How-to Guides
Every guide here starts from a problem a real player posted, and every fix links back to the thread it came from. Where a claim has not been confirmed by the developer, it says so.
How to Build Your First Automated Gold Line
“I am hauling sand by hand and it is slow. What is the smallest setup that starts producing gold on its own?”
The first hour of Sandustry decides your pace. Build the sand to wet sand to shaker loop close to the source, then add the slag branch. Sourced, step by step.
How to Fix a Kinetic Slag Press That Keeps Jamming
“The press works for a while, then burnt slag stacks on top of it and the whole line backs up until I clear it by hand.”
Your Sandustry slag press stops processing and burnt slag piles up. Here is the cause the developer confirmed, and the six layout fixes players use to stop it.
How to Stop Shakers and Filters From Clogging
“I keep adding shakers and filters and the line still clogs. More machines is not making it faster.”
Throughput in Sandustry is limited by flow control, not machine count. Why launchers overwhelm your sorting line, and how players throttle the feed to fix it.
How to Stop Rain From Flooding Your Factory
“Rain got into my factory, the pumps cannot pull all the water back out, and now water is in the way of every material line I have.”
Rain fills your Sandustry base and pumps will not drain it. Why pumps stall, the steam-in-pipe trap, and how players roof a factory so rain never lands.
How to Fix Pipes That Do Nothing in Sandustry
“I placed a run of pipe and nothing happens. I do not know whether I built it wrong or it is a bug.”
You placed pipes in Sandustry and nothing moves. Pipes are only a conduit — you need a pump and a vent. Here is the setup, plus what pipes refuse to carry.
How to Move Lava and Steam Without Pipes
“I want to automate lava for burning slag, and stop steam collecting in my grotto ceilings, but neither goes through a pipe.”
Sandustry pipes refuse to carry lava or steam. Players move lava as cinder powder and steer steam with blocks. Here is how both workarounds are built.
How to Get More Water When Your Gold Line Runs Dry
“My gold line eats water faster than I can find it, and I do not know which of the duplication tricks people mention actually work.”
Wet sand needs water and your pool is finite. Two methods players report working in Sandustry, one that was tested and does not, and how to tell them apart.
How to Install Sandustry Mods With Fluxloader
“I want to run mods and custom maps, but I do not know which loader is current or what it needs from me.”
Fluxloader is the community mod loader for Sandustry. What it is, how the setup works, and what the modding API can and cannot reach — from the project docs.