EasyAutoCrafting

EasyAutoCrafting improves automation in Minecraft. It allows you to construct automatic crafting machines with vanilla blocks. When installed on a server, clients don't need the mod!

Using the mod as simple as placing a crafting table next to a dropper!*
^{_{* more steps required for it to actually do anything}}

A one minute showcase of this mod is available here: https://youtu.be/ZwLmG1849W0

There are two ways to get automatic crafting going. The simpler option is pattern crafting. You use this mode by placing an inventory behind the dropper. You then put a pattern of items inside the dropper, forming the recipe you want it to craft.
When you give the dropper a redstone pulse now, it will try to craft the recipe using items from the inventory behind. The items inside the dropper will only act as a reference and won't be used up.

The second, more advanced option is immediate crafting. To use it, make sure that there is no inventory behind the dropper (hoppers also count as inventories). In this mode, you fill the dropper one-by-one with items starting from the top-left slot. For empty slots you'll have to use filler items that you extract again before sending the crafting redstone pulse. This mode can be very powerful if you manage to tame it. And if you want to take automation to the next level, you could also try replacing the items of a dropper in pattern mode!

But fear not; this mod will assist you should you decide to build such a complex crafting machine:

• Hoppers can only insert one item per slot into crafting droppers.
• Comparators reading from a crafting dropper will output a signal strength equal to the filled slot count.

Both of these changes only apply to droppers touching a crafting table.

In case you don't like to see droppers spitting items around, there's one more thing for you:
Just placing an inventory in front of the dropper will make it place the crafted items and any remainders like empty buckets or bottles inside without spilling anything. In this mode, all items have to fit into the output inventory, or nothing will be crafted!

This mod took inspiration from gnembon's Carpet Mod with its auto crafting feature, picking up the idea and making it more useful for different scenarios.