Logistics Guide: Conveyors, Mass Drivers & Sorting Tips

Logistics in Mindustry covers the systems and blocks that move items, payloads, fluids (bridges/conduits), and unit cargo around your base and between sectors. Good logistics keeps production continuous, prevents bottlenecks, and enables long-range transfers that bypass terrain and enemies.

Basic item transport: conveyors and ducts

• Conveyors are the cheapest, simplest item mover for one-direction flows. They accept inputs from the sides and the back (unless using variants that change that behavior). Use plain conveyors for low-throughput single-direction runs and where accidental side-inputs are acceptable.

• Titanium Conveyors are faster and are still side-input-accepting; they remain the baseline for many layouts.

• Tips: Because conveyors accept side inputs, they can accidentally take output from adjacent producers (drills, smelters). Place Junctions, Armored Conveyors, or Armored Ducts next to producers to prevent unintended input.

• Ducts (and their armored variant) are the high-throughput equivalent for the mixtech/Erekir ruleset. Like conveyors, ducts accept side inputs and can similarly be accidentally filled by neighboring producers; use an Armored Duct to block unwanted side-inputs.

High-throughput and special conveyors

• Plastanium Conveyors and Surge Conveyors transport items in batches and have special loading/transition/output segment behavior:
  • Plastanium Conveyors form three segment types in a line: loading (start), transporting (middle), and unloading (end). Loading segments accept items from the three non-front sides and generate uniform item batches (all items in a batch must be the same). A batch must reach its maximum size before being pushed forward; starting segments only collect one item type at a time and each starting segment supports only half the throughput of the middle segments. To reach peak throughput use multiple starting segments and split mixed input with Sorters.
  • Surge Conveyors similarly become input/transition/output segments depending on placement. Input segments accept side inputs (except the front). Transition segments cannot accept non-Surge inputs. Output segments release items forward only.
• Phase Conveyors/Bridge Conveyors share many behaviors with Bridge Conveyors and are used to span obstacles; note Phase Conveyors cannot link to Bridge Conveyors.

Routing, splitting and crossing

• Routers, Junctions, Distributors, Sorters and Inverted Sorters manage flow and direction:
  • Routers distribute incoming items according to their settings and have internal capacity—be mindful they can clog when adjacent to producers.
  • Junctions allow lines to cross and buffer items (useful to temporarily store and to prevent side-outputs). Junctions have modest item capacity and a slightly higher throughput than Titanium Conveyors.
  • Distributors and Sorters let you split and conditionally route items. Inverted Sorters are useful for compact distribution to multiple crafters.
  • When combining many low-speed lines into a high-demand consumer (e.g., Melters), use Overflow/Underflow Gates, Sorters, or combine multiple starting segments for batch conveyors to avoid starvation.

Long-range item transport: Mass Drivers and Bridges

• Mass Driver:

  • Mass Drivers collect a batch of items (minimum 10, up to a large maximum) and fire that batch to a linked Mass Driver. Multiple senders can target one receiver, but a receiver can only accept one incoming batch per its cooldown. Mass Drivers require power to shoot and to rotate; a fixed receiver does not need power to accept items.
  • Mass Driver projectiles can be intercepted by enemy units, force fields, or point defenses; intercepted projectiles destroy their items.
  • Mass Drivers have a travel speed for their projectile and an effective max throughput determined by batch size and firing rate; plan sender/receiver placement and branching to avoid bottlenecks.

• Duct Bridge / Bridge Conduit:

  • Duct Bridges automatically connect and route items to the nearest Duct Bridge in the direction they face; you cannot manually set their destination. When used as a destination with no outgoing destination set, they output items in the facing direction and stop accepting side inputs.
  • Bridge Conduits (for fluids) accept inputs from all sides except the connected side and can be manually linked up to a limited distance to set their destination. A Bridge Conduit can only move fluids to at most one other Bridge Conduit, but multiple bridges may send into a single destination which then distributes the fluid.
  • When drag-placing, the planner attempts spacing to optimize cost (commonly placing bridges ~3 tiles apart).

Payload transport (blocks-as-items and unit payloads)

• Payload Mass Drivers and Reinforced/Regular Payload Routers handle block/unit payloads (large blocks, unit payloads)

  • Payload Mass Drivers instantly teleport payloads to a linked destination when powered; they accept inputs from all sides. Configuring links is done by clicking a driver and then a target within range. They have a cooldown/recoil and require power to recover and rotate; without power a driver can receive at most one extra payload if already facing the right direction.
  • Reinforced Payload Routers accept payloads on all sides except their facing direction and can be filtered to direct specific payloads forward while cycling others to the sides.
  • Payload Routers behave similarly (filtering and cycling outputs).

• Payload conveyors and factories:

  • Reinforced Payload Conveyors move payload-formed items across short distances; for long-range payload transfers use Payload Mass Drivers.
  • Air Factory / Large Constructor / Deconstructor and other payload-producing blocks output payloads in the direction they face. Large Constructors will not start another construction job until the current payload fully exits.

Unit cargo and aerial logistics

• Unit Cargo Loaders, Manifolds, and Unit Cargo Unload Points use flying unit drones for transport (Erekir content):

  • Each Unit Cargo Loader constructs a single Manifold drone that takes up to a large stack of the most abundant item in its loader and ferries it to matching Unit Cargo Unload Points. The Manifold will cycle among multiple unload points and will remain until it can deposit all carried items.
  • Manifolds are tied to the loader they were built by; if that loader is removed the Manifold despawns. Manifolds’ throughput falls with travel time and can suffer collisions when paths intersect. Each loader is limited to one Manifold and contributes to unit cap.

• Landing Pads and Launch Pads:

  • Landing Pads (sector/planetary import) receive periodic bulk drops when configured; each landing transfers a fixed large batch and consumes a significant amount of water and requires the sector import capacity to supply them at full rate.
  • Launch Pads (advanced) send exactly sized batches to other sectors when fully charged; they store only one item type at a time and will wait until they have the required batch before launching.

Storage and smoothing

• Containers and Core inventory:

  • Containers are cheap storage that store per-item-type capacities (i.e., capacity is per item type, not shared), making them efficient for mixed storage and for airlifting entire containers with cargo-capable units.
  • The Core inventory acts as a global in-sector stock for building and certain logistics actions; conveyors that move toward the Core deposit into its inventory.

• Using buffers:

  • Place Containers, Junctions, or other buffered blocks between producers and consumers to smooth spikes (ammo for turrets, fuel for power plants, or sudden consumption spikes in large crafters).
  • For very high-consumption buildings (for example, Melters or high-end refabricators), combine multiple input lines or use higher-throughput conveyors/ducts and appropriate splitters to meet demand.

Common planning tips and pitfalls

• Always identify the true inputs and outputs: conveyors that move away from a producer are considered outputs (they receive items from that producer); conveyors moving into a block are treated as inputs for that block.
• Avoid placing side-input-accepting belts adjacent to item producers unless you want them to take output; use armored conveyors/ducts or junctions to block unwanted inputs.
• Batch conveyors (Plastanium, Surge) require careful handling of starting segments—each starting segment will only collect one item type and supports reduced throughput compared to middle segments. Use Sorters to separate mixed flows and use multiple starting segments for full throughput.
• Long-range transport (Mass Drivers, Payload Mass Drivers) can bypass terrain and defenses but require planning for cooldowns, power, interception risk (for Mass Drivers), and receiver throughput limits. Branch senders across multiple receivers or balance load to avoid bottlenecks.
• When using drone-based logistics (Manifolds), watch travel distances, path intersections, and unit caps—throughput is strongly affected by how long drones spend flying versus loading/unloading.

This covers the practical building blocks and behaviors for moving items, payloads, fluids, and unit cargo in Mindustry. Design with buffering, filtering, and appropriate transport tiers to match production and consumption rates and to avoid common hazards like side-inputs, batch-segmentation limits, and remote bottlenecks.