Space Engineers is a game about building ships and stations, and components are the parts those builds are made from. Every ship, base and station is made of blocks, the pieces you place, and each block is put together from components, much like a brick wall is made from bricks. In Survival mode you need the right components in your inventory before you can build a block. The game sorts them into standard components and Prototech components.
Family
Standard
Bulletproof Glass
A transparent building part used in windows, cockpits, and other glazed blocks.
- Recipe
- 15 kg Silicon Wafer
- Assembly Time
- 1 s
- Mostly Used For
- Windows, cockpits, solar panels, LCDs, and some lights.
Computer
A widely used control part found in cockpits, antennas, screens, weapons, and doors.
- Recipe
- 0.5 kg Iron Ingot; 0.2 kg Silicon Wafer
- Assembly Time
- 1 s
- Mostly Used For
- Cockpits, antennas, LCDs, control blocks, weapons, and doors.
Construction Component
A common framing part used across many kinds of blocks.
- Recipe
- 8 kg Iron Ingot
- Assembly Time
- 1 s
- Mostly Used For
- A wide range of functional, decorative, and structural blocks.
Detector Components
A sensing part used in ore-finding, detection, and other functional blocks.
- Recipe
- 5 kg Iron Ingot; 15 kg Nickel Ingot
- Assembly Time
- 4 s
- Mostly Used For
- Ore Detectors, sensors, Jump Drives, antennas, and Automaton blocks.
Display
A screen part used in LCDs and other display-equipped blocks.
- Recipe
- 1 kg Iron Ingot; 5 kg Silicon Wafer
- Assembly Time
- 1 s
- Mostly Used For
- LCD screens and blocks with built-in displays or control panels.
Explosives
Explosives are used to build Warheads; loose stacks can detonate if shot.
- Recipe
- 2 kg Magnesium Powder; 0.5 kg Silicon Wafer
- Assembly Time
- 6 s
- Mostly Used For
- Warheads.
Girder
A frame part used in windows, renewable power blocks, Warheads, and walkways.
- Recipe
- 6 kg Iron Ingot
- Assembly Time
- 1 s
- Mostly Used For
- Windows, solar panels, wind turbines, Warheads, catwalks, and scaffolds.
Gravity Component
A high-tier part for gravity systems, Jump Drives, and Safe Zones.
- Recipe
- 600 kg Iron Ingot; 220 kg Cobalt Ingot; 5 kg Silver Ingot; 10 kg Gold Ingot
- Assembly Time
- 10 s
- Mostly Used For
- Gravity Generators, Jump Drives, Safe Zones, and Artificial Mass.
Interior Plate
A thin plate used in interior, conveyor, and Automaton blocks.
- Recipe
- 3 kg Iron Ingot
- Assembly Time
- 1 s
- Mostly Used For
- Interior walls, ramps, catwalks, furniture, conveyors, and Automaton blocks.
Large Steel Tube
A heavy tube used in many functional blocks, including thrusters, rotors, tanks, and reactors.
- Recipe
- 30 kg Iron Ingot
- Assembly Time
- 2 s
- Mostly Used For
- Thrusters, rotors, tanks, reactors, and other functional blocks.
Medical Components
A treatment part used in medical stations, survival equipment, and Cryo Chambers.
- Recipe
- 60 kg Iron Ingot; 70 kg Nickel Ingot; 20 kg Silver Ingot
- Assembly Time
- 6 s
- Mostly Used For
- Medical Rooms, Survival Kits, and Cryo Chambers.
Metal Grid
A reinforced frame used by thrusters and other demanding block recipes.
- Recipe
- 12 kg Iron Ingot; 5 kg Nickel Ingot; 3 kg Cobalt Ingot
- Assembly Time
- 2 s
- Mostly Used For
- Thrusters and other reinforced or heavy-duty blocks.
Motor
A rotating part used in conveyor hardware and moving functional blocks.
- Recipe
- 20 kg Iron Ingot; 5 kg Nickel Ingot
- Assembly Time
- 3 s
- Mostly Used For
- Conveyors, thrusters, doors, pistons, and rotors.
Power Cell
A stored-energy part used by batteries and several power or weapon blocks.
- Recipe
- 10 kg Iron Ingot; 2 kg Nickel Ingot; 1 kg Silicon Wafer
- Assembly Time
- 4 s
- Mostly Used For
- Batteries, Hydrogen Engines, Jump Drives, and some weapons.
Radio-comm Component
A communication part used in antennas, beacons, and sensors.
- Recipe
- 8 kg Iron Ingot; 1 kg Silicon Wafer
- Assembly Time
- 4 s
- Mostly Used For
- Antennas, beacons, antenna dishes, laser antennas, and sensors.
Reactor Components
A reactor part used in Small and Large Reactors.
- Recipe
- 15 kg Iron Ingot; 5 kg Silver Ingot; 20 kg Gravel
- Assembly Time
- 8 s
- Mostly Used For
- Small and Large Reactors.
Small Steel Tube
A narrow tube used in many structural and functional block recipes.
- Recipe
- 5 kg Iron Ingot
- Assembly Time
- 1 s
- Mostly Used For
- Catwalks, wheels, conveyors, furniture, and many other blocks.
Solar Cell
A light-capturing part used in Solar Panels.
- Recipe
- 3 kg Nickel Ingot; 6 kg Silicon Wafer
- Assembly Time
- 2 s
- Mostly Used For
- Solar Panels.
Steel Plate
A basic plate used throughout ship, vehicle, and station construction.
- Recipe
- 21 kg Iron Ingot
- Assembly Time
- 1 s
- Mostly Used For
- The framework and armor of most ships, vehicles, and stations.
Superconductor
An electrical part used in several late-game blocks, including Jump Drives and railguns.
- Recipe
- 10 kg Iron Ingot; 2 kg Gold Ingot
- Assembly Time
- 8 s
- Mostly Used For
- Jump Drives, Artificial Mass, Laser Antennas, large reactors, railguns, and Yield Modules.
Thruster Components
A propulsion part required for Ion Thrusters; Atmospheric and Hydrogen Thrusters do not use it.
- Recipe
- 30 kg Iron Ingot; 10 kg Cobalt Ingot; 1 kg Gold Ingot; 0.4 kg Platinum Ingot
- Assembly Time
- 4 s
- Mostly Used For
- Ion Thrusters only.
Family
Prototech
Prototech Capacitor
An energy-storage part used by Prototech Batteries and Jump Drives.
- Recipe
- 12 kg Iron Ingot; 4 kg Silicon Wafer; 3 kg Silver Ingot; 6 kg Gold Ingot; 1.5 kg Prototech Scrap
- Assembly Time
- 16 s
- Mostly Used For
- Prototech Batteries and Prototech Jump Drives.
Prototech Circuitry
An electronic part used across several Prototech block recipes.
- Recipe
- 5 kg Iron Ingot; 8 kg Silicon Wafer; 2 kg Gold Ingot; 1.5 kg Platinum Ingot; 1.75 kg Prototech Scrap
- Assembly Time
- 11 s
- Mostly Used For
- Prototech Batteries, Prototech Jump Drives, and other Prototech blocks.
Prototech Cooling Unit
A thermal part used by Prototech machines and Thrusters.
- Recipe
- 80 kg Iron Ingot; 12 kg Gold Ingot; 3.25 kg Platinum Ingot; 2.5 kg Prototech Scrap
- Assembly Time
- 9 s
- Mostly Used For
- Prototech Assemblers, Refineries, Drills, and Thrusters.
Prototech Machinery
An internal machine part used in Prototech production and mining blocks.
- Recipe
- 45 kg Iron Ingot; 12 kg Nickel Ingot; 7 kg Silicon Wafer; 3 kg Gold Ingot; 1.15 kg Prototech Scrap
- Assembly Time
- 12 s
- Mostly Used For
- Prototech Assemblers, Refineries, and Drills.
Prototech Panel
A Prototech building part used across several block recipes.
- Recipe
- 35 kg Iron Ingot; 7 kg Nickel Ingot; 3 kg Cobalt Ingot; 4 kg Magnesium Powder
- Assembly Time
- 4 s
- Mostly Used For
- A common requirement in Prototech block recipes.
Prototech Propulsion Unit
A propulsion core used to build Prototech Thrusters.
- Recipe
- 60 kg Iron Ingot; 24 kg Cobalt Ingot; 6 kg Gold Ingot; 3 kg Platinum Ingot; 1.25 kg Prototech Scrap
- Assembly Time
- 14 s
- Mostly Used For
- Prototech Thrusters.
What Are Space Engineers Components?
Components sit in the middle of the building chain. Mined ore is refined into materials such as iron and nickel, those materials are turned into components, and components are welded together to make blocks. Blocks then join up to form grids, the game's word for any ship, vehicle or station. The components inside a block also set how tough and how heavy it is, so a block with more steel plates can take more punishment.
Where to Get Space Engineers Components
There are three main ways to get components. You can craft them in an Assembler, the machine that builds parts from refined materials, grind down existing blocks to recover their parts, or loot the containers on pre-built ships. Grinding is the way to reclaim parts from a build you no longer need.
Early on, the Survival Kit does most of the work. It is your first respawn point and carries a small refinery and assembler, and it can craft a basic set that includes Construction Components, Motors, Interior Plates, Computers, Displays, Girders, Solar Cells and Steel Plates. That is enough to get a first base going. Mid-game parts such as Metal Grids and Radio-comm Components need a Basic Assembler, and the most advanced ones need a full Assembler.
Which Space Engineers Components Matter Most
The Construction Component is the one you'll use most, showing up in everything from lights and refineries to buttons, screens and welders. Steel Plates form the framework of most ships, vehicles and stations as light armor, and Metal Grids go into heavy armor, thrusters and many weapons. Motors go into moving and powered blocks like assemblers, welders and sliding doors, while Computers handle cockpits, antennas and control blocks. Power Cells feed batteries and hydrogen engines, and Radio-comm Components go into antennas, beacons and sensors.
Some components only matter once you reach bigger builds. Thruster Components are needed for Ion Thrusters, which space flight depends on, and they are expensive enough to be worth salvaging when you find them. They also need platinum, which you can only find on asteroids and moons after you reach space. Reactor Components go into Small and Large Reactors, while Superconductors show up in a small set of late-midgame and early-endgame blocks such as Jump Drives and Railguns.
Two more components stand out for their own reasons. Gravity Components are among the heaviest items you'll carry, and they go into gravity generators, jump drives and safe zones. Medical Components go into Medical Rooms, Survival Kits and Cryo Chambers. Explosives have a single job, which is building Warheads.
Prototech Components Explained
Prototech components are a rarer set that belongs to the late-game Prototech blocks. Most of them need Prototech Scrap, which a Prototech Assembler uses to build them. You get that scrap by grinding Prototech blocks.
The Prototech Frame is the foundation of every Prototech block, and it can't be made at all, so you have to find frames in the cargo of new encounters. Grinding a Prototech block destroys its components, so the better approach is to grind the armor around it and lift the block out intact, which may take hacking first. You can then attach it to your own ship with merge blocks.
Prototech Panels are the exception to the scrap rule. They can be crafted without scrap.
FAQ
Do you need components to build in Creative mode?
No. Creative mode skips the material cost, so every block can be placed for free and appears already fully built and welded. You can test a design without gathering a single part first.
Are components used up when you build in Survival?
Yes, but not all at once. You need the components in your inventory before you can place a block, and they are then used up gradually while you weld. A block you've only partly welded has used only part of its parts. A Welder Block on a utility ship can also draw from that ship's conveyor system, as long as the parts are sitting there.
How do I see which components a block is still missing?
Point your handheld welder at the block and a tooltip in the top right of the screen lists what it needs and what you're short on. If you'd rather have the shortfall made for you, use the Build Planner, which queues the missing parts for an Assembler to produce.
What happens if your inventory fills up while grinding?
The extra parts don't stay in your hands. They drop onto the ground, or drift away if you're in zero gravity. The simple fix is to pause now and then and empty your inventory into a cargo container. To pick up parts that have dropped, press F near them.