Factorio Guide

PLAYERS STRATEGY GUIDE
Table of Contents
Introduction
01) How to use this guide
INTRODUCTION
02) Game options and map
settings
03) Initial observations
04) Collecting resources
05) Belt and inserter mechanics
06) Establishing power
07) Automation
08) Science
09) Pollution
10) Trains
11) Liquids and oil processing
12) The logistics system
13) Modules
14) Circuit network
15) Enemies and combat
16) Additional information,
setups, and builds
17) Mods
18) Item index
19) New Features of 0.13
About the game

Factorio is a game in which you build and maintain factories.
You will be mining resources, researching technologies, building infrastructure, automating production and fighting enemies. Use your
imagination to design your factory, combine simple elements into ingenious structures, apply management skills to keep it working and
finally protect it from the creatures who don't really like you.
The game is very stable and optimized for building massive factories. You can create your own maps, write mods in Lua or play with
friends via Multiplayer.
Purpose of the guide

Factorio is a game with a steep learning curve. There are so many things to do in the game, that new players can often get
overwhelmed. At the moment there are a few main places that players can go to find information about the game:
The ingame tutorial: this series of missions leads the player through basics of the game. However it hasn't been updated in a while
and also it doesn't touch any of the more advanced topics. Basically leaving the player to explore the game on his own.
The Factorio wiki: at the moment this is a completely community driven source of information. Unfortunately there is not a clear
direction and product owner for it. The result is that a lot of information is missing, inconsistent or old.
Youtube videos: they are often enjoyable to watch. But the sheer amount of them might scare off most of the new people.
There are other places like Factorio forums, dedicated subreddit or other small comunities.
With the above in mind, the purpose of this guide is to bring Factorio closer to people new to the game. Hence the content is aimed at
Beginner and Intermediate players.
This is not a reference or step-by-step manual. An overview of all the main concepts in the game is given with basic explanations,
accompanied by screenshots from the game, useful tips and sometimes links to other resources.
We are commited to improving the in-game tutorial and possibly also adding mini missions to help understand game concepts by
playing with them. But before that happens this guide is probably the best resource to consult when starting with the game.
Credits
Copyright © 2016; All rights reserverd by Wube Software Ltd.
This guide was originally written by Chris Walker a.k.a. Xterminator on Youtube.
Starting with 25th Feb 2016 this guide is developed by Wube Software Ltd. (creators of Factorio). This guide is very much a Work in
progress. We are in process of reviewing the guide, updating the screenshots, rephrasing sections, etc. The reason why we release a
work in progress is that we believe that the guide already brings a lot of value to new players.
If you have any comments, typo reports or suggestions regarding the guide, you can either contact us by email at
support(at)factorio(dot)com or create a post at the dedicated section at our forums.
Next: How to use this guide

Table of Contents
Introduction
HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE
settings This guide is organized to try and cover all the major areas or
03) Initial observations objectives in the game without going into every single detail but at
04) Collecting resources the same time trying to convey all the most important information
05) Belt and inserter mechanics about each topic. Not every single thing is covered here simply
06) Establishing power because it would make the guide far too long, and because a lot of
07) Automation the fun in Factorio is experimenting and figuring some things out for
08) Science yourself. Consider this guide as a reference for when you get stuck,
09) Pollution or as an initial starting point so you can go into the game with some
10) Trains knowledge.
12) The logistics system The sections of the guide are arranged mostly chronologically in the
13) Modules order that that you will get to them in the game. So as you would
14) Circuit network guess, as you get farther into the guide it becomes more advanced
15) Enemies and combat and would require a higher level of experience in order to
16) Additional information, understand what is being shown and talked about. If you read from
setups, and builds the beginning though, you shouldn't really have a problem
17) Mods understanding what is going on in the later sections. Each section is
18) Item index linked in the Table of Contents, so if you click on it in the ToC, it will
19) New Features of 0.13 jump to the page where that section starts, so it should be easier to
find what you're looking for.
For information about specific items you can look at the Item Index
which lists every item in the game followed by a short description of
what it is or does. The Item Index is arranged exactly how it is
shown in the game to make it easier to find things.
If you are looking for setups and builds for certain items, such as
some good Circuit Builds or more Train unloading/loading stations
you can check the Additional Information, Setups & Builds section.
So, let's begin and remember the main objective of Factorio is to

have fun!
Next: Game options and map settings
Table of Contents
Introduction
GAME OPTIONS AND MAP SETTINGS
settings
Options
04) Collecting resources Factorio has quite a few settings you can play around with to customize things how you want. There are multiple audio settings, and
05) Belt and inserter mechanics you can either play in a fullscreen or windowed mode. You can also customize all the hotkeys and shortcuts used in the game, its a fair
06) Establishing power idea to have a brief look over this menu before you start a game. Some of these key mappings won't quite make sense right away
07) Automation though, but over time you will learn how powerful some of them can be.
08) Science
09) Pollution
10) Trains There is a tutorial produced by a community member which goes over some of the more useful Hotkeys and Shortcuts
13) Modules Below is an overview of the default keybindings in the game.
14) Circuit network
setups, and builds
17) Mods
18) Item index
There are a large amount of other options available in the game, such as graphical settings, audio configuration and other game
settings.
Map Settings
When you go to start a new game, you will be brought to the Map generator menu, where you can customize different settings and
parameters about the map before you start.
One useful setting for beginning players is the Peaceful mode checkbox. The default setting is off, meaning the enemies in the game
will aggresively attack your factory based on how much pollution you produce. When peaceful mode is enabled, they will not directly
seek out to attack you, and will only become hostile if you attack them first. This setting is useful for learning the game for the first time,
as it reduces the chance of a devastating attack while you're still learning the game
Two other important options are the Starting Area, Map width and Map height. The Starting area size determines how much space
around your spawn location in which the enemy bases will not spawn. Setting this to large is reccomended for new players, at it allows
more breathing room before initial enemy attacks, and more space for early expansion.
The map width and height determine the size of your generated map. By leaving these empty the world generated will be practically
infinite in size. Some players enjoy the challenge of a limited map height or width, but mostly these are left blank.
The columns defining 'Frequency', 'Size' and 'Richness' are used to customize the way these resources spawn. Frequency determines
the probability of a resource patch, Size determines its size, and Richness is used to calculate how many resources are in each patch.
Note that setting enemy bases to 'None' will leave you unable to research all the technologies in the game, as they require alien
artifacts, which can only be acquired through the death of a enemy spawner.
There is additional information and deeper study on the map settings available on the Wiki.
Next: Initial observations

Table of Contents
Introduction
INITIAL OBSERVATIONS
settings After adjusting your map settings and hitting "generate" you will be
03) Initial observations spawned into the world, and greeted by a message with a short
04) Collecting resources explanation of what happened, where you are, and your end
05) Belt and inserter mechanics objective. Once you have read it, just hit TAB to close it and you can
06) Establishing power start playing.
07) Automation
08) Science It is important to make some initial observations of the map and your
09) Pollution surroundings, since the map is randomly generated, it is possible
10) Trains you have been given a starting area with a poor resource
11) Liquids and oil processing distribution. If you have spawned on an island, you should go ahead
12) The logistics system and restart the map, there is currently no way around this (minor)
13) Modules issue. Look around and try to locate the 4 basic resources needed;
14) Circuit network Iron, Copper, Stone, Water and Coal. Oil will become a much
15) Enemies and combat needed resource later on, but it isn't essential at this time.
setups, and builds
17) Mods
18) Item index
■ ■ ■
■ ■ ■
Enemies Coal These are important later:
■ ■ ■
Trees Iron Player Buildings
■ ■ ■
Oil Stone Transport Belts
Water Copper Rail
The first thing I would suggest is to open your map(M), and take a
look around to see what resources have been generated in the
area. You can tell what is shown on the map by their color.
If you see that one or more of the resource types are not in your
immediate vicinity, theres no need to restart right away. Even if you
have the enemies turned on, there is still a good amount of room
around the starting area to work with. So regardless of whether you
have all the resources or not in the currently revealed area, you
should take a walk around in all directions to see if there are
additional resources not in the initially revealed area.
It's also good to walk out far enough until you can see the first
enemy bases in each direction. Another thing to pay attention to is
the landscape itself. Trees are nice visually and slow down your
pollution spread, but they can also be a hassle to clear out. So it's
beneficial to have an area with some trees, but not so many as to be
completely surrounded.
After taking these initial observations, you should decide if you want
to stick with the map you have been given or restart and re-roll the
dice. It's difficult to find a perfect map, so don't worry too much
about making it ideal.
Once you have found a suitable map, then it is time to think about
some building strategies, and collecting your first resources. This
will be covered in the next section.
Next: Collecting resources

Table of Contents
Introduction
COLLECTING RESOURCES
settings Raw Wood Now it is time to start gathering resources, and to begin the early stages of building your factory. You will
03) Initial observations need Iron, Stone, Coal, and Copper (You won't need much copper right away). Iron is the main resource
04) Collecting resources you will need, you can never really have too much of it, especially in the early game where you will need it
05) Belt and inserter mechanics Iron Ore to produce nearly everything.
07) Automation This early stage of the game is commonly known as the Burner Stage, and is pretty simple and isnt' too
Copper Ore difficult to learn. You will use the Burner Miners to mine the resources, and then Stone Furnaces to smelt
08) Science
09) Pollution the Iron/Copper ore into plates, and the Stone into bricks. The Burner Miners are simple machines that
10) Trains require fuel (coal or wood at this stage) to run. They mine the resources automatically with no additional
Stone
11) Liquids and oil processing input from you, as long as they have an output and fuel.
The ore is outputted from the Mining drill in the direction the arrow shows (in alt view), and will drop onto
13) Modules Coal
the ground tile, onto a transport belt or into another entity if it is at that position. You can see that the ore
14) Circuit network
can be inserted directly into a furnace by just facing the miner towards it and placing the Stone furnace right
Water against the miner. For an easy, Iron and Copper smelting, put some burner miners down on top of the ore
patches. You can then put a furnace in front of the miner, put some fuel in it, and the ore will be smelted
setups, and builds
into plate.
17) Mods Crude Oil
18) Item index Stone is also needed early in the game, but stone bricks are not. So for the stone patches it's reccomended
19) New Features of 0.13 to have the miner deposit directly into a chest intially.
With coal, it isn't needed to smelt it or refine it any further than it already is, so you
just mine it and use the Coal directly. There are two methods for mining and collecting
it. Either do the same as you did with the stone and just have it inserted directly into a
chest, or use a little trick illustrated in the picture above.
Notice how the miners are all facing each other with their outputs. This allows the
miners to output their coal into the next one, and keep it running. This works well
because it gives the miners a constant supply of fuel, and allows them to work
indefinitely. You can then take some of the coal from the fuel slot, for use in the other
burner machinery.
Once you have enough iron you can craft some transport belts and burner inserters,
and further automate you production, as this example shows
Once you have enough iron you can craft some transport belts and burner inserters, and further automate you production, as this example shows
This covers the basics for this very early stage of the game. The main goal at this time is to secure enough iron plate to expand your
automation in the coming stages of the game.
Next: Belt and inserter mechanics

Table of Contents
Introduction
BELT AND INSERTER MECHANICS
settings
Belts
04) Collecting resources This may very well be one of the most important sections of this guide. Transport Belts and Inserters are the key components that will
05) Belt and inserter mechanics allow you to truly automate things in Factorio, and once you really learn how they work the possibilities are almost endless! However,
06) Establishing power understanding the little quirks and intricacies of these items can be a bit confusing sometimes. So without further ado lets get into how
07) Automation Transport Belts and Inserters work.
08) Science
09) Pollution Transport Belts do what their name might indicate and transport items around. They have two "lanes" or sides in which items can travel
10) Trains on, so you can have a belt full of one type of resource taking up both sides, or you can have two separate resources with one in each
11) Liquids and oil processing lane:
13) Modules
14) Circuit network
setups, and builds
17) Mods
18) Item index
You might be wondering how you can get two different resources on a belt. Well there are many ways to do it. You can do it with
Inserters, or via side loading/side merging. When you have a belt moving in one direction, and make another belt run into it from
another direction, all items from the second belt will go onto the close side of the first belt that it hits.
Each belt has two sides, you can different
items on each side. You can limit a belt to Underground belts can be used to
only one side using 'side loading'. bypass obstructions in your path.
Splitters divide their inputs to the two

output belts
So for example if you have a belt of Copper, but all

of it is only on the bottom side of the belt, and you
put a Splitter in, the Splitter will divide the belt
equally but the Copper will still stay on the bottom
side of the belts even after being split.
Now as you might imagine, you can use multiple

Splitters one right after the other which pretty much
keeps reducing each lane to a smaller fraction. So
for example, if you use three Splitters one right
after the other, the result would be four different
lanes, each one getting 25% of the original 100%
from the main belt. Here is a picture demonstrating
something like that:
So now you that know how Splitters work in

general, there are a few other nifty things you can
do besides just splitting a belt. Probably the most
important use besides their primary function is
using them to merge two belts together. If you
remember above, I explained side loading with
belts and how that works. There are many
situations in which you don't want to side load, and
using a Splitter is better.
For example, say you want to merge one line of

Copper onto another line of Copper in order to
have all of it on one belt, you can use a Splitter to
do it. Like so:
Now at first glance you might think that it is only

taking 50% of the second line and putting it on the
main line, but that actually isn't the case. If the
resources on one line of Splitter are not being
used/are backed up, then 100% of the input goes to the other line. So since the output on the bottom side of the Splitter isn't being
used, then 100% of the Copper from line two goes to the top side of the Splitter and merges onto line one of Copper. So this is probably
the most effective way of merging two lines together completely. However you do want to be careful with this, because if you try to
merge belts with different items, or with one belt having two different items and the other having only one type of item, things get really
messy...
There are applications for this sometimes, for example, if you want to do a mixed smelting area where you use Smart Inserters to sort
the items but that is fairly complicated and I won't get into that in this guide.
Last is the ability to balance belts using Splitters.

There are two main applications for this. The first
one is taking a belt with resources only on one side
of it and making them go to both sides evenly. It's
actually quite simple as you can see below:
This works because the Splitter is sending 50% of

the Iron forward, and 50% to the bottom side. Also remember as I explained earlier that the resources stay on the side of the belt they
came in on. We use the side loading trick though to merge the bottom line of the splitter back onto the main line, and since it is side
loading, it only goes to the bottom and now the belt has items on both sides split equally to each side.
Now if you want to balance a full belt with items on

both sides, you can do something similar. Again, it
takes advantage of the side loading method.
This is pretty self-explanatory, but again the Splitter

is sending 50% to both the top and bottom lanes,
and those are then both side loaded onto another
belt that is now equally balanced. You can also
balance two lines that are right next to each other
as well (picture below).
This pretty much covers it for the basics of Splitters. Obviously you can do very complicated balancers and splits if you want.
Here is a Reddit post by a very experienced player that goes over multiple balancers and splitting designs that are all great
Inserters
Inserters are a very integral part of Factorio, because they are what allow you to actually
have things automatically moved into Assembling Machines or chests or onto Transport
Belts. There are five types of Inserters and each one does something a little different, but at
their most basic level all of them pick up items and drop them into or onto something.
Inserters will grab an item from in front of them, whether it is in a chest, Assembling
Machines or on a belt, and it will place it behind itself. So to put it another way, they can
only move in 180 degree motions.
As mentioned above there are five different types of Inserters in the game:
First we have the Basic Inserter, and it actually doesn't do

anything special besides the standard job of picking up an item
and moving it. The second type is the Burner Inserter. This
one does what the Basic Inserter does but it doesn't require any
electricity. It is powered by fuel, so Coal, Wood, or Solid Fuel,
and it will feed itself as long as there is fuel in front of it.
These
Inserters are great to use before you get power set up, or even
afterward they can be good for things like fueling your Boilers
that feed your Steam Engines, or feeding the furnaces in a
smelting setup. They are a good alternative to a Basic Inserter if
you don't want to or can't use electricity for some Inserters.
Next there is the Fast Inserter, and this one does exactly what
the first one does but quite a bit quicker. These are useful for times when you need to move a lot of items quickly, or multiple different
items from the same place. The third type of Inserter is the Long Handed Inserter. As the name suggests, it has a longer reach than
any of the other types. In fact it can reach twice as far as the other Inserters, which can be very useful for grabbing belts that are a bit
farther away or placing something into a chest that is on the other side of a belt for example.
Last, but certainly not least is the Smart Inserter. This bad boy has a lot of really cool features. Not only does it move as quickly as a
Faster Inserter, it can also be told to only grab specific items. This become invaluable sometimes when you have a mixed belt of
different items, or a chest full of different items, but only want one or two specific items to be grabbed. There are actually five different
slots for this, so you can have 5 different items set for the Inserter. On top of all that, you can also program one to work in conjunction
with the Logistic Network, and/or a wire condition you set in the Circuit Network. These things will be explained later in the guide.
Now that you know how Inserters work in general, it is time to get into the more detailed intricacies of how they actually work. See,
Inserters actually have a very specific way in which they grab or place items, and it's quite important to know how this works otherwise
things can get very confusing for you. Let's start with how they place items…
All four types of Inserters do this the same way, so there is no

need to worry about different kinds doing it differently. Inserters
will always place things on the far side of a belt that is moving
perpendicular to them.
This is hard coded into the game so you can't change this without adding mods. It is a bit of a different story when placing something
onto a belt moving in straight line away from the Inserter. The easiest way to explain it is that the Inserter will place on the bottom side
of the belt when the belt is moving away towards the right, and it will place on the top side when the belt is moving away towards the
left. .
If the belt is moving up it is same as if it was moving left, and if the belt is moving down it is
the same as if it was moving right.
So right/down it puts it on what would be the bottom side, left/up it puts it on what would be
the top side.
You can really take advantage of this specific behavior when planning not only
where your belts go, but what items are on them.
Things aren't quite as strict when it comes to how they pick up

or grab things. However, the Inserters do have a preference for
this. They can grab from either side of a belt, but do prioritize
grabbing from the side closest to them first until they can't
anymore.
So in other words, they will always grab from the close side of a
belt if there are resources available on that side, and if there
aren't then they will grab from the far side of a belt if they have
to. While this doesn't matter a lot most the time, it can come into play sometimes because it can cause your belts to become
unbalanced since the Inserters will always be taking the resources from the closest side first. Again, not a huge deal but I thought it was
worth mentioning. Obviously there is no such issue when grabbing from a chest or Assembler since they just act as containers.
Stack inserter and Inserter grab amounts

The stack inserter brings with it a new mechanic for how inserters move items to and from belts. Before they would only pickup a single
item, now all inserters can grab and place multiple items on belts at the same time.
The stack inserter is a specialized and powerful addition to the range of inserters, allowing a maximum of 12 items placed or picked up
from a belt in a single rotation. It has a large cost and power usage, but it is a must have for any high capacity setups.
The stack size research will affect all types of inserters, with technology increasing the stack size capacity, and only intermittent levels
increasing general inserter levels.
There is also the stack filter inserter, combining the stack inserters massive throughput and the filter inserters ability to only move
certain items.
That about covers it for Inserters and how they work. Once you understand all the behaviors of how they work, you can really build
amazing factories and eventually get everything automated if you choose!
Next: Establishing power
Table of Contents
Introduction
ESTABLISHING POWER
settings Establishing Steam Power and being able to run electric machines is very important. This is really when you start getting into the
03) Initial observations meat of the game. Having access to Electric Miners and Assembling Machines and many other electric machines is what will allow
04) Collecting resources you to truly start automating things and discover what the Factorio is really about!
06) Establishing power Now getting your first power setup going can be a bit complicated and confusing if you haven't done it before and don't know
07) Automation certain information and little nuances involved in the process.
08) Science
The Steam Engines work pretty much like how an old steam engine train worked back in the day. The Boilers, which go in front of
09) Pollution
the engines heat the water sent to them from the pump and then send it into the Steam Engines. Once the water enters the
10) Trains
engines, the steam is created, which creates pressure to push the pistons up and down (seen at the top of steam engines), which
then turns some arms and gears to actually get the power generator moving. Obviously this is a very basic explanation of how it
works, but in general that is what's going on. Now that we understand how it actually creates the power, let's get into the set up for
13) Modules
this!
14) Circuit network
15) Enemies and combat So first thing first, you will need three essential items to get a basic Steam Engine setup running. Four items if you include pipes,
16) Additional information, which are technically optional but I would highly suggest using. You will need an Offshore Pump, some Boilers, and of course the
setups, and builds most important thing, some Steam Engines. Now before you run off and start crafting some odd number of each of these things,
17) Mods there are some important ratios to keep in mind if you want to have efficient power generation.
18) Item index
19) New Features of 0.13 The standard rule is 1-13-10. What does that mean? Well it stands for one Pump, 13 Boilers, and ten Steam Engines. Having this
number of each in your setup will run the whole thing at 99% efficiency. Personally I prefer 14 boilers because that bumps it up to
100% efficiency which I like better, but it isn't required by any means. It is best to build separated power "units" with this ratio.
What I mean by this is that when your first 10 steam engines are no longer enough to run your whole factory, don't just add on to
your current setup by multiplying everything by two. To word it another way, don't just add another Pump, 13 more Boilers to the
existing ones, and 10 more Steam Engines to the end of the current ones. Doing this will mess things up and make your steam
engines very inefficient. So it is best to just mirror the setup and put it close to your current one and make sure they are all
connected to your power grid.
Some of the most popular ways of setting this up is to just put your ten Steam Engines in a row as a long line, or build two lines
with five engines in each and connect them with some pipes. Here are some examples of what each of those might look like:
In the above example you can see there is an Offshore Pump connected to 13 Boilers via an underground pipe so you can walk
between the Pump and Boilers. This is an example of a setup using ten steam engines in a straight line rather than side by side.
The advantage to this is that it is skinnier, but the disadvantage is obviously that it is quite long.
This example illustrates a setup where the Steam Engines are placed side by side with 5 on each side. There are still ten Steam
Engines in total, but they are just in a different format. This setup pretty much has the opposite advantages and disadvantages as
the one above. Also notice that there is a pipe connecting the boilers to the Steam Engines, where the blue arrow is pointing. In
the first setup with them all in a line, we did a direct connection because there was no use for a pipe in between the boilers and
engines. However when you do it side by side, you have to space the engines out from the boilers by one tile and use some pipe
to connect them all up.
One last note about this in regards to using pipes. As I mentioned above, pipes are not technically necessary for the whole thing to
work, because you can just directly connect everything together one after the other, but pipes make it much cleaner. As you may
have guessed, you can't walk through structures in Factorio, so creating a huge line of a Pump, Boilers and Steam Engines will
pretty much just act as a wall you have to walk around if you don't use pipes. To fix this, I like to just run an underground pipe from
the pump to the first boiler. All the boilers and steam engines can still be directly connected to each other and not really cause a
problem for you running through if you have that underground pipe there. Here is an example of what I mean:
That almost covers everything in regards to getting your power up and running. There are just a few more things I would like to go
over quickly before we move on to the next section!
The first thing is making sure the boilers are automatically fueled so you don't have to keep running over to them to manually put
fuel in. This is pretty straight forward, as you just need to run a belt of coal up to them and then have an Inserter at each boiler to
pull the coal off the belt. Again, this is pretty self-explanatory since running the belt over there is simple enough, and setting up the
Inserters is pretty straight forward.
The second thing to keep in mind that may not initially be obvious is that the Steam Engines will only generate as much power as
is currently needed. So for example, if you have a 10 engine setup it can produce a maximum of about 5.1MW of power, but if your
factory only requires 2MW at the moment, then the engines will only generate that much. They won't run full blast all the time
unless you actually need that much power.
You can tell how much power is being used in comparison to the max performance possible by mousing over a Steam Engine. The
following picture illustrates what that looks like:
The bar that says Available Performance indicates the maximum amount of power it can generate. You can see that bar is full
which means the Steam Engine is working perfectly since it is currently capable of producing the max power it is rated for. The first
bar which just says Performance is how much power it is currently producing. So
this just means that only about ¾ of the max
power is currently needed, so the engine is only creating that much.
until you actually connect something to the power grid that
requires power. Here is a picture of what will probably be flashing over the Steam Engines before you hook any machines up to
the power grid:
The little yellow triangle with a "no power" sign in the middle can be very confusing at first. That flashing symbol actually means
that there is nothing connected to the Steam Engines that actually require power. So if you see this symbol flashing over your
engines just hook something up to the power grid, like a miner for example, or even just powering your inserters feeding the boilers
will work (and is probably the first thing you should power anyway).
Once you have something draining power from the Steam Engines, the warning symbol should go away. I just wanted to point this
out because I know it confuses a lot of new players and definitely caught me off guard the first time I played the game.
So now that everything is working properly, you can mouse over a Steam Engine as explained above to see how much power
drain is on that engine You can also click on any power pole that is part of the power grid and get a detailed breakdown of how
much is being used, and what specifically is taking power at that moment etc.
Next: Automation
Table of Contents
Introduction
AUTOMATION
settings The process of automation is probably the most important aspect of Factorio and is truly what the game
03) Initial observations is about in a general sense. The core of automation starts with the use of Mining Drills, because they
04) Collecting resources can mine resources for you automatically without you having to refuel them as long as they have
05) Belt and inserter mechanics electricity. Furnaces smelt the raw resources into intermediate products which can be used to craft
06) Establishing power items. Assembling Machines are the final part of the system since they will automatically make items
07) Automation for you as long as the required ingredients are provided to them. There are more details about each of
08) Science these things below...
09) Pollution
10) Trains Electric Mining Drills
12) The logistics system Electric Mining Drills are more self-explanatory and simple than the Assembling Machines. The
13) Modules Electric Miners have a mining speed of .5 per second, and a mining power of 3. The mining power
14) Circuit network comes into play because different resources have different mining hardness, so some might mine a little
15) Enemies and combat slower than others. The drill is 3x3, but covers a 5x5 area that it can mine from. The drills will mine any
16) Additional information, resource under them (Iron, Copper, Coal, Stone), and output the mined item onto the tile in front of it,
setups, and builds whether it be a belt, chest or furnace. If you have it outputting onto a belt it will also put the items on the
17) Mods close side of the belt if the belt is running perpendicular to the miner
18) Item index
If you have it mining onto a belt that is running in the same direction the miner is facing, then it works like
the Inserters do when placing on a belt moving away from it. If the miner is facing right or down then it
outputs the items on what would be the bottom side of the belt. If it is facing left or up then it puts it on
what would be the top side. Here is a picture to demonstrate it further (picture below):
Two other
quick
things to
touch on
for miners;
The
Electric
Miners
have 3
module
slots, so
you can
put Speed Modules or Efficiency Modules in them if you want. It will be explained later in the guide under
the Modules section as to why you can't put Productivity Modules in the miners and some other things
as well. The last thing to mention is that even though the mining area of the drills is 5x5, you can put
them right up against each other and they will work fine. The mining area will just overlap so the
resources will be mined out quicker since part of it is being mined by two miners at once. So you would
space them out if you want slower more even mining, or if you want to fit more miners in an area for
more output, you can stick them right next to each other, it will just mine the resource patch out quicker.
Automating Smelting
Now that
you have a
sufficient
power
setup for a
while, it is
probably a
good time
to get a bit
of
automated
smelting
going so
you don't
have to
keep
running
back and
forth
between
the burner
miners/smelters you set up at the beginning.
It is very important to automate the smelting or refining of Iron and Copper ore and then later the refining
of Iron into Steel. These are your three base resources used in some form or another for nearly
everything in the game. Obviously stone and oil and such are used too but not as abundantly. So with
this in mind, it is very important to have a setup for both the Iron and Copper smelting that is expandable
in several ways for the future. What do I mean by "several ways"? Well not only will you be adding on
more furnaces as you get farther into the game to satisfy the needs of the factory, but later on once
Electric Furnaces are available for you to build, you might want to upgrade all the furnaces to those and
they require more room. Stone and Steel Furnaces are 2x2 tiles in size, whereas Electric Furnaces are
3x3, so if you don't leave room to expand correctly then you will end up having to tear down the whole
smelting setup to accommodate the Electric Furnaces.
Before you make your smelting facility, I suggest doing some quick Research first to make it easier. A lot
of methods for setting up the smelting will require belt Splitters, Long Handed Inserters, and perhaps
even Underground Belts. So getting two quick Researches will unlock these items. You will need
Logistics 1 (which also unlocks Fast Inserters), and Automation 1 (which also unlocks Assembling
Machine 1). These only require Red Science Packs, which are very simple to make, so just craft the
needed amount by hand and throw them in a Science Lab. Once you have Researched those two
categories, you are good to go!
Here are a few pictures of different setups to show you what some might look like based on the
explanations above. You are welcome to copy these or use them as guidelines, whatever you see fit.
This setup has the Iron and

Coal merged onto one line and
then split before the furnaces
and sent down the outsides of
the setup, while having the
finished Iron Plate placed onto
one line in the middle.
Advantages: Uses less

Inserters, and no long handed
Inserters. The Iron Plate is
dropped onto one line for easy use further into the factory.
Also uses fewer belts.
Disadvantages: Limited throughput of both Iron and Coal
since they each only get half of a belt and then are split in
half. This becomes very important later into the game when
half of a belt of Iron is just not enough to keep up with what
the factory requires.
In this setup instead of having

the Coal and Iron on one line, it
is on two separate lines and
sent down the middle rather
than the outsides. As you can
see, the Iron is also exported
onto the outsides rather than
the middle.
Advantages: More throughput

capabilities for both the Iron and Coal because they aren't
sharing a line, and also aren't being split before hand.
Disadvantages: Uses more inserters since you need long

handed inserters to pick up from the second line of either
Coal or Iron. Also uses more belt since the Coal and Iron are
on two different belts rather than sharing one.
There are many more ways to set up a smelting area besides the two shown above. The ones shown
are fairly common ways to do it, and demonstrate different ideas and pros/cons to different methods.
Assembling Machines
As mentioned above, Assembling Machines are the actual things that will be making all your items
automatically. All they require is the proper ingredients to be fed into them, usually with Inserters. There
are three different levels of Assembling Machines in vanilla Factorio, and each level crafts things faster
than the last, and can also craft items that require more ingredients. The level 2 and 3 machines also
have slots for modules which can be viewed in the Assembler's GUI menu (by left clicking it). These will
be explained later in the guide.
Below is a table that shows the main differences between the Assembling Machines.
Level 1 AM Level 2 AM Level 3 AM

Crafting Speed .5 .75 1.25
Ingredient
>2 4 6
Slots
Module Slots 0 >2 4
One thing to note is that the Player's manual crafting speed is 1, so the first two Assembling Machines
are actually slower than crafting something by hand. They do make up for it by doing it automatically and
infinitely if they are provided with the ingredients to do so. The last Assembling Machine is actually 25%
faster than the Player's manual crafting speed.
There are a few other things to mention about these Assembling Machines. The first thing to note is that
the level 1 machine cannot use liquids in recipes, whereas the other two can. This shouldn't be much of
a problem though, because by the time you need to make something that requires a liquid (like Electric
Engine Units), you probably won't be using level 1 Assemblers anymore. Lastly, it should be noted that
Assembling Machines can only hold two finished products in its inventory slot. So for example, say your
making Gear Wheels, and don't have an Inserter grabbing the finished Gears from the Assembling
Machine and putting them into a chest or onto a belt, the machine will only let the Gears stack up to two
in the finished product inventory slot.
This is just something to keep in mind before you try using the machines themselves to store the finished
products.
Now that you have completed the three main components to automation, the next logical step is the
Science and Research part of the game. You will need to research new technology in order to get
machines and equipment. The process of getting some basic
Science Pack production setup will be covered in the following section.
Next: Science
Table of Contents
Introduction
SCIENCE
settings Science and Research is actually a pretty large part of Factorio. The Research is what allows you to actually progress into higher
03) Initial observations levels of technology and automation, and eventually the ability to reach the end game of launching the Rocket and Satellite.
04) Collecting resources Science and Research is based off of using Science Packs in Science Labs. There are four different levels of these Packs, each
05) Belt and inserter mechanics more advanced than the last. Probably the second largest endeavor besides launching the rocket is actually automating all these
06) Establishing power Science Packs and providing the needed resources for them throughout the game.
07) Automation
08) Science So in order from most basic to most advanced, we have Red Science Packs, Green Science Packs, Blue Science Packs, and
09) Pollution lastly Purple Packs. Each one gets more expensive than the last, with the purple ones actually requiring you to destroy enemy
10) Trains bases for the ingredients. This may seem like a daunting task at first when you try to automate them, but I will walk you through the
11) Liquids and oil processing process of each one below.
The Science is tiered so at the beginning you have quite a lot of Research that can be done only using the Red Science Packs, and
13) Modules
then after those is ones that use both Red and Green Packs, then Red, Green, and Blue, etc. There is really no rush to get certain
14) Circuit network
Research done, but you obviously won't be able to produce some things without Research for it, or for the machines to make it. The
Military Research is something you might not want to take too long on though at first, otherwise the enemies might overrun you,
unless of course you're playing on peaceful mode.
setups, and builds
17) Mods The cost of Research is measured by number of Science Packs it requires, and the time it takes. This actually takes place in
18) Item index cycles, which is also displayed by the cost. Here is a picture showing that:
Notice how there is a time, then the amount of Science Packs it requires,
and after that it says x40. That means it requires 40 cycles for it to
complete. Each cycle costs the amount that is shown, both the Science
Pack and time cost. So for this example, since it says 15 seconds, and 2
Red Science packs, then it requires 80 Packs in total, and 600 seconds
(15x40) in total. As you can see this is actually quite a lot of time, 10
minutes to be exact. This is one of the cheapest Researches too, so once
you get into the most advanced ones, it would take an outrageous amount
of time. However it isn't actually as bad as you think, because the Science
Labs can stack and all work together. So say you have two labs to complete the Research shown in the example above, then even
though the cost of the Packs is the same, since there are two labs doing it instead of one, the time goes down to 300 seconds. Not
so bad now, huh?
The labs can actually stack pretty much infinitely, so the more you have the faster the Research will go. Obviously this only works if
you have the Science Packs to support this. I usually find that about 20 labs (more or less) is sufficient for getting almost all the
Research done in a reasonable amount of time, but of course you can have as many as you want. Just remember that 100 labs
doesn't do any good if you can't produce enough Science Packs to supply all of them. So as an ending note for this, here is a
picture of what a setup of many labs might look like:
Technology Tree
The new technology tree will show the prerequisite technologies and any that require this technology.
By highlighting a technology, it will show the path for the required technologies and those which it allows. By clicking on a different
technology icon, it will switch focus to that technology. This system will adapt for any new mods you add to the game.
Red Science
These sections on automating each Science Pack will be pretty brief with just a quick explanation of what is needed for each one,
and a picture or two plus a video demonstrating some possible setups.
The Red Science Packs are of course the simplest of all the Packs, only requiring two items. They only need Iron Gear Wheel and
Copper, which should be quite easy to come up with, especially since you should already have copper being smelted automatically.
The Gear Wheels are quite simple as well, only needing Iron Plate.
There are many different ways you can set up the automation for this, but one thing I would recommend is to have one Assembling
Machine for each second the Science Pack takes to create, so that you can make one pack about every second. So for example,
the Red Packs take 5 seconds to make so five machines making them would be ideal. Of course this is entirely up to you whether
you do more or less, I just find it works pretty well this way. If you do the math on the time it takes to create a Gear Wheel and
amount that each pack requires, you actually only need one machine making Gear Wheels to support 5 or possibly more Science
Pack machines. Here is an example of the setup I usually like to do:
Of course you don't have to do it this way at all, the example is just here to get you thinking about some possible ways to set this
up. Feel free to copy it if you want though!
Here is a video that goes into this a bit more in depth. It also covers the setup of Green Science Packs as well, because
they can technically be automated at the same time if you want.
Green Science
If you watched the video posted right above, you probably don't even need to read this section since the video also went over the
automation of Green Science Packs. I will still give a quick written explanation though.
The Green Science Packs are a fair bit more

complicated than the red ones. While they do only
require two ingredients as well, they are more
advanced ingredients and require a longer process to
get. They need Basic Inserters, and Transport Belts,
and while those are simple items compared to most
everything else, it can be a bit overwhelming to
automate at first. I find it usually works well to setup
the automation for this right by the Red Science
automation, and have both of them loaded onto the
same belt to be sent to the Science Labs.
Even though the belts and Inserters are a bit more

complicated to build than something like a Gear
Wheel, they both only require Iron and Copper plate
to complete. Again, here is a picture of a general
setup for it:
You can't see it in the picture, but this is actually

directly above the Red Science setup. It seems to
work quite well to build them close together like this
since they both require the same basic resources to create. Depending how you set it up you may have to do something a bit
finicky with some of the belts to get the items to go on both sides properly, but that shouldn't be too hard. Again, if you need further
explanation for this, or just prefer it explained with audio, check out the video posted above.
Blue Science
The Blue Science Packs are by far the most complicated of the Science Packs. Not only do they require four different items to
make, but three of those items are fairly complicated to make just by themselves. The four items that are needed are Advanced
Circuits, Batteries, Smart Inserters, and Steel. Obviously the Steel is quite simple to make by just smelting Iron in a furnace, but the
other three materials require quite a bit more work, and you will need to produce them on a fairly large scale to keep up with
demand for the Blue Science Packs.
Now that we know what needs to go into them, it is time to get the required. I'm actually going to do something a bit different for this
section though. since I want to keep these Science Pack subsections pretty brief, and it would take a lot to explain in detail
everything that is needed for Blue Science, I'm going to just link to some videos that go over all of it. Now if you print this out or
don't have internet while reading this, I will have some setups for Advanced Circuits, and Smart Inserters in the Setups & Builds
section of this guide.
There are three videos because each one explains a different part of the process. The first one goes over the entire Oil
Processing setup so that includes Batteries if you're interested, but that is probably the least crucial of the three to watch.
The second one goes over several different setups for Advanced Circuits and the advantages/disadvantages to each one.
The last one goes over the setup of Smart Inserters and the Blue Science itself.
Oil Setup (shows battery setup)

Advanced Circuit Builds
Smart Inserters & Blue Science
Hopefully the videos listed above and the builds shown down in the Setups & Builds section gave you enough of an idea to get
things rolling with your Blue Science setup. It may take a couple tries to really get things streamlined in a way you like, but after
some practice then it won't seem so hard anymore. Luckily the next and last Science Pack will seem like a complete breeze
compared to this one.
Purple Science
Purple Science Packs are actually the simplest and easiest to make. All that is required is Alien Artifacts, which can be acquired
from killing the alien bases. The actual process of getting the artifacts can be pretty difficult when you're new to the game, but once
you do get them, all you have to do is throw them in an Assembler and they will create 10 Purple Science Packs a piece. So again,
you get 10 Packs per 1 Alien Artifact which is really quite good. This is actually a very good thing to use Productivity Modules on
when making them. Now the modules have not been explained yet, but in short, the Productivity Modules essentially get you more
finished products out of the process almost for free. This will be explained in more detail in the Modules section of the guide.
It is also probably a good idea to make the Purple Packs in a level three Assembling Machine if you have access to it at the time.
The reason for this is because it crafts faster, and has the most Module slots in it so you can stick even more Modules in there.
Also strategies for actually attacking the aliens and killing their bases will be covered in detail in the Enemies & Combat section.
I believe that is pretty much all the basic information you need to know about the Science process itself, and how to automate each
Science Pack.
Next: Pollution
Table of Contents
Introduction
POLLUTION
settings Pollution is a fairly large aspect
03) Initial observations of the game, especially for newer
04) Collecting resources players. The reason I say this is
05) Belt and inserter mechanics because Pollution affects the
06) Establishing power evolution of the enemies and
07) Automation how strong/often their attacks will
08) Science be. Nearly all buildings in Factorio
09) Pollution produce some amount of pollution
10) Trains while they are actively working.
11) Liquids and oil processing You can tell how much pollution
12) The logistics system something generates by mousing
13) Modules over the building once it is placed
14) Circuit network down.
16) Additional information, Things like Boilers, Burner Miners,
setups, and builds Electric Miners, and Furnaces produce a very large amount of
17) Mods pollution. Some things don't produce pollution themselves, such as
18) Item index Steam Engines, or Electric Inserters. You can see a visual indicator
19) New Features of 0.13 of how much pollution is in the air at the time by havieng the
Advanced Info on (ALT). It will show a brownish redish cloud of
pollution on your minimap and the main map if you have the
Advanced Info on. You can see where it has spread and is
continuing to spread. The darker red parts are where the heaviest
pollution is, and the lighter areas have less pollution in them.
The numbers that indicate how much pollution something produces

actually mean something, and how pollution spreads is actually a
pretty intricate process. It is also a bit complicated as to how the
pollution actually affects the enemy evolution and attacks. It would
take a while to explain it here. So below I will give a link to a video
that goes over it in great detail, as well as the Factorio wiki page on
Pollution.
This video goes over pollution in great detail. There is also
a simple explanation at the beginning of it if you aren't
interested in the in-depth stuff.
This Factorio wiki page is just the on Pollution. It explains

it pretty well, and is usually up to date.
Hopefully between all three of those pages, you should have a good
understanding of how the Pollution works in Factorio.
Next: Trains
Table of Contents
Introduction
TRAINS
settings Not only are trains awesome in real life, they are pretty cool in Factorio as well. The purpose of trains in the game is essentially what
03) Initial observations they are for in the real world. They are by far the best option for transporting large amounts of resources over great distances.
06) Establishing power If you'd like a video guide, check out this highly recommended Train Tutorial by Colonelwill and Xeteth.
07) Automation
08) Science
Trains do have their pros and cons, but the pros usually far outweigh the cons when considering them for transporting things over a
09) Pollution
long distance. It is a fairly large investment both in time and resources to get your first rail and train system set up, but it's usually worth
10) Trains
it in the long run because you can bring large quantities of resources back to your base from pretty much anywhere on the map using
trains.
13) Modules There are two components to the trains themselves, the Locomotives and the Cargo Wagons. The cargo wagons can hold anything
14) Circuit network except liquids, so you can use them not only for resources but for resupplying outposts and many other things. The Cargo Wagons also
15) Enemies and combat have 20 slots in them, so they can hold a lot of stuff.
setups, and builds Setting up a rail network and getting it to work properly can be a bit confusing your first time. I will go through it step by step though to
17) Mods try and make it less confusing.
18) Item index
There are two types different rail pieces, straight ones and curved ones. The curved pieces can be rotated (with R) in many different
angles in order to achieve the turns and connections that you want. Laying the rails themselves is pretty self-explanatory for the most
part. One thing that might not seem obvious at first is that sometimes you have to add a straight rail piece when laying down curves in
order for everything to connect. Below is a picture of how it looks initially, and how it looks after you add the extra rail. The train won't
move past this circled part in the first example, so you have to add that extra rail to make it all actually connect.
Whenever you see that the ends of two connecting pieces are
actually showing like in the picture, you need to add that extra rail.
The next most important thing after putting down the rail system is
adding the Train Stops. It is extremely important that you put the
Train Stop on the correct side of the track, otherwise the trains won't
go to them and will just flash a "no path" error. The stop must
always be on the right hand side of the track as seen from the train's
perspective.
The Train Stops can be given a custom name by clicking on them and giving a
name in the specified field.
Once you have two Train Stops, with one at the pickup area and one at the
drop-off area you need to tell your Trains to actually go back and forth
automatically. Do this by clicking on the Locomotive and clicking on the station
you want it to go to first, and then hit the "+" button. Then just do the same for
the second stop. You can also set the amount of time that it stays at each
station.
After having your Train Stations set up and setting the schedule in the
Locomotives you need to actually build the loading and unloading part of each
station. The Cargo Wagons can be loaded with Inserters just like anything else.
You can "technically" have about 6-7 Inserters per side of the Cargo Wagon,
but this makes for some weird behavior with how the Inserters work. I think 4-5
is a good number and loads it quick enough if you are pulling the items from a
chest, and get the Inserter Stack Bonus.
It is important to have the Inserters that load/unload the Cargo Wagon grab from chests or put into chests rather than just the belts,
because this allows them to grab more with the Inserter Stack Size bonus since the wagons are considered a container or chest.
Signals
Train Signals are what will allow multiple trains to use the same line/track. If you don't have Signals in place and have more than one
train that uses the same track, you will almost definitely end up with a Train crash at some point.
There are two types of Signals; The normal Rail Signals and Chain Signals. They are very similar but the Chain Signals do some
more advanced things. Rail Signals work by creating "blocks" on the track between each signal, and whenever there is something
occupying one of the blocks, the signals on each side will turn red and not let any other Trains enter. This may sound simple at first, but
it can get a bit complicated once you get into advanced rail networks and especially junctions.
The Rail Signals need to go on the correct side of the track in order to
work for trains going a certain direction. You can tell which way the
signal is pointing by the yellow arrows that show up on the track when
it is placed.
If you place a signal down and never add another one at some point
after it, the signal will just flash because the "block" hasn't been
completed or closed by a second signal. The "blocks" can be quite large though if you want them to be, it really just depends how far
apart you place the signals. Putting signals too close together can cause problems, especially on intersections or junctions because it
will cause deadlocks between trains sometimes. On a straight-away you can space them out pretty far without many problems, but they
need to be placed in a more specific way in loops or junctions. Here is an example of a bad way to signal for a roundabout/loop.
This is bad because with so many signals placed in the way that they are, it can easily cause deadlocks with trains getting stuck in-
between the signals and infinitely being stuck in the circle.
Now here is good way to signal in that same roundabout.
This setup is not perfect; however it is far better than the previous example. With this setup, if there is a train in the circle already, the
signals stop any other trains from entering at all until the current train as left the circle. This will create a little more of a delay since the
trains have to wait longer, but this is probably better than getting deadlock situation in the roundabout. The reason there is a signal on
both sides of each track is in case you have trains going both directions on each line so it covers the exit direction and the entrance
direction.
Not only are Rail Signals good to have on the main track, it is pretty important to have them at the entrance and exit of a Train Station.
The signal at the entrance will stop other trains from going into the station while one train is already parked there. The one at the exit
will stop the train currently in the station from pulling onto the track while another train is passing right in front of the exit.
The entrance Signal is placed inside the station area rather than on the main line so that when a train stops at it the train isn't blocking
the main line. Notice how it is red though because the train in front is currently occupying the actual station. It will turn green once that
rain leaves the "block" created by the entrance and exit Signals. Also notice how the exit Signal is red because there is another train in
the way of the exit onto the main line. Once that second train moves out of the way the exit Signal will turn green and let the train out.
At the end of this Trains section there will be some links to videos or written explanations that explain using signals in more advanced
situations.
Chain Signals work almost the same way as the normal Rail Signals. While normal signals only prevent trains from entering the
occupied block made from the signal, Chain Signals will prevent a train from entering when the exit is also not free. The Chain Signals
also take into account whether or not there is more than one exit, and if one of the exits that is relevant to where the train is going is
free then the Chain Signal will let it go that way instead. Here is an example of when they would be really useful.
For this example the train at the first station wants to go to the second station but can't because the other train is there. The Chain
Signal prevents train 1 from ever leaving the station until the second station is open. Without this Chain Signal train 1 would go wait at
the Signal and would be blocking the main line. Obviously is the stations where farther away
from the main line this wouldn't be a problem anyway, but this is just an example.
For some more examples of Chain Signals, here are two links. The first one is to a Factorio Friday Facts where the Chain
Signals are actually explained by the Devs. The second is a Reddit post with some examples.
Factorio Friday Facts

Reddit
Hopefully now you have a fairly good understanding of how Trains work and how to signal for them, at least in basic situations. Here
are some example pictures of junctions for when you start using multiple trains on the same set of tracks.
The above picture is a simple T Junction that has the Drive on Right format. It uses three
Chain Signals, with one on each of the entrances to the intersection. The rest are just normal Signals.
This example has a large 4-way crossing junction. Right turns in this layout use the center lanes, through traffic uses the straight tracks
outside from that, and left turns use the rail on very edge that are seen at the corners of the picture.
The examples shown above are just a few of many ways you can lay out junctions and crossings. These two examples were taken from
the Imgur album of Train Junctions that is linked below. There are many more like this in that album.
Rail Building
The old system of building rails has been completely redone, and now all rails are placed using the rail planner. Once you place a piece
of rail, you can then click over it, and begin using the rail planner.
The rail planner will try to find a path from the initial rail, and the position of your mouse cursor.
By clicking on a rail piece, while holding
a rail in your cursor, you will enter manual rail building mode, where you can only find paths up to 10 rails long.
If you hold shift while you click on the rail, you enter the ghost rail planning mode. When in this mode you can search for paths of any
length, between the initial rail and the mouse cursor, and when you click again it will lay ghosts in the path that was planned.
By holding shift while searching of a path in ghost-place mode,it will ignore any trees that are in the way, and mark them for
deconstruction if they are in the way of any planned rail. Pressing the rotate key while holding the ghost planner will find solutions for a
rotated final rail.
As you can see the rail planner can make extremely complex and unique rail designs possible, and allows for easy and intuitive building
of your rail network.
Train Wait Conditions

The train conditions allow you to more precisely control when a train will leave a station. These simple, yet powerful conditions allow
greater flexibility and efficiency of your rail system, while simplifying some of the frustrating and unintuitive aspects of previous train
schedule management.
Train GUI
The train Gui shows an overview of all the trains you have in your factory, as small minimaps with the schedule underneath. By clicking
on any minimap, you will be brought to that trains specific gui, where you can set its schedule and see its status more clearly. You can
use the search feature to filter the train by scheduled stops, making management of really large networks more simple.
Train station window

Train station window contains a list of all trains (each can be opened) that have that station on their schedule. New train window will
show what trains are scheduled to each stop
Single train Gui

Single train gui has an additional panel which shows the minimap/camera view with the given train. From this gui you can set the trains
schedule and wai condition, preview it in the side panel, and even change the color of the locomotive.
Train and rail placement indicators

The Signal placement indicator is a small visual aid to more easily see where on your rails it makes sense to place signals. The
available locations will show as green squares, and will respect the direction of your 1-way systems. This makes it easy to see if you
have made any mistakes or miscalculations when building your rail junctions, and will make the system easier to become familiar with.
The train position indicator will highlight an outline of where wagons will align to the tracks relative to a train stop or signal.
If you want some more advanced information on Trains here are some good videos. Even though they are a bit outdated, the
same concepts still apply.
A picture album full of different junctions and crossings.

Goes over Chain Signals in more depth.
Basic Train Tutorial.
Tutorial on Multi-train networks and signals.
Another great Train Tutorial.
Part 2 to above video, goes over signals.
Next: Liquids and oil processing

Table of Contents
Introduction
LIQUIDS & OIL PROCESSING
settings Liquids are different than solid materials both in the real world and in Factorio. In Factorio they can only exist in
03) Initial observations pipes, some buildings and in barrels. Because of this the player can't carry or pick up liquids, Inserters can't
04) Collecting resources interact with the liquid and it can't be dropped on the ground like other items. Now if the liquid is in a barrel then it
05) Belt and inserter mechanics can obviously be moved or dropped like normal since it is in a solid material/item. However, in the vanilla game
06) Establishing power the only liquid that can be put into barrels is Crude Oil. Another very important thing to note about liquids when
07) Automation they travel through pipes is that you should never let pipes that are carrying different types of liquid connect. If
08) Science they do, the liquids will mix and clog up anything farther down the line that needs only one of those liquids. The
09) Pollution last important aspect of transporting fluids is that they have a speed limit when going through pipes. Essentially,
10) Trains the longer the pipe is the less the capacity and speed is.
12) The logistics system It would take a lot to explain it in-depth here so I will provide a link to a Factorio forums post where a
13) Modules very experienced player explains it quite well. You can find that here
14) Circuit network
15) Enemies and combat Now that you have a general idea of how liquids work let's go through the steps of Oil Processing. This is actually
16) Additional information, a large part of the game and one of the most important parts. In order to get started you will need to actually get
setups, and builds some Crude Oil. If you pull up the map (M) the Oil Wells will appear as pink dots on the map. To actually extract
17) Mods the Oil from them you will need to use a Pumpjack and place it on top of the Oil Well. Normally when you go to
18) Item index place a Mining Drill down on a resource patch it will tell you how many resources are under that particular mining
19) New Features of 0.13 drill. The Oil Wells work a little differently so I'll explain it below.
When you mouse over an Oil Well or place a Pumpjack over it you will
see a percentage displayed on the tooltip window that pops up. Let's
say for example you have one that is 180%. Pretty much just divide the
percentage by 100 to get how much the Well will produce per second.
So for this example, you can pump 1.8 oil per second from the Well.
However, over time the production of the Oil Well will decrease all the
way down to a minimum of 10% which would be .1 per second. This
may seem quite bad, but it actually means that the Oil Wells are infinite
because they will never go below this amount. You can also squeeze
more out of it at this point by adding Speed Modules or Productivity
Modules (these will be explained in a later section).
Once you have some Oil secured, it is time to start actually processing it. In order to do this you will need an Oil
Refinery and some Chemical Plants. I would highly suggest finding a big open area in your base to do the Oil
Processing because it takes quite a lot of room if you want it to be even slightly organized. When you place down
an Oil Refinery and go to choose a recipe in it there are only two possible things it can ever do. The first is Basic
Oil Processing, and the second is Advanced Oil Processing (this part will be covered a little later). You will have
to choose the basic one to start with since you won't have Advanced Oil Processing Researched yet.
However if you store it in the tanks then the Refineries can keep working even if you aren't using the products as
quickly as you are producing them. As mentioned above you need to make sure not to let the pipes of each liquid
connect because they will get all mixed together and mess everything up. The pipes will automatically connect if
you place them right next to each other, so you need to make sure there is at least one space between them.
This doesn't apply for underground pipes though, so you can use them very effectively here. Here is an example
of one way to run the three liquids from the Refineries to the Storage Tanks without mixing them:
It is good to note that if the Refineries were not placed at least one or more spaces apart
this would not be possible.
Now that you have the liquids in the tanks it is time to actually use them to make other
products. All things made from the Heavy Oil, Light Oil, and Petroleum will be made in a
Chemical Plant. For most of these it is actually pretty self-explanatory because once you
select the recipe you want in the Chemical Plant it will show you were the inputs need to
go and where it outputs if the finished product is a liquid. There are a few things that
don't stay liquids though. For example, you make Plastic and Sulfur from Petroleum, but
both the Plastic and Sulfur are obviously not liquids. When the product is not a liquid, just
simply take it out of the Chemical Plant with an Inserter as if it was an Assembling
Machine. One other thing to note is that some things actually require solid materials as
well, for example Batteries also require Iron and Copper Plate in addition to Sulfuric
Acid. Here are a few pictures to demonstrate the process of creating some of these products.
If you don't know what some of the products/items are you can look in the Item Index and each item
has a short description of what it is and might be used for.
Also, if you would like a more visual and narrative walk-through of this process, here is a video tutorial
on setting up the Oil Processing Industry.
Advanced Oil Processing

Advanced Oil Processing is the second recipe you can choose in an Oil Refinery, and caters more to the late
game item requirements. Advanced Oil Processing requires water in addition to Crude Oil, and gives you less
Heavy Oil, more Light Oil, and more Petroleum than Basic Oil Processing. It also allows the Cracking of Heavy
Oil into Light Oil, and Light Oil into Petroleum. When you switch over to this from the Basic Oil Processing, one of
the inputs on the Oil Refineries will change to water instead of both of them being Crude Oil. To the left is a
picture of what it looks like and one way to connect both water and Oil to it.
Luckily the output slots don't change so everything you already have connected there should work fine. The
reason that Advanced Oil Processing gives you more Petroleum and Light Oil is because these (primarily
Petroleum) are needed more in the late game. This is also why you can Crack the Heavy to Light Oil, and Light
Oil to Petroleum. The processing of Cracking takes place in a Chemical Plant and requires water as well as the
liquid being Cracked. You do lose a bit when Cracking something because it gives you one less of the product
than what you put in. So to word that differently, it takes four Heavy Oil and some water to Crack into three Light
Oil, and it takes three Light Oil and some water to Crack that into two Petroleum. So you do lose a bit when
Cracking, but in the late game you need a lot of Petroleum and don't have much use for Heavy oil and Light oil
aside from Lubricant (made from the Heavy Oil), so it can be worth it to Crack Heavy or Light Oil. For a visual
example here are some pictures demonstrating the process of Cracking.
That pretty much covers it for Oil Processing. To recap a few things; Remember to not let pipes carrying different
liquids connect because they will mix together and bog up the system. Also remember that some of the items
created through the Oil Industry also require solids such as Iron, or Copper or Coal, so if something doesn't
seem to be working make sure to check the recipe and be sure you aren't forgetting to Insert or export
something.
If you aren't sure what one of the products is used for or how to get it, make sure to check the Item
Index and see what it says about the item.
Next: The logistics system

Table of Contents
Introduction
THE LOGISTICS SYSTEM
settings The Logistics System is what allows automated production, building, and
03) Initial observations repairing with robots. The Logistics System consists of several different types
04) Collecting resources of chests that are specific to the system, as well as two types of robots that
05) Belt and inserter mechanics each perform a specific set of tasks, and last but not least the Roboport
06) Establishing power which is what allows the whole system to work in your Factory.
07) Automation
08) Science Before we move on I would like to link to a video tutorial that
09) Pollution explains all the things that will be talked about throughout this
10) Trains section in case you prefer to just watch a video rather than read the
11) Liquids and oil processing info.
13) Modules One important thing I want to point out before we continue is that you should
14) Circuit network not mix up the Logistics System and the Circuit Network. They have a similar
15) Enemies and combat component which is the Smart Inserter, but other than that they are not
16) Additional information, connected and do not interact.
setups, and builds
17) Mods As mentioned above, there are two different types of robots and they each
18) Item index have separate tasks that they can perform. Along with this they each have
19) New Features of 0.13 different areas within the Logistics System that they can work in. I want to
clarify something ahead of time otherwise it might confuse you. When I refer
to the Logistics System I am talking about the entire system as a whole, and
mean something different than the Logistics Network. You will understand
better once we proceed… The two types of robots are Logistic Robots and
Construction Robots. The Logistic Robots are the guys that will perform the
tasks related to automated production when items are requested somewhere.
The Construction Robots take care of automatically repairing things if they
have Repair Packs available, replacing broken structures (again if
replacements are available), building new things with Blueprints and hauling
items to and from Storage Chests after they have been deconstructed.
Not only do the two different robots perform specific tasks, they have specific
areas in which they can do this. These areas are defined by the Roboports
when you place them down (picture below).
The orange area

is Logistics
Network area and
the Logistic robots
can only work
within that area.
The green area is
how far the
Construction
Network extends
and the
Construction bots
can work all the
way out to the
edges of it. It is
important to clarify
though that the
Construction bots can also work in the orange area as well, so technically
their operation area is from the Roboport out to the edges of the green zone.
Now obviously the coverage that one Roboport provides is never going to be
enough for your whole base, so naturally you can have multiple Roboports all
making up one huge network. If you want them to all be part of the same
network though you have to make sure they are connected when you place
them. This is indicated by the yellow dotted line between Roboports when
you go to connect them.
As long as a Roboport is connected to at least one other Roboport in the

network then it becomes part of it as well. The Roboports also house the
robots themselves as well as having many slots to hold Repair Packs.
Now that you know what the Roboports do, how to expand the network, and
what the robots do in a general since, let's talk about the different chests that
come with the system and enable everything to work. There are four different
chests that interact with the Logistics System:
Storage Chest: The Storage Chests are probably

the most basic of them all. They do exactly what their
name says and just simply store items in the system.
Anything that has been deconstructed will be brought
to storage chests, as well as anything that is taken
from your personal Logistics Trash Slots (these will
be explained later). So they essentially just store
miscellaneous items. Obviously the robots can take
from them as well.
Requester Chest: Requester Chests are what make
automated production with robots possible. They are
used to request the required/desired items from
within the Logistics Network. Notice that I said
Network rather than System in this instance because
any chests that you want the Logistic Robots to use
need to be within the Logistics Network coverage
area. You can request items using the slots in the
middle and use the slider to tell it how much of the
item you want brought to the chest. So say you set it
to 50 Iron Plate, whenever the amount of plate within
the chest drops below 50, the robots will bring
enough to fill it to 50 again, so on and so forth. There
will be some setups shown below of what some
automated production using these chests might look
like.
Passive Provider Chest: These are the other

component to the automated production process with
robots. So we know that you request items to the
assembling area with the Requester Chests, but once
the finished product is done being made in the
Assembling Machines it needs to go into a Passive
Provider Chest to become part of the system and
usable by robots. These act almost exactly like a
Storage Chest but the main difference is that robots
will not store anything in them. They are only filled via
Inserters putting things in them. So it is important to
use these instead of Storage Chests for your output
chests on Assemblers, because if you just use the
storage chests, logistics robots can store other items
in them.
Active Provider Chest: This is fairly similar to the

Passive Provider Chests in the fact that robots will
never put anything in them, so they can only be filled
by Inserters or by you manually placing items in
them. The difference though is that they essentially
want to be emptied. So when anything is put into the
Active Providers, an order is sent out into the System
for the items to be pulled out as soon as possible and
put in Storage or brought to something that is
requesting them. These are best used in situations
where you never want the chest to fill up and the
thing inserting into the chest to be constantly working.
So these could be used in unloading stations for
trains if you want the contents from the train to
immediately be move from the chest so it doesn't fill
up. They could be used if a miner is inputting into
them and don't want the chest to fill up and the miner
to stop.
The next quick thing to go over is which robots will use each chest…
Construction Robots will never have anything to do with Requester Chests,
but will interact with most the others. They can place and pull things from
Storage Chests, and can take things from Passive Providers if necessary.
The Logic Robots will interact with all the chests. They will be the ones to
empty Active Providers and place those items in storage. They obviously
bring things to Requester Chests, and can pull from Passive Providers as
well. However it should noted that Active Providers and Storage Chests will
take priority when the Logic Robots need to get an item. If the required
item(s) is in a Storage/Active Provider they will take from that rather than a
Passive Provider.
One last important thing to note is that when a chest is ordered to be

deconstructed, the Construction Robots will move all the items out of it and
then remove the chest.
At this point I would hope you have a fairly good idea of how the Logistics
System works. Here is an example setup to hopefully help clarify anything
else.
Setup for automated production of Piercing Ammo
So as you can see I have set the requester chest to ask for the required items
to make the ammo. I set the amount of each item to be about 5x what it
actually needs. It is good to at least do double the amount it needs so that the
robots can keep up with the constant supply so the machine doesn't stop. As
mentioned above you can manually set how many of each item is requested,
but if you want a quicker way to do it, you can simply Shift – Right Click the
machine once the recipe is set, and then Shift – Left Click the Requester
Chest and it will automatically have the chest request 2x the amount of
required items.
Automated Construction &

Deconstruction
The main thing that Construction Robots are used for will be automated
construction and deconstruction as well as repairing and replacing damaged
or broken structures. The processing of repairing/replacing things is quite
simple and doesn't need much explanation. As long as the structure that
needs to be repaired or replaced is within the Logistics System (so within the
orange or green area made by Roboports), and some Repair Packs or
replacement items are within the system then the Construction Robots will do
it all by themselves. Again, the Repair Packs can either be in a Roboport, or a
Passive Provider or Storage Chest. The replacement items need to be in
storage or a Passive Provider.
Now on to the actual construction and

deconstruction. Let's start with construction
with the robots… There are two ways you can
order the robots to build something, either
manually by ghost placing (this will be
explained in a minute) the structures yourself
or by creating a Blueprint and stamping that
down.
The first way I mentioned which involves you

manually doing it can be referred to as ghost
placing. You do this by holding down Shift and
then placing things down like you normally
would. You will notice a see-through version of
what you did rather than the actual things to be
built.
This orders the Constructions Robots to place

the actual structures over the ghost prints you just made. Obviously the items
to do so need to be within the system and the actually thing being built needs
to be within the coverage area. So that is the manual way of doing it each
time before you have access to Blueprints.
Using Blueprints makes it much easier especially for larger things that need
to be built or something that you will need to do multiple times such as that
production setup I demonstrated above. To create a Blueprint of something
you just need to either ghost place or actually place down the thing(s) you
want and then take your Blueprint and drag it over the design you just made:
Dragging it will create a selection box and anything within that box is
blueprinted. Once you are finished it will bring up a little window where you
can see the preview of what the Blueprint looks like and customize the icon it
will show when you go to use it. Now that you have a Blueprint all you have to
do is stamp it down where you want the stuff to be built and it will create
ghost structures just like you can do manually and the robots will come build
the stuff. The Blueprints just simply make the process more automated and
easier since once you have made a Blueprint you can just place it down
rather than running around and doing it all yourself.
Some examples of some things that Blueprints are really good for.
Walls
Logistics Assembling Machine setup

Solar/Accumulator Layouts
The process of automated

deconstruction is really quite
simple. You just need to build
a Deconstruction Planner and
then drag it over anything you
want taken down and the robots will come remove the structures. The things
that are set to be deconstructed are indicated by the little red "Xs" on top of
them. You can also deconstruct ghost structures before they are placed if you
want to cancel the order to build it.
Player Logistic Slots & Trash Slots

Another neat feature with the Logistics System
is the ability to request items to you and have
undesired ones taken away. Once you unlock
Player Logistics Slots you will have some
inventory type spaces that are in between your
main inventory and the crafting menu. You can
request items to have the robots bring you with
these slots. You do it the same way you can
with a Requester Chest by simply clicking one
of the slots, selecting the item you want and
then setting the amount. Anytime the amount of
that item drops below the selected amount in
your inventory the robots will bring you more.
You also have access to player Logistic Trash Slots. These essentially do the
opposite as the Logistic Request Slots. They will be under your request slots
and you just drop items into them that you want taken out of your inventory
and put into the Logistics storage. You can also Shift – Click some items into
them as well which can be much faster. It is important to know though that
you can't do this with some types of items so if you go to Shift – Click
something into the Trash Slots and it won't work then you will just have to do
it manually.
Personal Roboport
The last thing to talk about is the Personal Roboport. This was a new
addition to the game in the 0.12 release and adds a lot of new capabilities to
how and where you can build things with robots. The Personal Roboport
essentially acts as a normal Roboport that you carry around with you. It is a
module that goes into the Modular or Power Armor suits, so as long as you
are wearing that with the Roboport in it you essentially make yourself a
walking Roboport.
Before we continue I would like to link to a Friday Facts article

written by the developers that goes over the Personal Roboport and
explains things quite well.
Below is a summary of the article.
Again,
this
pretty
much
makes you like a walking Roboport, so if anything within the coverage area of
your Personal Roboport needs to be built or repaired, Construction Robots
that are in your inventory will go take care of it.
Anything that is built or repaired by the robots in your personal port will come
out of your inventory and not the normal network. The Personal Roboport will
use robots that are in your inventory, so make sure to always have some bots
in your inventory if you want to use it. The Personal Roboports are separate
from other Roboports and won't connect to them, and it takes priority over
normal networks. So even if you are within the range of a normal Roboport
and have your Personal Roboport equipped, the Construction Robots in your
inventory will be used to perform any needed tasks before ones in the normal
network. However, if you for example put a blueprint down and are in range
of a normal network and don't have the required items in your inventory to
build it, the robots in the normal network will take over the order rather than
the ones in your inventory from your Personal Port.
It is good to keep in mind that the Personal Roboports can only support a
limited number of robots so even if you have a full stack of Construction bots
in your inventory only a few of them will be used. You can use more though
by simply adding more Personal Ports to your armor. This will also increase
the amount of charging stations, energy buffer to charge the bots, and your
coverage area will increase. You can have as many of these as you want in
your armor as long as they will fit, but beware that they do take quite a large
amount of power so make sure you have enough power in your suit to
support them.
Smart Inserter Usage in the Logistics

Network
I talked about Smart Inserters a little bit near the beginning of this guide in
the Belt & Inserter Mechanics section. One of the best features of the Smart
Inserters though is the ability to tie them into the Logistics Network. They are
best used in those automated production setups that were talked about
earlier in this section. You can use them either on the input or output part of
the setup, but they are most commonly used on the output into the Passive
Provider chest. Of course you can limit the amount of items in a chest by
closing out some of the slots in the chest with the little red "x" at the bottom,
but that doesn't really allow you to do very specific quantities. You can also
set some wire conditions (these will be talked about in the Circuit Network
section) to set specific quantities of items to be in a chest, but that won't tie
into the Logistics System.
Once you have unlocked the

Logistics System stuff then when
you go to place a Smart Inserter
down the bottom box on the Inserter
will be where you can set a
condition for the Logistics Network.
Just click on the box and select the

correct item (the one being made in
the assembling machine), and then
you can set the amount just like with
a Requester Chest. There are also Less Than, and Greater Than, symbols to
set. So lets use the same example as we did earlier with Piercing Ammo. Say
you have a setup making Piercing Ammo and you don't want there to be
more than 100 in the network at any given time, then on the Smart Inserter
you can set it to be Piercing Ammo less than 100. What this is telling the
Inserter is that if there is less than 100 Piercing Ammo in the network then
you can work, otherwise don't work. So once there is 100 in the network then
the Inserter won't work anymore which means the assembler backs up and
doesn't create anymore until the Inserter starts working again which means
the amount has dropped below 100. This is extremely useful because you
can set specific quantities of items in the network and you won't just have
infinite quantities of everything.
I believe that covers all the main subjects and items in regards to the
Logistics System. If you are interested in some good Blueprint designs for
things like Solar Panels and Accumulators check out the Additional Info,
Setups & Builds section.
Next: Modules
Table of Contents
Introduction
MODULES
settings Modules are
03) Initial observations items that can
04) Collecting resources be inserted into
05) Belt and inserter mechanics buildings that
06) Establishing power have module
07) Automation slots in order to
08) Science enhance their performance and capabilities in some way. They are
09) Pollution also ingredients in making some late game items. There are three
10) Trains different types of Modules, and three levels of each type. The three
11) Liquids and oil processing types are Speed Modules, Efficiency Modules, and Productivity
12) The logistics system Modules.
13) Modules
14) Circuit network Each one does something different, and the Speed and Productivity
15) Enemies and combat ones have some downsides as well. What each module does and
16) Additional information, some examples of good uses for them will be explained below...
setups, and builds
Speed Modules: Speed Modules increase the speed of the
17) Mods
machine that they are inserted into. This comes at a cost though,
18) Item index
because they also make the machine consume more power, and
more power means more pollution, at least while you're using
Steam Engines for power generation. There are three levels of each
Module type, each with increasing benefits and downsides. The
effects of each Speed Module are as follows…
Level Level Level

1 2 3
Speed Bonus +20% +30% +50%
Energy
+50% +60% +70%
Consumption
As you can see, they can greatly increase the speed of a machine
and the things produced within it, but at the cost of higher energy
consumption for that particular machine. So for a quick example,
let’s use an Electric Furnace. Normally it takes 180kw of power, and
has a smelting speed of 2 items/s. With one level 1 Speed Module
inserted into it, the smelting speed will go up to 2.4 item/s but the
energy consumption will increase to 270kw.
So in summary, Speed Modules are good to use when you either

can't produce something quick enough, or need a lot of something
very quickly. Definitely pay attention to the extra energy
consumption though because it can go up very quickly if you just go
around throwing Speed Modules into everything.
Efficiency Modules: The Efficiency Modules are pretty straight

forward. They decrease the energy consumption of the machine
they are inserted into. Not only does it decrease the energy
consumption, it also lowers the pollution produced by that machine,
because energy (at least while using Steam Engines) causes
pollution. So by lowering the energy consumption by say 50%, the
pollution from the power it uses will decrease by 50%. There is one
limit to how low the energy consumption of something can be
though. It cannot use less than 20% energy (you can’t reduce it
more than 80%), so trying to lower it past that is pointless. The
different levels of Efficiency Module is as follows…
Level Level Level

1 2 3
Energy
-30% -40% -50%
Reduction
These modules are best used when you're low on power, and best
used on things that either take a lot of energy or that are constantly
running. Electric Furnaces, or Electric Mining Drills are some good
examples of this.
Productivity Modules: The Productivity Modules add a second

progress bar in the machines they are inserted into.
That
second progress bar fills up as things are produced from the

machine, and once it reaches the end you get an extra item(s). So
essentially you can get extra free items from the same amount of
input resources, but at the cost of reduced overall speed, and
increased pollution from that machine. Productivity Modules are
best used when resources are low. Turning Alien Artifacts into
Purple Science Packs is a great example of this. The Productivity
Modules do have some other limitations. They can only be used for
intermediate products. So they can only be put into something that
is making intermediate products. Here is a link to the wiki page that
lists all the intermediate products in the game.
They can also not be put into beacons, whereas the other two types
can. The effects of each Productivity Module are as follows…
Level Level Level

1 2 3
Productivity
+4% +6% +10%
Increase
Speed
-15% -15% -15%
Decrease
Pollution
+30% +40% +50%
Increase
So at the cost of speed and the increase of pollution from that

machine, you gain some extra items. Let's take Alien Artifacts for
example. You get 10 Purple Science Packs per 1 Alien Artifact
normally. With one level 3 Productivity Module put into the
assembler making the Packs, you get +10% productivity. Which
means for each Artifact that is turned into Purple Packs, you get
1/10th of that second progress bar filled. So in other words, for
every 10 Alien Artifacts that are turned into Packs, you get an extra
one, so in this case an extra 10 Purple Science Packs. This may not
seem like a ton, but it does add up and really helps when used for
something where the required resources are scarce.
Now obviously the

modules can be used in
combination with each
other if you want. So you
could put Speed and
Productivity in a machine
to offset the speed
reduction from the
productivity. The energy
consumption and
pollution produced would
obviously be crazy
though. Or you could do
Speed and Efficiency or
Productivity and
Efficiency. To conclude,
the modules can be used
to enhance the
performance or abilities
of machines. Although it
can come at a cost
though when using
Productivity or Speed
Modules, so just keep
that mind.
Next: Circuit network

Table of Contents
Introduction
CIRCUIT NETWORK
settings The Circuit Network is a network you can create by connecting Red Wires and
03) Initial observations Green Wires to different entities. Before the 0.12 release the only things that could
04) Collecting resources connect to this network were Smart Chests, Smart Inserters and Logistics Chests.
05) Belt and inserter mechanics However after the update, Combinators were added which creates a whole new
06) Establishing power realm of possibilities. As well as adding Combinators, the 0.12 update now allows the
07) Automation ability to connect Lamps, Pumps, and Storage Tanks to the network.
08) Science
09) Pollution The Circuit Network allows you to put limits on items using Red and Green Wires
10) Trains similar to how you can with the Logistics Network. On top of that, the Combinators
11) Liquids and oil processing allow very complex systems that automate production even further without any
12) The logistics system waste. You can also use them to balance production so that it only works when some
13) Modules other product reaches a certain amount. For example you can use the Combinators
14) Circuit network to only allow the cracking of Light Oil into Petroleum if Petroleum drops below 1000.
15) Enemies and combat That is just one example of the many different things you can do with the Circuit
16) Additional information, Network.
setups, and builds
Now that the general concepts of the Circuit Network are explained let’s start with the
17) Mods
simplest part, the Smart Inserters and Green/Red Wire connections. Smart Inserters
18) Item index
were already explained earlier in the Logistics System section, so I'm going to
assume you know how they work already. In addition to being able to set conditions
in the Logistics Network on a Smart Inserter, you can also set Red and/or Green
Wire conditions. Just with this you can set something to work if there is more than “>”
or less than “<” of the desired item within that specific Circuit Network. This will make
more sense as we continue.
In order to accomplish
this task you will need
a Smart Inserter,
Smart Chest or
Logistic Chest, and
some Red or Green
Wire. Let’s use the
same example as we
did in the Logistics
System section of an
Assembling Machine
making Piercing Ammo. In this example let's say that you want to limit the amount of
Piercing Ammo to 75 but you don't have a Logistics Network setup yet. So what you
want to do is use your Smart Chest as the output chest from the assembler, and the
Smart Inserter taking the ammo from the assembler and putting it into the Smart
Chest (picture below).
Now obviously the Inserter won't work without a condition so now it is time to connect
the wires so we have a small Circuit Network and can set a condition. For this
example we will use Red Wire. Youwill need two Red Wires to actually make this
work. First you will need to connect one of the wires between the Inserter and a
nearby power pole. To do this just have the wire in your hand and click the power
pole and then click the Inserter. You will see the Red Wire connecting the two.
The next step is to connect the second wire from the same power pole to the Smart
Chest. Just do this the same way. Now there should be two wires, one from the pole
to the Inserter, and another from the pole to the Chest:
It's really as simple

as that. Once you
have done this, if
you check the
Inserter you will see
that you can set a
Circuit Network
condition. In our
example we want
the Inserter to only
work if there is less
than 75 Piercing
Ammo in that chest, so just select Piercing Ammo in the item slot and then set the
amount to 75. So even though there is no Logistics Network to set a condition in, you
can still limit the amount of items in a chest to very specific amounts using the Smart
Inserter and wire conditions.
Combinators
The next part of the Circuit Network is the use of Combinators .This is where it gets
very cool but also quite complicated as well. To be completely honest this is not my
main area of expertise so I will do my best to explain what each Combinator does,
and perhaps provide an example for each. I will also link to multiple different tutorials
and guides that can explain it far better.
As of right now there are three different Combinators each with specific tasks or
processes it can perform. Let's start with the simplest of the three which is the
Constant Combinator. This one sends out specified signals each with specific items
counts, so it basically acts like a Smart Chest but without having to put anything in it.
That is literally all it does by itself. Here is an example of what that might look like:
The second
type is a
Decider
Combinator. It
has a similar
function as the
Smart Inserter
in that it
compares item
signals. Here is
an example of
that (picture below):
In this
example
it is
saying
that if
Plastic is
more
than
1000,
send out
a Blue
Science
Pack
signal. Essentially this is saying that Blue Science Packs can only be grabbed by the
Smart Inserter if there is more than 1000 Plastic in the connected chest. You can't
see it, but there is 1.1k Plastic in that chest so the Inserter is working. For the
Inserter condition in this example, it is just set to Blue Science Packs = 1 because
the output signal on the Combinator is set to output a signal of 1 Blue Pack if the
parameters are met.
You can also compare one item to another rather than an item to a number. Here is
an example of that:
In the above example it is saying if Green Circuits are less than Red Circuits then
send out a Copper Wire signal of 1. Essentially it is saying that if Green Circuits go
lower than the amount of Red Circuits then Copper Cables can be grabbed by the
Smart Inserter that is connected. Currently there are more Green Circuits in the chest
than there are Red Circuits so the Inserter isn't working. However, once the amount
of Greens drop below the amount of Reds, the Inserter will start grabbing Cable
again from the Machine.
The last Combinator is the Arithmetic Combinator. It just performs basic Arithmetic
operations (+, -, /, *). Here is an example:
In this one it is summing the amount of Green Circuits and Red Circuits and
outputting that number as Blue Circuits.
The second parameter can also be a number if you want. So in the following
example it is multiplying the amount of Red Science Packs by 2 and outputting that
number as Basic Inserters.
One last very important thing to note about the Decider Combinator and the
Arithmetic Combinator is that they don't read colors of wires. In other words, if you
have a Red and Green wire both going from one thing to the Combinator it will sum
the inputs of them together. So if you are only hooking it up to one thing, you only
need one color wire, using two will essentially double the input since it is summed
from both wires.
Circuit network improvements of 0.13

The 0.13 update brings with it a large number of additions and changes to the circuit
network system. Most notable is allowing more entities to be connected to the circuit
network. Connecting an entity now also shows a small connector sprite, to allow you
to more easily see what you have connected. These entities can also be connected
to a logistic network if they are within range.
There is also the addition of the circuit network entity gui, which is a way to easily
change and configure the behaviour of a connected entity.
There is also the addition of the new power switch. This can be used to manually or
automatically connect and disconnect multiple electric networks. This is especially
useful for implementing emergency backup power, but can be used flexibly for any
number of tasks.
With these changes comes some removals. Since all inserters and chests can now
be connected to the circuit network, the smart chest and smart inserter have both
been removed. The smart inserter has no been replaced by the filter inserter, and
any chest can match the smart chests functionality.
There are multiple links below that help explain actual uses for
Combinators. Some are videos and some are forum posts or articles that
explain it.
This is the Friday Facts where the Devs actually explain the
Combinators and give some good examples of them being used.
Tutorial written on the Factorio Forums which is very well done.
Good video tutorial that explains the basics.
Another video going over Combinators at a very basic level.
Next: Enemies and combat

Table of Contents
Introduction
ENEMIES AND COMBAT
settings This planet that you have crash landed on already has a native species inhabiting it, and as you will soon
03) Initial observations find out they are not very happy with your arrival…
05) Belt and inserter mechanics There are three different types of enemies in the game. Two of them are mobile creatures and the third is
06) Establishing power stationary but quite powerful. There are also multiple levels or stages of each type of enemy unit. The two
07) Automation mobile creatures are called Biters and Spitters. They are bug like creatures, with the Biters being similar
08) Science to something like a cockroach or beetle and the Spitters being like worms. The third type of enemy is
09) Pollution actually a Worm that can't move but has a large range and packs a really big punch even in later stages of
10) Trains the game. There are four different levels of Biters and Spitters, and three levels of Worms. It is important to
11) Liquids and oil processing note that Biters do physical damage and Spitters do acid damage. This is good to remember because it
12) The logistics system plays a factor when attacking them or being attacked by them. Below is a list of each one with a little info
13) Modules about it.
14) Circuit network
Biters: The Biters are the first enemies you will see in a new game since they spawn before Spitters. They
are fairly quick, being able to chase down a player most the time. However the Small Bitters can be held off
by the player with relative ease since they are quite weak. The Medium Biters will pose a problem though
setups, and builds
because they have more health and some resistances. The Big and Behemoth Biters will be the real
17) Mods
challenge as they are nearly immune to regular gun fire/physical damage and pack a huge punch.
18) Item index
Small Biters: Weakest type of Biter and can easily be killed with any type of
weapon. There will only be Small Biters in the beginning of the game.
Medium Biters: Slower than Small Biters but also stronger. Have a higher attack
and more health and resistance. Have 10% explosion resistance, and 4 flat
physical resistance. Resistances will be explained a bit later in this section.
Big Biters: Very strong both with it's resistances and damage. They have 5x the
health of Medium Biters, do twice as much damage and have double the physical
resistance (so 8 flat resistance). Because of their high physical resistance they are
nearly immune to regular gun fire with anything that does physical damage. They
can also attack through walls and hit objects directly behind the wall.
Behemoth Biters: The last stage of Biters are by far the most powerful. They are
extremely dangerous and are very, very durable. They have more than 13x the
amount of health of a Big Biter, and do more than 3x the damage. They also have
an explosion resistance of 10/20%, so 10 flat and 20% reduction. As well as
physical resistance of 8/20%. Can attack through walls and hit objects right behind
the walls just like the Big Biters.
Spitters: The Spitters are similar to Biters in their behavior and have the same four sizes, but do have a
few key differences. The first is that they attack at range, and shoot an acid projectile that can't be dodged
and will deal damage the target at which it was shot. They also do acid damage rather than physical
damage. This is important because the acid resistance of buildings and armor is usually much less than
the physical resistance so the Spitters will do more damage than the Biters.
Small Spitters: Weakest of the Spitters and very squishy so they are easy to kill.
They do attack at range though and do a fair bit of damage since it is acid damage.
Medium Spitters: Slower than the previous Spitters but also more dangerous.
Have 5x the health of a Small Spitter and do 2x the damage. Also have an
explosion resistance of 10%.
Big Spitters: Has 4x the health of a Medium Spitter so can take a lot more
damage. Does more damage as well and has an explosion resistance of 30%.
Behemoth Spitters: Even bulkier than the Big Spitters. Have 10x the health of a
Big Spitter and do almost 2x the damage. Have an explosion resistance of 35%.
Worms: The Worms are the static defenses of the Biters/Spitters and act like turrets. While they cannot
move they do have a large range and deal quite a lot of damage even at their smallest stage. Their inability
to move does make them vulnerable to certain attacks which will be covered later in this section. They also
deal acid damage like the Spitters. The Worms come in three different sizes similar to the other two
enemies. Unlike the Biters or Spitters, the Worms size is not influenced by pollution or game progression.
Even medium and big Worms can spawn at the beginning of the game, and sometimes are on their own
and not with any spawners.
Small Worms: The weakest of the three Worms but still not easy to kill. Has 200
health, which for comparison is the same as a Big Spitter or about 2.5x that of a
Medium Biter. They do the same amount of damage as a Small Spitter.
Medium Worms:Medium Worms: The Medium Worms are quite dangerous and
can pose a problem even for more experienced players. They have more health
than the Small Worms, do 3x the damage and have 5/15% explosion resistance,
and 4 flat physical resistance. They should be approached and handled with
caution.
Big Worms: The most powerful of the worms and by far the most durable. They
deal twice the damage of a Medium Worm and have 500 health which for
comparison is 150 more than a Big Biter. They also have 10/30% explosion
resistance, and 8 flat physical resistance so they are pretty much immune to any
normal gunfire or even grenades. Have a long range so you can't get close enough
to shoot them yourself without taking fire from them.
If you would like some more detailed info on the enemies, such as their exact health and such
then you can check out the Factorio wiki page.
One of the last bits to cover before we move on to the actual
combat part of this section is how the enemies interact with
the pollution produced from your factory. Probably the most
important part of this is that your pollution is actually part of
what effects the Biters and Spitters evolution. As the
enemies evolve, the larger sizes/levels of them start
spawning. The pollution also attracts and, in fact, enrages
the Biters/Spitters which is what makes them attack your
base. As soon as pollution starts to hit a Spawner the
Biters/Spitters will start attacking fairly shortly afterward.
They will seek to destroy the source of the pollution but will
switch targets if something of higher priority gets in the way
such as the player or static defenses like walls or turrets. They are also able to navigate around obstacles
to some degree in order to find holes in the defenses.
Resistances
The resistances in Factorio are actually pretty simple. They are calculated by reducing the incoming
damage by the percentage first if there is one, and then by the flat amount. So to better explain this lets
use the Behemoth Biters as an example. If you remember, they have a physical damage resistance of
8/20%. Let’s say you have a weapon/ammo that does 12 physical per shot. When you shoot the Behemoth
Biters, that 12 damage would be reduced by 20% first, so you would only do 80% damage which would be
9.6 damage. At this point the flat amount is taken into account. So for this they have a flat resistance of 8,
which means you would then do 1.6 damage per shot. It works this way for anything with a resistance such
as buildings, vehicles or armor etc.
Evolution
The enemy evolution in Factorio is determined by and increased by three factors. These are the passing
of time, pollution, and destruction of enemy spawners. As time passes it slightly increases the evolution
factor. The production of the pollution increases it a bit more than the passing of time, and then destroying
spawners increases it significantly.
There is actual math behind this which might help you understand it a bit better. Here it is:
The time_factor is 0.000004 (0.0004%) per second or 1.44% per hour
The pollution_factor is 0.000015 (0.0015%) / 1000 Pollution Units
The destroy_factor is 0.002 (0.2%)
Combat
I'm sure after reading the info about the enemies in the above section you might feel pretty worried about
how you will handle them. Honestly, it would be quite difficult if you had no knowledge beforehand about
how to deal with them, but that is what this guide is for, to help you get a better grasp on things
beforehand. Luckily there are a lot of different weapons and devices you can use to face off against the
enemies. I will not go over what every single thing does in this section because that would take forever.
If you don't know what something does, take a look in the Item Index section and each item will
have a short description.
In my opinion there are three different stages of combat in Factorio. Early game combat, mid game
combat, and late game combat. The reason these are different is because of the evolution factor of the
enemies at each stage is different, and so is the equipment that you can use to fight them. We will start
with going over some ways to defend your base against attacks; however I won't go into this too much
because it is pretty easy to figure out on your own (essentially just walls and turrets). After that we will
move on to the offensive part of the combat which I think is one of the most fun parts of the game and is
when you really get to utilize the cool weapons and equipment.
Defense
Defending against the Biters/Spitters will be
an important task (unless you're playing on
peaceful mode) because otherwise they will
just come and destroy your whole factory.
There are essentially two ways to defend
yourself and your base, and those are static
defenses (walls and turrets), and then the
other is the weapon you carry. While you
can fend them off for a little bit with just your
personal weapon you will need some static
defenses shortly after you start getting
attacked.
At first you will be best off just placing

turrets around your factory in the key spots
that the enemies seem to attack. Once you get the ability to make walls and have some decent production
of ammo and turrets then there are two main ways to set up static defenses. You can wall off your entire
base with turrets behind the wall:
You can also set up little defense outposts around the edges of your base:
Obviously walling off your whole base is more time consuming and costly but the advantage is that you
know there aren't any holes or blind spots in the defenses. Going the outpost route is cheaper and faster
and if done right can be quite effective, but still leaves potential holes in your defenses. The choice is yours
and really based on the situation and your personal preference.
The turrets in Factorio are very strong, so the Gun Turrets will do great against Small Bitters/ Spitters, and
even fairly well against Medium Biters/Spitters. You can also increase the effectiveness of them with turret
and bullet damage technology upgrades, as well as using Piercing Ammo. However, once a lot of Medium
guys start spawning and especially when Big guys start spawning, you will need to make the switch to
Laser Turrets otherwise you will get overrun. Even without upgrades the Laser Turrets are extremely
powerful, being able to cut through Medium Biters/Spitters like butter, and even doing quite well against Big
guys unless there is a large group of them.
If you really want to get crazy with your defenses you can use belts to your advantage. If you place them
on the outside of the wall either running away from the wall or towards the wall you can push or pull the
enemies where you want them. Having the belts running away from the wall is great against Biters
because it makes it quite difficult for them to actually reach the wall and attack it since they are constantly
being pushed away. Here is what that belt setup might look like:
If you have the belts running towards the wall that can be effective against Spitters because it will pull them
more into range of the turrets so they will die easier and potentially not do as much damage. That would
just look the opposite of the example this example.
Offense
There are essentially four reasons why you would need to go on the offensive and actually attack the
enemies and their bases. Either they are too close to your base and just causing too many problems with
constant attacks, they are in the way of a mining outpost or train track etc, or you need to acquire Alien
Artifacts to make your Purple Science Packs. The fourth reason is you just feel like going out and killing
aliens for fun…
Early Game Combat

Regardless of the reason, you have multiple tools and methods at your disposal to bring the fight to them.
In the early game before you get Tanks or Poison Capsules or Combat Robots, the main way to take out
Spawners and the enemies surrounding them is either with your personal weapon/armor and careful
maneuvering, or using the turret creep method. The turret creep is by the far the most effective and even
stays quite effective far into the late game if you do it right. Turret creep is essentially like playing leapfrog
with turrets. You place some down, then move forward a bit and place more down, and then pull up the
ones from behind and move those forward, etc.
Here is a video that demonstrates it as well. The video is actually about mid game combat and features the
tank, but the turret creep is featured in it as well:
If you have enough turrets and ammo (if you’re using gun turrets) and do it carefully then you can take out
almost any sized base using this method. Here is another video that goes over really early game combat
using just your personal gun and some smart maneuvering.
Mid Game Combat

At this point there will probably be Medium Biters/Spitters spawning and possibly even a few big ones
depending on how much the evolution factor increased. But once you get into mid game combat there are
quite a few different ways you can attack the Biters. Again, the turret creep method is still quite effective
especially because at this point you will probably have Laser Turrets. You also will have access to the
Tank as well as Poison and Slowdown Capsules, and maybe some Defender Capsules.
The Tank is a great way to take out Spawners at this stage of the game. It can take out a Spawner in two
shots, and do about the same to Worms. It’s long range cannon allows you to hit the Spawners or Worms
at range while kiting the Biters/Spitters around behind you.
Tanks also have very high health and resistances so they are quite sturdy and can take a lot of hits. Since
they have a very high impact resistance you can actually kill things like Spawners, some Worms or even
trees by simply running straight into them with enough forward momentum (picture below):
The Tank cannon is very powerful against

structures and can be against enemies if you
are a good enough aim to hit them. Luckily the
Tank has a machine gun on it as well for close
combat against Biters/Spitters, which you can
switch to like normal by using Q. You can stick
normal or Piercing Ammo in it as well.
Poison Capsules are one of thebest ways to

kill Worms without actually taking any damage
from them if you do it carefully. The range from
which you can throw the capsule actually barely
out-ranges even the Big Worms so you can hit
them and never take damage if you're careful.
Poison Capsules obviously do poison damage
and it does continual damage per-second. The
effects can also stack, so throwing five of them on the worm will kill it even faster.
They do damage Biters and Spitters as well, but they do not damage Spawners.
If you want a video demonstration, the video featuring turret creep that is linked in the Early Game Combat
section shows usage of the Tank too, as well as Poison Capsules and Distractor Capsules.
Fire system
The new fire system in 0.13 allows for a level of automated environmental destruction previously
impossible. Watch as entire forests ignite and burn with flames, as the local inhabitants succumb to the
heat. The new fire damages all around it, and spreads itself among trees. This powerful new system is very
effective for clearing out large areas of enemies.
The handheld flamthrower and flamethrower turret both shoot a stream of burning fluid toward the enemy,
which combusts into a blazing wall when it hits the ground. Any enemies caught in it will catch on fire and
take large amounts of damage, any trees near the fire will also start to burn. There is no way to stop the
fire, except for cutting down any trees in its path. Burning trees can release huge amounts of pollution, so
be careful not to overdo it, or you might be the one feeling the heat.
Late Game Combat

In my opinion the fighting
in the late game is when
the real fun begins. At
this point the Tank
actually starts to lose
effectiveness due to the
increase in numbers of
Biters/Spitters than
earlier in the game. If
you get surrounded, you
will be killed by all the Big and Behemoth enemies. In the late game you should have access to Power
Armor and Distractor/Destroyer Capsules. The Distractors could technically be used in the mid game
but they are fairly expensive to make and you need a lot of them to be effective so usually you won't have
enough of them until later.
In addition to the things listed above you will also have access to the Combat Shotgun and Piercing
Ammo for it and hopefully a few shooting speed and damage upgrades for it. You can combine all these
tools and equipment together to pretty much make yourself a walking war machine. The Power Armor
(especially the MK2) has multiple slots in it that you can put Shields and Exoskeletons in to enhance it's
ability and in turn your abilities. There is also a Personal Laser Defense that you can put in but it is pretty
ineffective for the most part.
You will need some Fusion Reactors to actually power the things that will go in your suit. There are many
different ways to set up your armor but you need to make sure you have enough power to run everything
otherwise you will have problems such as your Exoskeletons turning off while the shields try to recharge. It
is best to have enough Exoskeletons to be able to outrun the enemies so they can't surround you or chase
you down. Since we are talking about late game here I will use the MK2 Power Armor for an example. You
can configure the suit however you see fit and works best for you, but one of the more popular setups
includes 3 Fusion Reactors, 4 Exoskeletons, and 5 Shields, or 2 Reactors, 6 Exos, and 4 Shields.
To open your Power Armor, just Right-Click on it when it is in your armor slot. You can then just add
things to it by dragging and dropping them, and take things out by either Right-Clicking or dragging and
dropping them out.
Using a good Power

Armor setup, a Combat
Shotgun with Piercing
Ammo, and some
Destroyer Capsules
you can rain
destruction down on
almost everything. You
can also throw down
some Distractor Capsules as well to make the process even more effective. Remember though that the
Distractors are stationary whereas the Destroyers follow you around. If you use Distractors it is best to try
and throw them right on top of the Spawners because it makes it harder for the Biters to hit them and that
way you know they will be able to shoot the Spawner.
So to summarize, the basic strategy for taking on

enemy bases in the later stages of the game is to
have a good Power Armor setup, throw out some
Destroyer Capsules to follow you around, and then
just make sure to kite the Biters/Spitters around so
you don't get surrounded. Make sure you are in
range for your Shotgun to reach the Spawners and
Worms because it will just rip through them. If there
are Worms, especially Big Worms, make sure to
target those down near the beginning otherwise you
will take a lot of damage from them. Your Destroyer
Capsules will help kill the enemies that are following
you, and if they have a chance they will help shoot
down the Spawners and Worms as well.
Next: Additional information setups and builds

Table of Contents
Introduction
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION,
SETUPS, AND BUILDS
settings
03) Initial observations There are a few things that were not covered in the earlier parts of
04) Collecting resources this guide because it didn't seem to fit or require an entire section. I
05) Belt and inserter mechanics will cover those topics here. Things like Solar and Accumulator
06) Establishing power layouts and information will be covered here as well as other builds
07) Automation and setups for things like Advanced Circuits, etc.
08) Science
09) Pollution Solar Power
10) Trains
11) Liquids and oil processing Solar Panels are the clean energy of Factorio since they do not
12) The logistics system create pollution and will provide you with essentially free energy
13) Modules during the day. However, since they don't work at night this is where
14) Circuit network the Accumulators come in because they act as a battery bank and
15) Enemies and combat store energy which can be used during the night or for other things
16) Additional information, like when there are huge power demands (lasers all firing at once,
setups, and builds etc).
17) Mods
Thee are many popular layouts for both the Solar Panels and
18) Item index
Accumulators that look nice and have the correct ratio of panels to
Accumulators. What do I mean by correct ratios? There are a certain
amount of Solar Panels needed to fill a certain amount of
Accumulators without much waste. This is all assuming you don't
have Steam Power as well, but either way it is good to stay close to
the correct amount of each otherwise you're either wasting some
energy or not generating enough to fully charge your Accumulators.
If you would like to follow this ratio, then based on multiple sources
the correct ratio is 25:21 Solar Panels to Accumulators. In essence
that means .84 Accumulators per Solar Panel, which if you want a
bigger layout could be 84 Accumulators to 100 panels. If you want to
design your own layouts feel free, but if you want some that are
proven to work and look nice here are some of those:
If you want to see the math behind the ratio and some of
the places these layouts were posted you can check out
these links:
Shows all the math done to come to this conclusion

as well as some good layouts. It is over a year old but
based on my research it is still accurate.
Thread with tons of different designs. Some may be

outdated though.
Reddit thread with a really nice looking layout.

Of course you can put your Solar Panels and Accumulators in totally
different places and not together in a single layout. It is entirely your
choice.
Electronic Circuit Build
Just as with Solar Panels/Accumulators, there is an ideal ratio of

things when building Electronic Circuits. This involves the amount
of Copper Wire Machines compared to the number of actual Circuit
Machines. The best setup and ratio for this is 3 Copper Wire
machines to 2 Circuit Machines. Now if you wanted, you could have
the Copper Wire put onto a belt and brought to the CircuitMachines
but it is the general consensus that having Copper Wires on belts is
a bad idea because you just can't get enough throughput that way
for the amount of wires needed in most things. So for the build I will
show below it will be using the direct insertion method so we can
take advantage of the Inserter Stack Size bonus.
You will notice the ideal ratio is used since we have 3 Wire
machines inserting into 2 Circuit machines. To get maximum
throughput and speed it is best to use multiple Fast Inserters like
you see the in the picture. There are a few variations of this build
that are each a little different but I would say this is the most
common one. As always, don't feel like you have to use this, it is just
here for an example and to use if you so desire.
Advanced Circuit Builds

There are actually many different ways to set up the production of
Advanced Circuits. The only ratios we really need to worry about
here are the amount of Copper Wire Machines to Advanced Circuit
Machines. You can support 8 Advanced Circuit machines with just 1
Copper Wire Machine because the Wires are created so quickly and
the Red Circuits take a lot longer to make. Below are multiple builds
that all work a bit differently but produce pretty much the same result
in the end.
Next: Mods
Table of Contents
Introduction
MODS
settings If
you have played many
games I'm sure you know what Mods are.
03) Initial observations If
you
don't, then they are Modifications to the
game
usually made
04) Collecting resources by the community.
They are like add-ons of sorts that change or
05) Belt and inserter mechanics enhance the gameplay in
some way.
07) Automation Factorio
has a very
large and active Modding community so if you
08) Science are looking for some
ways to change how the game plays you will
09) Pollution probably be able to find a
Mod for it. The Factorio Developers seem
10) Trains very supportive of the
Modding community as well which is great.
You can check out the mod portal website here, where
13) Modules
you can upload a mod, browse existing mods, rate and
14) Circuit network
comment on mods. Uploading a mod requires you to pick
one of the available licenses, or to specify your own.

As with the multiplayer matching server, using the in game
setups, and builds
mod portal requires you to login with your Factorio website
17) Mods
account, and to download mods from the website also
18) Item index
requires a login.
There are multiple different categories of Mods with some of them

just adding a few additional items to the game, or some changing a
few aspects of how the game actually plays, and even some that
almost overhaul the whole game and crafting system. Unless it is
something that is impossible to Mod or very strange, you will most
likely be able to find a Mod to do what you want. I will go over a few
Mods that each change something in a different way and are best
for certain things. However before we move on I would like to say
that I highly suggest you play and get a grasp of the vanilla game
first before you do anything with Mods.
If you would like to watch video spotlights on some of
these Mods as well as many others you can check out this
forum thread where they are listed.
If you want some Mods that will just enhance specific parts
of the game and not revamp any recipes or actual
gameplay than I would suggest some of the following...
Fully Automatic Rail Layer (FARL): This Mod essentially

lays rails automatically if you just drive forward. Makes
putting down long sections of rail much easier. More info
can be found on the forum section for it linked above.
Advanced Logistics System: Keeps track of every single

item in the Logistics System and allows you to view exactly
what is in each chest and much more. Essentially makes it
a lot easier to keep track of things in the system.
Initial Map Scan: When you first start a new map this
Mod scans and reveals (removes fog of war) an area the
size of the starting area you selected in the map options.
Basically makes it so you don't have to walk around and
explore the area yourself before deciding to move on or
not.
Obviously these are not the only mods that change small parts of
the game, and I'm not saying they are better than any of the others.
I listed these because I have personally played with them and know
a lot of other players that have as well.. This applies to all the mods
I list here. I would definitely recommend checking out all Mods on
the forums that seem interesting.
Now if you want some Mods that change how the game plays a little
bit but don't really overhaul it then something like these maybe of
interested to you:
Resource Spawner Overhaul: Completely changes how
the resources spawn on the map. Creates more of a need
for trains because it makes the resources spawn farther
apart and also makes them fairly scarce in the starting
area but increased richness the farther out you get.
Spreads out Biter bases as well.
Treefarm Lite: Does exactly what the name says and

adds farm to grow trees in. So essentially gives unlimited
wood that you don't have to manually chop down because
it can be fully automated. This mod is best used in
conjunction with some others like Dytech or Bobs Mods
which will talked about a little later.
Again, there are many more mods like these that you shouldn't
neglect. These three are just some that I have personally used and
quite enjoyed.
Lastly, if you want something that completely overhauls the game,

changing recipes, adding tons of new items and technologies, and
even new enemies then I would suggest these:
Note: You should have a firm grasp on the base game before you
try these types of Mods. They are quite complicated and can be
confusing even to more experienced players.
Dytech: Dyetch is almost a complete game overhaul. It

leaves all the vanilla items in the game and they still have
uses but it changes lots of the vanilla recipes and adds
tons of new items and extra levels of existing items. It is
modular which means you can kind of pick and choose
which parts you want to use and which you don't. One of
the modules is specifically for the enemies and makes the
game much, much more difficult by adding a lot of new
enemies. Turning this part on is not for novice players as
you will get crushed very quickly.
Bob's Mods: Similar to Dytech in the fact that it overhauls
the game. Bob's Mods is more complicated and complex.
It takes perhaps a more realistic approach to the item
recipes and progression which makes things more
interesting. Also changes the enemies and adds new
ones. Bob's is modular just like Dytech so you can pick
and choose which parts you want.
I hope these suggestions can get you started and give a good idea
of what type of things the Mods for Factorio can do.
Next: Item index

Table of Contents
Introduction
ITEM INDEX
settings
Logistics
05) Belt and inserter mechanics Wooden Chest: The most basic chest.
06) Establishing power Used to store items. It has 16 storage slots.
07) Automation
08) Science
09) Pollution
10) Trains Iron Chest: The second level of storage
11) Liquids and oil processing you can unlock. It provides 32 storage slots.
13) Modules
14) Circuit network
15) Enemies and combat Steel Chest: The third level of chest you
16) Additional information, can make. It has 48 storage slots.
setups, and builds
17) Mods
18) Item index
Smart Chest: Also has 48 storage slots, but
allows you to do more advanced things by
connecting red or green wires to it and
using a Smart Inserter in conjunction with it.
Circuit Network section. It is also a
component in the Logistic Chests.
Storage Tank: is used to store liquids. It

has the capacity to hold 2,500 units of
liquid.
Basic Transport Belt: The first level of
Transport Belt. Can carry items around your
factory. It has two different lanes as well.
Fast Transport Belt: Second level of

Transport Belt. It moves about twice as fast
as the Basic Transport Belt, which means it
can carry more items at a time.
Express Transport Belt: The final level of

Transport Belt. Moves even faster than the
Fast Transport Belt. It does takes Lubricant
to make though.
Basic Underground Belt: An Underground

Belt to go with the Basic Transport Belt. It
can go four spaces underground.
Fast Underground Belt: Underground Belt

to match the Fast Transport Belt. Can also
go four spaces underground.
Express Underground Belt: Underground

Belt to go with Express Transport Belt. Also
can only go four spaces underground.
Basic Splitter: Allows the splitting of

resources on Transport Belts. It will send
50% to each side evenly. So you end up
with two belts each having 50% of the
original split belt
Fast Splitter: Does the same thing as the
Basic Splitter but matches the speed of the
Fast Transport Belt.
Express Splitter: Does the same thing as

the Basic Splitter but matches the speed of
the Express Transport Belt.
Burner Inserter: Moves items from the tile

in front of it to the tile behind. Operates just
like the Basic Inserter except this one
doesn't need electricity because it runs on
fuel like Coal or Wood.
Basic Inserter: The basic inserter is used

to automatically pick up and move items. It
can only reach one tile, and can only pick
up one item at a time from a belt.
Long Handed Inserter: The long handed

inserter is just like the but basic inserter, but
it can reach two spaces instead of just one.
Fast Inserter: The fast inserter moves

quicker than the basic inserter. It can also
only move one item at a time and only reach
one tile, but it can much quicker.
Smart Inserter: The Smarter Inserter

moves just as quickly as the fast inserter,
but can have filters set to tell it specifically
what items you want it to grab.
Small Electric Pole: Electric pole to string
electricity through your factory. It only
provides power to a 5x5 tile area around it,
and has a wire reach of 8 tiles.
Medium Electric Pole: This Electric Pole

has a larger coverage area of 7x7 tiles
around it. It can also has a wire reach of 9
tiles.
Big Electric Pole: The Big Electric Pole

can span a huge distance between poles
(30 tile wire reach), so it's good for bringing
electricity over long distances. Although it
only has a 4x4 coverage area.
Substation: The Substation has a massive

coverage area around it. Has a wire reach
of 14 tiles as well.
Pipe: A basic pipe to run liquids through.

These run above ground, while the
Underground Pipes can spawn distances
underground.
Underground Pipe: Similar to an

underground belt. It can reach nine tiles
underground. It holds less liquid that normal
pipes though.
Straight Rail: This is pretty much railroad
track. These can only go straight, so you
need the Curved Rails to make turns.
Curved Rail: Curved Rail are used to make

your train tracks turn. Can be rotated in
many different angles to achieve the desired
turn.
Trains Stop: Used to designate where

trains will stop. Can be named to anything
you want. Must be placed on the right hand
side of the track from the perspective of the
train in order to work properly.
Rail Signal: Rail Signals allow the ability to

have multiple trains on a track system
without them crashing into each other.
Rail Chain Signal: A move advanced

version of the Rail Signal. Used to have
trains stop at more convenient places on the
track.
Diesel Locomotive: Pretty self-

explanatory, the Locomotive is what powers
the train. Can be placed on the front or
back, so double headed trains are possible.
Cargo Wagon: This is what the resources

or items are stored in on a train. They have
20 inventory spaces. Connects behind a
Locomotive.
Car: The Car is used to get around the map

or your base quickly. Has a turret on top for
some combat as well. Careful though, as it
has low health and can be a bit hard to
drive.
Tank: The Tank is an excellent choice to

attack enemies. It has very high health and
resistances, has a gun turret and a cannon
mounted on top. Although it's pretty slow.
Logistic Robot: Logistic Robots ferry

around items within your Logistics Network.
They can also bring you items and take
items from your Trash Slots.
Construction Robot: Construction Robots

repair and replace broken structures in your
Logistics Network. They are also used when
building with a Blueprint or using a
Deconstruction Planner.
Active Provider Chest: Used in the

Logistics Network, and orders robots to take
out anything within it and put the items in
storage or to something requesting them.
Passive Provider Chest: Passively stores

items that are put in with an Inserter or by
you. Robots can take from this to give to
something requesting the items stored
within.
Request Chest: Used to request items.

You can tell it what items to request and
how many to ask for.
Storage Chest: Simply a storage chest for

things in the Logistic Network. Any items in
Active Provider Chests or that have been
deconstructed go in here.
Roboport: The most essential part of the

Logistics Network. Houses the robots, and
acts as a charging station for them. Also
creates the area that the Logistic
Construction Robots can work in.
Copper Cable: Used quite a few important

items such as Circuits, Advanced Circuits,
Small Electric Poles and more. Made from
Copper Plate.
Red Wire: Used for connecting things within

the Circuit Network such as Smarter
Inserters, Smart Chests, or Combinators.
Green Wire: The same thing as Red Wire.

Used when you need two different
conditions in the Circuit Network.
Arithmetic Combinator: Used in the Circuit

Network and can do simple mathematical
operations. Can do addition, subtraction,
multiplication, or division.
Decider Combinator: Used in the Circuit

Network. It is used to do comparisons of
signals within the network. It uses "great
than" >, "less than" <, and "equal to" = to
compared signals.
Constant Combinator: Also used in the

Circuit Network. The Constant Combinator
constantly outputs the selected signal(s) to
everything connected via wire.
Stone Brick: Stone Brick is made from

smelting Stone in a furnace, and primarily
used in Walls, Concrete, and Brick Paths.
Concrete: Concrete is used as

paths/flooring. It not only looks nice, but
increases walking and driving speed while
on top of it.
Production
Iron Axe: The most basic axe that you can

make. Increases the speed at which you
mine, destroy trees or deconstruct things.
Steel Axe: The next step up from the Iron

Axe. Currently the most advanced axe you
can make in the game. Increases speed of
mining, tree destruction, and deconstruction
even further.
Repair Pack: Repair Packs are used to

repair damage on structures or items.
Construction Robots can also use them to
automatically repair things for you.
Blueprint: Blueprints are used for

automated construction with Consturction
Robots via the Logistics System.
Deconstruction Planner: Used to have

robots deconstruct anything you select with
it as long as what you select is in the
coverage area of a Roboport.
Boiler: Boilers are used to heat water

before it goes into Steam Engines to create
power.
Steam Engine: The Steam Engine is used

to generate power with water that is heated
in boilers.
Small Lamp: These lamps illuminate a

small area around them to help light your
factory at night.
Solar Panel: Solar Panel's purpose is
identical to what they do in real life. A clean
source of energy as long as the sun is out.
Accumulator: Essentially like a battery

bank to store power for use during the night
or when there are massive power requests
(like Laser Turrets shooting all at once).
Burner Mining Drill: The Burner Mining

Drill is the very first mining drill you can get
in the game. It runs off coal or wood rather
than electricity. Be warned though, it
generates a lot of pollution.
Electric Mining Drill: A mining drill that

runs off of electricity rather than fuel. An
upgrade from the Burner Drill as well.
Offshore Pump: Pumps water from oceans

or lakes. Has to be placed on the edge of
the body of water (the shore) to work.
Pumpjack: Pumps oil out from the oil wells

throughout the map.
Stone Furnace: This is what you will use to

smelt raw resources into more advanced
products like Iron & Copper Plate that can
actually be used to build things.
Steel Furnace: Upgraded version of the
Stone Furnace. It smelts twice as fast as its
predecessor.
Electric Furnace: The last of the furnaces.

It smelts at the same speed as the Steel
Furnace, but requires electricity rather than
fuel and it also has slots for Modules which
the other two don't.
Assembling Machine 1: This is what is

used to automate the production of items.
Give it the correct ingredients and it will
build the item for you until it runs out of the
materials. There are three levels of these
machines and this is the first.
Assembling Machine 2: Next level of

Assembling Machine. Has increased
crafting speed and can build items that
require more ingredients. Also has slots for
Modules.
Assembling Machine 3: The last level of

the these machines. Has an even higher
crafting speed than the level 2, and can
craft things with 5 or 6 ingredients. This one
has slots for Modules as well.
Oil Refinery: This building is where you will

process the Crude Oil into other liquids that
are actually used to build things.
Chemical Plant: This building will be used
to process the liquids that the Refinery
produces. You will be building Batteries,
Plastic and more in these Chemical Plants.
They can accept both liquids and solid
materials (some items need both).
Lab: The Lab is where research and

technology takes place. You need to insert
the Science Packs into it for it to do
research. You can have as many of these
as you like, and the effect stacks. So 2 will
research something 2x quicker than 1, etc…
Basic Beacon: Beacons are used to

enhance the buildings in it's coverage area.
You insert Modules into it and it spreads
their effects to nearby buildings, but it only
spreads half their effectiveness.
Speed Module: Speed Modules increase

the speed of the machines they are inserted
into. However it increases the power usage
of the machine.
Speed Module 2: The second level of

Speed Module. It further increases the
speed and power usage of whatever
machine it is put into.
Speed Module 3: Last level of Speed

Module. Even further increases the speed
and power usage of what it is put into.
Efficiency Module: These Modules lower
the power consumption whatever they are
put into. This one lowers it by 30%.
Efficiency Module 2: Second level of

Efficiency Module. Further decreases power
consumption. This one lowers it by 40%.
Efficiency Module 3: The last level of

these Modules. Reduces power
consumption by 50%.
Productivity Module: These Modules add

a secondary progress bar to the things they
are put into. It fills up as items are made,
and once it reaches the end you get an
extra item. So essentially it gives you
additional items from the same amount of
resources. It comes at a cost of increased
energy consumption and pollution. For more
details on these check the Modules section
of the guide.
Productivity Module 2: Second level of

this Module group. Increases all effects
more than the previous version. For more
of the guide.
Productivity Module 3: Last level of

Productivity Modules. Yet again raises all
effects from the previous version. For more
of the guide.
Intermediate Products
Sulfuric Acid: Made from Sulfur and Iron

and used to make Batteries and Processing
Units.
Basic Oil Processing: Allows you to refine

Crude Oil into Light Oil, Heavy Oil, and
Petroleum Gas.
Advanced Oil Processing: Using

Advanced Oil Processing changes the
amount of Light/Heavy Oil, and Petroleum
Gas, and requires water along with Crude
Oil. It gives more Petroleum and Light Oil,
and less Heavy Oil.
Heavy Oil Cracking: Allows the cracking of

Heavy Oil into Light Oil. Water is required
for this process as well.
Light Oil Cracking: Allows the cracking of

Light Oil into Petroleum. Also requires water
to do this.
Solid Fuel: Can be used instead of Coal or

Wood and last a lot longer than either of
them. Is made from either Light Oil, Heavy
Oil, or Petroleum Gas.
Lubricant: Made from Heavy Oil and is
used to make Electric Engines and Express
Transport Belts.
Wood: Made from Raw Wood and used in

Wooden Chests, etc…
Iron Plate: Made from Iron Ore and used in

most items.
Copper Plate: Made from Copper Ore and

used in a lot of items.
Steel Plate: Steel is made from Iron Plate

and used to make more advanced items
such as Steel Furnaces, Large Electric
Poles and much more.
Sulfur: Sulfur is made from Petroleum and

Water, and used to make Sulfuric Acid and
Explosives.
Plastic Bar: Plastic is used in Advanced

Circuits as well as a few other items. It is
made from Coal and Petroleum.
Barrel: Can be filled with Crude Oil and

then emptied again in an Assembling
Machine. Essentially another way to
transport Oil besides using pipes.
Iron Stick: These are used in very items

and are made from Iron Plate.
Gear Wheel: Gear Wheels are used a lot of

items, such as Transport Belts, Assembling
Machines and much more. They are simply
made from Iron Plates.
Electronic Circuit: Circuits are used in a lot

of products and are usually the main
consumer of your Copper because of the
large amount of Copper Coil used to make
them. They also require Iron.
Advanced Circuit: The second level of

Circuit, these are used for more advanced
items like Blue Science Packs, Modules and
much more.
Processing Unit: The last level of Circuit.

These are used in very advanced things
such as level 2 and 3 Modules, Power
Armor, as well as multiple other things.
They take a whopping 20 Electronic Circuits
to make, as well as Advanced Circuits and
Sulfuric Acid.
Engine Unit: Engine Units are used

primarily in creating Electric Engines, but
are also used in Tanks, Cars, and
Locomotives.
Electric Engine Unit: Electric Engines are

almost entirely used for making Flying
Robot Frames, but a few other things use
them as well. Lubricant is required to make
them though.
Explosives: Made from Sulfur, Coal and

Water. They are used for Land Mines and
explosive ammunitions.
Battery: Batteries are one of the ingredients

required to make Blue Science Packs, and
are also used in Accumulators as well as a
few other items. They require Sulfuric Acid,
and Iron/Copper.
Flying Robot Frame: These guys are the

main component in making Logistic and
Construction Robots. Very long crafting
speed though.
Low Density Structure: Used to make

Rocket Parts which are used for Orbital
Rockets that you launch from a Rocket Silo
as an "end game" goal.
Rocket Fuel: Another component in the

process of making the Orbital Rocket.
Rocket Control Unit: Also used to make
Orbital Rockets launched from the Rocket
Silo.
Satellite: Yet another part that goes onto

the Rocket before you launch it.
Red Science Pack: Known by multiple

names such as Science Pack 1, or Red
Beaker, etc. The simplest Science Pack and
used to conduct research and advance your
Technology. Only required Gear Wheels
and Copper Plate.
Green Science Pack: Also known as

multiple things such as Science Pack 2 or
Green Beaker, these are the next level of
Science Pack. They require Basic Inserters,
and Basic Transport Belt.
Blue Science Pack: Again, known by

multiple names similar to the other packs.
This is the most complicated of the Science
Packs because it requires Batteries, Steel,
Smart Inserters, and Advanced Circuits.
Purple Science Pack: Also known as Alien

Science Pack, these are just made from
Alien Artifacts. They are required in the
most advanced Research. It should be
noted that you get 10 of these from 1 Alien
Artifact.
Combat
Pistol: Basic sidearm that you start out with

at the beginning of the game. Not
particularly strong but does the job until you
get a better weapon.
Sub-Machine Gun: The second level of

weapon up from the Pistol. Shoots faster
and does more damage.
Shotgun: Pretty self-explanatory.

Essentially like a pump Shotgun, it has a
short reload between shot.
Combat Shotgun: The next level of

shotgun. Essentially like an automatic
Shotgun, it shoots much quicker than the
normal Shotgun and does more damage.
Rocket Launcher: Shoots Rockets… It has

a slow shooting speed but the rockets can
do quite a lot of damage and it has a long
range. Best used against Worms or
Spawners rather than actual units.
Flamethrower: Again, self-explanatory.

This is actually probably the least effective
hand held weapon. Fairly good for clearing
trees, but not the best against enemies.
Landmine: Landmines in Factorio are
almost exactly like they are in real life. Place
them on the ground and any enemy that
crosses over them triggers it. Actually fairly
good to place outside your walls. Robots
can also replace them once used up.
Basic Bullet Magazine: The simplest and

weakest of the ammunition. Even though it
is the weakest ammunition type, it is still
pretty good up until mid-game. Only
requires Iron Plate to build.
Piercing Bullet Magazine: Piercing Ammo

does more damage than the basic level and
so it is more affective against things with
higher armor. Requires Copper Plate and
Steel to make.
Shotgun Shell: Basic Shotgun Ammunition.
Piercing Shotgun Shell: These do far

more damage than the normal Shotgun
Shells. Highly recommended to use these in
the Combat Shotgun.
Cannon Shell: This is used in the Cannon

of the Tank.
Explosive Cannon Shell: These do more

explosion damage and less physical
damage than the normal Cannon Shells.
They also do damage in a small AoE.
Rocket: Basic Ammunition for the Rocket

Launcher.
Explosive Rocket: Do less damage than

the normal Rocket, but have AoE damage.
Flamethrower Ammo: Ammunition used in

the Flamethrower.
Grenade: Just like in real life. You throw

these and they do some explosion damage
in a small area.
Poison Capsule: Poison Capsules are

thrown and do poison damage in a large
area of time. The affect can stack so
throwing multiple ones will do more
damage.
Slowdown Capsule: Also thrown, and slow

down any enemies they hit for a period of
time. Great if you are being chased down by
Biters/Spitters and normally couldn't get
away.
Defender Capsule: Defender Capsules are

the first level of these type of capsules.
They spawn robots that follow you around
after being thrown out and shoot anything
that gets in range. They do physical
damage.
Distractor Capsule: These are meant to do

exactly what their name says. They distract
enemies by drawing the attacks their
attacks to them. Distractor Capsules don'
follow you and are stay stationary wherever
you throw them.
Destroyer Capsule: Destroyer Capsules

are by far the strongest and do electric
damage. They follow you around like the
Defender Capsules, but do far more
damage. Each capsule also spawns more
robots than Defender Capsules.
Basic Discharge Defense Remote: Used

to trigger the Discharge Defense system
that goes into your Power Armor.
Basic Armor: The most basic armor. Only

costs Iron Plate to make and provides some
small resistances and armor.
Heavy Armor: Next level of armor up from

the Basic Armor. Made from Steel and is
more durable.
Basic Modular Armor: This is the first level

of armor that lets you put item modules in it
such as Shields, Personal Laser Defense,
Exoskeleton, etc…
Power Armor: The next level in up from
Modular Armor. It is stronger/more durable
and has more slots to put items in.
Power Armor MK2: The last level of Power

Armor types. Has even more slots than the
previous version and is even more durable
and has higher resistances.
Solar Panel Equipment: One of the items

you can put into your Modular or Power
Armor. Provides a small amount of power
during the day.
Fusion Reactor Equipment: Provides a

constant and steady source of power to
your Modular or Power Armor. Better than
the Solar Panel but costs a lot more.
Energy Shield Equipment: Can be

inserted into the Modular or Power Armor
and provides a small shield buffer as long
as it has power to charge/recharge.
Energy Shield MK2 Equipment: Next level

of shield. Requires more energy to charge
than the first version, but provides a larger
shield.
Battery Equipment: Basically like a small

Accumulator to go in your Modular/Power
Armor. It stores some energy that can be
used if the main supply is depleted.
Battery MK2 Equipment: Next level of

personal Battery Equipment. Stores more
energy but more expensive to make.
Basic Laser Defense Equipment: Can be

put into Modular/Power Armor and is
essentially like a small Laser Turret that will
shoot at anything that gets near you. Not
particular effective against large groups of
enemies though.
Electric Discharge Defense Equipment:

Also an item to go in the Modular/Power
Armor. It is triggered with the Basic
Discharge Defense Remote and emits an
electric discharge that damages nearby
enemies.
Basic Exoskeleton Equipment: Increases

your movement speed when put into
Modular/Power Armor. Does require
constant power to work though.
Personal Roboport Equipment: Goes into

your Modular/Power Armor and allows you
to use Construction Robots from inside your
inventory to build/deconstruct things. It
provides a small coverage zone around you
for them to work in. Adding more of these
will increase the coverage zone and the
number robots that can be used and charge
from you.
Night-vision Equipment: When inserted

into your armor it allows you to see better at
night. It does turn everything slightly green
though when it is on.
Stone Wall: Pretty self-explanatory. The

wall is made from Stone Bricks and is used
to protect your base from the enemies, or
cording off areas.
Gate: Gates can be built into Walls so that

you can leave/enter. They can also be built
over Railroad Tracks where there is a wall
so that the train can pass through a walled
off area.
Gun Turret: Automated turret that will shoot

at any enemies in range as long as it has
ammunition. It does physical damage.
Laser Turret: Laser Turrets do laser

damage and have a longer range than Gun
Turrets. They require electricity to shoot and
while idle so beware of that. They do shoot
slower than Gun Turrets though.
Radar: Keeps a small area around it

actively visible on the map, and also slowly
reveals (removes fog of war) a larger area
of the map around it.
Rocket Silo: The end-game structure which

is used to launch a Rocket and Satellite into
space to "complete" the game. You can
launch as many rockets as you want after
the first one and still continue to play the
game.

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PLAYERS STRATEGY GUIDE

About the game

Purpose of the guide

Next: How to use this guide

So, let's begin and remember the main objective of Factorio is to

Next: Initial observations

Water Copper Rail

Next: Collecting resources

Next: Belt and inserter mechanics

Splitters divide their inputs to the two

So for example if you have a belt of Copper, but all

Now as you might imagine, you can use multiple

So now you that know how Splitters work in

For example, say you want to merge one line of

Now at first glance you might think that it is only

Last is the ability to balance belts using Splitters.

This works because the Splitter is sending 50% of

Now if you want to balance a full belt with items on

This is pretty self-explanatory, but again the Splitter

First we have the Basic Inserter, and it actually doesn't do

All four types of Inserters do this the same way, so there is no

Things aren't quite as strict when it comes to how they pick up

Stack inserter and Inserter grab amounts

This setup has the Iron and

Advantages: Uses less

In this setup instead of having

Advantages: More throughput

Disadvantages: Uses more inserters since you need long

Level 1 AM Level 2 AM Level 3 AM

Module Slots 0 >2 4

Science Pack production setup will be covered in the following section.

The Green Science Packs are a fair bit more

Even though the belts and Inserters are a bit more

You can't see it in the picture, but this is actually

Oil Setup (shows battery setup)

The numbers that indicate how much pollution something produces

This Factorio wiki page is just the on Pollution. It explains

Factorio Friday Facts

Train Wait Conditions

Train station window

Single train Gui

Train and rail placement indicators

A picture album full of different junctions and crossings.

Next: Liquids and oil processing

Advanced Oil Processing

Next: The logistics system

The orange area

As long as a Roboport is connected to at least one other Roboport in the

Storage Chest: The Storage Chests are probably

Passive Provider Chest: These are the other

Active Provider Chest: This is fairly similar to the

One last important thing to note is that when a chest is ordered to be

Setup for automated production of Piercing Ammo

Automated Construction &

Now on to the actual construction and

The first way I mentioned which involves you

This orders the Constructions Robots to place

Logistics Assembling Machine setup

The process of automated

Player Logistic Slots & Trash Slots

Before we continue I would like to link to a Friday Facts article

Below is a summary of the article.

Smart Inserter Usage in the Logistics