How to Filter Items in Create Mod: A Complete Guide

The Create mod for Minecraft is one of the most popular mechanical and automation mods available, and for good reason — it gives players an incredibly flexible system for building factories, farms, and contraptions. But once your setup grows beyond a few machines, you quickly run into a common challenge: getting the right items to go to the right place. That's where filtering comes in.

What Does "Filtering" Mean in Create Mod?

In Create, filtering refers to controlling which items move through your automation systems — conveyor belts, funnels, chutes, depots, and more. Without filtering, items simply move wherever the system allows. With filtering, you can direct specific items to specific destinations, reject unwanted inputs, or sort outputs from machines like the Millstone, Mechanical Press, or Washing setup.

Filtering is not a single mechanic — it's a combination of tools and interactions that work together depending on your build.

The Core Filtering Tools in Create

Funnels and Their Filter Slots

Funnels are the workhorses of Create's item movement system. Both Andesite Funnels and Brass Funnels can extract or insert items — but only Brass Funnels support filtering directly.

To filter a Brass Funnel:

1. Place the funnel on a chest, belt, or other inventory.
2. Right-click the funnel to open its interface.
3. Place the item you want it to allow (or restrict) into the filter slot.

Once filtered, the funnel will only interact with matching items. This is especially useful when extracting from a mixed chest — you can pull out only iron ingots, for example, while leaving everything else untouched.

Chutes and Vertical Filtering

Chutes move items vertically. On their own, they don't filter — but you can attach a funnel to a chute's side to create a filtered extraction point at a specific height. This allows you to pull off certain items at certain floors of a build, letting others continue down.

Smart Pipe / Item Vault Interactions ⚙️

Create doesn't use traditional pipe networks like some other mods, so "smart routing" works differently here. The filtering logic is embedded in the extraction point, not the transport line. This means your filter setup usually happens at the source (funnel pulling from storage) rather than mid-route.

Using the Filter Mechanic Effectively

Single-Item Filters

The simplest form: drop one item into the filter slot of a Brass Funnel. That funnel will now only interact with that specific item type. This works well for dedicated output lines — one funnel per product.

Attribute Filters

Create introduces Attribute Filters as a more advanced option. Instead of filtering by a specific item, you filter by a shared property — like:

• Tag-based filtering (e.g., all logs, all ingots, all wool)
• Mod-source filtering (items from a specific mod)
• Item category filtering (tools, food, blocks, etc.)

To use an Attribute Filter, craft one and place it in a funnel's filter slot. Then configure the Attribute Filter itself by right-clicking to add the tags or attributes you want to match.

This is especially useful for farms or smelters that produce multiple variants of the same category — like any type of cooked food going to one chest, or any type of ore going to one processing line.

Inverted / Deny Filters

Some filtering setups benefit from a deny list rather than an allow list. You can configure Brass Funnels to invert their filter logic — meaning "send everything except this item." This is handy when you want to route almost everything to one place and only reject a specific material.

Sorting Systems in Create: Combining Filters

A full sorting system in Create typically combines several of these elements:

A common pattern is a central mixed storage chest with multiple Brass Funnels, each filtering for a different item type, feeding into separate chests or processing machines. Items that don't match any funnel stay in the source chest until a matching funnel picks them up.

Belt-Based Sorting: The Splitter Approach 🔄

Another method involves using belts with funnels mounted along the side. Items ride the belt, and side-mounted funnels with filters pull matching items off into adjacent inventories. Anything that doesn't get pulled continues to the end of the belt — often into an overflow chest or a return loop.

This approach is more visually satisfying and can be more space-efficient for large numbers of item types.

Variables That Shape Your Filtering Setup

No two Create builds are identical, and several factors influence which filtering approach makes the most sense:

• Scale of automation — A small farm needs far less complexity than a full ore processing pipeline
• Number of item types — More types means more funnels, more filter configuration, or a reliance on Attribute Filters
• Available resources — Brass Funnels require Brass, which itself needs automation to produce in quantity
• Vertical vs. horizontal builds — Tower builds favor chutes; flat factory floors favor belt-based sorting
• Mod interactions — If you're playing a modpack, other mods may add storage systems that interact with Create differently

The "right" filtering method in Create is genuinely situational. A belt splitter works beautifully in one build and becomes an organizational nightmare in another. Attribute Filters are powerful but overkill for simple setups. And the more your factory evolves, the more your original filtering logic may need to be redesigned from scratch.

Understanding how each tool works gives you the foundation — but how you apply them depends entirely on what you're building and how far you want to take it. 🏭