont help much with your factory ;)

[CMH]

At this stage they're good for letting bots place blueprints and bringing stuff to your character.

[Sgt. Stedenko]

Thanks, folks. Looks like it's time to tear down and rebuild a bit :)

[AlexMBrennan]

why have this stage in the progression if you end up with something that has no practical purpose without a Requestor chest? Just trying to figure out the thinking here.

The thinking is that the developers don't want you to switch to a bot only base after 15min of gameplay (it would be a shame to waste all they work they spent on making belts more efficient, adding fast replace, etc).

[Sgt. Stedenko]

Originally posted by AlexMBrennan:

The thinking is that the developers don't want you to switch to a bot only base after 15min of gameplay (it would be a shame to waste all they work they spent on making belts more efficient, adding fast replace, etc).

I understand that aspect of it, but then why not group the Logistic Network stuff together?

I expect there's some benefit to switching over to passives/storage vs. steel chests at this point, just to lay the groundwork, I guess...

[AlexMBrennan]

but then why not group the Logistic Network stuff together?

That's to allow you to start using construction bots

[BlueRock]

I am still a bit unclear mysef... Can I check to be sure I got this right?
So if you have just passive provider chests, roboborts and construction bots, the bots will help construct blueprints, follow deconstruction orders, and repair stuff in range, right?

Where I am hazy is what bots (construction or logistic) are used to fetch stuff for you or trash things for you. And is it possible to do this at the stage you have just the passive/storage chests?

[N'fol]

In general, your final products can go into passive provider chests (red), which allows both logistic bots and non-personal construction bots to grab things out of there. You should have storage chests (yellow) for a place for the bots to place unused items.

Construction bots build (or un-build, like tree removal). Personal construction bots (which are in your inventory, and requires a personal roboport mk 1 or 2 in your armor) only take and remove from your personal inventory. The construction bots in the "normal" (land-based) roboports use the various "smart chests". At your current level of research, the construction bots will only take from passive provider chests (red) and storage chests (yellow). After you research logistic system, the buffer chest (green) is also available; construction bots will also take from there. (Since personal and non-personal construction bots can use these, it can make sense to create a bunch of these bots.)

Logistic bots provide logistics: they move stuff around. Just researching logistic robotics just unlocks the red and yellow chests. This is enough only for the logistic robots to take and remove stuff from your personal inventory. (At this stage, I don't create too many logistic robots: I only need enough to cover my personal needs, and they're a bit more expensive, since they need the red circuits.) After you research logistic system (which is further down the tech tree), it is possible to logistic robots to also supply other chests (requester (blue) and buffer (green)). That research also gives access to active provider chests (purple), which essentially tells bots to keep the chest empty (I personally never used them, but they can be helpful with some setups). For use in a factory, the requester (blue) chests can be used to replace some (or all!) belts.

[BlueRock]

Very N'fol. Perhaps the OP can also mark their question answered.

[walter]

The passive provider tells bots "hey, there is stuff in here --> take it if you need it".
--> if you or any requester or a blueprint need something, a bot will come and take it from that chest.
--> this is useful if you want a production to run on demand

The active provider tells bots "hey, there is stuff in here - take it out immediately".
--> as soon as there is stuff in this chest, a bot will get the order to remove it (and put it in permanent storage if there is no need for it).
--> this is useful if you want a production to run indefinitely (limited by your total storage space of course)

[zOldBulldog]

LOL, they are extremely useful, in particular the Storage Chests.

- If you use Passive Provider chests as the output from your Assemblers, logistic bots can deliver supplies for you, and the base's construction bots can build your blueprints for you. Of course, limit the output to as many slots as you plan to use to avoid overproduction while your resources are limited or the item not used much.

- Better yet, if you use Storage Chests as the output from your Assemblers *AND* (1) set the storage chest Filter to the item you are producing, (2) wire the inserter to the chest, (3) set the production limit as a condition in the inserter (use the item's signal or the Everything signal - and don't limit slots on the chest), (4) make sure to also have plenty of unfiltered storage chests (maybe 9 or 16)... then you get the same behavior as storage chests but logistics bots will also return materials to the original chest so long as there is space in it. Overflow will go to the unfiltered storage chests.

Just be aware that if the unfiltered chests fill up there is/was a bug that will send items to any filtered storage chests ignoring the filter (hopefully this has been fixed by now).

---

In other words, these two chests can handle most logistic chest needs for construction, delivery of items to the player, and trash collection. It is only bot-based active production and train load/unload that require the more advanced logistic chests.

I might have put the blue Requester and Active Provider chests around blue/purple and leave the rest for yellow science, but it is not a great loss.

[Killcreek2]

Originally posted by zOldBulldog:

- Better yet, ... //snip// ... (2) wire the inserter to the chest, (3) set the production limit as a condition in the inserter (use the item's signal or the Everything signal - and don't limit slots on the chest),

Why use a circuit wire? That is best for non-logi chest limiting.
Just link the inserters directly to the logistics network instead (the other button in the inserter UI) & set the limits there. It will read the whole network contents instead of just the single output chest, which is better all round. (This is also the best way to setup & use active providers later on.)

[brian_va]

^ i use the wire to limit mainly when the chest is an intermediary between 2 assemblers, such as on the box the yellow belts go into for both player/bot pickup as well as for the assembler making red belts. in reality it is a legacy hold over from before roboports are available, but does serve to ensure there is a box with sufficient quantities for me, construction bots, and the next level assembler to all pull from without relying on bots to find them in storage scattered throughout the network. before you get requestor chests, items scattered in logistic storage effectively don't really matter to next level assemblers.