Factorio Forums

Sorry for long title, this is a pretty niche issue. Please see video for quick visual of the issue (mp4 embed didn't seem to work).

https://gfycat.com/dependableimprobablejerboahttps://gfycat.com/dependableimprobablejerboa

Each belt is fed with a stack inserter of increasing stack size (from 1 to 5 going down). Going to the right, inserters try to remove items from the belt, but fail if there are less than 3 items in a row. I would assume it should either a) never work, or b) always work. Hopefully it can always work

Save file attached.

Not a bug

49473 [0.15.18] Fast insert cannot pickup from underground exit
70252 [0.17.34] Fast and Stack Inserters fail to pick up first item from express underground exit
71484 [0.17.45] Inconsistent Inserter Behavior Interacting with Underground Belts

Unfortunate. It seems this is exactly the kind of inconsistent behavior the devs like to keep out of the game. Oh well, perhaps I can make a mod to fix it.