# Choosing a start location

> Canonical source: [Choosing a start location](https://satisfactorybase.com/guides/starter-locations)
> Language: en

Version check pending: The recommendations use default-world nodes and approximate distances. They do not apply unchanged to randomized resources or purity settings.

Grass Fields, Rocky Desert, Northern Forest or Dune Desert – what the community recommends for beginners and veterans, with the nearby nodes, coal and water of each start in the default world.


The four start areas of the **default world** (no seed, resource randomization and purity *Default*) differ far more in terrain and in how far you walk for coal and water than in raw resource count. This page condenses the community consensus (official wiki, Steam discussions and the usual guide sites – the full source list is in `project/docs/guides/starter-research.md`) and links to a concrete starter base and coal plant per start in the public [Starter Guide world](/w/starter-guide).

## Comparison

| | Grass Fields | Rocky Desert | Northern Forest | Dune Desert |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wiki rating | Ideal for beginners | Suitable for beginners | Experienced players | Advanced players |
| Flat terrain | ★★★★★ | ★★★★☆ | ★☆☆☆☆ | ★★★★☆ |
| Biomass | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★★★ | ★★☆☆☆ |
| Resource amount / variety | ★★★☆☆ / ★★★☆☆ | ★★★☆☆ / ★★★★☆ | ★★★★☆ / ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ / ★★☆☆☆ |
| Hostility | low (hogs) | medium (hogs, spitters) | low (stingers in caves) | low |
| Iron at spawn (Mk.1) | 3 × normal = 180/min | 3 × normal = 180/min | 6 × pure = 720/min | 7 × pure in the centre |
| Copper / limestone at spawn | normal / normal | normal / normal | pure / normal + pure | 3 × normal / normal + pure |
| Nearest coal with water | 4 × normal at the northern lake, ~1 km | 4 × normal at the lake, ~0.8 km east | 3 × pure + 1 × normal at the Lake Forest lake, ~0.8 km SE | 3 × normal at the oasis lakes, ~0.8 km east |
| Water | small lakes | sea + lake at sea level | lakes at 97–130 m (free head lift downhill) | oasis lakes, east coast |
| Oil | far (Western Beaches / Blue Crater, ~2.5 km) | west coast, 1.5–2 km | 1 km north | over the canyon, ~1.5 km |
| Caterium / quartz | pure caterium 1 km SW; quartz east | pure caterium in-biome; quartz in the cave | normal caterium; impure quartz nearby | 2 caterium; no quartz |

Ratings from the wiki's "New game" screen; node counts from the planner's node data.

## Recommendation

- **First game → Grass Fields.** Flat, safe, enough biomass, and the three normal iron nodes next to spawn are enough for the whole Tier 0–2 starter set. The price is a walk for coal (the northern lake) and mostly impure/normal nodes later on.
- **First game with more ambition → Rocky Desert.** Many guides rate it the best overall start: iron, copper and limestone clustered near spawn, pure caterium and quartz in the biome, and coal *with water at sea level* only 800 m east. Expect hogs and spitters and less biomass.
- **Veterans → Northern Forest.** The densest pure-node cluster of the map (6 pure iron, pure copper, pure limestone within 300 m), oil to the north, 3 pure coal nodes beside a lake. You will build on foundations from the first hour – nothing here is flat.
- **Megabase planners → Dune Desert.** Most pure nodes, endless flat sand, coal at the oasis lakes and the east coast, sulfur and caterium close. Officially "advanced" because biomass and water are limited to the oases; a vocal group of veterans calls it the easiest start for exactly that reason.

Whatever you pick: by mid-game you leave the start area anyway. Build the first base where the iron is, the [coal plant](/guides/coal-power-setup) where the water is, and connect them with a belt.

## The Starter Guide world

The [Starter Guide world](/w/starter-guide) is a public, read-only world with two factories per start location, placed on the actual nodes:

| Start | Starter base | Coal power |
|---|---|---|
| Grass Fields | [Starter base](/w/starter-guide/factories/1e1b9c20-2cfb-5f39-b6c7-6ff05c6ab780) · [map](/w/starter-guide/map#-1;-45059;224736) | [1 200 MW](/w/starter-guide/factories/0851e846-7b22-5e48-af35-02e7c139cd77) · [map](/w/starter-guide/map#-1;-82641;133679) |
| Rocky Desert | [Starter base](/w/starter-guide/factories/a8c744b2-a3f4-5edd-9b38-a8cfe447d76e) · [map](/w/starter-guide/map#-1;-181046;-118491) | [1 200 MW](/w/starter-guide/factories/7344e041-f434-544c-9ca5-d823ad941b09) · [map](/w/starter-guide/map#-1;-105020;-136736) |
| Northern Forest | [Starter base](/w/starter-guide/factories/ac0723fb-21a4-5aa5-838d-2617a169738e) · [map](/w/starter-guide/map#-1;60098;-76687) | [2 100 MW](/w/starter-guide/factories/2a4e3ed5-2d78-5f1b-8ab4-c23e527e4601) · [map](/w/starter-guide/map#-1;131463;-24167) |
| Dune Desert | [Starter base](/w/starter-guide/factories/9f49a6f7-3090-5e85-a350-72559e2590bc) · [map](/w/starter-guide/map#-1;288974;-104883) | [900 MW](/w/starter-guide/factories/83c3e5dc-3c8a-5bc2-9ca8-528469a6f4e0) · [map](/w/starter-guide/map#-1;365525;-136102) |

Sign in and use **Fork** to copy the world into your account and adapt the targets to your own game. The per-location pages explain what each factory builds and why.


- [Starter base – Grass Fields](/guides/starter-base-grass-fields)

- [Starter base – Rocky Desert](/guides/starter-base-rocky-desert)

- [Starter base – Northern Forest](/guides/starter-base-northern-forest)

- [Starter base – Dune Desert](/guides/starter-base-dune-desert)

- [Coal power setup](/guides/coal-power-setup)

- [Start locations (world)](/wiki/world/start-locations)

- [Starter Guide world](/w/starter-guide)