This table shows the distance traveled by an unoccupied minecart on an incline,with a boost (or no boost). The most efficient way is to use only 1 boost at the bottom of the incline on the flat surface. Using 2 will increase by about 20% or 1.5m. All distance trends based on the hight seem to be logarithmic.
The carts started from rest,on an incline (at Height).
-Height-
No Boost
Bottom
Bottom and Top
All boosts on incline and bottom
1
2.77m
8.77
10.8
10.8
2
4.59m
9.59
10.83
13.37
3
5.81m
9.81
11.66
15.12
4
7.04m
10.04
12.46
16.95
5
7.87m
10.87
12.29 (Yes,it did actually travel less)
17.95
10
11.65m
13.38
15.12
21.68
100
15.87
17.05
17.54
25.34
Detecting Minecarts
The Detector Rail is a switch activated by minecarts. It generates a Redstone charge when a minecart is on the rail. It was introduced in Beta 1.5.
Prior to Beta 1.5,carts were detected by using Pressure Plates in line with cart tracks. This had the often undesirable effect of dramatically slowing or even stopping the minecart,which limited the use of this design mostly to boosters.
Minecarts can also be detected when their corners run over pressure plates as they go around a curved track. The effect is similar to the detector rail,but can only occur at curves.
Collision
Minecarts seems to have about the same size as a block; 1x1. Because of this,a ladder or door will prevent it from falling down a 1x1 hole.
This can be utilized to make minecart dispensers,by stacking carts on top of each other and dispensing them with the help of a booster.
A single cart dispenser using a door can also be made by using a ladder to block the cart from falling off the door.
Additionally,you can transport carts along 1 block wide water streams without the minecarts falling by placing ladders underneath. By alternating the ladders,items can still fall through.
Because streams carry minecarts at a very slow rate,a trap can be made where anyone sitting in a cart will be suffocated in a block directly above the stream,and their items can be collected below. (NOTE: currently this ability of water to push carts is broken as of 1.5. There are indications that this bug will be fixed in a future release.)
Carts on minecart tracks will also ignore collision in certain situations. A cart traveling downhill or on a curve with a block placed in front of it will go through the block. If it is going fast enough,it can skip through one block and reattach to track on the other side,at significantly reduced speed.
Special Minecarts
There are currently two types of special minecarts:
Powered Minecart - A self-propelled minecart that is powered by fuel.
Storage Minecart - A minecart that can store items like a standard chest.
After Friday July 30's Minecart update,creating Minecart trains became a much simpler solution to transporting goods. To create a train,start with a fairly short length of straight track with an open ending on one side. Put a Powered Minecart on the side nearest the open end,and then add Storage Minecarts or ridable Minecarts along the rest of the track. Then,turn on your Powered Minecart. It will push the other Minecarts as if it were a Minecart Train. Placing an additional Powered Minecart on the other end will allow you to make a two-way train,as minecarts currently only push other carts,not pull.
Glitches
A pig inside a burning minecart.
Prior to Alpha version 1.2.2,destroying a minecart while riding in said minecart would cause the player to fall through the block below the minecart. This could be used to make secret entrances into bases,though entry in this way caused the loss of half a heart due to a short moment of suffocation. (This bug was apparently fixed,but has since resurfaced in Beta version 1.1_02)
Saving and reloading while riding a minecart will leave you stuck in the ground,lowered by one y unit. If you are on a level section of track,jumping will get you out of it; if you are on a slope when this happens,you may be stuck in the ground,suffocating to death. Beta 1.3_01
Detonating TNT in close proximity to a minecart,even when doing so with the TNT submerged in water (such as a cannon),will often cause the minecart to disintegrate into numerous dropped minecarts.[2]
Minecarts can be set on fire,but the mob or player inside the minecart will not catch fire from a minecart. (Pictured)
If you are sitting in a boat,minecart,saddled pig or saddled pig in a minecart while entering or exiting the nether the game will crash.
If there is a saddled pig in a minecart in a two block high space and you get on it you will slowly suffocate to death and be able to see under the ground
Riding a saddled pig in a minecart creates a self propelling booster.[3]
If you are riding a minecart through any opening only wide enough for the minecart to pass through,(1x1,) you will pass through as well,but take suffocation damage.
When placing a minecart on a track in SMP,touching the minecart at all will cause it to glitch,creating a solid,unmovable minecart,and a ghostly cart that seems to move freely. After a short while,the game will crash. (This issue has been fixed as of Nov 10,2010 in Minecraft Alpha v1.2.2 and partially fixed in Minecraft Server 0.2.4. The Minecraft Server Update 0.2.5 seemed to give the ability to now destroy minecarts with any tool,although the minecart is not animated when being hit.)
2 minecarts placed on the same circular track will run forever.
As of Beta 1.5 water will not put out flaming minecarts.
Sometimes empty minecarts will duplicate while on rails.
The upper has not yet been implemented as Minecarts can only be placed on rails and falling in lava while in a Minecart will destroy it and the player will fall in the lava.