Skip to content
SandustryGuide

Sandustry Troubleshooting

Choose what you're seeing and we'll first check whether it's a factory setup, a normal game mechanic, a settings problem, or something that may need a game fix.

What's going wrong?

Jump to section

What problem are you having?

Is this actually a bug?

Sandustry physics can look broken when it is working as designed. Classify first.

Does the system behave consistently every time?

Does the behavior match one of these known mechanics?

Something looks wrong

↓

Known mechanic?

↓

Simple setup reproduces it?

↓

Restart changes it?

↓

Possible game issue

Factory problems

This page routes the problem. It does not re-diagnose a single machine.

What kind of problem?

Pipes and liquid problems

Check the outlet and the pipe network before assuming a liquid bug.

Controls and mouse problems

This page only covers broken input. Normal controls live on Getting Started.

UI and display problems

Reset to a known-good resolution and UI scale before diagnosing deeper.

Choose what you're seeing and we'll first check whether it's a factory setup, a normal game mechanic, a settings problem, or something that may need a game fix.

Low FPS and performance problems

If performance gets worse as your factory grows, first reduce the amount of loose simulated material and isolate whether one production area is causing the slowdown.

  • Check first
  • □ Huge loose material piles
  • □ Large Flower / Vine growth zones
  • □ Excess Water / liquid in open areas
  • □ Very large Gold storage piles
  • □ Factory sections continually backing up
  • □ Unnecessary active production

When does FPS drop?

Game freezes or stops responding

  • Does it recover after waiting?
  • Does it happen around one factory?
  • Does it reproduce after reload?
  • Does it happen on an empty / simple area?

If only a complex factory freezes, treat it as simulation load first.

If a simple area also freezes the same way after reload, treat it as a possible game issue.

Save and progression problems

Do not start by deleting a save. Verify the milestone and Research gates first.

Do not start with

✕ Deleting your save

✕ Reinstalling everything

✕ Removing large parts of your factory

Start with

✓ Isolate

✓ Reproduce

✓ Verify mechanic

✓ Restart / reload

✓ Preserve save data

Problems that may be normal game behavior

Water disappeared

Unsettled Water can evaporate or leak. Check corners and consumption first.

Open Water Guide →

Florinol hardened

Florinol can solidify after it is used for Energy. That is expected conversion, not a vanished resource.

Open Energy Guide →

100K capacity but no milestone

Capacity is not the same as an actual Energy peak. The Energy page covers the 100K spike.

Open Energy Guide →

Flowers keep growing after Seed stops

A seedling may already have consumed Wet Seeds and will keep trying to make one Flower for each; the process remains zero-sum.

Open Flower Production →

Shaker gives inconsistent Gold

Direct Shaker Gold is chance-based. Residue recovery is the rest of the chain.

Open Gold Production →

Try the safest recovery steps first

  1. 01

    Stop / inspect the affected system

  2. 02

    Clear the immediate blockage or state

  3. 03

    Retest with a simple isolated setup

  4. 04

    Reload the current session

  5. 05

    Restart the game

  6. 06

    Verify platform / settings

  7. 07

    Document and report a reproducible issue

Use the right troubleshooting tool

Machine Doctor

One machine does not work.

Filters in Sandustry

Materials sort incorrectly.

Water in Sandustry

Pump / Pipe / Vent / Water problem.

Sandustry Research Planner

Something is still locked.

Sandustry Progression Guide

Story / milestone has not advanced.

How to report a reproducible Sandustry issue

Still broken after the safe checks? Copy a report that another person can reproduce.

Common troubleshooting questions

Why is Sandustry running slowly?+

If FPS drops as the factory grows, reduce loose simulated material first: Gold piles, Flower growth, open Water, and backed-up lines. Isolate whether one production area is causing the slowdown.

Why did my Water disappear?+

Unsettled Water can evaporate after roughly 45 seconds and Water can leak through diagonal corners. Check leaks, consumption and pipe outlets before treating it as a bug.

Why isn't my Liquid Vent working?+

Check that a Pump is feeding the network, the Vent is connected, the outlet has free space, and the Vent is not submerged in the destination liquid.

Why does my mouse or cursor feel misaligned?+

Reset UI scale and resolution to a standard setting, retest the display mode, then restart the game. If the offset remains after a known-good display setup, treat it as a possible game issue.

How can I tell whether something is a bug or a game mechanic?+

Ask whether it matches a known mechanic, whether a small isolated setup still reproduces it, and whether a reload changes it. Only the isolated, repeatable cases that fail those checks belong in a bug report.

What should I do before reinstalling or deleting my save?+

Isolate the system, reproduce the problem, verify the mechanic, then reload or restart. Keep the save. Deleting a save or reinstalling is not a first step.

Where should I go if one specific machine isn't working?+

Use Machine Doctor. This page is for game-wide, input, performance, UI, fluid and save routing — not a second diagnosis of a single machine.