Sandustry Factory Blueprints and Production Chains

A factory blueprint is a layout that reliably converts inputs into outputs without you babysitting every step. Sandustry physics makes every blueprint a hypothesis — the pixel simulation either agrees or it jams. These blueprints are community-tested starting points: each has a rationale, known constraints, and an upgrade path. Copy the shape; understand the principle so you can adapt when the physics surprises you.

Blueprint philosophy

Sandustry factories run on three variables you control:

• Material flow — what enters, what exits, what gets rejected
• Heat — whether a process needs it, creates it, or is destroyed by it
• Density separation — the shaker, filter, and gravity decisions that sort mixed pixels

Every layout in this guide is an arrangement of those three variables. When a build fails, one of the three is wrong.

Best factory builder of 2026 - Sandustry blueprints

Gold factory blueprint

Purpose: Convert Sand + Water into Gold with slag as a byproduct.

Inputs: Sand (mined), Water (lake or pipe)

Outputs: Gold (collector), Burnt Slag (to press), Spores (flower line)

Sand pile → Sand belt → Mixer (+ Water) → Wet Sand belt → Diagonal Shaker row → Gold pit (collector)
                                                                              ↘ Slag belt → Lava pit or Flamethrower → Burnt Slag belt → Kinetic Slag Press → Gold merge

Key ratios (community benchmarks):

Input	Ratio	Notes
Sand : Water	1 : 1	One Sand + one Water = two Wet Sand
Wet Sand : Gold	~20–25%	Per shaker pass; varies with angle and pile depth
Slag : Burnt Slag	1 : 1	Flamethrower or lava auto-burns
Burnt Slag : Press gold	Variable	Clean press hits produce gold + Spores

Constraints:

• Shakers must be diagonal — flat rows clog
• Slag belt must evacuate before next shaker pass
• Water supply must not flood the sand pile

Upgrade path: Add Filters → add second shaker row → add press → add lava burn lane

See How to Get Gold and Starter Factory Layout for the full walkthrough.

Slag processing blueprint

Purpose: Convert Slag into Burnt Slag, then press for secondary gold.

Inputs: Slag from shaker rows

Outputs: Gold (press), Spores (planter input)

Shaker slag output → Slag belt → Burn lane (Flamethrower or lava pit) → Burnt Slag belt → Kinetic Slag Press → Gold collector

Two burn lane types:

Type	Pros	Cons
Flamethrower lane	Mobile, no setup	Requires player time
Lava pit lane	Runs 24/7, hands-off	Requires Scoria-Cinder logistics

The lava pit lane is the long-term goal. Build the flamethrower lane first; graduate to lava when you have Cryoblaster and rocket tools.

Critical rule: Never route Water into the burn lane. Lava + Water = steam explosion that deletes both.

See Slag Processing and Lava-Powered Factory for the full lava lane setup.

Lava heat blueprint

Purpose: Create a portable, self-running heat source for slag and flower burning.

Inputs: Scoria (from frozen lava), Rocket explosions

Outputs: Cinder, then lava (in contained burn lane)

Lava cave → Cryoblaster freeze → Scoria block → Rocket Launcher → Cinder powder → Vacuum/Belt → Cinder filter/pit → Flamethrower ignite → Lava pit
                                                                                                                                         ↓
                                                                                                                                   Slag from shakers

Cinder logistics rules:

• Cinder is launchable and belt-compatible — conveyors work for short distances
• Hauler Drones for distances beyond conveyor range
• Cinder floats on water — keep burn areas dry
• Store Cinder in a chest buffer above each burn lane

Density: Cinder at ~50 sits near Burnt Slag on filter charts. Use allow Cinder only filters to isolate it from slag on shared belts.

See Lava, Scoria, and Cinder and Lava-Powered Factory.

Flower and Fluxite blueprint

Purpose: Grow Fluxite for permanent upgrades — scanner, capacity, hover.

Inputs: Soil (planter box), Water, Amethelis petals (from flower farms), RedSand

Outputs: Voidbloom, then Fluxite from Flux Emanator

Planter boxes (Soil + Water) → Flower growth → Amethelis petals
RedSand pile → RedSand belt
Amethelis + RedSand → Voidbloom (mixing)
Voidbloom → Flux Emanator (single) → Fluxite grows below tile

Key constraints:

• Only one Flux Emanator per factory — plan its location carefully
• Amethelis must be harvested (Vacuum or drone) before petals are lost
• Voidbloom must be routed to the Emanator, not stored
• Flowers can be burned automatically on a lava pit instead of harvested — the lava produces Voidbloom without the Vacuum tool

See How to Get Fluxite, Flowers and Planters, and Voidbloom and Amethelis.

Energy blueprint

Purpose: Generate Florinol batteries for mid-game power after Fluxite upgrades.

Inputs: Amethelis petals (dried), Heat (lava or flamethrower)

Outputs: Florinol, then batteries

Amethelis petals → Dry (ambient or heater) → Florin vapor → Condense → Florinol → Battery fill

Energy uses: Aura Extractor, late-game drones, powered buildings. Energy is not needed for the core gold loop — it unlocks after Fluxite upgrades.

See How to Get Energy and Florinol Energy.

Multi-floor factory stacking

Advanced players stack blueprints vertically:

Floor	Process
N	Dig face + sand bins
N+1	Mixers + Wet Sand belts
N+2	Diagonal shakers + gold pit
N+3	Slag burn (lava) + Kinetic Slag Press
N+4	Planter boxes + flower harvest
N+5	Flux Emanator + Fluxite collection

Each floor is a self-contained blueprint. Connecting vertical transport (launchers for sand, pipes for water) between floors is the engineering challenge.

See Dig Deeper for vertical factory planning.

Production ratio helper

Use the Production Ratio Helper to balance:

• Dig rate vs. belt speed vs. shaker count
• Water supply vs. sand throughput
• Burn lane capacity vs. slag generation rate
• Press throughput vs. slag availability

The tool prevents overbuilding one stage while another is the actual bottleneck.

Blueprint adaptation rules

When a blueprint fails:

1. Check material flow — is the input actually reaching the process?
2. Check heat — did a process need heat, create heat, or get destroyed by it?
3. Check density separation — are mixed pixels sorted before hitting a filter or shaker?
4. Test with a single batch — run one load through manually before scaling up

Sandustry physics rewards patience. A blueprint that works at 10% scale usually works at 100% scale if the principles are sound.