All 11 Production Blocks and What They Make in Space Engineers

Production blocks are the factory machines in Space Engineers, the sandbox game about building ships and bases in space and on planets. They take raw things you gather, like ore, stone and algae, and turn them into metal, parts and food. Most of what you build depends on them, so they're among the first things you'll set up.

Basic Assembler

An early-game assembler for basic components and tools.

Grid Sizes

Large grid

Produces or Refines

Makes a limited selection of components, basic tools, weapons and ammunition; can disassemble supported items.

Speed

-

Yield

-

Upgrade Module Ports

-

Power Use

1 kW idle; up to 280 kW while operating.

DLC Pack

Base game

Assembler

The full large-grid assembler for broad production and disassembly.

Grid Sizes

Large grid

Produces or Refines

Makes components, weapons, tools, ammunition and other supported items; can also disassemble items.

Speed

Standard Assembler baseline; Speed Modules increase production speed.

Yield

-

Upgrade Module Ports

Up to 4 modules; 8 mount points for Speed and Power Efficiency Modules.

Power Use

Up to 560 kW at full base speed; Speed Modules increase power use.

DLC Pack

Base game

Industrial Assembler

A Heavy Industry Pack reskin of the Assembler with a larger body.

Grid Sizes

Large grid

Produces or Refines

Same production and disassembly functions as the Assembler.

Speed

Same functionality and speed as the standard Assembler.

Yield

-

Upgrade Module Ports

Up to 4 modules; 8 mount points, arranged differently from the standard Assembler.

Power Use

Same as the standard Assembler: up to 560 kW at full base speed.

DLC Pack

Heavy Industry Pack

Prototech Assembler

A large-grid assembler that manufactures most Prototech components.

Grid Sizes

Large grid

Produces or Refines

Makes Prototech components other than Prototech Frames.

Speed

-

Yield

-

Upgrade Module Ports

-

Power Use

1 kW idle; 4 MW while operating.

DLC Pack

Base game

Basic Refinery

A compact early-game refinery for common ores and Stone.

Grid Sizes

Large grid

Produces or Refines

Refines Iron, Nickel, Cobalt, Silicon and Magnesium ores, plus Stone, into ingots or other materials.

Speed

Base factor 0.65; 50% of the Refinery's base factor of 1.3.

Yield

70% of standard Refinery yield for ores it can process; cannot refine Gold, Silver, Platinum or Uranium ores.

Upgrade Module Ports

No Upgrade Module attachment ports.

Power Use

1 kW idle; 330 kW operating reference in vanilla 1.210.014.

DLC Pack

Base game

Refinery

A full-size large-grid refinery that processes every ore.

Grid Sizes

Large grid

Produces or Refines

Refines all ores into ingots or other materials.

Speed

Base refining speed factor 1.3; the standard comparison block.

Yield

Standard Refinery baseline; conversion ratios vary by ore.

Upgrade Module Ports

Up to 4 modules: Speed, Yield or Power Efficiency.

Power Use

Up to 560 kW at base maximum speed; Speed Modules increase power use.

DLC Pack

Base game

Industrial Refinery

A Heavy Industry Pack reskin of the full-size Refinery.

Grid Sizes

Large grid

Produces or Refines

Same ore processing as the Refinery; refines all ores into ingots or other materials.

Speed

Same as the standard Refinery; base factor 1.3.

Yield

Same as the standard Refinery; conversion ratios vary by ore.

Upgrade Module Ports

Up to 4 modules: Speed, Yield or Power Efficiency.

Power Use

Same as the standard Refinery: up to 560 kW at base maximum speed.

DLC Pack

Heavy Industry Pack

Prototech Refinery

An end-game refinery with built-in speed and yield boosts.

Grid Sizes

Small and large grids

Produces or Refines

Refines all ores into ingots or other materials.

Speed

Large grid: factor 5.5, about 423% of the standard Refinery. Small grid: factor 1.5, about 115% of the large-grid standard Refinery.

Yield

Large grid: 200% of standard Refinery yield. Small grid: 125% of standard Refinery yield.

Upgrade Module Ports

No Upgrade Module mount points.

Power Use

Both sizes: 1 kW idle. Small grid: up to 425 kW; large grid: up to 1.12 MW.

DLC Pack

Base game

Survival Kit

A respawn and life support block that also makes basic parts and processes Stone.

Grid Sizes

Small and large grids

Produces or Refines

Processes Stone into Gravel, Iron Ingots, Nickel Ingots and Silicon Wafers; makes basic components and tools, plus Kelp Crisp from Algae.

Speed

Refining factor 0.3 for Stone; the Refinery is 1.3.

Yield

For Stone, 100 kg yields 3 kg Iron, 0.24 kg Nickel, 0.4 kg Silicon and 1.4 kg Gravel.

Upgrade Module Ports

-

Power Use

15 kW idle; up to 200 kW.

DLC Pack

Base game

Survival Kit Type II

An Apex Survival Pack version of the Survival Kit with different ports.

Grid Sizes

Small and large grids

Produces or Refines

Same as the Survival Kit: processes Stone and makes basic components and tools, plus Kelp Crisp from Algae.

Speed

Refining factor 0.3 for Stone; the Refinery is 1.3.

Yield

Same Stone conversion as the Survival Kit.

Upgrade Module Ports

-

Power Use

Same as the Survival Kit: 15 kW idle; up to 200 kW.

DLC Pack

Apex Survival Pack

Food Processor

A large-grid food station for making rations, cooking meat and harvesting seeds or spores.

Grid Sizes

Large grid

Produces or Refines

Makes Meal Packs, cooks raw Mammal or Insect Meat, and harvests seeds or spores from Fruit, Grain, Mushrooms and Vegetables.

Speed

-

Yield

-

Upgrade Module Ports

-

Power Use

-

DLC Pack

Base game

How Production Blocks Turn Ore Into Parts

Most production runs as a chain. A refinery melts ore, the rock you mine, into ingots, the metal bars that everything else is made from. An assembler then turns those ingots into components, the parts that go into blocks, tools and weapons. Connect the two with a conveyor and the refinery passes its ingots straight to the assembler, so the whole chain can run with little help from you.

A refinery also pulls ore from a connected container whenever it runs low. That means you only have to keep the container stocked, not the refinery itself.

How to Queue Parts in an Assembler

Look at the assembler and press K to open its Production screen, then make sure it's set to assembly mode. Click the item you want, and it joins a queue. You can drag queued items to change their order, or click one to remove it. Finished parts land in the assembler's inventory, and Repeat Mode keeps the same queue going whenever it has the materials to do so.

Disassembly mode works in reverse. Queue an item there and the assembler breaks it down, returning the materials it cost to make, which is a handy way to reclaim metal from parts you no longer need. Each assembler works one queue at a time, so you need a second one to build and take apart at once. With several assemblers, you can set one as the primary and turn on Cooperative Mode on the others, so they share the work while you queue everything on the primary.

Starting Out With a Survival Kit

The Survival Kit is the first production block most players get, and it does a lot for its size. It works as a small factory, a health station, a suit recharge point and a respawn point, so if you die, you can spawn back at your kit. Its built-in refinery handles stone only, which you can mine by hand or with a drill. Its built-in assembler makes many of the parts you need for a Basic Refinery and a Basic Assembler, which is why it's the first stop.

Keep the kit powered at all times, and don't switch it off until you have a second kit or a Medical Room somewhere else. An unpowered kit can't respawn you, so a power cut at the wrong moment can leave you with no way back.

A second version, the Survival Kit Type II, works the same way with its ports placed differently. It needs the Apex Survival Pack DLC to build.

Moving From Basic to Full Refineries and Assemblers

The basic versions are a stepping stone, and they have clear limits. The Basic Refinery can't handle the rarer ores, including platinum, uranium, silver and gold, and it runs at about half the speed of a full Refinery. The Basic Assembler makes only a limited set of parts and ammo, and it can't make explosives, thruster components, superconductors, reactor components or gravity components. Once you need those, you'll want the full versions, which only fit large grids.

Full-size blocks take upgrade modules that change how they run. Speed modules make them faster but use more power, and Power Efficiency modules cut the power they need. The Refinery also takes Yield modules, and four of them can double its ingot output.

Keeping Production Blocks Fed and Powered

Every production block needs power, the right input and a way for its output to leave. You can load inputs by hand, or connect them by conveyor so a drill or a cargo container keeps them supplied. Finished output goes into connected cargo containers once the block's own inventory fills up. Low power slows a block down, and no power stops it completely.

Production also stalls when an input holds the wrong material, or when a sorter or broken conveyor blocks the flow. Gravel is a common troublemaker, because it's left over from refining stone and can fill an input and hold up everything behind it. A cargo container in the line works as a buffer, and sorters and ejectors can pull the gravel out.

How to Make Food in Space Engineers

Food only matters when food consumption is switched on in your world, and when it is, your engineer's hunger drains over time. The Survival Kit can make the simplest food, Kelp Crisp, from algae, which you get from an Algae Farm. The Food Processor makes Meal Packs, the better long-term choice, and it can cook raw meat from ingredients stored in it.

Cook raw meat in a Food Processor before you eat it, and remember that raw grain and algae need processing too. The Food Processor can pull ingredients from connected containers by conveyor, and any Meal Pack recipe you can't make yet shows in red on its Production tab.

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