Portable_Workstations
by Plume_Jade
Portable Workstations lets players open a furnace, anvil or crafting-style workstation from an item in the inventory, without placing a block first.
What it does
Right-clicking a workstation item opens its GUI directly from the inventory, so the block does not have to be placed in the world. Placed workstation blocks still work as they do in vanilla, and the mod keeps the two in sync: items moved into or out of a placed furnace carry over to the portable version and back.
Furnaces keep burning after the GUI is closed, so smelting continues in the background. Anvils follow the vanilla behaviour, including the 12% chance of durability loss per use. Switching between workstation GUIs is supported, and the cursor stack is preserved during the switch.
Installation needs NeoForge only, for Minecraft 1.21.1. Servers that run it need every player to install it too. The code is open source under the MIT License, and the author notes that ports to other loaders are welcome, though none are published.
Key features
Open GUI from inventory
Workstation items open their interface on right-click, with no block placement needed.
Smart activation
The right-click only triggers when the cursor is empty, so vanilla stack splitting keeps working.
Background smelting
Furnaces continue burning after their GUI is closed, finishing smelting while the player does other things.
Block placement sync
Items and progress move between a placed furnace and its portable form, so the two stay consistent.
Configurable blocks
Adding or removing workstation blocks is controlled through a TOML config file.
Compatibility
Latest build for each game version and loader.
Only full game releases are shown. This mod publishes no snapshot builds.
Use cases
Mining trips
A player far from base can smelt ores and repair tools at a workstation carried in the inventory.
Compact builds
Without a placed block, a workstation takes up no space in a base or a small build.
Who it’s for: Players who want workstation access on the move, and server owners who want to tune which workstation blocks are available through the TOML config.
Questions
Does Portable Workstations need to be installed on the server?
Which Minecraft version does Portable Workstations support?
Can the workstation blocks be turned off?
In the catalog
Portable_Workstations is one of 3,932 Transportation mods on ModsFinder, and one of 1,743 Transportation mods for NeoForge. 32,366 mods support Minecraft 1.21.1.
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What the author says
Portable Workstations – Right-click workstation items in your inventory to open their GUIs — no block placement required. Features - No blocks placed – opens GUI directly from inventory item - Smart activation – only triggers when cursor is empty (preserves vanilla stack‑splitting) - Leftover recovery – items return…
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/portable_workstations
- Owner
- Plume_Jade
- Published
- 2026-06-14
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2026-06-18
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15