Assembly Drone

Assembly Drone is a hidden, flying support unit spawned by unit assemblers to assist in constructing other units. It is not a player-controllable unit and cannot be issued orders via the Direct Control or direct control; it exists solely to occupy and operate within an assembler's construction zone. Assembly Drones are the smallest units in the game at 0.75×0.75 blocks and are the only non-Core units exempt from the global unit cap.

Assembly Drones are produced by an assembler over 8 seconds each. When spawned, four drones take positions at the corners of the assembler's construction zone, occupying those corners counterclockwise beginning from the northeast. This corner assignment ignores the assembler's rotation; if any drone is destroyed the assembler will rebuild it before resuming unit construction progress, and surviving drones will rearrange to restore the corner pattern. If the assembler that created them is removed, its drones automatically despawn.

Although they have an internal item capacity of 20, Assembly Drones do not pick up items and cannot be commanded to transport resources. They are classified as air units: they can be pushed by other flying units (including the Core unit) and possess detection against both air and ground, but they do not leave wreckage when destroyed. If a drone is pushed sufficiently far from its assigned corner it will cease contributing to the assembler's production speed and will attempt to move back into position; being pushed too far effectively halts its building contribution until it returns.

Practical notes for builders and defenders:

• Place assemblers with clear space around them so drones cannot be pushed out of position by congested unit traffic; if drones are displaced the assembler's output slows until they return or are rebuilt.
• Assemblers always spawn drones in the same corner order (northeast first, then counterclockwise), so multi-assembler layouts can be arranged predictably.
• Drones are not counted toward the unit cap, allowing many assemblers to operate simultaneously without affecting player or army limits.
• Since drones cannot be controlled or carry items despite their inventory entry, do not rely on them for hauling or tactical micromanagement.
• Destroying an assembler removes its drones; destroying individual drones delays production briefly while replacements are built.