Screenshot 1 of 5. Title banner reading ALL-PURPOSE DRONE over three white drone models, from the All-Purpose Drone addon.
All-Purpose Drone is a Bedrock addon by Effect99 that adds a small robot you can program to mine, build, fight mobs and carry items. It ships as a single .mcaddon file and works on Bedrock Edition only. Antennas and a remote control extend it from one helper to a whole fleet.
Supported versions
- Minecraft 1.21.50 to 1.21.130.
What it adds
You place a packed drone block and interact with it, and a drone appears. Interacting with the drone opens a menu that holds everything you configure.
- Tasks, including simple ones such as sending the drone to a spot, taking items from a chest or dropping its inventory.
- Follow player, with a teleport back to you when it strays too far (configurable).
- Fly mode and walk mode, plus a drone camera that shows your view from the drone.
- Settings for name, visibility, resting zone and owner. Setting an owner stops other players from opening its menu.
- Selection mode for fill and mine tasks, so you break two corner blocks instead of typing coordinates. The blocks are not actually broken.
Antenna and swarms
The antenna is a block that sets tasks for nearby drones within a radius you choose, and resends its signal at an interval you set. It also charges batteries. Pick the Charge battery task, set a radius, then put redstone or lapis in a chest beside it. Each piece is consumed for 3% charge.
The Drone Remote Control item groups drones into named swarms. Add nearby unowned drones, or ones you own, then give the whole swarm orders from the same menu a single drone uses.
Installation
Open the .mcaddon file with Bedrock and it imports on its own. Then switch on the addon's behavior and resource packs in your world's settings. The add-on install guide covers phones, tablets and Windows folders. The newest file lists no required dependencies.
All-Purpose Drone UI update showcase
Questions about All-Purpose Drone.
4 questions
How do I charge the drone battery in All-Purpose Drone?
Place an antenna, open Simple tasks and choose Charge battery, then set the charging radius in blocks. Put a chest or other container next to the antenna and fill it with redstone or lapis. Each piece is consumed and gives 3% charge to drones in range.
How do I control several drones at once?
Use the Drone Remote Control item. Create a swarm by giving it a name, then add nearby drones that are unowned or owned by you. Open the drone options for that swarm and the same menu appears, but orders go to every drone in the group.
How do I repair a damaged drone?
Crouch and use iron ingots on the drone. Its health works like an iron golem's, so its appearance looks more damaged as it takes hits. Repairing restores it. Remember that battery is separate and needs an antenna or charging task.
Can other players open my drone's menu?
Not if you set an owner in the drone's settings. Owned drones refuse menu access to other players. Antennas follow the same rule, and an antenna without an owner can only command drones without an owner.
