- For other Minecart related objects found in Minecraft, see Minecart (Disambiguation).
Minecarts with Chests (also known as Storage Minecarts or Chest Minecarts) are Minecarts that cannot be ridden, but instead they can store up to 27 stacks of items, just like a regular Chest. Items can be placed in or taken out of a storage minecart through the use of a Hopper, but not, surprisingly, by a Minecart with Hopper. Storage minecarts can be accessed at any time when a player is in range, and there is not a solid block between them and the minecart, even if there is a block above the minecart. A minecart with chest won't show the opening animation like regular chests do.
Sources
Chest minecarts can be found in Abandoned Mineshafts. Alternatively, they can be made in a Crafting Table in the following arrangement:
| Minecart with Chest (Shapeless recipe) | ||
|---|---|---|
| None | None | None |
| None | Chest | None |
| None | Minecart | None |
Usage
Minecarts with chests can be used to store items without anybody seeing - "hiding" the item - or simply used, for example, to add Books to a "library." This is done with: any block of a player's choice, a minecart with chest, a Button, a Piston, and a Rail.
For the block of a player's choice, use a Bookshelf. First, delete a vertical row of 2 blocks (do NOT destroy the block that touches the ground). Put a rail on the block and then place the minecart.
Destroy the block that was placed on the rail and minecart on top of it. The minecart will fall down and the rail will be destroyed (remember: the minecart will turn around when the block is destroyed, so it's recommended that the rail is facing towards the direction that a player was looking). Next, place down a piston looking down and insert a button on the block nearest to the piston. Then, place the bookshelf under the piston and press the button. The bookshelf will go through the minecart. Now, destroy the piston and place down bookshelves to fill the empty spaces.
Note that, if the minecart switches direction away from the direction a player was looking at, then a part of the minecart will show up when the button pushed, and that will show everyone else where the minecart is, so it's highly suggested to make sure the minecart isn't looking "vertically."
