What follows covers dispenser crafting recipe in the order you would actually need it, rather than the order it appears in the game.

The step people skip is almost always the one that makes the rest reliable. Where a guide and the game disagree, the game is right and the guide is old.

The quick answer

The reliable method takes slightly longer and works the first time, which is the better trade in almost every case.

The straightforward version

Anything presented as a hidden trick is normally just a step that a popular guide left out. Most of the disagreement online here comes from people describing different versions. If the first attempt fails cleanly, that is more useful than one that half-works. Nothing here depends on luck, though a bad first attempt can certainly feel that way.

  • Have a fallback plan for the step most likely to fail.
  • Change one thing at a time and check the result.
  • Verify the outcome rather than assuming it took effect.
  • Check which version you are on before trusting any specific numbers.

Getting a better result

Checking the outcome takes seconds and prevents the most common category of wasted effort. The optimal approach and the reliable approach diverge more than people expect. The approach below has been checked against the current version rather than a patch from two years ago.

Anything described as a known issue is worth checking before assuming the fault is yours. Doing this without understanding it works fine until something changes, which it will.

When to stop optimising

Understanding the reason behind a step lets you adapt it when your situation differs. If the result looks wrong immediately, stop rather than continuing and hoping. Keep the first attempt simple and add refinements only after it works.

If your situation is slightly different

Screenshots age faster than instructions, so trust the described behaviour over the picture. Written notes beat memory when you come back to this in a month. A method that works for everyone is usually slower than one tuned to your situation, and worth it anyway.

Things that waste the most time

  • Skipping the preparation step because it looks boring, then repeating the hard part four times.
  • Mixing instructions from two versions and getting neither.
  • Optimising before the basic version has worked once.

Quick answers

How long should this take?

Most people get through it in one sitting. The first attempt runs long because of reading; the second is much quicker.

Does this still work after the latest update?

It did at the time of writing. If a step no longer matches, the underlying idea normally still applies even when a menu has moved.

Does this apply to every version?

The steps target the current release. Older versions usually behave the same way, though menus may sit in different places.

Why do two sources say different things?

Almost always because they are describing different versions, or because one of them repeated an assumption without testing it.

Anything left over after this is refinement, and refinement can wait until it works once.