Belts & pipes

Conveyor belts

Tier	Items/min	m/s	Factor vs. previous	Build cost per segment (up to 56 m: ≈ 0.5 per m)	Unlock
Mk.1	60	1.2	–	Iron Plate	Tier 0: HUB Upgrade 4
Mk.2	120	2.4	×2	Reinforced Iron Plate	Tier 2: Logistics Mk.2
Mk.3	270	5.4	×2.25	Steel Beam	Tier 4: Logistics Mk.3
Mk.4	480	9.6	×1.78	Encased Industrial Beam	Tier 5: Logistics Mk.4
Mk.5	780	15.6	×1.625	Alclad Aluminum Sheet	Tier 7: Logistics Mk.5
Mk.6	1 200	24	×1.54	Ficsite Trigon + Time Crystal	Tier 9: Peak Efficiency

• Segment 0.5–56 m (7 foundations), minimum curve radius 2 m, maximum slope 35°; no climbing and curving at the same time. The first snap point is the input, the second the output; the direction cannot be reversed afterwards, but the tier can be upgraded or downgraded in place (material difference is charged).
• Items stop at the end of a belt (they do not fall off); no stacks on belts. Belts pull from a building's output slot and push into its input slot if the item is accepted.
• Belts move standing players at belt speed (Mk.6 24 m/s = 86.4 km/h); running with Blade Runners on a Mk.6 reaches 135 km/h.
• Belts that pass through buildings must be built after the buildings (“Encroaching other's clearance”).

Lifts

Same throughput as the belt of the same tier; cost 2× the material (≈ 1 per m); height 4–48 m per lift in 1 m steps, chainable; unlimited between two Conveyor Lift Floor Holes. Since 1.1 splitters and mergers attach to the input, output and any intermediate point of a lift.

Splitters and mergers

Building	In / out	Internal buffer	Unlock
Conveyor Splitter	1 → up to 3	9 items	Tier 1: Logistics
Conveyor Merger	up to 3 → 1	1 item	Tier 1: Logistics
Smart Splitter	1 → 3 with 1 rule each	9 (2 held back with an Overflow rule)	MAM Caterium: Smart Splitter (10 AI Limiter, 50 Reinforced Iron Plate)
Programmable Splitter	1 → 3 with several rules, max. 64 in total	9	MAM Caterium: Programmable Splitter (100 AI Limiter, 50 Computer, 50 Heavy Modular Frame)
Priority Merger (1.1)	3 → 1 with low/medium/high priority per input	1	MAM Quartz: Material Resonance Screening (15 Crystal Oscillator, 100 Reinforced Iron Plate)

• Splitters distribute round-robin; blocked outputs are skipped (nothing is lost) → exactly 1:n when nothing blocks. Internal processing 2 000/min (more than a Mk.6). Splitters and mergers cannot attach directly to building ports, but to both ends of a lift and onto existing straight belts; stackable in 2 m steps.
• Smart Splitter rules: Any, None, Any Undefined (only items without their own rule), Overflow (only when no other output can take the item; several overflow outputs share evenly), or a specific item. Programmable Splitters allow several items per output but no ratio splits. Typical uses: overflow → AWESOME Sink, sorting mixed (“sushi”) belts, pressure relief in belt loops.
• A Merger takes round-robin from all occupied inputs; the belt tier is irrelevant. A Priority Merger serves the highest occupied priority exclusively (e.g. local 400/min before an 80/min import).

Manifold vs. balancer

• Manifold (splitters in a row): compact and extensible; front machines fill first, the rear ones wait; after the settling time all run at 100 % as long as supply ≥ demand and the belt has capacity. Calculate the fill time in advance or speed it up with a Somersloop or overclock.
• Load balancer (exact 1:n): nest splitters; 1:2^a·3^b directly (2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 12, 18, 24, 27 …); other values by looping one output back (1:5 from 1:6, 1:7 from 1:8, 1:11 from 1:12, 1:13 from 1:16 with 3 outputs back, 1:17 from 1:18; 1:10 = 2 × 1:5, 1:14 = 2 × 1:7, 1:15 = 1:5 → 1:3). Loopbacks cost belt capacity.
• Belt balancer (n:m): interleave several load balancers; always split first, then merge, and never exceed the capacity of a belt section. Examples 2:2, 3:3, 4:4 = 2:2 flat → 2:2 vertical → 2:2 flat; 6:6 = 3:3 → 2:2; 9:9 = 3:3 → 3:3 → 3:3.
• Recommendation: avoid balancers (space); use manifolds, modular builds (make Screws and Quickwire on site) and 1:1 pairings. See Building ratios & manifolds.

Storage as buffer

Storage Container 24 slots (1 in / 1 out, 5 × 11 × 4 m), Industrial Storage Container 48 slots (2 in / 2 out, 5 × 11 × 8 m); stackable, ladders on the side; output is LIFO; the Industrial container prefers the output belt built first (no balancing). Containers do not limit throughput.

Pipes

Fluids are measured in m³; recipes and extractors in m³/min (raw game data in litres: 1 000 L = 1 m³). Fluids cannot be sunk and cannot travel on belts or in solid freight cars. Only through pipes, Fluid Freight Cars (2 400 m³ since 1.2), packaged (Packager) or as packaged items by drone or truck.

Building	Key figure	Power (MW)	Unlock
Pipeline Mk.1	300 m³/min	–	Tier 3: Coal Power
Pipeline Mk.2	600 m³/min	–	Tier 6: Pipeline Engineering Mk.2
Pipeline Pump Mk.1	head lift 20 m (real ≈ 22 m)	4	Tier 3: Coal Power
Pipeline Pump Mk.2	head lift 50 m (real ≈ 55 m)	8	Tier 6: Pipeline Engineering Mk.2
Fluid Buffer	400 m³, head lift 8 m when full	–	Tier 3: Coal Power
Industrial Fluid Buffer	2 400 m³, head lift 12 m when full	–	Tier 5: Petroleum Power
Valve	flow 0–600 m³/min adjustable, one-way	–	Tier 5: Oil Processing
Pipeline Junction / T-Junction (1.2)	4 / 3 connections	–	Tier 3: Coal Power

Pipes hold about 1.3 m³ per metre (wiki: 1.327 m³/m). A horizontal pipe needs ≈ 1.2–1.5 m of head lift to fill completely. A junction splits evenly between open outputs; backflow is normal.

Head lift

Head lift is the height in metres that a source can push fluid up, measured from the top of the source or pump. A pipe higher than source + head lift → no flow. Downhill and horizontal flow needs no pump; horizontal length is unlimited as long as the throughput limit is not reached.

• Head lift does not add up between pumps in series: the second pump must sit within the head lift of the first and then provides its own head lift from its position (spacing ≤ 20 m or 50 m of height). Pumps reset head lift to 20/50 m even with a higher upstream pressure; an unpowered pump acts as a check valve with 0 m.
• Head lift is only passed on through completely filled segments; a segment needs head lift equal to its vertical length. Above the “actual” value the flow collapses abruptly, ≈ 2 m higher it is zero. Head lift is independent of flow; gases ignore it.
• Junctions: a split gives every output the full head lift of the input (only the flow is divided); a merge adopts the highest head lift of all sources for the whole network (a filled Fluid Buffer placed high up “lifts” low Water Extractors without pumps). A junction has no flow limit (2 × Mk.2 in → 1 200 m³/min) but cannot sit directly on building ports.
• Pumps and valves are check valves (flow only in the arrow direction). A valve does not block head lift (even at limit 0). Pumps, valves and junctions placed directly on pipes can cost ≈ 1 m³/min.

Sloshing and manifold rules

1. Never plan a pipe manifold above capacity: total demand ≤ 300 (Mk.1) or 600 (Mk.2) m³/min and supply ≥ demand; ideally slightly over-supplied (e.g. 3 Water Extractors = 360 for 8 Coal Generators = 360 → better 2 pipes with 4 generators each, or Mk.2).
2. Fill the manifold completely before starting production (pause consumers or use a valve), otherwise the rear consumers starve permanently.
3. Place junctions to avoid dead ends; backflow (“sloshing”) in dead ends is normal but can briefly under-supply consumers → a buffer or valve in front of sensitive consumers (power plants).
4. Full fluid outputs stop a machine (deadlock). By-products (Heavy Oil Residue, Water from Aluminum Scrap, Dark Matter Residue) must always be removed: further processing, Packager + Sink, or a loop with a valve.
5. One pipe carries one fluid; mixing blocks the pipe (reset with “Flush”).
6. Return water (e.g. Aluminum Scrap returns 120 m³ Water per 240 Alumina) via valve + merge into the supply; the valve prevents backflow into the Refinery.
7. A manifold with many junctions can back up at the end although no segment is saturated (Mk.2 practically < 450 m³/min) → split the supply and feed from both ends (loopback). Prioritise consumers by placing the important ones directly and the others behind a 10 m riser.

Typical fluid ratios

The 15 fluids: liquids Water, Crude Oil, Heavy Oil Residue, Fuel, Turbofuel, Liquid Biofuel, Alumina Solution, Sulfuric Acid, Dissolved Silica (not packageable), Nitric Acid; gases (no head lift, no pumps) Nitrogen Gas, Rocket Fuel, Ionized Fuel, Excited Photonic Matter and Dark Matter Residue (not packageable). Packaged Nitrogen Gas compresses 4×, Packaged Rocket/Ionized Fuel 2× for train or drone transport.

In this planner, click an edge in the factory graph to open the Transport panel. It shows how many belts or pipes of which tier the flow needs (Using SatisfactoryBase).