Work Orders FAQ
The status glossary, the why-did-it-stop checklist, item safety, and quick answers to the questions the copper folk hear most.
Right-click a golem with an empty hand and the action bar answers back: job │ status │ oxidation. This page decodes each status word, then answers the questions we hear most at the market.
Status glossary
| Status | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
hauling | Carrying cargo between its pickup and drop-off. | Nothing. It's on the job. |
tidying up | A Janitor is sweeping drops or banking them. | Nothing. |
tending crops | A Farmhand is harvesting and replanting. | Nothing. |
stuck - can't reach | About 3 failed attempts to walk to a target — usually a shut door or a missing bridge. | Clear the path. The golem retries on its own. |
drop-off full | The destination has no room; the golem holds the cargo and retries. | Make space in the drop-off container. |
needs a route | A bound container was broken; the golem forgot that stop and is waiting. | Hand it a matching Work Order to reopen route setup. |
idle | No work right now: empty pickup, clean floor, or no ripe crops. | Nothing — unless you expected work. Then check the pickup. |
Why did my golem stop working?
Check four things, in order:
- Is anyone nearby? A golem only works while a player is within 64 blocks of it or its bound containers. No player nearby means it hibernates — that's not a bug, it's the design.
- Has it frozen? A fully oxidised golem is a frozen statue, same as vanilla — and it glows so you can find it. Scrape with an axe, then wax with
honeycomb. See Golem Care. - Is it on a lead or in a boat? Leashed and riding golems pause their work.
- Did a chest break? Inspect it.
needs a routemeans a bound container is gone — hand the golem a matching Work Order to reopen route setup.
Does it work while I'm offline?
No, by design. A golem needs a player within 64 blocks of it or its containers, so when the last player wanders off, the copper folk down tools too. Nobody gets an all-night head start on their neighbours.
Are my items safe?
Yes. Every transfer is a real move: items are never duplicated and never voided. If the drop-off is full, the golem keeps holding the cargo and retries. Whatever doesn't fit from a haul goes back to the pickup. If a golem dies mid-carry, the items drop on the ground where it fell.
Why won't my Sorter pick things up?
A Sorter only lifts an item when some destination chest already contains that item type. Seed the chests: place one of each item where it belongs, and the Sorter treats that as the address. Anything with no home stays in the source.
Why won't my Stoker take this?
The Stoker takes from the pickup only what its furnace can use: fuel for the fuel slot, smeltables for the input slot. If it leaves something behind, that furnace, blast furnace, or smoker has no use for it. It will never cram the wrong item in.
Who can change my golem's job?
The first player to task a golem owns it, and only the owner and trusted players can re-task or manage it. To trust a friend, hold that player's head and right-click the golem; the same gesture turns the trust off again. Staff bypass ownership.
Handing a working golem a Work Order re-assigns its job and clears its route. To open the filter editor instead, sneak while holding a Work Order of the same job. See Routes & Filters.
Can I rename my golem?
Yes, with an ordinary 
name tag. The name folds into the floating nameplate, so ✦ Courier becomes "Beatriz · ✦ Courier". Golems never hold a visible job tool — the nameplate is the uniform.
How do I move a golem far away?
- Follow mode. SneakRight-click with an empty hand. It trails about 3 blocks behind you and quietly teleports to catch up if it falls more than about 18 back. Toggle again to send it back to work.
- The whistle. Sneak + right-click the air holding a
copper ingot — all your golems within 48 blocks glow and come to heel. Whistle again to send them back. - A lead works too, though a leashed golem pauses its job until you unclip it.
It's ignoring items on the ground
Ground pickup belongs to the Janitor alone. Working golems have native item pickup switched off, so a Courier walks past dropped cobblestone instead of wandering off with it. If you want the floor swept, hire a Janitor.
See also
- Golem Care — oxidation, follow mode, trust, and the flower
- Routes & Filters — the bind window and the filter editor
- Work Orders overview — the six jobs and the shared recipe
Farmhand
A copper golem that harvests and replants wheat, carrots, potatoes, beetroot, and nether wart within 8 blocks. No binding — just stand it in the field and the produce drops for a Janitor or hopper to gather.
Combat
Vanilla combat mechanics, with Recovery Chests softening death. PvP norms covered separately.