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).