Sandustry Materials & Resources Index
The official roster lists 55 pixel materials, 34 buildings, and 21 tools VERIFIED. Every material is an individually simulated pixel entity, so density and phase matter as much as quantity. This index covers the materials you'll actually handle, grouped by role, with the recipes that tie them together.
The Materials Behind the Core Loop
| Material | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sand | Base resource | Flows downhill, absorbs water. The foundation of everything. |
| Water | Reagent | With sand → wet sand. Boils to steam, condenses to rain. |
| Wet Sand | Intermediate | 1 sand + 1 water = 2 wet sand. Fed to the Shaker. |
| Gold | Currency | Shaker output; banked in a Collector for research. |
| Residue | Waste | Shaker byproduct; route it away or it buries your machines. |
Heat & Lava Chain
| Material | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Slag | Burn input | Burned (probabilistically) into Burnt Slag. |
| Burnt Slag | Press input | Dropped ≥25 blocks onto a Slag Press → 1 gold + 1 spore. |
| Spore | Press output | Carries water-density; sort via a 1-wide channel launcher. |
| Lava | Heat & fluid | Heat source and hazard; freezable by the Cryoblaster. |
| Scoria / Cinder | Chain | Frozen lava → scoria → cinder; cinder feeds burners for water. |
| Steam | Phase | Water boiled; rises and condenses back — the basis of water loops. |
Special & Advanced
| Material | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fluxite | Advanced tech | Purple; found deeper, gates later tech. |
| Auralite | Swarm tech | 1,000-Auralite threshold for the Aura Extractor achievement. |
| Snow / Red Sand | Terrain | Environmental materials with their own handling. |
Density is a mechanic, not a footnote. Wet spores and similar materials separate by density — that's why a 1-block-wide channel with a launcher on top auto-sorts them. Build your sorting around density, not just filters.
Recipe Recap
- Gold line 1: 1 Sand + 1 Water → 2 Wet Sand → Shaker → Gold + Residue (~4 wet sand per gold).
- Gold line 2: Slag → (burn) → Burnt Slag → (≥25-block drop on Press) → 1 Gold + 1 Spore.
For the official list of pixel materials and density parameters, see the official Sandustry wiki (publisher-hosted reference).