FILTER Gate

FILTER Gate is an Automation building that passes a signal only after its input has remained active for a set duration. Like other automation gates, it can be placed behind buildings and tiles, and it can occupy the same space as pipes or wires, which makes it easy to hide inside compact control layouts.

Its main use is to delay or debounce automation. The gate is especially useful when a machine, switch, or sensor should not react immediately to a brief pulse. By forcing the input to stay active long enough, it can prevent short-lived state changes from triggering a system. Because of this, it is commonly used to smooth out automation chains and to coordinate devices that should only respond after a condition has been stable for a while.

A Green FILTER Gate state persists through save and load. This makes it reliable for long-running systems that depend on its current timing state. However, like other time-based sensors, it becomes very imprecise when measuring long durations at high cycle counts, so it is not a good choice for very long delays if accuracy matters.

One unusual behavior is how it handles Automation Ribbon signals. In general, 4-Bit input is not reduced by simply reading the first bit; instead, the gate interprets a 4-Bit input as though all bits are combined through an OR operation. For example, an input of RRGR is treated as a Green signal. This makes its ribbon behavior different from the simplest one-bit interpretation and is worth keeping in mind when using it in advanced automation systems.

Practical notes:

• It is best suited for short to medium delays where exact long-term timing is not critical.
• It can be hidden behind other structures, making dense builds easier to route.
• Its saved state surviving reloads makes it dependable for persistent control logic.
• For very long waits, its timing error at high cycle counts can become noticeable.
• With Automation Ribbon input, the gate behaves as an OR-style reducer rather than a simple first-bit reader.