Michael Turner
Materials and acquisition: each portable container requires 1 chest + 2 shulker shells. Shulker shells drop from shulker mobs found in End Cities and on End ships; using a weapon with Looting increases drop rates. Chests are made from 8 wooden planks (any type). Colored variants: place a dye together with an existing shulker box in the 3×3 grid to change its color without losing contents.
Linked vault option: to create a personal, globally accessible vault, craft an ender chest using 8 obsidian around 1 Eye of Ender (Eye = ender pearl + blaze powder). Items placed in this vault are tied to your player profile and accessible from any other ender chest you place. Combine one ender chest with multiple shulker boxes for large-capacity, secure transport: store filled boxes inside the linked chest for cross-world retrieval.
Practical setup for expeditions: aim for at least four shulker boxes plus one ender chest before long raids or resource runs (4 × 27 = 108 inventory slots). Color-code boxes for quick sorting (e.g., red = ores, blue = building blocks, green = food). Prioritize End City hunting for shells; pack a ranged weapon, blocks for bridging, and Ender Pearls for safer travel while looting.
Portable storage: immediate recommendation and optimization
Carry one shulker box plus access to an ender chest during long runs: shulker provides 27 slots for bulk items, ender chest gives a private 27-slot vault reachable from any linked block.
Loadout suggestion (per shulker): 32 building blocks, 64 torches, 1 iron pick, 1 iron axe, 16 food, 16 arrows, 1 spare weapon, 8 planks, 4 redstone components or utilities. Keep one empty slot for rare pickup.
| Method | Slots | Portable | Persists when broken/placed | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shulker box | 27 | Yes (item) | Yes – contents stay inside when broken | Non-stackable; cannot be nested inside another shulker box |
| Ender chest | 27 (per player) | No (block) but global access | Contents tied to player account and persist | Best for valuables; access across dimensions |
| Donkey / mule with chest | 15 | Yes (mobile storage) | Chest remains attached; items drop if mob killed | Great for long overland caravans; use name tag to prevent despawn |
| Chest minecart / chest boat | 27 | Yes (vehicle) | Contents preserved while intact | Use for bulk transport along rails or waterways |
| Single / Double chest | 27 / 54 | No | Breaking spills contents into world | Stationary base storage; pair with hoppers for automation |
Compact loadout rules
Prioritize stackable resources first: blocks, food, arrows. Keep tools durable but light: carry one pick and one sword with mending or unbreaking where possible. Reserve one slot for an emergency potion or golden apples (recommended quantity: 2).
Automation and transport tips
Use hopper lines and comparator filters to keep a staging chest stocked at base, then load shulker boxes from that chest. For long-distance hauling, place chests on boats or minecarts and move via rails; chain hoppers to unload into a double chest at destination. Label containers with item frames for instant visual identification.
Mods Adding Wearable Storage: Recipes and Required Materials
For a straightforward option, install Traveler’s Backpack: place a chest in the center of a 3×3 matrix and surround it with eight leather to obtain a wearable rucksack with an integrated chest and sleeping roll slot.
Iron Backpacks (tiered system) uses the same base chest+8 leather construction for the basic satchel; upgrades are normally assembled by placing the existing pack in the center and surrounding it with eight of the upgrade material – iron ingots for the iron tier, gold ingots for the gold tier, diamonds for the diamond tier. Ender variants are assembled by combining a pack with an ender chest or ender pearls (mod version-dependent). Netherite upgrades are applied either via a smithing-table conversion using a netherite ingot plus the diamond-tier pack or by a netherite-in-girdle assembly, depending on the mod release.
Ender-style pouches and small satchels
Ender-storage add-ons and pouch mods require ender pearls, obsidian and/or an ender chest as primary components; typical outcome is a portable ender pouch that links to a player-specific storage network. Small satchel variants commonly use leather + string + a central chest or pouch item; dyed versions accept colored wool or dye substituted in the matrix to produce color variants.
Installation and version notes
Choose Forge or Fabric builds matching your modpack; most upgrade recipes require only the prior pack plus the specified ingots/diamonds/netherite. Some mod authors moved the netherite step to smithing-table conversion in later releases, so consult the mod’s wiki for exact patterns per version. For related real-world gear comparisons see best collapsible umbrella stroller and best umbrella for gift.
Recipe grid for a basic leather satchel (mod example)
Use a standard 3×3 crafting table: place 6 Leather, 1 Chest and 1 Iron Ingot in the layout below to produce one Leather Satchel (example mod recipe).
3×3 layout (slots by row)
Row 1: Leather | Leather | Leather
Row 2: Leather | Chest | Leather
Row 3: Leather | Iron Ingot | Empty
Ingredients: Leather ×6, Chest ×1, Iron Ingot ×1 → Output: Leather Satchel ×1. Slot coordinates (row,column): Chest (2,2); Iron Ingot (3,2); Leather at (1,1)(1,2)(1,3)(2,1)(2,3)(3,1).
Variants and practical notes
Substitutions: replace Iron Ingot with String for an unlocked “tied” variant; swap Chest for Trapped Chest to allow redstone interaction if the mod supports NBT transfers. Example stats for this mod example: base storage 18 inventory slots, single upgrade slot (accepts “Iron Upgrade” item to +9 slots). Satchels can be recolored by combining the satchel with any Dye in a 3×3 grid (satchel + dye → dyed satchel). Use the mod’s recipe book or JSON file to register or modify this pattern if adding to a custom datapack/modpack.
Traveler’s Rucksack: exact ingredients and step-by-step assembly
Use a 3×3 workbench with these materials: 6 leather, 1 chest, 1 wool (any color), 1 iron ingot.
Item placement (rows left→right): Row 1 – Leather | Iron Ingot | Leather. Row 2 – Leather | Chest | Leather. Row 3 – Leather | Wool | Leather. Result: Traveler’s Rucksack appears in the output slot.
Step 1: Open the crafting grid and place items exactly in the positions above. Step 2: Drag the Rucksack into your inventory or shift-click to move it instantly. Step 3: If you want a colored exterior, replace the wool with dyed wool of the chosen hue before assembly.
Upgrades and attachments: place the assembled rucksack on an anvil to rename; combine with a shield (anvil) to add minor protection or with an iron ingot in a secondary recipe slot (mod-dependent) to reinforce storage capacity. For mod variants that accept upgrades, use the mod’s upgrade table: attach water barrel, sleeping roll, or furnace modules to designated slots shown in the item’s UI.
Quick tips: keep at least one empty hotbar slot when taking the rucksack from the workbench to avoid item loss, use shift-click when transferring multiple components, and test dyed wool color in a crafting preview to confirm appearance before committing materials.
Applying dyes and an anvil: coloring and naming a leather bag
Use a dyed-water cauldron for bulk recolors and the workbench grid for precise mixes; rename on an anvil afterwards (1 XP level) so the appearance and display name match in your inventory.
Coloring methods
Cauldron method: fill a cauldron with a water bucket, apply one dye to tint the water (dye consumed). Right-click the leather item on the tinted cauldron to transfer the color; each application consumes one cauldron level. Best for uniform sets because one dye application can color multiple pieces from a single bucket; drawback – limited blend control and fewer shade variations per fill.
Workbench grid method: place the leather item plus dyes on the 3×3 grid to mix colors. The system averages RGB channels from every dye and the item’s current color, so use a single dye for pure hues, add bone meal to lighten, and add ink sac to darken. Quick practical mixes: rose red + dandelion yellow → orange; lapis lazuli + rose red → purple; lapis lazuli + bone meal → light blue. This method consumes all dyes used and produces exact shades on that one item.
Anvil naming and workflow
Put the leather item in the left anvil slot, type the new label, then take the result; a plain rename costs 1 experience level. If the item already has an anvil prior-work penalty, enchantments, or is being combined, the displayed level cost will increase – always verify the cost before confirming. Rename after final coloring to avoid repeating anvil operations and escalating prior-work penalties. For identical names across multiple items: rename one, then combine with others in the anvil (this transfers the label but raises cumulative cost).
Practical tips: test color blends on expendable leather pieces before using rare dyes; store common modifiers (bone meal, ink sacs, lapis, cactus green) in stacks of 64 for repeated tinting; when preparing multiple identical sets, use cauldron tinting first, then a single anvil rename per finished item to minimize XP consumption per unit.
Upgrading pockets: expand capacity and lock specific slots
Install a slot-extension module into the pouch’s upgrade bay to increase available cells: small extender = +6 slots, medium = +12, large = +18 (relative to a 3×3 base). Use stacked extenders to reach target capacity; each module occupies the upgrade slot until removed.
Concrete sequence: open the container GUI → place extender in the upgrade slot → confirm new grid layout visible at top-right → test auto-pickup with an item drop. If the module requires a crafting-like combination, keep a spare extender to swap without losing access during the change.
Reserve individual cells by using a padlock module or slot-lock token. Typical controls across mods: right-click the padlock icon in the GUI to toggle global lock mode, shift-right-click a specific cell to flip its lock state, or insert a lock token directly into the target slot to permanently protect it until token removal. Locked cells exclude items from auto-sorting, autosort chest transfers and death drops when those mechanics respect the lock flag.
Resource allocation recommendations: early stage – prioritize one small extender (leather/iron tier) to reduce inventory juggling; midstage – invest in a medium extender and a pair of lock tokens for tools and consumables; late stage – large extender(s) plus shulker-based or ender-linked modules to reserve rare loot. Always move valuables to an ender-linked container or a secure chest before performing tier upgrades.
Multiplayer tips: use slot locks plus a named tag on the pouch item to deter theft; server admins can restrict upgrade items via permissions or blacklist. If you need guidance on burying lines and routing for a real-world storage layout, see how to bury invisible dog fence wire.
Troubleshooting: if new slots do not appear, relog, remove and reinsert the module, and check for mod conflicts or GUI overlays. If a locked cell becomes inaccessible, remove its lock token with an anvil or use the slot-unlock command provided by the mod. Keep a backup of important inventories before applying multi-tier changes.
Transferring and sorting items between portable satchel and chest
Use Shift+Left-Click to instantly move full stacks between the portable satchel and a chest; use Shift+Right-Click to transfer single items to top up partial stacks without moving whole stacks.
Quick controls
- Shift + Left-Click – move entire stack between inventories.
- Shift + Right-Click – move one item at a time (useful for filling gaps).
- Left-Click – pick up or place a full stack.
- Right-Click – pick up/place one item from a stack (split placement).
- Double-Click (while holding an item) – gather all identical items on-screen into the cursor stack.
- Number keys 1–9 (hover over slot + press) – send that item to specific hotbar slot (fast organization before transfer).
- Q – drop one item; Ctrl + Q – drop entire stack (useful to dump junk quickly).
Step-by-step sorting workflow
- Open the chest so both inventories are visible; clear a few hotbar slots for temporary holding.
- Assign chest columns for categories (example): column 1 = tools, 2 = weapons, 3 = food, 4 = ores, 5 = building blocks, 6 = misc. Visually mark columns with signs or item frames.
- For bulk identical items: pick up one stack, double-click to consolidate all matching stacks into the cursor, then Shift+Left-Click to deposit the full consolidated stack into the appropriate chest column.
- To fill partially filled chest stacks: hover over the chest slot and use Shift+Right-Click repeatedly from the satchel to top up without overshooting the stack limit.
- For priority retention: press a number key while hovering over an item to move it to a hotbar slot you’ll keep, then Shift+Left-Click to move everything else to the chest.
- When unloading loot quickly but keeping a one-of-each sample: move one of each desired item into hotbar (number keys), then Shift+Left-Click remaining stacks into the chest.
- If a chest is nearly full, move large stacks first (Shift+Left-Click) and use Shift+Right-Click to distribute single items into leftover gaps; this minimizes split stacks and wasted slots.
Automation tip: after manual transfer, route the chest output into hopper-based sorters so subsequent runs require only a quick drop from the satchel into the input chest; visual labels and consistent column assignments keep repeated transfers predictable and fast.
