District Crossing

District Crossing is a building that links two adjacent Districts and provides controlled transfer of Goods between them. Each District Crossing consists of two separately selectable halves, one in each District, and each half has its own inventory and employs its own crossing workers. The Crossing manages transfers using a 30-slot inventory per side and configurable import/export settings accessed via the Distribution window’s Manage distribution control.

Import settings available per Good are Do not import, Import if needed, and Import always. Import always attempts to keep the 30-slot inventory for that Good full, subject to the number of crossing workers on the sending side, travel distance, and availability of that Good across connected District storage. Each Good also has a slider that sets the percentage of that Good that the District retains (defaults to 0%). Setting the slider to 100% prevents export of that Good and helps avoid Goods bouncing between Districts while ensuring sufficient local supply. In pass-through situations (A⬌B⬌C), a pass-through District with Do not import will refuse imports while still exporting; Import if needed and Import always both permit import and export.

Crossing workers are limited: each side of a District Crossing can employ up to 10 crossing workers. To increase throughput between Districts, you can build multiple District Crossings between the same pair of Districts, allowing more than 10 workers total. Haulers handle internal long-distance transport and can be present in unlimited numbers, while crossing workers shuttle Goods across the Crossing itself.

Practical construction and optimization notes:

• While a Crossing is under construction, build a bypass road around it to maintain traffic flow and delay placing the District Center until the Crossing is complete.
• Leave sufficient free space on both sides of a Crossing for future storage; placing storage near the Crossing improves delivery efficacy by reducing crossing worker travel time. Haulers should move Goods between nearby warehouses and District storage.
• For new Districts that need supplies, set essential Goods to Always import so connected Districts fill the Crossing inventory before demand exists; this is useful for food, water, and basic construction materials.
• For Goods a District does not use or is self-sufficient in, set Do not import to prevent unwanted deliveries and improve worker efficiency.
• When a District has excess capacity for a Good, set that Good to Do not import so deliveries focus on items actually required. Avoid Do not import if capacity is merely sufficient, as connected Districts may still request those Goods.
• To optimize pass-through flow, use Import if needed, provide large storage at both import and export Crossings, ensure enough haulers, set supply/obtain flags on nearby storages appropriately, and consider building storage specifically for bulk imports/exports adjacent to Crossings.
• Crossings balance Goods according to percentage of available storage; this can make transfers slow when the sending District has much storage and the receiving District has little.

History and trivia: District Crossings replaced the older District Gate, Distribution Post, and Drop-off Point by combining their functions. The Crossing’s flavor text references joke riddles such as “Why did the chicken cross the road?” The Ironteeth faction version of the District Crossing features colors and patterns reminiscent of the Transgender Pride flag.