Sandustry Wiki
Mine a destructible pixel world, process reactive resources, build logistics networks, automate production chains, explore ancient structures, fight bosses, and solve puzzles.
Sandustry Guides
Everything you need to mine, automate, and master Sandustry
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Discover the newest guides, tips, and content
Slag Burner: Setup Guide & Automation Tips
Master the Slag Burner in Sandustry. Learn how to process slag, separate gold, and manage burn slag efficiently with this automation setup guide.
Sandustry Xbox: Console Features, Performance & Setup Guide
Master Sandustry on Xbox. Explore console-exclusive features, performance modes, controller mapping, and optimization tips for the best sandbox experience.
Sandustry Water: Infinite Sources & Automation Setup
Master water management in Sandustry. Learn how to unlock infinite water sources via ancient relics, automate collection with pipes, and optimize steam generation.
Sandustry Tips: Advanced Factory Automation & Gold Guide
Master Sandustry with advanced tips for automating sand factories, managing thermal buffers, and generating infinite gold using fans, pyro dispensers, and logic gates.
Sandustry Steam: Physics-Based Factory Automation Guide
Master Sandustry on Steam with our guide covering physics-based logistics, gold extraction, residue management, and advanced tech tree progression.
Sandustry Steam Deck: Setup, Performance Settings & Controls
Master Sandustry on Steam Deck with our performance settings guide. Learn controls, optimize battery life, and automate your factory anywhere.
Sandustry Spore Washer: Setup Guide & Production Tips
Learn how to build and optimize the Spore Washer in Sandustry. Master resource cleaning, liquid logistics, and factory automation for efficient production.
Sandustry Shaker Setup: Step-by-Step Factory Guide
Master the Sandustry shaker setup to automate gold production. Learn how to process sand, manage slag, and optimize your factory layout for maximum efficiency.
Sandustry Russian Language: Interface & Localization Guide
Learn how to enable Russian language in Sandustry, understand Steam localization support, and navigate the falling-sand factory automation interface.
Sandustry Release Date: Early Access Launch & Roadmap
Sandustry entered Steam Early Access on Aug 13, 2026. Discover the launch features, Hooded Horse publishing details, and future roadmap plans.
Sandustry Processing Plant: Automation Layouts & Resource Flow
Master the art of factory automation in Sandustry. Learn how to build efficient processing plants for wet sand, gold, and slag management.
Sandustry Price: Steam Cost, Editions & Platform Availability
Current Sandustry price on Steam Early Access, regional availability, supported platforms, and purchase options for the factory automation game.
Sandustry Beginner Guide
Start with manual digging, secure gold, and turn simple resource collection into an automated factory. Follow this early progression route to unlock useful technology without overbuilding.
Dig Through the Sand
Begin by excavating the surrounding sand and exposing buried materials. Pay attention to how loose materials fall and settle, because terrain physics directly affects where resources collect.
Objective: Open working space and locate your first useful resource deposits.
Avoid creating uncontrolled vertical drops directly above areas where you plan to build machinery.
Find and Collect Gold
Search below the starting area for gold and collect enough to begin progressing through the factory technology system. Gold is an important early progression resource rather than something to ignore while digging.
Objective: Secure enough gold to begin unlocking useful production technology.
Create clear access paths while mining so loose sand does not repeatedly bury the same excavation.
Build Your First Production Line
Start moving resources with basic factory machinery instead of carrying and sorting everything manually. Keep the first line short and easy to observe so blockages caused by material physics are easy to diagnose.
Objective: Automate one simple resource-moving or processing task.
Consistent throughput is more valuable than a large factory built before you understand how each material behaves.
Separate and Process Materials
Introduce filters and processing equipment once multiple materials begin entering the same production area. Separate valuable resources from bulk sand before sending them toward specialized production chains.
Objective: Create dedicated outputs for different materials.
Leave space around filters and collection points, because loose material can accumulate and interfere with nearby machines.
Use Water and Material Reactions
Water, wet materials, plants, and heat expand the factory beyond simple mining. Start experimenting with controlled physical and chemical interactions once your basic logistics are stable.
Objective: Build a controlled production area for reaction-based resources.
Keep liquids and heat-producing processes separated from important logistics until you understand their behavior.
Expand Into Full Automation
Add conveyors, pipes, pumps, launchers, drones, and more specialized logistics as they become available. The goal is to replace repeated manual work with systems that continuously mine, move, process, and collect resources.
Objective: Create several connected automated production chains.
Expand one bottleneck at a time instead of rebuilding the entire factory whenever production slows.
Quick Tips
- Avoid uncontrolled vertical drops directly above areas where you plan to build machinery.
- Keep access paths clear while mining so loose sand does not bury the same excavation twice.
- Consistent throughput is more valuable than a large factory you do not yet understand.
- Keep liquids and heat-producing processes separated from important logistics until you know how they behave.
- Expand one bottleneck at a time instead of rebuilding the entire factory when production slows.
Sandustry Factory Layouts & Automation Guide
Build production lines that survive Sandustry's falling-sand physics. Use dedicated transport, filtering, liquid handling, and collection systems to reduce blockages and manual work.
Straight Conveyor Line
Move excavated material along a simple horizontal route from the mining area toward processing or storage.
Keep the line visible and accessible so piles of loose material can be spotted before they stop throughput.
Avoid placing open sand reservoirs directly above critical conveyor sections.
Filtered Sorting Line
Feed mixed material into a central transport line and branch selected resources into dedicated processing or storage paths.
Filter valuable or production-critical materials before bulk waste reaches later machinery.
Give each output enough empty space to prevent accumulated material from backing into the sorting point.
Launcher Transfer Line
Use launchers to transfer material between separated factory sections without extending a continuous conveyor through every obstacle.
Use launchers where direct routing would create unnecessary congestion.
Build a controlled receiving area so launched material cannot scatter into unrelated production lines.
Pipe and Pump Network
Keep liquids in a dedicated network and deliver them directly to processes that need water.
Separate liquid infrastructure from bulk solid-material transport whenever possible.
Control where water enters the environment, because liquids can change nearby materials and production conditions.
Drone-Assisted Logistics
Use drones to connect areas that would otherwise require long or inconvenient fixed transport lines.
Reserve drone logistics for routes where flexible movement offers a clear advantage over conveyors.
Keep pickup and drop-off zones clear so falling material does not bury access points.
Modular Production Block
Build each resource chain as a separate module with a clear input and output, then connect modules through shared logistics.
Leave unused expansion space beside each production block instead of packing machinery edge-to-edge.
Use walls, controlled drops, and separate collection areas to keep loose materials from crossing between modules.
Sandustry Materials & Production Chains
Understand how Sandustry's core materials move, react, and feed factory production. The most useful chains combine resource extraction with controlled water, heat, plant growth, and automated sorting.
Sand
Bulk solidSource: Excavated from the environment
Interactions: Falls and settles under particle-based physics; can interact with water
Factory role: Primary environmental material in excavation, sorting, and processing workflows
Handling: Use controlled drops, conveyors, and dedicated collection areas
Gold
Valuable resourceSource: Found while mining through the terrain
Interactions: Recovered from excavated material and separated from surrounding bulk resources
Factory role: Important progression resource for developing and expanding factory technology
Handling: Separate it from bulk material early and route it to a dedicated collection point
Water
LiquidSource: Natural or factory-controlled water supply
Interactions: Flows through the environment and can transform dry materials into wet variants
Factory role: Required for liquid-based reactions, wet-material production, and biological processes
Handling: Move it with pipes and pumps and keep flow confined to intended production areas
Wet Materials
Processed materialSource: Created when suitable dry materials interact with water
Interactions: Behave differently from their dry forms and serve as intermediate production inputs
Factory role: Bridge between basic excavation and more advanced reaction-based production
Handling: Produce them in controlled chambers so moisture does not spread into unrelated lines
Plants
Biological resourceSource: Grown under suitable environmental conditions
Interactions: Depend on environmental resources such as water and interact with the simulated world
Factory role: Renewable input for production chains that depend on biological growth
Handling: Keep growing areas separate from heavy mining and high-throughput transport
Heat-Processed Materials
Reaction productSource: Created by exposing appropriate materials to heat
Interactions: Heat changes materials and enables steps unavailable through mechanical sorting alone
Factory role: Supports advanced processing and chemical-style production chains
Handling: Isolate heat processes from water-sensitive and plant-growing areas
Advanced Resources
Factory inputSource: Produced through later processing and multi-stage interactions
Interactions: Depend on earlier extraction, filtering, liquid, biological, or heat-based stages
Factory role: Support higher-tier factory expansion and more complex automation
Handling: Build dedicated production modules with separate inputs and outputs
Sandustry Best Upgrades & Tech Tree
Prioritize upgrades that remove repeated manual work before investing heavily in specialized production. Logistics and material control provide the strongest foundation for later mining, liquids, exploration, and advanced resource chains.
Highest Priority
Early Game
Conveyor Logistics
TransportReplaces repeated manual hauling and forms the backbone of almost every automated production line.
Moving mined material continuously between excavation, filters, processing, and storage.
Material Filtering
SortingAllows mixed mining output to be separated automatically instead of sorted by hand.
Pulling valuable resources such as gold away from bulk material before later processing.
Strong Priority
Early to Mid Game
Pipe Networks
Liquid LogisticsMakes water-based production controllable and keeps liquid transport from depending on open terrain.
Supplying dedicated wet-material, plant, and reaction-based production areas.
Pumps
Liquid ControlProvides active control over water movement and makes larger liquid systems practical.
Moving water between separated elevations or controlled factory sections.
Expanded Processing
ProductionOpens more useful transformation chains once basic resource transport is stable.
Turning basic environmental resources into materials needed for continued factory growth.
Situational but Powerful
Mid Game
Launchers
TransportMoves material across gaps or around terrain where a continuous conveyor route would be awkward.
Connecting separated production blocks and bypassing congested factory areas.
Drones
Flexible LogisticsProvide flexible movement between distant sections without fixed transport to every destination.
Supplying isolated production zones and moving resources across complex factory layouts.
Build After Core Automation
Mid to Late Game
Specialized Resource Production
Advanced ProcessingBecomes valuable when the factory already has steady mining, transport, sorting, and liquid infrastructure.
Producing advanced materials through longer physical and chemical production chains.
Exploration-Focused Technology
ExplorationExtends operations beyond the established factory but provides less immediate throughput than core logistics.
Reaching new resource areas after nearby production is already automated.
Sandustry Mining, Biomes & Artifacts
Sandustry's destructible world rewards players who explore beyond the immediate needs of their factory. Different underground conditions introduce new materials, physical hazards, hidden spaces, anomalies, and valuable artifacts.
Sandustry Energy, Aura & Factory Progression
When progression appears to stall, follow the factory's current promotion and technology requirements rather than expanding every production chain at once. Factory promotions, Energy, Aura Extraction, and Strataform events gradually turn a simple production setup into a much larger automated system.
Establish Steady Basic Automation
Objective: Move from manual resource gathering to repeatable factory production.
- Automate collection and processing of the basic materials required by the factory.
- Use conveyors, filters, pipes, pumps, launchers, and other available logistics where appropriate.
- Protect important lines from uncontrolled falling materials and liquids.
A stable base makes promotion requirements and later technologies much easier to supply.
Secure Gold and Research Technologies
Objective: Use exploration and resource processing to unlock the technologies required for expansion.
- Explore beyond the immediate factory area for gold and additional resources.
- Prioritize technologies that improve extraction, processing, and logistics before building unnecessarily complex production.
- Keep gold production or collection accessible, because it is tied to progression and achievements.
Technology unlocks provide the machines and systems needed to move beyond the early factory.
Complete Factory Promotions
Objective: Meet promotion requirements to advance the factory into higher progression tiers.
- Treat the current promotion target as the main progression objective.
- Build dedicated production lines for resources required by the next promotion.
- Keep older resource chains operational, because later systems continue to depend on earlier materials.
Promotions open additional factory tiers and access to more advanced technology.
Build an Energy Economy
Objective: Transition from ordinary material processing into Energy-based progression.
- Unlock the Energy-related technology available through factory progression.
- Create a steady Energy production setup instead of relying on intermittent manual input.
- Leave room around the Energy system for later expansion and connections to advanced machinery.
Energy becomes an important requirement for the next generation of factory systems.
Unlock Aura Extraction
Objective: Advance from Energy generation into Aura-related technology and extraction.
- Continue the technology and promotion path until Aura Extraction becomes available.
- Integrate Aura systems with the existing factory instead of rebuilding basic infrastructure from scratch.
- Maintain sufficient Energy and resource throughput so advanced systems do not starve earlier production lines.
Aura introduces another major late-game resource and is directly tied to achievement progression.
Prepare for Strataform Events
Objective: Use the advanced factory to handle Strataform-related progression.
- Stockpile critical resources before committing to major progression events.
- Keep production areas organized so changes to the surrounding world do not immediately disable the entire factory.
- Use separate logistics paths for essential materials when possible.
Strataform events mark a major progression milestone and connect to Sandustry's completion objectives.
Finish the Technology Tree
Objective: Turn the late-game factory into a complete automated production network.
- Return to technologies skipped during earlier promotions.
- Automate remaining resource bottlenecks instead of manually feeding advanced machines.
- Combine exploration, artifacts, Energy, Aura, and factory upgrades to complete the remaining technology progression.
Completing the technology tree is one of Sandustry's major long-term completion goals.
Sandustry Achievements - All 16 Steam Goals
The 16-achievement set follows the game's main progression from factory growth and gold to exploration, Energy, Aura, Strataform systems, and technology completion. Most achievements naturally overlap with normal factory progression, while the completion-focused objectives reward thorough exploration.
Follow the introductory factory objectives and establish the first working production lines.
Supply the resources requested by the factory and complete its first promotion objective.
Keep earlier material chains automated, because later promotion requirements build on previous production.
Expand logistics capacity before attempting the more resource-intensive factory tiers.
Explore beyond the starting production area and keep discovered gold accessible for progression.
Turn gold acquisition into a repeatable part of the factory and exploration loop instead of relying only on early deposits.
Investigate unusual underground cavities and locations away from the direct factory expansion route.
Continue searching new strata and side areas after finding the first artifact.
Explore living areas instead of treating every biome purely as a source of raw factory materials.
Explore multiple environments thoroughly while progressing deeper into the world.
Continue factory promotions and research until the Energy stage of progression becomes available.
Build stable Energy production rather than manually supporting the system only when required.
Advance through Energy and factory technologies until Aura Extraction can be incorporated into the production network.
Maintain enough Energy and material throughput for Aura-related production without starving older factory systems.
Prepare a resilient automated factory and sufficient resources before committing to Strataform-related progression.
Return to skipped research after reaching the late game and complete every remaining technology branch.
Sandustry Mods & Custom Maps
Sandustry includes Steam Workshop support, allowing the community to extend the sandbox with custom maps, buildings, utility modifications, and experimental automation ideas. Workshop content is especially useful in a physics-driven automation sandbox.
Custom Maps
Community maps provide new terrain layouts, resource arrangements, exploration spaces, and factory-building challenges outside the standard world.
Open Sandustry's Steam Workshop, select a map that matches the experience you want, and subscribe to add the Workshop item through Steam.
New Buildings & Factory Components
Workshop creations expand the range of structures and factory concepts available to players who want production systems beyond the standard building set.
Check the Workshop item's description for its required content and intended factory role before integrating it into an existing setup.
Quality-of-Life Mods
Quality-of-life modifications focus on making building, logistics, management, or repeated factory tasks more convenient without replacing the core falling-sand automation loop.
Use lightweight utility mods when you want to streamline repeated tasks while keeping the normal progression and factory design experience.
Experimental Factory Systems
Sandustry's moddable systems allow creators to test unusual automation concepts and interactions that would not necessarily appear in a normal factory playthrough.
Try experimental content in a separate world when it substantially changes factory behavior or introduces unfamiliar machinery.
Workshop Installation
Steam Workshop uses subscriptions to manage community content, keeping installed Workshop items associated with your Steam copy of Sandustry.
Choose an item on the Workshop and select Subscribe. Steam handles the Workshop download and subsequent updates for subscribed content.
Compatibility & Updates
Large game updates can affect community content, particularly mods that change buildings, automation logic, or other systems.
Review the Workshop item's update information and dependencies when a previously working mod behaves differently after a Sandustry update.