Blast Rod
by Nubivago
Blast Rod is a Fabric technology mod that adds a rod which breaks the block a piston pushes into, rather than the piston itself.
What it does
Placed next to a piston, the Blast Rod breaks a movable block that the piston pushes toward it, and only in the direction the piston faces. Piston pushes that do not come from the rod's own facing are left alone, and blocks between the rod and a directly pushed piston do not stop it from working. Contraptions can grow complicated, for example breaking a cobblestone block through a chain of pistons.
The mod is published for Fabric and covers 1.17 and 1.18.1, with 1.1.0+1.18.1 for 1.18.1 as the latest file. Installation covers the server and each player's game. Its source code and issue tracker are public, and the code is under the MIT License, making it open source. Its first version came out on 2021-07-24 and the last update on 2022-01-23.
Key features
Single-block breaking
The rod removes one movable block at a time, the block a piston pushes into.
Directional breaking
Only blocks moved in the same direction the rod faces are broken, which keeps other piston movement intact.
Vertical crafting recipe
The rod is crafted by placing two blaze rods and an iron ingot in a vertical line in the 3x3 Crafting Table grid.
Piston movement changes
The mod changes how the game calculates which blocks a piston pushes or pulls, so some other mods that edit the same logic may conflict with it.
Compatibility
Latest build for each game version and loader.
Only full game releases are shown. This mod publishes no snapshot builds.
Use cases
Redstone contraptions
Builders can use the rod to remove a single block mid-contraption without disassembling the rest of the machine.
Who it’s for: Redstone builders and players who build piston machines on Fabric, on servers that run the mod for everyone.
How it compares
Redstone Tweaks is a Fabric mod for 1.16.3 – 1.16.5, client and server, open source under the MIT License, so it covers older versions than Blast Rod. Iron Smelters is open source under the MIT License with the same client and server environment, but it targets Fabric and NeoForge for 1.21.1 – 26.1.2.
| Mod | Loaders | Game versions | Environment | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blast Rod | Fabric | 1.17 – 1.18.1 | Client and server | 2022-01-23 |
| Redstone Tweaks | Fabric | 1.16.3 – 1.16.5 | Client and server | 2021-04-17 |
| Iron Smelters | Fabric and NeoForge | 1.21.1 – 26.1.2 | Client and server | 2026-09-28 |
Questions
Does Blast Rod need Fabric API?
Does the server need Blast Rod?
Which versions does Blast Rod support?
Can Blast Rod conflict with other mods?
In the catalog
Blast Rod is one of 8,499 Technology mods on ModsFinder, and one of 4,201 Technology mods for Fabric. 4,416 mods support Minecraft 1.18.1.
More from Nubivago
Similar mods
What the author says
This mod adds a single block, the blast rod, that breaks every movable block is pushed into. A blast rod can only break blocks that a piston can move, and only if the direction it is pushed is the same as it is facing, that is the opposite of where the iron part is.
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/blastrod
- Owner
- Nubivago
- Published
- 2021-07-24
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2022-01-23
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15