Using the Temperature Capability to Read Heat from Vanilla, Forestry, and IC2 Blocks

The Temperature capability lets blocks and machines expose how hot or cold they are. This is useful when you want automation to react to heat without hard-coding a specific mod's block.

What Reads Temperature

Blocks from Vanilla Minecraft, Forestry, and IC2 are among those that can expose temperature through this capability. That means a single reader, such as a logic tool or an automation block that supports the capability, can query any of them the same way.

Practical Steps

1. Identify a heat source you want to monitor, such as a furnace-like block, a Forestry machine, or an IC2 machine that generates heat.

2. Place a reader that supports the Temperature capability adjacent to it, or point it at the block.

3. Query the temperature value. The exact number depends on the block and its current state, so read it live rather than assuming a fixed value.

4. Set a threshold in your automation. For example, only start a cooling or venting process when the reading rises above a level you choose.

5. Test by changing the block's state, such as adding fuel or letting it idle, and confirm the reading changes.

This is most useful for safety shutoffs and for triggering secondary machines only when something is actually hot.