Official Factorio Wiki - User contributions [en]

Circuit network

2023-12-16T16:55:03Z

Supply: /* Each */ added a more tangible explanation (based on boskid's Nov 29th clarification on Discord)

{{Languages}}
'''Circuit networks''' are built using [[Red wire|red]] or [[green wire]], and enable the control of receivers, based upon information broadcast onto the network by connected senders. Most senders are storage devices, and broadcast their information onto a specific channel, based on the item or liquid the storage device contains. Each circuit network contains a channel for every kind of item, as well as 48 extra [[#Virtual signals|virtual signals]] which act as user-definable channels. 'Everything', 'Anything' and 'Each' are also available wildcards.

[[File:shared_circuit_network.png|thumb|600px|right|Two circuit networks shared over one [[small electric pole]].]]

== Usage ==
=== Send information ===
Senders broadcast the amount of items or fluids they contain or other data definable by the player. Each amount is broadcast as a numeric value on a 'channel' corresponding to the item. For example, a Storage Tank containing 1000 Crude Oil will broadcast 1000 on the Crude Oil channel.

The channels are separated from each other, so each network can simultaneously carry a number for each item and fluid in the game, and for each of the extra user-defined channels (digits 0-9, letters A-Z, and 9 different colors). All unused channels have the value zero.

Multiple broadcasts of the same item or fluid are additive: If there are two connected Storage Tanks with 1000 Crude Oil each, the value of the Crude Oil channel within the network will be 2000.

All wires of the same color which are connected together by junctions form a network, i.e. they will pass their signals to each other. For example, if two red wires are connected to the same combinator input, each wire receives the content from the other. This can result in feedback if care is not taken; see Feedback (under [[#Combinators|arithmetic combinator]], below) for discussion.

Numbers are in the signed 32 bit integer range, i.e. from -2147483648 to 2147483647 inclusive, and are encoded in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two%27s_complement two's complement representation]. The numbers wrap around on overflow, so e.g. 2147483647 + 10 becomes -2147483639. When entering a number in a combinator it can appear to exceed the 32 bit limit until the GUI is closed, at which point the number will overflow/underflow. [https://forums.factorio.com/58419]

=== Control devices ===
Receivers can use broadcast information, in most cases to enable/disable the device. They can either compare results between different channels, or compare a channel to a specific value.

Receiving devices sum all signals from each wire connected to them, even red and green wires. For example, if an inserter is connected to a red wire carrying a signal for 20 copper plates and a green wire with 10 copper plates, the input signal set for that receiver will be 30 copper plates.

Multiple wires of the same color will share & sum their signals. For example, 3 chests A, B and C connected in a row (A -> B -> C) with green wire will output the sum of their contents along any green wire connected to any of the chests. However, if a red wire connects chest A to an inserter, that inserter will only be given the contents of A as its input signal.

== Devices ==

Each device that is able to be connected to a circuit network has a [[File:Circuit network panel.png]] icon located in the top right corner of its info pane. Clicking this icon will display the available circuit network options for that device (note: a red or green wire must be connected, otherwise the message "not connected" will display instead). Clicking the [[File:Logistic network panel.png]] icon next to it, the device can be connected to a logistic network if in range of one, which also allows conditions to be set.

Conditions can be set for both circuit (signals of red and green wires are summed) and logistic network, which will together act as a logical AND.

The following devices can be connected to a circuit network:

{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible"
|-
! Icon !! Name !! Possible output signals !! Possible circuit control !! Possible logistic network control
|-
| {{Icon|Transport belt||Transport belts}} || [[Transport belts]] || Transport belts can send their content to the circuit network.
*''Pulse mode'': The signal is sent for only 1 tick when the item enters the belt.
*''Hold mode'': The signal is sent continuously as long as the items are on the belt.
|| Transport belts can be enabled on a condition.
|| Transport belts can be enabled on a logistic network condition.
|-
| {{Icon|Inserter||Inserters}} || [[Inserters]] || All inserters can send their held items to the circuit network.
*''Pulse mode'': The signal is sent for only 1 tick when the item is picked up.
*''Hold mode'': The signal is sent continuously as long as the inserter is holding the item.
|| All inserters can be enabled on a condition. The inserter stack size can also be overridden from a control signal (configurable).
|| All inserters can be enabled on a logistic network condition.
|-
| {{Icon|Filter inserter}} || [[Filter inserter]] || Same as above. || The filter inserters can additionally set their filters from the circuit network: up to 5 items whose corresponding signal has a positive value are whitelisted. || Same as above.
|-
| {{Icon|Wooden chest||Chests}} || [[Chests]] || All chests can send their contents to the circuit network. Logistic chests automatically send their contents to the [[logistic network]]. ||
|-
| {{Icon|Requester chest}} || [[Requester chest]] || Can send its contents to the circuit network. Does ''not'' send its content to the [[logistic network]]. || Its requested items can be set by the circuit network. ||
|-
| {{Icon|Storage tank}} || [[Storage tank]] || The storage tank can send its fluid content to the circuit network. ||
|-
| {{Icon|Gate}} || [[Gate]] || Gates can send a signal to the circuit network.
*''Default'': Player detected = [[File:Signal-G.png|16px]]
|| Gates can be opened on a condition. ||
|-
| {{Icon|Rail signal}} || [[Rail signal]] || Rail signals can send their state to the circuit network.
*''Default'': [[File:Signal-Red.png|16px]][[File:Signal-Yellow.png|16px]][[File:Signal-Green.png|16px]]
Note: If red due to circuit network, does NOT output red signal
|| Rail signals can be set to red on a condition. ||
|-
| {{Icon|Rail chain signal}} || [[Rail chain signal]] || Rail chain signals can send their state to the circuit network.
*''Default'': [[File:Signal-Red.png|16px]][[File:Signal-Yellow.png|16px]][[File:Signal-Green.png|16px]][[File:Signal-Blue.png|16px]]
||
|-
| {{Icon|Train stop}} || [[Train stop]] || Train stops can send the contents of a stopped train to the circuit network as well as read a unique train identifier code. The amount of trains going to the train stop can be read by the circuit network. When reading the content of a stopped train, fluid amounts are rounded down to the nearest integer, except when the fluid amount is < 1, then it is is rounded to 1.
*''Default'': Train Count (en route) = [[File:Signal-C.png|16px]]
*''Default'': Stopped Train ID = [[File:Signal-T.png|16px]]
|| Train stops can send the contents of the circuit network to the train to use it for wait conditions, as well as enable/disable the stop itself. The maximum amount of trains that can go to the train stop ("train limit") can be set by the circuit network.
*''Default'': Set Limit = [[File:Signal-L.png|16px]]
|| Train stops can be enabled on a logistic network condition.
|-
| {{Icon|Accumulator}} || [[Accumulator]] || It can send its charge level in percent to the circuit network.
*''Default'': Charge % = [[File:Signal-A.png|16px]]
||
||
|-
| {{Icon|Roboport}} || [[Roboport]] || It can send its logistic network contents and/or its robot statistics to the circuit network. The signals used for robot statistics are configurable.
*''Default'': Available Logistics Bots = [[File:Signal-X.png|16px]]
*''Default'': Total Logistics Bots = [[File:Signal-Y.png|16px]]
*''Default'': Available Construction Bots = [[File:Signal-Z.png|16px]]
*''Default'': Total Construction Bots = [[File:Signal-T.png|16px]]
||
|-
| {{Icon|Burner mining drill}} || [[Mining drill]]s || All mining drills can send the expected resources, either from the drill itself or from the whole ore patch the drill is on. || Mining drills can be enabled on a condition. || Mining drills can be enabled on a logistic network condition.
|-
| {{Icon|Pumpjack}} || [[Pumpjack]] || It can output the current oil mining rate. || It can be enabled on a condition. || It can be enabled on a logistic network condition.
|-
| {{Icon|Power switch}} || [[Power switch]] || || Power switches can connect power networks on a condition. || It can be enabled on a logistic network condition.
|-
| {{Icon|Programmable speaker}} || [[Programmable speaker]] || || Shows alerts and plays sounds based on circuit network signals. It can be used to make simple tunes.
|-
| {{Icon|Lamp}} || [[Lamp]] || || The lamp can be enabled on a condition. If it receives color signals, it can set the given color. || The lamp can be enabled on a logistic network condition.
|-
| {{Icon|Offshore pump}} || [[Offshore pump]] || || The offshore pump can be enabled on a condition. || The offshore pump can be enabled on a logistic network condition.
|-
| {{Icon|Pump}} || [[Pump]] || || The pump can be enabled on a condition. || The pump can be enabled on a logistic network condition.
|}

== Physical network structure ==
A circuit network consists only of those devices connected together with the same color wire. Wire can be strung directly from device to device, or across any intervening power poles. Wire length is limited by its previous connection.

Note that each connected set of wires forms a separate network. For example, it's entirely possible to have four red-wire networks and three green-wire networks. If red and green wires happen to touch the same power pole or device, the red and green networks will remain separate and will not link up. However, two red cables or two green cables will link if they touch. Use different colored cables to separate networks in close proximity.

* To connect wires or cables to a power pole, simply click on one entity, then on the base of the power pole.
* To erase a wire or cable connection, place the same color wire over an existing connection. You don't get the wire/cable back.
* To remove '''all''' connections from a power pole, shift-click on the pole. The first shift-click will remove all electrical connections, and the second will remove all red and green wires. You don't get the wires back.
* When connecting to a [[arithmetic combinator]] or [[decider combinator]], take care to connect the wire to the correct input or output side. Use "Show details" mode to see the orientation of the combinator.
* Hovering the mouse cursor over an item will highlight all wires which connect to the item.
* Hovering the mouse cursor over a power pole which is part of a network will display the signals on its network. Some items like combinators will also display their input and output signals when hovered over.

== Combinators ==
Combinators can function as both receiving and sending devices and allow more advanced functions to be used on a circuit network.

*The [[constant combinator]] broadcasts up to 20 values on any of the channels for whatever networks it is connected to. (You cannot currently specify whether a value should be on the red or green channel; if you need different values, use two combinators, one for each color wire.) You can use any item channel or any of the [[#Virtual signals|virtual signal]] channels.
**Note that using two of the 20 slots to broadcast values on the '''same''' channel is the same as broadcasting the sum of the two values from one slot.
*The [[arithmetic combinator]] performs arithmetic operations on input values and broadcasts the result to the specified output channel. The input and output channels can be any item channel or any of the virtual signal channels.
** Connecting: The arithmetic combinator connects to a red or green network on its '''input''' side (the terminals are set into the main body and look like spark plugs) and performs an arithmetic calculation which is broadcast into the specified channel on its '''output''' side (the output wires appear to stretch out a bit from the body of the device).
** Feedback: Note that the input network and the output network '''are not the same network'''. Connecting the output network back to the input network will result in a feedback loop. For example, adding 1 to the value for copper plates and broadcasting it as copper plates is an action that results in an infinite loop if output is connected back to input. The value for copper plates will rapidly (but not instantly) shoot upward. (The rate at which it climbs is determined by the current tick rate.) This technique can be combined with decider combinator logic to make electronic clocks, gates, and other systems; see [[Tutorial:Combinator tutorial|Combinator Tutorial]] for advanced techniques.
** Each: This combinator can use the 'Each' signal for both input and output, in which case '''all''' non-zero input channels will have the combinator's operation performed and broadcast on the output side. Having Each signals for input and output and using a non-changing operation (like adding zero) is equivalent to having a 'one-way' wire; all the information from the input network is copied to the output network, but the reverse is not true.
**Multi-network: The arithmetic combinator can be joined to both red and green networks on the input side and will sum their inputs.
*The [[decider combinator]] functions much like an arithmetic combinator, but is designed to compare values. Essentially, it is a conditional. In terms of connecting, feedback, and the Each signal it functions as specified above. In addition, it can handle the Everything and Anything signals, and performs more complex functions than summing when attached to multiple networks. See the [[decider combinator]] page for more details on how to use this.

== Virtual signals ==
[[File:Virtual Signals dialog box.png|thumb|Virtual Signals available for use in the circuit network]]
Virtual signals are special non-item signals. Other than the three logic signals, virtual signals do not behave differently from item signals.

48 virtual signals can be sent over a network. They include the digits zero through nine, the letters A through Z, a check-mark, dot and info icon, and the colors red, green, blue, yellow, magenta, cyan, white, gray and black.

=== Logic signals ===
[[File:logic_signals.png|300px|thumb|The icons of the three logic signals]]
Three of the virtual signals cannot be sent over a network but apply special logic to multiple signals.

==== Everything ====
''Everything'' can be used on the left side in conditionals. The condition will be true when the condition is true for each input signal. The condition is also true if there are no signals. This means that the ''everything'' signal behaves as [[:Wikipedia:universal quantification|universal quantification]].

If a signal (rather than a constant number) is used on the right side of the comparison with ''everything'', it is implicitly excluded from the set of signals that ''everything'' checks, so the signal is not matched against itself. That means it is meaningful test e.g. ''everything'' > ''X'', without getting a trivially false result on ''X'' > ''X''.

The output of a [[decider combinator]] may also use ''everything'', unless the input is set to ''each''. When used, the combinator will output signal on every channel with non-zero input as long as the condition is true; the value will either be the input value or 1, depending on the corresponding setting.

==== Anything ====
''Anything'' can be used on the left side of conditions. It will be false when there are no inputs. The condition will be true when the condition is true for at least one signal. This means the ''anything'' signal behaves as [[:Wikipedia:existential quantification|existential quantification]].

If a signal (rather than a constant number) is used on the right side of the comparison with ''anything'', it is implicitly excluded from the set of signals that ''anything'' checks, so the signal is not matched against itself. That means it is meaningful test e.g. ''anything'' >= ''X'', without getting a trivially true result on ''X'' >= ''X''.

When used in both the input and output of a decider combinator, ''anything'' will return one of the signals that matched.

==== Each ====
''Each'' can only be used in left input side and output of [[decider combinator|decider]] and [[arithmetic combinator|arithmetic]] combinators. The signal can only be used as an output when also used as an input. When used in both the input and output, it makes a combinator perform its action on each input signal individually. The combinator will output the sum of each of the actions if only used in the input.

A combinator using ''each'' is like a stack of combinators with all inputs connected and all outputs connected in parallel. For example, if there are signals "copper" and "iron" present, one combinator would be evaluating conditions for copper, and the other combinator would be evaluating conditions for iron. The different output signals would then be added together on the shared wire.

Unlike ''everything'' and ''anything'' above, if a signal is used on the right hand side of an ''each'' operation, it is NOT implicitly excluded. So if you e.g. have ''each'' * ''X'' then you will also get ''X'' multiplied with itself in the output.

Each as an input will only be processed on signals that have a non-zero value. If you have a [[decider combinator|decider]] condition that inputs and output each, but wants to output only one value for an input signal that passes the condition, it will never output 1 for a signal which has a zero value, even if the condition is one that would be passed for a zero value.

== Tutorials ==
*'''[[Tutorial:Circuit network cookbook]]''' - ''Example-heavy tutorials; for beginners who want to get to know and use the benefits of the circuit network.''
*'''[[Tutorial:Combinator tutorial]]''' - ''Mainly textual and detailed tutorials.''

== Logistic network ==
The logistic network used by [[logistic robot]]s is essentially a third network (a wireless one), along with the green and red wired networks. The logistic network is based on coverage by [[roboport]]s.

Some devices can also be connected to the logistic network and enabled based on a condition. If a device has conditions set for circuit and for logistic network, it will become activated if both conditions are true. Devices that can also be controlled with the logistic network:
* Transport belts
* Inserters
* Train stop
* Mining drills
* Pumpjack
* Power switch
* Lamp
* Offshore pump
* Pump

See the [[logistic network]] and [[roboport]] articles for more information.

== History ==

{{history|0.15.0|
* Significantly improved circuit network performance. Up to 25 times less CPU usage and 10% less memory usage.
* Added the Programmable Speaker: it shows alerts and plays sounds based on circuit network signals. It can be used to make simple songs.
* Train Stop can output the contents of the stopped train's cargo.
* Train Stop can be disabled using the circuit network. Trains will skip disabled Train Stops, allowing simple train control.
* Mining Drills can be turned on and off using the circuit network. They can also output the remaining expected resources.
* Pumpjacks can be turned on and off using the circuit network. They can also output the current oil mining rate.
* Added Modulo, Power, Left Bit Shift, Right Bit Shift, Bitwise AND, Bitwise OR and Bitwise XOR to the Arithmetic Combinator.
* Added additional operators to the Decider Combinator and Circuit Conditions.}}

{{history|0.13.0|
* Many machines are now connectible to the circuit network.
* Wire disconnecting is incorporated into the latency hiding.
* Wires are now highlighted on entity mouseover.
* Reduced memory usage of circuit network.}}

{{history|0.12.33|
* Fluid values are rounded to the closest value instead of rounding down when transmitted to circuit network.}}

{{history|0.12.1|
* One can copy paste circuit network conditions between the [[inserter]], [[lamp]], [[pump]] and [[offshore pump]]. }}

{{history|0.12.0|
* Improvements to circuit network connection, one can connect multiple wires of the same color to the same entity.
* The [[lamp]], [[storage tank]], [[pump]] and [[offshore pump]] can be connected to the circuit network.
}}

{{history|0.10.0|
* [[Blueprint]]s copy circuit network connections.}}

{{history|0.8.3|
* Circuit network contents info has colored slots to specify the network it represents.}}

{{history|0.1.0|
* Introduced}}

{{C|Logistics{{!}}#Circuit network}} {{C|Circuit network{{!}}#Circuit network}}

Railway/Train path finding

2023-12-16T13:35:39Z

Supply: /* Repath events */ clarified that a new destination train stop can be picked as seen in FFF #378

{{Languages}}
Before a train moves to a target (in this case, a [[Train stop]]), it calculates the best route based on the railway network at that time.

== Path finding penalties ==

For calculation it uses a simple [[WIKIPEDIA:A*_search_algorithm|A*-algorithm]][https://www.factorio.com/blog/post/fff-331]: The pathfinder first builds a list of non-disabled stops that match the name in the schedule, then searches outward from both ends of the train at once, if applicable, in segments. A segment is an uninterrupted plain sequence of rails, with no intersections, stops, or signals (all of which define segment borders). The cost (distance) is calculated using the following weighting rules:
* Base cost for a block/segment is the length of the segment (linear grid length along the center of the rail).
* When the rail block is occupied by a train -> Add a penalty of 2 * length of the block divided by block distance from the start, so the far away occupied paths don't matter much.
* When the rail block is guarded by a [[rail signal]] set to red by the [[circuit network]] -> Add a penalty of 1000.
* When the path includes a train stop -> Add a penalty of 2000.
* When the rail block contains a train that is stopped at a train stop -> Add a penalty of 500.
* When the rail block contains a train that is stopped at a train stop and the train doesn't have other valid stops in its schedule -> Add a penalty of 1000.
* When the rail block contains a manually controlled stopped train with a passenger -> Add a penalty of 2000.
* When the rail block contains a manually controlled stopped train without a passenger -> Add a penalty of 7000.
* When the rail block contains an automatic train without a schedule -> Add a penalty of 7000.
* When the rail block contains a train currently arriving to a train stop -> Add a penalty of 100.
* When the rail block contains a train currently arriving to a rail signal -> Add a penalty of 100.
* When the rail block contains a train currently waiting at a rail signal -> Add a penalty of 100 + 0.1 for every tick the train has already waited.
* When the rail block contains a train that doesn't have a path -> Add a penalty of 1000.

== Path Revalidation ==
A rail path will be revalidated if any event happens that could make this trains path invalid. If the path is found to be invalid then the game will repath the train. Path revalidation just confirms that the current path is still valid and does not confirm that it is still the best.
The following events cause path revalidation:
* A rail is destroyed (all trains are revalidated).
* A rail is created and invalidates a signal (all trains are revalidated) .
* A signal (chain or regular) is created or destroyed (all trains are revalidated).
* A rail block changes and invalidates a signal (chain or regular) (all trains are revalidated).
* [https://lua-api.factorio.com/latest/LuaTrain.html#LuaTrain.recalculate_path LuaTrain::recalculate_path()] is called on the train by a script.
* The train's schedule is changed.
* The train's braking force gets changed and the train is currently driving normally, arriving at a signal (chain or regular) or arriving at a station.
* The train has waited at a chain signal for a multiple of 5 seconds.

== Repath events ==
There are a number of events that can cause a train to repath listed below. When one of these conditions is met the game considers possible paths from the train's current location to any train stop matching the destination name in the train's schedule and will chose the path with the lowest score according to the penalties listed above.
=== User / script generated events ===
* A locomotive that is part of the train is rotated.
* [https://lua-api.factorio.com/latest/LuaTrain.html#LuaTrain.recalculate_path LuaTrain::recalculate_path(true)] is called on the train by a script.
* The train is switched to automatic control when it was previously manually controlled.
* The train is set to go to a station using the "Go to stop" button in the train's GUI.
* A waypoint (train stop without wait condition) is removed from the train's schedule.

=== Repaths that happen as part of normal train operation ===
* A train fails a revalidation.
* The train stop a train is heading to is renamed or destroyed.
* The train is preparing to stop at a signal (chain or regular) that changes so that the train can now continue.
* The train is braking for a signal (chain or regular) it cant reserve.
* The train enters a new rail block and can't reserve the next needed signal (chain or regular).
* The train has waited at a chain signal for a multiple of 5 seconds and there are multiple train stops with the same name as the destination.
* The train has waited at a chain signal for a multiple of 30 seconds and there is only a single train stop with the same name as the destination.
* The train wants to depart from a signal (chain or regular) that it stopped at.
* The train wants to depart from a train stop.
* The train is pathing to a train stop that gets disabled.

=== Destination full / No path trains ===
* A rail gets created.
* A train stop that is part of the train's schedule gets enabled, renamed or created.
* The train limit of a train stop that is part of the train's schedule becomes not full.
* The train stop that it currently cannot reach gets disabled or destroyed.

=== Others ===
* The train collides with something that is not a train (like a player).

== History ==

{{History|0.18.1|
* Train stop at train's starting segment exit is no longer counted into penalty. (Not mentioned above)}}

{{History|0.17.38|
* When a train performs path finding while in a chain signal sequence, the pathfinding will have a constraint to not go through reserved block before exiting the chain sequence. This solves a problem of train intersections being possible to be deadlocked even with proper chain signals usage in cases of using temporary stops or when path is changed because of station is being enabled/disabled by a circuit network. This also allowed us to to let train recalculate path spontaneously even in chain signal sequence, as it shouldn't break anything now.}}

{{History|0.16.42|
* Added train path finding penalty for train with no path equal to 1000 tiles}}

{{History|0.16.0|
* The specific penalties can now be found in the utility constants, which allows mods to change them. (Undocumented)}}

{{History|0.15.0|
* Train station adds 2000 tiles penalty when path finding, so trains try to avoid stations not related to their path.}}

{{History|0.11.17|
* Increased the pathing penalty for non-moving train in manual mode from 200 to 1000.}}

{{History|0.11.13|
* Stopped, manually controlled train adds additional penalty (related to train path finding) of 200 tiles to the block it occupies.}}

{{History|0.11.11|
* The pathfinding is based on penalties for blocked segments now. For trains waiting in station, the more remaining time in the station, the bigger penalty.}}

== See also ==

* [https://gist.github.com/Rseding91/c0d4d08d6feaed618ed4a03f6c6a8fe6 Train pathfinding code]
* [https://www.factorio.com/blog/post/fff-331 FFF #331]
* [https://www.factorio.com/blog/post/fff-68 FFF #68]
* [[Railway]]

{{C|Railway{{!}}#Railway/Train path finding}}

Train stop

2023-12-16T13:17:08Z

Supply: added that train limit reservations are non-binding

{{Languages}}
{{:Infobox:Train stop}}

'''Train stops''' are used to automate item transportation by trains by providing nameable locations for trains to travel to. Like [[locomotive]]s, the color of the stops can be customized. Furthermore, the stop can be named, with [[rich text]] making it possible to further customize the name, such as by adding item icons.

== Mechanics ==
Train stops are used to denote a place for a train to stop. Every placed train stop will appear as a possible stop in the scheduling area of a [[Railway#Train_schedule|train]]'s GUI. This can be used to create loading and unloading stations for trains.

When there are multiple train stops with the same name, trains will always travel to the closest stop. "Closest" in this case does not mean rail distance, instead the [[Railway/Train_path_finding|pathfinding distance]] is used. This distance is influenced by trains on the track, in addition to rail distance, so empty train stops are preferred over occupied ones if the empty stop is not too far away.

Opening the GUI of a stop will show the information of every train connected to that stop, including its name, current activity and location on the map. Additionally, it is possible to set a train limit for train stops via their GUI or with the circuit network. Only the set amount of trains may reserve the train stop as their destination when trying to path to it. If the train limit is lowered below the amount of trains that currently have the stop reserved as their destination, those trains will continue to go to the stop.[https://factorio.com/blog/post/fff-361]

Trains will attempt to avoid routes that pass through stops that are not designated as the next destination. This is represented by a penalty to the pathfinding distance, which usually forces a train to pick a "shorter" path.

== Circuit Network ==
Train stops can be enabled or disabled using the [[circuit network]]. When a train stop is disabled, trains will not go to that station. If a train is scheduled to go to a stop that is disabled, it will select a stop with the same name which is enabled. If no such stops exist, it will instead proceed to the next stop on its schedule. This will also happen if a train is en-route to the stop when it becomes disabled.

When a train attempts to go to an enabled stop, it first checks to see if the stop has a "train limit" set. This limit specifies the maximum number of trains allowed to go to this station. If the number of trains headed to that stop (including one sitting at the stop) is greater than or equal to the stop's current train limit, then the train will not go to that stop. It will check other enabled stops with that name. If all stops with that name are full, then the train will not go anywhere at all, with a message saying "destination full". Once a stop with that name opens up to allow more trains, the train will proceed.

Note that if the train limit changes while a train is en-route to a stop, the train will ''continue'' to that stop. This is unlike stop disabling, which forces trains to go elsewhere.

While a train is en-route, it may [[Railway/Train_path_finding#Repath_events|repath]] to a different train stop of the same name, provided the new train stop has not reached its capacity. When this happens, the train ceases to count toward the train limit of the original stop.

Train stops can be used to pass circuit signals to trains, read train contents, or uniquely identify trains with an ID number. Additionally, the amount of trains going to the train stop can be read by the circuit network.

When reading the content of a stopped train, fluid amounts are rounded down to the nearest integer, except when the fluid amount is < 1, then it is is rounded to 1.

== Indicators ==
There are indicator lights on the top of the train stop. These show:

[[File:train_stop_bothsolid.png]]   Solid light – The train stop is unoccupied/available.

[[File:train_stop_alternate.gif]]   Alternate blinking – A train is approaching or passing the train stop.

[[File:train_stop_bothblink.gif]]   Simultaneous blinking – A train is stopped/occupying the train stop.

[[File:train_stop_none.png]]   No lights – The train stop is invalid.

[[File:train_stop_red.gif]]   Blinking red – The train stop is disabled via circuit network.

== Gallery ==
<gallery widths=320px heights=170px>
File:train_stops_colors.png|Three railways with different color train stops.
File:train_stop_gui.png|Four trains listed in a train stop's GUI.
</gallery>

== History ==
{{history|1.1.0|
* Train stop allows to set limit of incoming trains.
* Fluids in train circuit logic treat summed < 1 fluid values as 1 instead of 0.
}}

{{history|0.17.0|
* Train stop recipe now uses iron sticks.
}}

{{history|0.15.0|
* Train station adds 2000 tiles penalty when path finding, so trains try to avoid stations not related to their path.
* Train Stop can output the contents of the stopped train's cargo.
* Train Stop can be disabled using the circuit network.
* When the active train stop is removed, trains will immediately leave the station if they're waiting at the station.
}}

{{history|0.13.0|
* New graphics
* Placement indicator
* Indicator of train position when stopped at station on hover.
}}

{{history|0.10.0|
* Station names can now be changed.}}

{{history|0.7.0|
* Show the direction of incoming trains when being built.
* Multiple train stops for each train station.}}

{{history|0.4.1|
* Cannot be rotated after building.}}

{{history|0.4.0|
* Introduced}}

==See also==
* [[Locomotive]]
* [[Railway]]
* [[Rail signal]]
* [[Rail chain signal]]

{{LogisticsNav}}
{{C|Railway}}

Talk:Prototype/UtilitySprites

2022-08-21T13:23:24Z

Supply: minor confusion

== "Only one instance of UtilityConstants can be defined" ==

Is this a typo? Shouldn't it say UtilitySprites?

[[User:Supply|Supply]] ([[User talk:Supply|talk]]) 13:23, 21 August 2022 (UTC)

Decider combinator

2020-04-18T16:49:10Z

Supply: /* Function */ Fixed a small error and reinstated an occurrence of "non-zero" that I previously removed since I had left other occurrences in. Tho I think they should all be removed since it's a precept of the circuit network and it's just redundant.

{{Languages}}
{{:Infobox:Decider combinator}}

The Decider combinator is part of the circuit network and one of three types of combinators available in the game (with the other two being the [[constant combinator]] and [[arithmetic combinator]]). It is used to make comparisons of signals on the network. Signals can be compared using "is greater than" (>), "is less than" (<), "greater than or equal to" (>=), "less than or equal to" (<=), "is equal to" (=) and "is not equal to" (!=).
Input contacts are to the left in the picture below, outputs on the right.

[[File:decider_combinator_anim.png]]

== Function ==
The internal logic process has three steps:

# Values for each individual input signal(s) (items of the same name) on the red and green wires are summed within the combinator.
# The decider combinator GUI specifies a "first" input signal, a comparison (>, <, =, >=, <=, !=), and a "second" input signal or constant.
# If the comparison returns true, the output is one or more signals with a value of 1 or the unchanged input value(s), or a single signal carrying either a sum of input signals or the number of passed tests. ([[#output_table|see table below]])

The decider combinator can handle [[Circuit network#Logic signals|logic signals]].

Further notes:

* Using the Everything output with "Input count" will pass all non-zero input values to the output as long as the condition is true. Using the Everything output with "1" will output 1 ONLY for all non-zero inputs.
* The Each input will re-apply the comparison for each input signal individually, and will pass the selected output for each input that passes the conditional.
* The Everything input functions as a logical AND, and will return true only if ALL non-zero inputs pass the conditional, and returns true if there are no inputs at all (so "everything ≠ 0" always passes).
* The Anything input functions as a logical OR, and will return true if ANY non-zero input passes the conditional, and returns false if there are no inputs at all (so "anything = 0" always fails).
* When "Input Count" is selected the output will match the input for the selected signal if the first parameter is not Each. If the first parameter is Each then "Input Count" refers to the value of the input signal that is currently being iterated, so the result will be the sum of all inputs if the output signal is not Each. If the output signal is also Each then every input signal that passes the test is simply forwarded while those that fail the test are discarded.

The following table shows how different combinations of the first input parameter and the output can be used.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|+Different output results when the test passes
|-
! ↓Output  Input→ !! Each !! Anything, Everything, or a specific signal
|-
!style="text-align: left"| Everything: 1
|rowspan="2"| - || every input signal is forwarded but set to 1
|-
!style="text-align: left"| Everything: Input count
| every input signal is forwarded
|-
!style="text-align: left"| Specific signal: 1
| number of input signals† || the specific signal with value 1
|-
!style="text-align: left"| Specific signal: Input count
| sum of inputs† || the specific signal is forwarded
|-
!style="text-align: left"| Each: 1
| each input signal† is forwarded but set to 1 ||rowspan="2"| -
|-
!style="text-align: left"| Each: Input count
| each input signal† is forwarded
|-
|}

† signals that passed the test only

With both the arithmetic and decider combinator, there is one tick (60th of a second) of latency before the output signal is ready to be used as an input into a circuit network.

== History ==
{{history|0.15.0|
* Added additional operators to the Decider Combinator and Circuit Conditions.}}

{{history|0.13.0|
* Connected wires are highlighted when hovering over a combinator connected to the [[circuit network]].
* Combinators show input and output in alt mode.
* More virtual signals for combinators.
* Constant combinator can be rotated.
* Decider combinator "input count" option makes the combinator copy the count of the specified output signal from the input signals, instead of copying the count from the condition.
* New combinator graphics. }}

{{history|0.12.5|
* Combinators now emit light.}}

{{history|0.12.2|
* Combinators no longer turn off when no wires are connected.}}

{{history|0.12.0|
* Introduced}}

== See Also ==
* [[Arithmetic combinator]]
* [[Constant combinator]]
* [[Tutorial:Combinator tutorial|Combinator tutorial]] <-- Description of Combinator Logic Gates
* [[Circuit network]]
* [[Tutorial:Circuit network cookbook|Circuit network cookbook]]

{{LogisticsNav}}
{{C|Circuit network}}

Decider combinator

2020-04-18T16:29:29Z

Supply: a few miscellaneous fixes & tweaks

{{Languages}}
{{:Infobox:Decider combinator}}

The Decider combinator is part of the circuit network and one of three types of combinators available in the game (with the other two being the [[constant combinator]] and [[arithmetic combinator]]). It is used to make comparisons of signals on the network. Signals can be compared using "is greater than" (>), "is less than" (<), "greater than or equal to" (>=), "less than or equal to" (<=), "is equal to" (=) and "is not equal to" (!=).
Input contacts are to the left in the picture below, outputs on the right.

[[File:decider_combinator_anim.png]]

== Function ==
The internal logic process has three steps:

# Values for each individual input signal(s) (items of the same name) on the red and green wires are summed within the combinator.
# The decider combinator GUI specifies a "first" input signal, a comparison (>, <, =, >=, <=, !=), and a "second" input signal or constant.
# If the comparison returns true, the output is one or more signals with a value of 1 or the unchanged input value(s), or a single signal carrying either a sum of input signals or the number of passed tests. ([[#output_table|see table below]])

The decider combinator can handle [[Circuit network#Logic signals|logic signals]].

Further notes:

* Using the Everything output with "Input count" will pass all input values to the output as long as the condition is true. Using the Everything output with "1" will output 1 ONLY for all non-zero inputs.
* The Each input will re-apply the comparison for each input signal individually, and will pass the selected output for each input that passes the conditional.
* The Everything input functions as a logical AND, and will return true only if ALL non-zero inputs pass the conditional, and returns true if there are no inputs at all (so "everything > 0" always passes).
* The Anything input functions as a logical OR, and will return true if ANY non-zero input passes the conditional, and returns false if there are no inputs at all (so "anything = 0" always fails).
* When "Input Count" is selected the output will match the input for the selected signal if the first parameter is not Each. If the first parameter is Each then "Input Count" refers to the value of the input signal that is currently being iterated, so the result will be the sum of all inputs if the output signal is not Each. If the output signal is also Each then every input signal that passes the test is simply forwarded while those that fail the test are discarded.

The following table shows how different combinations of the first input parameter and the output can be used.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|+Different output results when the test passes
|-
! ↓Output  Input→ !! Each !! Anything, Everything, or a specific signal
|-
!style="text-align: left"| Everything: 1
|rowspan="2"| - || every input signal is forwarded but set to 1
|-
!style="text-align: left"| Everything: Input count
| every input signal is forwarded
|-
!style="text-align: left"| Specific signal: 1
| number of input signals† || the specific signal with value 1
|-
!style="text-align: left"| Specific signal: Input count
| sum of inputs† || the specific signal is forwarded
|-
!style="text-align: left"| Each: 1
| each input signal† is forwarded but set to 1 ||rowspan="2"| -
|-
!style="text-align: left"| Each: Input count
| each input signal† is forwarded
|-
|}

† signals that passed the test only

With both the arithmetic and decider combinator, there is one tick (60th of a second) of latency before the output signal is ready to be used as an input into a circuit network.

== History ==
{{history|0.15.0|
* Added additional operators to the Decider Combinator and Circuit Conditions.}}

{{history|0.13.0|
* Connected wires are highlighted when hovering over a combinator connected to the [[circuit network]].
* Combinators show input and output in alt mode.
* More virtual signals for combinators.
* Constant combinator can be rotated.
* Decider combinator "input count" option makes the combinator copy the count of the specified output signal from the input signals, instead of copying the count from the condition.
* New combinator graphics. }}

{{history|0.12.5|
* Combinators now emit light.}}

{{history|0.12.2|
* Combinators no longer turn off when no wires are connected.}}

{{history|0.12.0|
* Introduced}}

== See Also ==
* [[Arithmetic combinator]]
* [[Constant combinator]]
* [[Tutorial:Combinator tutorial|Combinator tutorial]] <-- Description of Combinator Logic Gates
* [[Circuit network]]
* [[Tutorial:Circuit network cookbook|Circuit network cookbook]]

{{LogisticsNav}}
{{C|Circuit network}}

Decider combinator

2020-04-18T16:15:41Z

Supply: /* Function */ further adjusted the overview slightly, and added a table

{{Languages}}
{{:Infobox:Decider combinator}}

The Decider combinator is part of the circuit network and one of three types of combinators available in the game (with the other two being the [[constant combinator]] and [[arithmetic combinator]]). It is used to make comparisons of signals on the network. Signals can be compared using "is greater than" (>), "is less than" (<), "greater than or equal to" (>=), "less than or equal to" (<=), "is equal to" (=) and "is not equal to" (!=).
Input contacts are to the left in the above picture, outputs on the right.

[[File:decider_combinator_anim.png]]

== Function ==
The internal logic process has three steps:

# Values for each individual input signal(s) (items of the same name) on the red and green wires are summed within the combinator.
# The decider combinator GUI specifies a "first" input signal, a comparison (>, <, =, >=, <=, !=), and a "second" input signal or constant.
# If the comparison returns true, the output is one or more signals with a value of 1 or the unchanged input value(s), or a single signal carrying either a sum of input signals or the number of passed tests. ([[#output_table|see table below]])

Further notes:

* Using the Everything output with input -> output will pass all nonzero input values to the output as long as the condition is true. Using the Everything output with "1" will output 1 ONLY for all non-zero inputs.
* The Each input will re-apply the comparison for each input signal individually, and will pass the selected output for each input that passes the conditional.
* The Everything input functions as a logical AND, and will return true only if ALL non-zero inputs pass the conditional.
* The Anything input functions as a logical OR, and will return true if ANY non-zero input passes the conditional.
* When "Input Count" is selected the output will match the input for the selected signal if the first parameter is not Each. If the first parameter is Each then "Input Count" refers to the value of the input signal that is currently being iterated, so the result will be the sum of all inputs if the output signal is not Each. If the output signal is also Each then every input signal that passes the test is simply forwarded while those that fail the test are discarded.

The following table shows how different combinations of the first input parameter and the output can be used.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|+Different output results when the test passes
|-
! ↓Output  Input→ !! Each !! Anything, Everything, or a specific signal
|-
!style="text-align: left"| Everything: 1
|rowspan="2"| - || every input signal is forwarded but set to 1
|-
!style="text-align: left"| Everything: Input count
| every input signal is forwarded
|-
!style="text-align: left"| Specific signal: 1
| number of input signals† || the specific with value 1
|-
!style="text-align: left"| Specific signal: Input count
| sum of inputs† || the specific signal is forwarded
|-
!style="text-align: left"| Each: 1
| each input signal† is forwarded but set to 1 ||rowspan="2"| -
|-
!style="text-align: left"| Each: Input count
| each input signal† is forwarded
|-
|}

† signals that passed the test only

The decider combinator can handle [[Circuit network#Logic signals|logic signals]].

With both the arithmetic and decider combinator, there is one tick (60th of a second) of latency before the output signal is ready to be used as an input into a circuit network.

== History ==
{{history|0.15.0|
* Added additional operators to the Decider Combinator and Circuit Conditions.}}

{{history|0.13.0|
* Connected wires are highlighted when hovering over a combinator connected to the [[circuit network]].
* Combinators show input and output in alt mode.
* More virtual signals for combinators.
* Constant combinator can be rotated.
* Decider combinator "input count" option makes the combinator copy the count of the specified output signal from the input signals, instead of copying the count from the condition.
* New combinator graphics. }}

{{history|0.12.5|
* Combinators now emit light.}}

{{history|0.12.2|
* Combinators no longer turn off when no wires are connected.}}

{{history|0.12.0|
* Introduced}}

== See Also ==
* [[Arithmetic combinator]]
* [[Constant combinator]]
* [[Tutorial:Combinator tutorial|Combinator tutorial]] <-- Description of Combinator Logic Gates
* [[Circuit network]]
* [[Tutorial:Circuit network cookbook|Circuit network cookbook]]

{{LogisticsNav}}
{{C|Circuit network}}

Decider combinator

2020-04-18T15:07:37Z

Supply: /* Function */ tried to clarify the overview of different output possibilities a bit better

{{Languages}}
{{:Infobox:Decider combinator}}

The Decider combinator is part of the circuit network and one of three types of combinators available in the game (with the other two being the [[constant combinator]] and [[arithmetic combinator]]). It is used to make comparisons of signals on the network. Signals can be compared using "is greater than" (>), "is less than" (<), "greater than or equal to" (>=), "less than or equal to" (<=), "is equal to" (=) and "is not equal to" (!=).
Input contacts are to the left in the above picture, outputs on the right.

[[File:decider_combinator_anim.png]]

== Function ==
The internal logic process has three steps:

# Values for each individual input signal(s) (items of the same name) on the red and green wires are summed within the combinator.
# The decider combinator GUI specifies a "first" input signal, a comparison (>, <, =, >=, <=, !=), and a "second" input signal or constant.
# If the comparison returns true, the output is one or more signals with a value of 1, or the unchanged input value(s), or a sum of input signals, or the number of passed tests.

Further notes:

* Using the Everything output with input -> output will pass all nonzero input values to the output as long as the condition is true. Using the Everything output with "1" will output 1 ONLY for all non-zero inputs.
* The Each input will re-apply the comparison for each input signal individually, and will pass the selected output for each input that passes the conditional.
* The Everything input functions as a logical AND, and will return true only if ALL non-zero inputs pass the conditional.
* The Anything input functions as a logical OR, and will return true if ANY non-zero input passes the conditional.
* When "Input Count" is selected the output will match the input for the selected signal if the first parameter is not Each. If the first parameter is Each then "Input Count" refers to the value of the input signal that is currently being iterated, so the result will be the sum of all inputs if the output signal is not Each. If the output signal is also Each then every input signal that passes the test is simply forwarded while those that fail the test are discarded.

The decider combinator can handle [[Circuit network#Logic signals|logic signals]].

With both the arithmetic and decider combinator, there is one tick (60th of a second) of latency before the output signal is ready to be used as an input into a circuit network.

== History ==
{{history|0.15.0|
* Added additional operators to the Decider Combinator and Circuit Conditions.}}

{{history|0.13.0|
* Connected wires are highlighted when hovering over a combinator connected to the [[circuit network]].
* Combinators show input and output in alt mode.
* More virtual signals for combinators.
* Constant combinator can be rotated.
* Decider combinator "input count" option makes the combinator copy the count of the specified output signal from the input signals, instead of copying the count from the condition.
* New combinator graphics. }}

{{history|0.12.5|
* Combinators now emit light.}}

{{history|0.12.2|
* Combinators no longer turn off when no wires are connected.}}

{{history|0.12.0|
* Introduced}}

== See Also ==
* [[Arithmetic combinator]]
* [[Constant combinator]]
* [[Tutorial:Combinator tutorial|Combinator tutorial]] <-- Description of Combinator Logic Gates
* [[Circuit network]]
* [[Tutorial:Circuit network cookbook|Circuit network cookbook]]

{{LogisticsNav}}
{{C|Circuit network}}

Decider combinator

2020-04-18T14:50:29Z

Supply: /* Function */ tried to clarify the interaction between "Input Signal" and "Each" in both possible combinations (Each used in the comparison only, and Each used in both the comparison and as the output signal)

{{Languages}}
{{:Infobox:Decider combinator}}

The Decider combinator is part of the circuit network and one of three types of combinators available in the game (with the other two being the [[constant combinator]] and [[arithmetic combinator]]). It is used to make comparisons of signals on the network. Signals can be compared using "is greater than" (>), "is less than" (<), "greater than or equal to" (>=), "less than or equal to" (<=), "is equal to" (=) and "is not equal to" (!=).
Input contacts are to the left in the above picture, outputs on the right.

[[File:decider_combinator_anim.png]]

== Function ==
The internal logic process has three steps:

# Values for each individual input signal(s) (items of the same name) on the red and green wires are summed within the combinator.
# The decider combinator GUI specifies a "first" input signal, a comparison (>, <, =, >=, <=, !=), and a "second" input signal or constant.
# If the comparison returns true, the output is a new signal with a value of 1, or copying an input signal to the ouput, or the sum of all input signals that pass the test when Each is used in the comparison.

Further notes:

* Using the Everything output with input -> output will pass all nonzero input values to the output as long as the condition is true. Using the Everything output with "1" will output 1 ONLY for all non-zero inputs.
* The Each input will re-apply the comparison for each input signal individually, and will pass the selected output for each input that passes the conditional.
* The Everything input functions as a logical AND, and will return true only if ALL non-zero inputs pass the conditional.
* The Anything input functions as a logical OR, and will return true if ANY non-zero input passes the conditional.
* When "Input Count" is selected the output will match the input for the selected signal if the first parameter is not Each. If the first parameter is Each then "Input Count" refers to the value of the input signal that is currently being iterated, so the result will be the sum of all inputs if the output signal is not Each. If the output signal is also Each then every input signal that passes the test is simply forwarded while those that fail the test are discarded.

The decider combinator can handle [[Circuit network#Logic signals|logic signals]].

With both the arithmetic and decider combinator, there is one tick (60th of a second) of latency before the output signal is ready to be used as an input into a circuit network.

== History ==
{{history|0.15.0|
* Added additional operators to the Decider Combinator and Circuit Conditions.}}

{{history|0.13.0|
* Connected wires are highlighted when hovering over a combinator connected to the [[circuit network]].
* Combinators show input and output in alt mode.
* More virtual signals for combinators.
* Constant combinator can be rotated.
* Decider combinator "input count" option makes the combinator copy the count of the specified output signal from the input signals, instead of copying the count from the condition.
* New combinator graphics. }}

{{history|0.12.5|
* Combinators now emit light.}}

{{history|0.12.2|
* Combinators no longer turn off when no wires are connected.}}

{{history|0.12.0|
* Introduced}}

== See Also ==
* [[Arithmetic combinator]]
* [[Constant combinator]]
* [[Tutorial:Combinator tutorial|Combinator tutorial]] <-- Description of Combinator Logic Gates
* [[Circuit network]]
* [[Tutorial:Circuit network cookbook|Circuit network cookbook]]

{{LogisticsNav}}
{{C|Circuit network}}

Circuit network

2020-04-17T17:23:11Z

Supply: /* Send information */ Added some clarification about the integer limit after being recently confused by it and having to find the answer by googling. Btw, can you add reference/citation templates please? I don't know how to do it. Thanks.

{{Languages}}
'''Circuit networks''' are built using [[Red wire|red]] or [[green wire]], and enable the control of receivers, based upon information broadcast onto the network by connected senders. Most senders are storage devices, and broadcast their information onto a specific channel, based on the item or liquid the storage device contains. Each circuit network contains a channel for every kind of item, as well as 48 extra [[#Virtual signals|virtual signals]] which act as user-definable channels. 'Everything', 'Anything' and 'Each' are also available wildcards.

[[File:shared_circuit_network.png|thumb|600px|right|Two circuit networks shared over one electric pole.]]

== Usage ==
=== Send information ===
Senders broadcast the amount of items or fluids they contain or other data definable by the player. Each amount is broadcast as a numeric value on a 'channel' corresponding to the item. For example, a Storage Tank containing 1000 Crude Oil will broadcast 1000 on the Crude Oil channel.

The channels are separated from each other, so each network can simultaneously carry a number for each item and fluid in the game, and for each of the extra user-defined channels (digits 0-9, letters A-Z, and 9 different colors). All unused channels have the value zero.

Multiple broadcasts of the same item or fluid are additive: If there are two connected Storage Tanks with 1000 Crude Oil each, the value of the Crude Oil channel within the network will be 2000.

All wires of the same color which are connected together by junctions form a network, i.e. they will pass their signals to each other. For example, if two red wires are connected to the same combinator input, each wire receives the content from the other. This can result in feedback if care is not taken; see Feedback (under [[#Combinators|arithmetic combinator]], below) for discussion.

Numbers are in the signed 32 bit integer range, i.e. from -2147483648 to 2147483647 inclusive, and are encoded in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two%27s_complement two's complement representation]. The numbers wrap around on overflow, so e.g. 2147483647 + 10 becomes -2147483639. When inputing a number in a constant combinator it can appear to exceed the 32 bit limit until you close the GUI, at which point the number will wrap around. ''[https://forums.factorio.com/viewtopic.php?t=58419 Unexpected circuit signal constraints]''

=== Control devices ===
Receivers can use broadcast information, in most cases to enable/disable the device. They can either compare results between different channels, or compare a channel to a specific value.

Receiving devices sum all signals from each wire connected to them, even red and green wires. For example, if an inserter is connected to a red wire carrying a signal for 20 copper plates and a green wire with 10 copper plates, the input signal set for that receiver will be 30 copper plates.

Multiple wires of the same color will share & sum their signals. For example, 3 chests A, B and C connected in a row (A -> B -> C) with green wire will output the sum of their contents along any green wire connected to any of the chests. However, if a red wire connects chest A to an inserter, that inserter will only be given the contents of A as its input signal.

== Devices ==

Each device that is able to be connected to a circuit network has a [[File:Circuit network panel.png]] icon located in the top right corner of its info pane. Clicking this icon will display the available circuit network options for that device (note: a red or green wire must be connected, otherwise the message "not connected" will display instead). Clicking the [[File:Logistic network panel.png]] icon next to it, the device can be connected to a logistic network if in range of one, which also allows conditions to be set.

Conditions can be set for both circuit (signals of red and green wires are summed) and logistic network, which will together act as a logical AND.

The following devices can be connected to a circuit network:

{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible"
|-
! Icon !! Name !! Possible output signals !! Possible control options
|-
| {{Icon|Transport belt||Transport belts}} || [[Transport belts]] || Transport belts can send their content to the circuit network.
*''Pulse mode'': The signal is sent for only 1 tick when the item enters the belt.
*''Hold mode'': The signal is sent continuously as long as the items are on the belt.
|| Transport belts can be enabled on a condition.
|-
| {{Icon|Inserter||Inserters}} || [[Inserters]] || All inserters can send their held items to the circuit network.
*''Pulse mode'': The signal is sent for only 1 tick when the item is picked up.
*''Hold mode'': The signal is sent continuously as long as the inserter is holding the item.
|| All inserters can be enabled on a condition. The inserter stack size can also be overridden from a control signal (configurable).
|-
| {{Icon|Filter inserter}} || [[Filter inserter]] || Same as above. || The filter inserters can additionally set their filters from the circuit network.
|-
| {{Icon|Wooden chest||Chests}} || [[Chests]] || All chests can send their contents to the circuit network. Logistic chests additionally send their contents to the [[logistic network]]. ||
|-
| {{Icon|Requester chest}} || [[Requester chest]] || Same as above. || Its requested items can be set by the circuit network.
|-
| {{Icon|Storage tank}} || [[Storage tank]] || The storage tank can send its fluid content to the circuit network. ||
|-
| {{Icon|Gate}} || [[Gate]] || Gates can send a signal to the circuit network. || Gates can be opened on a condition.
|-
| {{Icon|Rail signal}} || [[Rail signal]] || Rail signals can send their state to the circuit network. || Rail signals can be set to red on a condition.
|-
| {{Icon|Rail chain signal}} || [[Rail chain signal]] || Rail chain signals can send their state to the circuit network. ||
|-
| {{Icon|Train stop}} || [[Train stop]] || Train stations can send the contents of a stopped train to the circuit network as well as read a unique train identifier code. || Train stations can send the contents of the circuit network to the train to use it for wait conditions, as well as enable/disable the stop itself.
|-
| {{Icon|Accumulator}} || [[Accumulator]] || It can send its charge level in percent to the circuit network. ||
|-
| {{Icon|Roboport}} || [[Roboport]] || It can send its logistic network contents and/or its robot statistics to the circuit network. The signals used for robot statistics are configurable. ||
|-
| {{Icon|Burner mining drill}} || [[Mining drill]]s || All mining drills can send the expected resources, either from the drill itself or from the whole ore patch the drill is on. || Mining drills can be enabled on a condition.
|-
| {{Icon|Pumpjack}} || [[Pumpjack]] || It can output the current oil mining rate. || It can be enabled on a condition.
|-
| {{Icon|Power switch}} || [[Power switch]] || || Power switches can connect power networks on a condition.
|-
| {{Icon|Programmable speaker}} || [[Programmable speaker]] || || Shows alerts and plays sounds based on circuit network signals. It can be used to make simple tunes.
|-
| {{Icon|Lamp}} || [[Lamp]] || || The lamp can be enabled on a condition. If it receives color signals, it can set the given color.
|-
| {{Icon|Offshore pump}} || [[Offshore pump]] || || The offshore pump can be enabled on a condition.
|-
| {{Icon|Pump}} || [[Pump]] || || The pump can be enabled on a condition.
|}

== Physical network structure ==
A circuit network consists only of those devices connected together with the same color wire. Wire can be strung directly from device to device, or across any intervening power poles. Wire length is limited by its previous connection.

Note that each connected set of wires forms a separate network. For example, it's entirely possible to have four red-wire networks and three green-wire networks. If red and green wires happen to touch the same power pole or device, the red and green networks will remain separate and will not link up. However, two red cables or two green cables will link if they touch. Use different colored cables to separate networks in close proximity.

* To connect wires or cables to a power pole, simply click on one entity, then on the base of the power pole.
* To erase a wire or cable connection, place the same color wire over an existing connection. You don't get the wire/cable back.
* To remove '''all''' connections from a power pole, shift-click on the pole. The first shift-click will remove all electrical connections, and the second will remove all red and green wires. You don't get the wires back.
* When connecting to a [[arithmetic combinator]] or [[decider combinator]], take care to connect the wire to the correct input or output side. Use "Show details" mode to see the orientation of the combinator.
* Hovering the mouse cursor over an item will highlight all wires which connect to the item.
* Hovering the mouse cursor over a power pole which is part of a network will display the signals on its network. Some items like combinators will also display their input and output signals when hovered over.

== Combinators ==
Combinators can function as both receiving and sending devices and allow more advanced functions to be used on a circuit network.

*The [[constant combinator]] broadcasts up to 15 values on any of the channels for whatever networks it is connected to. (You cannot currently specify whether a value should be on the red or green channel; if you need different values, use two combinators, one for each color wire.) You can use any item channel or any of the [[#Virtual signals|virtual signal]] channels.
**Note that using two of the 15 slots to broadcast values on the '''same''' channel is the same as broadcasting the sum of the two values from one slot.
*The [[arithmetic combinator]] performs arithmetic operations on input values and broadcasts the result to the specified output channel. The input and output channels can be any item channel or any of the virtual signal channels.
** Connecting: The arithmetic combinator connects to a red or green network on its '''input''' side (the terminals are set into the main body and look like spark plugs) and performs an arithmetic calculation which is broadcast into the specified channel on its '''output''' side (the output wires appear to stretch out a bit from the body of the device).
** Feedback: Note that the input network and the output network '''are not the same network'''. Connecting the output network back to the input network will result in a feedback loop. For example, adding 1 to the value for copper plates and broadcasting it as copper plates is an action that results in an infinite loop if output is connected back to input. The value for copper plates will rapidly (but not instantly) shoot upward. (The rate at which it climbs is determined by the current tick rate.) This technique can be combined with decider combinator logic to make electronic clocks, gates, and other systems; see [[Combinator Tutorial]] for advanced techniques.
** Each: This combinator can use the 'Each' signal for both input and output, in which case '''all''' non-zero input channels will have the combinator's operation performed and broadcast on the output side. Having Each signals for input and output and using a non-changing operation (like adding zero) is equivalent to having a 'one-way' wire; all the information from the input network is copied to the output network, but the reverse is not true.
**Multi-network: The arithmetic combinator can be joined to both red and green networks on the input side and will sum their inputs.
*The [[decider combinator]] functions much like an arithmetic combinator, but is designed to compare values. Essentially, it is a conditional. In terms of connecting, feedback, and the Each signal it functions as specified above. In addition, it can handle the Everything and Anything signals, and performs more complex functions than summing when attached to multiple networks. See the [[decider combinator]] page for more details on how to use this.

== Virtual signals ==
[[File:Virtual Signals dialog box.png|thumb|Virtual Signals available for use in the circuit network]]
Virtual signals are special non-item signals. Other than the three logic signals, virtual signals do not behave differently from item signals.

48 virtual signals can be sent over a network. They include the digits zero through nine, the letters A through Z, a check-mark, dot and info icon, and the colors red, green, blue, yellow, magenta, cyan, white, gray and black.

=== Logic signals ===
[[File:logic_signals.png|300px|thumb|The icons of the three logic signals]]
Three of the virtual signals cannot be sent over a network but apply special logic to multiple signals.

==== Everything ====
''Everything'' can be used on the left side in conditionals. The condition will be true when the condition is true for each input signal. The condition is also true if there are no signals. This means that the ''everything'' signal behaves as [[:Wikipedia:universal quantification|universal quantification]].

The output of a [[decider combinator]] may also use ''everything'', unless the input is set to ''each''. When used, the combinator will output signal on every channel with non-zero input as long as the condition is true; the value will either be the input value or 1, depending on the corresponding setting.

==== Anything ====
''Anything'' can be used on the left side of conditions. It will be false when there are no inputs. The condition will be true when the condition is true for at least one signal. This means the ''anything'' signal behaves as [[:Wikipedia:existential quantification|existential quantification]].

==== Each ====
''Each'' can only be used in left input side and output of [[decider combinator|decider]] and [[arithmetic combinator|arithmetic]] combinators. The signal can only be used as an output when also used as an input. When used in both the input and output, it makes a combinator perform its action on each input signal individually. The combinator will output the sum of each of the actions if only used in the input.

== Tutorials ==
*'''[[Circuit-network Cookbook]]''' - ''Example-heavy tutorials; for beginners who want to get to know and use the benefits of the circuit network.''
*'''[[Combinator Tutorial]]''' - ''Mainly textual and detailed tutorials.''

== Logistic network ==
The logistic network used by [[logistic robot]]s is essentially a third network (a wireless one), along with the green and red wired networks. The logistic network is based on proximity to a central [[roboport]].

Some devices can also be connected to the logistic network. If a device has conditions set for circuit and for logistic network, it will become activated if both conditions are true.

See the [[logistic network]] and [[roboport]] articles for more information.

== History ==

{{history|0.15.0|
* Significantly improved circuit network performance. Up to 25 times less CPU usage and 10% less memory usage.
* Added the Programmable Speaker: it shows alerts and plays sounds based on circuit network signals. It can be used to make simple songs.
* Train Stop can output the contents of the stopped train's cargo.
* Train Stop can be disabled using the circuit network. Trains will skip disabled Train Stops, allowing simple train control.
* Mining Drills can be turned on and off using the circuit network. They can also output the remaining expected resources.
* Pumpjacks can be turned on and off using the circuit network. They can also output the current oil mining rate.
* Added Modulo, Power, Left Bit Shift, Right Bit Shift, Bitwise AND, Bitwise OR and Bitwise XOR to the Arithmetic Combinator.
* Added additional operators to the Decider Combinator and Circuit Conditions.}}

{{history|0.13.0|
* Many machines are now connectible to the circuit network.
* Wire disconnecting is incorporated into the latency hiding.
* Wires are now highlighted on entity mouseover.
* Reduced memory usage of circuit network.}}

{{history|0.12.33|
* Fluid values are rounded to the closest value instead of rounding down when transmitted to circuit network.}}

{{history|0.12.1|
* One can copy paste circuit network conditions between the [[inserter]], [[lamp]], [[pump]] and [[offshore pump]]. }}

{{history|0.12.0|
* Improvements to circuit network connection, one can connect multiple wires of the same color to the same entity.
* The [[lamp]], [[storage tank]], [[pump]] and [[offshore pump]] can be connected to the circuit network.
}}

{{history|0.10.0|
* [[Blueprint]]s copy circuit network connections.}}

{{history|0.8.3|
* Circuit network contents info has colored slots to specify the network it represents.}}

{{history|0.1.0|
* Introduced}}

[[Category: Circuit network]]

Talk:Railway/Train path finding

2019-07-19T09:25:52Z

Supply: /* Recalculating Rules */ Reply

==Recalculating Rules==
I removed the rule "The train enters a new rail block and can't reserve the next needed signal" because I interpreted it as the train entering a new block without regard to its distance from the next needed signal (within braking distance or not), because otherwise it seems to be just a rephrasing of the rule "The train is braking for a signal." Are they not the same? The act of entering a new block itself (when a signal goes from yellow to red) doesn't seem to matter from my test.
[[User:Supply|Supply]] ([[User talk:Supply|talk]]) 03:46, 19 July 2019 (UTC)
:One is applied when the train is already breaking, the other is done when the train is just driving normally. In general, the page is directly documenting the source code, each bullet point is one "recalculate path" line in the code. The most recent changes did not modify how many of those lines exist, so I also don't want to modify the bullet point count on the wiki page. I hope that makes more clear where the information comes from, and why I am so sure that it is correct. -- [[User:Bilka|Bilka]] ([[User talk:Bilka|talk]]) - Admin 08:51, 19 July 2019 (UTC)
::Okay, thanks! Also, since you have looked at the source code I guess it means that spontaneous rerouting within chain blocks really isn't a thing in the game right now, despite what the 0.17.38 changelog states. ("This also allowed us to to let train recalculate path spontaneously even in chain signal sequence, as it shouldn't break anything now.") I've also read every changelog since that version and didn't find any mention of it being reverted, so I guess it was either removed and forgotten or it was never implemented and the word "allowed us" was just meant as "made it theoretically possible". -- [[User:Supply|Supply]] ([[User talk:Supply|talk]]) 09:25, 19 July 2019 (UTC)

Talk:Railway/Train path finding

2019-07-19T03:46:11Z

Supply: question about undo of my edit

Railway/Train path finding

2019-07-10T03:04:55Z

Supply: couldn't observe this in 0.17.55, train did not reroute simply by entering a (very, very long) block, and only did so a few seconds later when the braking point reached the red signal

{{Languages}}
Before a train moves to a target (in this case, a [[Train stop]]), it calculates the best route based on the railway network at that time.

For calculation it uses a simple [[WIKIPEDIA:A*_search_algorithm|A*-algorithm]]: The pathfinder first builds a list of non-disabled stops that match the name in the schedule, then searches outward from both ends of the train at once, if applicable, in segments. A segment is an uninterrupted plain sequence of rails, with no intersections, stops, or signals (all of which define segment borders). The cost (distance) is calculated using the following weighting rules:
* Base cost for a block/segment is the length of the segment (linear grid length along the center of the rail).
* When the rail block is occupied by a train -> Add a penalty of 2 * length of the block divided by block distance from the start, so the far away occupied paths don't matter much.
* When the rail block is guarded by a [[rail signal]] set to red by the [[circuit network]] -> Add a penalty of 1000.
* When the path includes a train stop that is not the destination -> Add a penalty of 2000.
* When the path includes a train stop with a train stopped in it -> Add a penalty of 500.
* When the path includes a train stop with a train stopped in it that doesn't have other valid stops in its schedule -> Add a penalty of 1000.
* When the path includes a manually controlled stopped train -> Add a penalty of 2000.
* When the path includes a manually controlled stopped train without a passenger -> Add a penalty of 7000.
* When the path includes a train currently arriving to a train stop -> Add a penalty of 100.
* When the path includes a train currently arriving to a rail signal -> Add a penalty of 100.
* When the path includes a train currently waiting at a rail signal -> Add a penalty of 100 + 0.1 for every tick the train has already waited.
* When the path includes a train that doesn't have a path -> Add a penalty of 1000.

The route of a train is revalidated (and recalculated if it was invalid) in the following scenarios:
* A locomotive that is part of the train is rotated. The train is forced to make a new path.
* [https://lua-api.factorio.com/latest/LuaTrain.html#LuaTrain.recalculate_path LuaTrain::recalculate_path()] is called on the train by script. The train can be forced to recalculate its path regardless of validity.
* The train does not have a path and a train stop that is part of train's schedule gets renamed or created. The train is forced to recalculate its path.
* The train is pathing to a train stop that gets destroyed. The train is forced to make a new path.
* A rail which is part of the train's path gets destroyed.
** If the rail is the destination of the path, the train is forced to recalculate its path.
* The train doesn't have a path and a rail gets created.
* A rail gets created and invalidates a signal (chain or regular) along the train's path. The train is forced to recalculate its path.
* A rail block changes and invalidates a signal (chain or regular) along the train's path. The train is forced to recalculate its path.
* A signal (chain or regular) gets destroyed or created.
* The train is set to go to a station using the "Go to stop" button in the train's GUI.
* The train's schedule is changed.
* The train is switched to automatic control when it was previously manually controlled.
* The train's braking force gets changed and the train is currently driving normally, arriving at a signal (chain or regular) or arriving at a station.
* The train is preparing to stop at a signal (chain or regular) that changes so that the train can now continue. The train is forced to recalculate its path.
* The train starts braking for a signal (chain or regular) it cant reserve. The train is forced to recalculate its path.
* The train wants to depart from a train stop.
* The train has waited at a chain signal for a multiple of 5 seconds.
** If the trains has waited for a multiple of 30 seconds or if multiple train stops with the name of the destination exist, the train is forced to recalculate its path.
* The train wants to depart from a signal (chain or regular) that it stopped at. The train is forced to recalculate its path.
* If the train doesn't have a path, the path is recalculated every 128 ticks.
* The train collides with something that is not a train (like a player). The train is forced to recalculate its path.
* The train is pathing to a train stop that gets disabled. The train is forced to recalculate its path.
* The train doesn't have a path and a train stop that is in its schedule gets enabled.

== History ==

{{History|0.17.38|
* When a train performs path finding while in a chain signal sequence, the pathfinding will have a constraint to not go through reserved block before exiting the chain sequence. This solves a problem of train intersections being possible to be deadlocked even with proper chain signals usage in cases of using temporary stops or when path is changed because of station is being enabled/disabled by a circuit network. This also allowed us to to let train recalculate path spontaneously even in chain signal sequence, as it shouldn't break anything now.}}

{{History|0.16.42|
* Added train path finding penalty for train with no path equal to 1000 tiles}}

{{History|0.16.0|
* The specific penalties can now be found in the utility constants, which allows mods to change them. (Undocumented)}}

{{History|0.15.0|
* Train station adds 2000 tiles penalty when path finding, so trains try to avoid stations not related to their path.}}

{{History|0.11.17|
* Increased the pathing penalty for non-moving train in manual mode from 200 to 1000.}}

{{History|0.11.13|
* Stopped, manually controlled train adds additional penalty (related to train path finding) of 200 tiles to the block it occupies.}}

{{History|0.11.11|
* The pathfinding is based on penalties for blocked segments now. For trains waiting in station, the more remaining time in the station, the bigger penalty.}}

== See also ==

* [https://gist.github.com/Rseding91/c0d4d08d6feaed618ed4a03f6c6a8fe6 Train pathfinding as of version 0.16 (Code)]
* [https://www.factorio.com/blog/post/fff-68 FFF #68]
* [[Railway]]

Railway/Train path finding

2019-07-10T02:34:45Z

Supply: updated for 0.17.38 (tested in 0.17.55 at least). note that the recalculation is not instant, but takes around half a second (a train was observed decelerating from ~210km/h to ~160km/h before rerouting and accelerating again)

{{Languages}}
Before a train moves to a target (in this case, a [[Train stop]]), it calculates the best route based on the railway network at that time.

For calculation it uses a simple [[WIKIPEDIA:A*_search_algorithm|A*-algorithm]]: The pathfinder first builds a list of non-disabled stops that match the name in the schedule, then searches outward from both ends of the train at once, if applicable, in segments. A segment is an uninterrupted plain sequence of rails, with no intersections, stops, or signals (all of which define segment borders). The cost (distance) is calculated using the following weighting rules:
* Base cost for a block/segment is the length of the segment (linear grid length along the center of the rail).
* When the rail block is occupied by a train -> Add a penalty of 2 * length of the block divided by block distance from the start, so the far away occupied paths don't matter much.
* When the rail block is guarded by a [[rail signal]] set to red by the [[circuit network]] -> Add a penalty of 1000.
* When the path includes a train stop that is not the destination -> Add a penalty of 2000.
* When the path includes a train stop with a train stopped in it -> Add a penalty of 500.
* When the path includes a train stop with a train stopped in it that doesn't have other valid stops in its schedule -> Add a penalty of 1000.
* When the path includes a manually controlled stopped train -> Add a penalty of 2000.
* When the path includes a manually controlled stopped train without a passenger -> Add a penalty of 7000.
* When the path includes a train currently arriving to a train stop -> Add a penalty of 100.
* When the path includes a train currently arriving to a rail signal -> Add a penalty of 100.
* When the path includes a train currently waiting at a rail signal -> Add a penalty of 100 + 0.1 for every tick the train has already waited.
* When the path includes a train that doesn't have a path -> Add a penalty of 1000.

The route of a train is revalidated (and recalculated if it was invalid) in the following scenarios:
* A locomotive that is part of the train is rotated. The train is forced to make a new path.
* [https://lua-api.factorio.com/latest/LuaTrain.html#LuaTrain.recalculate_path LuaTrain::recalculate_path()] is called on the train by script. The train can be forced to recalculate its path regardless of validity.
* The train does not have a path and a train stop that is part of train's schedule gets renamed or created. The train is forced to recalculate its path.
* The train is pathing to a train stop that gets destroyed. The train is forced to make a new path.
* A rail which is part of the train's path gets destroyed.
** If the rail is the destination of the path, the train is forced to recalculate its path.
* The train doesn't have a path and a rail gets created.
* A rail gets created and invalidates a signal (chain or regular) along the train's path. The train is forced to recalculate its path.
* A rail block changes and invalidates a signal (chain or regular) along the train's path. The train is forced to recalculate its path.
* A signal (chain or regular) gets destroyed or created.
* The train is set to go to a station using the "Go to stop" button in the train's GUI.
* The train's schedule is changed.
* The train is switched to automatic control when it was previously manually controlled.
* The train's braking force gets changed and the train is currently driving normally, arriving at a signal (chain or regular) or arriving at a station.
* The train is preparing to stop at a signal (chain or regular) that changes so that the train can now continue. The train is forced to recalculate its path.
* The train starts braking for a signal (chain or regular) it cant reserve. The train is forced to recalculate its path.
* The train wants to depart from a train stop.
* The train has waited at a chain signal for a multiple of 5 seconds.
** If the trains has waited for a multiple of 30 seconds or if multiple train stops with the name of the destination exist, the train is forced to recalculate its path.
* The train wants to depart from a signal (chain or regular) that it stopped at. The train is forced to recalculate its path.
* If the train doesn't have a path, the path is recalculated every 128 ticks.
* The train enters a new block and can't reserve the next needed signal (chain or regular). The train is forced to recalculate its path.
* The train collides with something that is not a train (like a player). The train is forced to recalculate its path.
* The train is pathing to a train stop that gets disabled. The train is forced to recalculate its path.
* The train doesn't have a path and a train stop that is in its schedule gets enabled.

== History ==

{{History|0.17.38|
* When a train performs path finding while in a chain signal sequence, the pathfinding will have a constraint to not go through reserved block before exiting the chain sequence. This solves a problem of train intersections being possible to be deadlocked even with proper chain signals usage in cases of using temporary stops or when path is changed because of station is being enabled/disabled by a circuit network. This also allowed us to to let train recalculate path spontaneously even in chain signal sequence, as it shouldn't break anything now.}}

{{History|0.16.42|
* Added train path finding penalty for train with no path equal to 1000 tiles}}

{{History|0.16.0|
* The specific penalties can now be found in the utility constants, which allows mods to change them. (Undocumented)}}

{{History|0.15.0|
* Train station adds 2000 tiles penalty when path finding, so trains try to avoid stations not related to their path.}}

{{History|0.11.17|
* Increased the pathing penalty for non-moving train in manual mode from 200 to 1000.}}

{{History|0.11.13|
* Stopped, manually controlled train adds additional penalty (related to train path finding) of 200 tiles to the block it occupies.}}

{{History|0.11.11|
* The pathfinding is based on penalties for blocked segments now. For trains waiting in station, the more remaining time in the station, the bigger penalty.}}

== See also ==

* [https://gist.github.com/Rseding91/c0d4d08d6feaed618ed4a03f6c6a8fe6 Train pathfinding as of version 0.16 (Code)]
* [https://www.factorio.com/blog/post/fff-68 FFF #68]
* [[Railway]]

Railway/Train path finding

2019-07-10T02:25:06Z

Supply: Undo revision 174227 by Supply (talk) nevermind, I misunderstood 'invalidate' as 'close'

{{Languages}}
Before a train moves to a target (in this case, a [[Train stop]]), it calculates the best route based on the railway network at that time.

For calculation it uses a simple [[WIKIPEDIA:A*_search_algorithm|A*-algorithm]]: The pathfinder first builds a list of non-disabled stops that match the name in the schedule, then searches outward from both ends of the train at once, if applicable, in segments. A segment is an uninterrupted plain sequence of rails, with no intersections, stops, or signals (all of which define segment borders). The cost (distance) is calculated using the following weighting rules:
* Base cost for a block/segment is the length of the segment (linear grid length along the center of the rail).
* When the rail block is occupied by a train -> Add a penalty of 2 * length of the block divided by block distance from the start, so the far away occupied paths don't matter much.
* When the rail block is guarded by a [[rail signal]] set to red by the [[circuit network]] -> Add a penalty of 1000.
* When the path includes a train stop that is not the destination -> Add a penalty of 2000.
* When the path includes a train stop with a train stopped in it -> Add a penalty of 500.
* When the path includes a train stop with a train stopped in it that doesn't have other valid stops in its schedule -> Add a penalty of 1000.
* When the path includes a manually controlled stopped train -> Add a penalty of 2000.
* When the path includes a manually controlled stopped train without a passenger -> Add a penalty of 7000.
* When the path includes a train currently arriving to a train stop -> Add a penalty of 100.
* When the path includes a train currently arriving to a rail signal -> Add a penalty of 100.
* When the path includes a train currently waiting at a rail signal -> Add a penalty of 100 + 0.1 for every tick the train has already waited.
* When the path includes a train that doesn't have a path -> Add a penalty of 1000.

The route of a train is revalidated (and recalculated if it was invalid) in the following scenarios:
* A locomotive that is part of the train is rotated. The train is forced to make a new path.
* [https://lua-api.factorio.com/latest/LuaTrain.html#LuaTrain.recalculate_path LuaTrain::recalculate_path()] is called on the train by script. The train can be forced to recalculate its path regardless of validity.
* The train does not have a path and a train stop that is part of train's schedule gets renamed or created. The train is forced to recalculate its path.
* The train is pathing to a train stop that gets destroyed. The train is forced to make a new path.
* A rail which is part of the train's path gets destroyed.
** If the rail is the destination of the path, the train is forced to recalculate its path.
* The train doesn't have a path and a rail gets created.
* A rail gets created and invalidates a signal (chain or regular) along the train's path. The train is forced to recalculate its path.
* A rail block changes and invalidates a signal (chain or regular) along the train's path. The train is forced to recalculate its path.
* A signal (chain or regular) gets destroyed or created.
* The train is set to go to a station using the "Go to stop" button in the train's GUI.
* The train's schedule is changed.
* The train is switched to automatic control when it was previously manually controlled.
* The train's braking force gets changed and the train is currently driving normally, arriving at a signal (chain or regular) or arriving at a station.
* The train is preparing to stop at a signal (chain or regular) that changes so that the train can now continue. The train is forced to recalculate its path.
* The train is close to a signal (chain or regular) it cant reserve and the train is not inside a chain signal block. The train is forced to recalculate its path.
* The train wants to depart from a train stop.
* The train has waited at a chain signal for a multiple of 5 seconds.
** If the trains has waited for a multiple of 30 seconds or if multiple train stops with the name of the destination exist, the train is forced to recalculate its path.
* The train wants to depart from a signal (chain or regular) that it stopped at. The train is forced to recalculate its path.
* If the train doesn't have a path, the path is recalculated every 128 ticks.
* The train enters a new block and can't reserve the next needed signal (chain or regular). The train is forced to recalculate its path.
* The train collides with something that is not a train (like a player). The train is forced to recalculate its path.
* The train is pathing to a train stop that gets disabled. The train is forced to recalculate its path.
* The train doesn't have a path and a train stop that is in its schedule gets enabled.

== History ==

{{History|0.17.38|
* When a train performs path finding while in a chain signal sequence, the pathfinding will have a constraint to not go through reserved block before exiting the chain sequence. This solves a problem of train intersections being possible to be deadlocked even with proper chain signals usage in cases of using temporary stops or when path is changed because of station is being enabled/disabled by a circuit network. This also allowed us to to let train recalculate path spontaneously even in chain signal sequence, as it shouldn't break anything now.}}

{{History|0.16.42|
* Added train path finding penalty for train with no path equal to 1000 tiles}}

{{History|0.16.0|
* The specific penalties can now be found in the utility constants, which allows mods to change them. (Undocumented)}}

{{History|0.15.0|
* Train station adds 2000 tiles penalty when path finding, so trains try to avoid stations not related to their path.}}

{{History|0.11.17|
* Increased the pathing penalty for non-moving train in manual mode from 200 to 1000.}}

{{History|0.11.13|
* Stopped, manually controlled train adds additional penalty (related to train path finding) of 200 tiles to the block it occupies.}}

{{History|0.11.11|
* The pathfinding is based on penalties for blocked segments now. For trains waiting in station, the more remaining time in the station, the bigger penalty.}}

== See also ==

* [https://gist.github.com/Rseding91/c0d4d08d6feaed618ed4a03f6c6a8fe6 Train pathfinding as of version 0.16 (Code)]
* [https://www.factorio.com/blog/post/fff-68 FFF #68]
* [[Railway]]

Railway/Train path finding

2019-07-10T02:20:32Z

Supply: disambiguation (path and route are being used interchangeably here). only braking distance seems to matter as of 0.17.55

{{Languages}}
Before a train moves to a target (in this case, a [[Train stop]]), it calculates the best route based on the railway network at that time.

For calculation it uses a simple [[WIKIPEDIA:A*_search_algorithm|A*-algorithm]]: The pathfinder first builds a list of non-disabled stops that match the name in the schedule, then searches outward from both ends of the train at once, if applicable, in segments. A segment is an uninterrupted plain sequence of rails, with no intersections, stops, or signals (all of which define segment borders). The cost (distance) is calculated using the following weighting rules:
* Base cost for a block/segment is the length of the segment (linear grid length along the center of the rail).
* When the rail block is occupied by a train -> Add a penalty of 2 * length of the block divided by block distance from the start, so the far away occupied paths don't matter much.
* When the rail block is guarded by a [[rail signal]] set to red by the [[circuit network]] -> Add a penalty of 1000.
* When the path includes a train stop that is not the destination -> Add a penalty of 2000.
* When the path includes a train stop with a train stopped in it -> Add a penalty of 500.
* When the path includes a train stop with a train stopped in it that doesn't have other valid stops in its schedule -> Add a penalty of 1000.
* When the path includes a manually controlled stopped train -> Add a penalty of 2000.
* When the path includes a manually controlled stopped train without a passenger -> Add a penalty of 7000.
* When the path includes a train currently arriving to a train stop -> Add a penalty of 100.
* When the path includes a train currently arriving to a rail signal -> Add a penalty of 100.
* When the path includes a train currently waiting at a rail signal -> Add a penalty of 100 + 0.1 for every tick the train has already waited.
* When the path includes a train that doesn't have a path -> Add a penalty of 1000.

The route of a train is revalidated (and recalculated if it was invalid) in the following scenarios:
* A locomotive that is part of the train is rotated. The train is forced to make a new path.
* [https://lua-api.factorio.com/latest/LuaTrain.html#LuaTrain.recalculate_path LuaTrain::recalculate_path()] is called on the train by script. The train can be forced to recalculate its path regardless of validity.
* The train does not have a path and a train stop that is part of train's schedule gets renamed or created. The train is forced to recalculate its path.
* The train is pathing to a train stop that gets destroyed. The train is forced to make a new path.
* A rail which is part of the train's path gets destroyed.
** If the rail is the destination of the path, the train is forced to recalculate its path.
* The train doesn't have a path and a rail gets created.
* A rail gets created and invalidates a signal (chain or regular) along the train's path. The train is forced to recalculate its path.
* A rail block changes and invalidates a signal (chain or regular) along the train's braking distance. The train is forced to recalculate its path.
* A signal (chain or regular) gets destroyed or created.
* The train is set to go to a station using the "Go to stop" button in the train's GUI.
* The train's schedule is changed.
* The train is switched to automatic control when it was previously manually controlled.
* The train's braking force gets changed and the train is currently driving normally, arriving at a signal (chain or regular) or arriving at a station.
* The train is preparing to stop at a signal (chain or regular) that changes so that the train can now continue. The train is forced to recalculate its path.
* The train is close to a signal (chain or regular) it cant reserve and the train is not inside a chain signal block. The train is forced to recalculate its path.
* The train wants to depart from a train stop.
* The train has waited at a chain signal for a multiple of 5 seconds.
** If the trains has waited for a multiple of 30 seconds or if multiple train stops with the name of the destination exist, the train is forced to recalculate its path.
* The train wants to depart from a signal (chain or regular) that it stopped at. The train is forced to recalculate its path.
* If the train doesn't have a path, the path is recalculated every 128 ticks.
* The train enters a new block and can't reserve the next needed signal (chain or regular). The train is forced to recalculate its path.
* The train collides with something that is not a train (like a player). The train is forced to recalculate its path.
* The train is pathing to a train stop that gets disabled. The train is forced to recalculate its path.
* The train doesn't have a path and a train stop that is in its schedule gets enabled.

== History ==

{{History|0.17.38|
* When a train performs path finding while in a chain signal sequence, the pathfinding will have a constraint to not go through reserved block before exiting the chain sequence. This solves a problem of train intersections being possible to be deadlocked even with proper chain signals usage in cases of using temporary stops or when path is changed because of station is being enabled/disabled by a circuit network. This also allowed us to to let train recalculate path spontaneously even in chain signal sequence, as it shouldn't break anything now.}}

{{History|0.16.42|
* Added train path finding penalty for train with no path equal to 1000 tiles}}

{{History|0.16.0|
* The specific penalties can now be found in the utility constants, which allows mods to change them. (Undocumented)}}

{{History|0.15.0|
* Train station adds 2000 tiles penalty when path finding, so trains try to avoid stations not related to their path.}}

{{History|0.11.17|
* Increased the pathing penalty for non-moving train in manual mode from 200 to 1000.}}

{{History|0.11.13|
* Stopped, manually controlled train adds additional penalty (related to train path finding) of 200 tiles to the block it occupies.}}

{{History|0.11.11|
* The pathfinding is based on penalties for blocked segments now. For trains waiting in station, the more remaining time in the station, the bigger penalty.}}

== See also ==

* [https://gist.github.com/Rseding91/c0d4d08d6feaed618ed4a03f6c6a8fe6 Train pathfinding as of version 0.16 (Code)]
* [https://www.factorio.com/blog/post/fff-68 FFF #68]
* [[Railway]]

Glossary

2017-05-28T06:03:03Z

Supply: changed 'Stealing' to 'Daisy chaining'

{{Languages}}
__NOTOC__

This page acts as a general glossary of all terms used in Factorio and its community. We recommend searching the page with {{keybinding|CTRL|F}} to find specific terms. The page is also organized alphabetically.

Additionally, you can click a letter below to be taken to that letter in the list, if you wish to search manually.

[[##|#]] [[#A|A]] [[#B|B]] [[#C|C]] [[#D|D]] [[#E|E]] [[#F|F]] [[#G|G]] [[#H|H]] [[#I|I]] [[#J|J]] [[#K|K]] [[#L|L]] [[#M|M]] [[#N|N]] [[#O|O]] [[#P|P]] [[#Q|Q]] [[#R|R]] [[#S|S]] [[#T|T]] [[#U|U]] [[#V|V]] [[#W|W]] [[#X|X]] [[#Y|Y]] [[#Z|Z]]

== # ==

;1-1, 1-2-1, 2-4, 4-8-4 and similar : A somewhat ambiguous shorthand notation for train configurations. The first number is usually the number of locomotives at the head of the train, followed by the number of cargo wagons or fluid wagons, and optionally followed by the number of tail locomotives if it's a double-headed train. In general, the smaller numbers are the number of locomotives.

== A ==
;Ammo : Ammunition, used for guns/rocket launchers/turrets, etc.
;Angel's mods : A term referring to the mods made by user ''Arch666Angel'', a popular modder who makes extremely popular difficulty/complexity mods that complement bob's mods.
;Angelbobs : A community term that means a game with both Angel's mods and Bob's mods installed.
;Assembly : Another word for an [[Assembling machine]].

== B ==
;Backed-up : Refers to a machine having no output, and so the input channel fills up. Can also refer to belts being backlogged due to low consumption. This is not necessarily a bad thing.
;Belt balancer : This is a belt setup that balances multiple belts to contain the same amount of resources, to maximize throughput. See [[Balancers]].
;Belt compression : This term refers to ensuring that all items on a belt are right after each other, to ensure no space is wasted and highest throughput.
;Blackout : When your factory completely loses power. This typically happens at night when relying on solar+accumulator power, enemies destroying vital electric poles, or after a prolonged brownout when using electric mining drills and/or electric inserters (instead of their burner variants).
;Bob's mods : A term referring to the mods made by user ''bobingabout'', a popular modder who makes extremely popular difficulty/complexity mods that complement Angel's mods.
;Bootstrap factory : A factory that's made at the start of a new game in order to jump-start automation of basic equipment, climb the tech tree, and ultimately produce construction materials for a bigger, more organized factory, such as a megabase. The purpose of this factory is to allow you to grow your production to a decent size and then have a fresh start with all of the tech at your disposal, rather than building a giant factory from the ground up and then having to refactor parts of it.
;Bots : Shorthand version for [[Construction robot]] or [[Logistic robot]]. Sometimes also refers to the combat robots created from capsules (unlocked by researching Combat robotics 1–3).
;Bottleneck : A term that means a single point where resources are constrained, such as a slow part of a belt that slows down everything.
;BP : Short for [[Blueprint]].
;Braiding : The space-saving technique of alternating between two or more different underground belt types (basic, fast and express) in a straight line, one tile wide. The different types of underground belts don't interfere with each other, and inserters can interact with the belt entrance and exit entities.
;Brownout : When your factory's machines are running slower than normal because you're not generating enough electricity.
;Buffer: A place where a stockpile of items is stored to be available when the production stops. Typically a chest.
;Bus : Short for [[#M|Main bus]].

== C ==
;Capacity : Maximum amount of items/fluid that can exist within something.
;Chokepoint : Artificial or natural geography that funnels attackers into a narrow, movement-constricting area, making it more difficult for them to breach fortifications. Examples: peninsulas with narrow connections to the mainland, artificial land bridges to islands, nearby lakes, corridors through thick forests.
;Coin : An item used in the Tight Spot campaign.
;Computer : An item used in the New Hope campaign. (No further spoilers.)
;Contaminated : A belt with incorrect items on it (such as coal on an iron belt). Can also refer to pipes with mixed liquids.
;Cracktorio : A community term referring to the addictive qualities of Factorio, jokingly comparing the game to crack cocaine.

== D ==
;Daisy chaining : Some entities allow inserters to insert and remove items from the same slots, including fuel in boilers, ammo in gun turrets, science packs in labs, modules in beacons, robots in roboports, and any items in chests. 'Daisy chaining' is a technique that makes use of this mechanic in order to supply some machines with consumables (i.e. fuel, ammo or science packs) without having to use belts. You simply chain multiple machines together with inserters that take the items out of the previous machine and insert them directly into the next. It's sometimes referred to as 'stealing', as in 'coal stealing' or 'ammo stealing'.
;Death world : A world generation configuration that results in a large quantity of [[Enemies]], to increase the game's difficulty.
;Double header : This is a term that refers to a train with [[Diesel locomotive]]s on both ends, making the train capable of driving in both directions. Opposite of a single header, or standard train.

== E ==
;Entity : Anything that can be manipulated in-game. Nearly everything in factorio is an entity. Any device, items, trees... Even the player is just an entity.
;Evolution : The development and growth of the native population. Over the course of a game, biters and spitters become bigger and more powerful. See [[Enemies#Evolution]].

== F ==
;Factorissimo : A popular mod that allows for factories to be built within buildings added by the mod.
;FFF : The weekly blog that the developers make to talk about the development of Factorio. Expanded, it is Factorio Friday Facts, posted every Friday.
;FPS : Visual rendering speed, "Frames per second". When this is reduced beneath 60, the game may stutter visually, jitter, or otherwise appear unstable. Low FPS will not necessarily result in low UPS, but they are loosely tied together.
;Fuel : Refers to any burnable item that can be used to fuel burner devices, such as [[wood]], [[coal]], etc.

== G ==
;Ghost : A translucent preview image that designates a position for the construction of an entity. Ghosts are created when you shift+click with an entity under your cursor, when you use the [[Rail_planner#Ghost_Planner|ghost rail planner]], when an entity is destroyed after you've researched construction robotics, and when you place a blueprint. Construction robots automatically attempt to construct ghosts within their logistic or personal roboport network, and if unable will create an alert for missing construction materials.
;Gigabase : An even larger megabase, typically has RPM counts > 10.

== I ==
;Inventory : The ability for an entity to hold items within it. Almost all entities have inventories.
;Item : An item is another form of entity, representing the un-built version of a machine, tools, etc. Typically, items are found on belts, in the player's inventory, and inside machines. Items can be provided to recipes to create other items.
;Item Explosion : A phenomenon when a lot of items are spilled on the ground in a square-like fashion. Usually due to accidentally removing power armor when having a full inventory.
;Item request slot : A special request slot for machines with module slots that allows them to request the modules in the blueprint from which they were constructed. The deconstruction planner has a filter for canceling these requests.

== K ==

;Kovarex : The founding father of Factorio and where [[Kovarex enrichment process]] gets its name from.

== L ==
;Lane balancer : This is a belt setup that balances the two lanes on a belt to be equal, to maximize throughput. See [[Balancers]].
;Legs : [[Exoskeleton]]
;Loader : An abandoned concept for a belt-based mechanism that continuously loads and unloads machines, as an alternative to inserters. Functional loader entities can still be found in the editor, and some mods give them a proper texture and make them available in regular games. Loaders are used in the official Team Production scenario.

== M ==
;Main bus : The opposite of spaghetti, this refers to placing multiple belts side by side containing one resource, and branching off of it in order to create setups. Allows for organized layout of resource transportation.
;Mall: Also known as store. A location in a factory that produces many types of different items that the player needs but in relatively small amounts.
;Map exchange string : A long piece of text that encodes the settings used to generate a map. See [[World generator#Map Exchange String]].
;Market : A building where you can buy items using coins. It's available in the editor and used in the Tight Spot campaign.
;Mats : Shorthand for materials.
;Megabase : A community term referring to a significantly large base that has been built over a significant time/effort. Often, these bases are quantified in terms of rockets per minute, or "RPM". A base typically is considered a megabase when it can maintain 1 RPM.
;Mod : This term refers to a script or collection of scripts that change how the game acts, adds new items/entities, etc.
;Modpack : A community term referring to a collection of mods that work well together.

== N ==
;Night steam : The strategy of relying on solar panels to generate electricity during the day and steam engines during the night.
;No path : A common error that means that a train cannot find a valid route to a train stop. See [[Railway#No_path]].

== P ==
;Priority splitter : A splitter design that directs as many resources as possible from a bus to an offshoot before letting excess items flow past. This is in contrast to a splitter that always distributes some percentage of items to both sides (depending on the particular arrangement of splitters).

== Q ==
;QOL : Quality of life, often refers to mods that increase ease of play.

== R ==
;Rainbow belt : A transport belt with many different types of items on it, rather than the easier-to-manage one or two types of items. See [[#S|Sushi belt]].
;Ribbon world : A world which has been set up to have limited space in one dimension (width or height), adding a new challenge. The smallest ribbon world in which you can launch a rocket is a map limited to a width of 9 tiles, the width of the rocket silo.
;RORO : Abbreviation for "Roll on, roll off" in the context of train station design. It means that trains arrive at the station at one end and leave the station at the other end (driving past the train stop), as opposed to terminus stations.
;Roundabout : This term refers to a type of path for trains, to allow the trains to enter the circle, and exit onto the exit rail that they path to. Generally recommended against, due to throughput and self collision issues.
;RPM : Shorthand for rockets per minute, usually used to meassure the size of very big bases, see [[#M|Megabase]] and [[#G|Gigabase]].

== S ==
;Scenario : A map that has been saved via the [[Map editor]]. Special scripting can be added to make simple "events".
;Seed : A number associated with each map that determines the outcome of certain pseudo-random processes, like terrain generation. All other settings being equal, different seeds result in vastly different terrain features. The seed is included in [[#M|Map exchange strings]].
;Shuttle : A train for personal transportation around the factory. Sometimes called a taxi.
;Sideloading : This is a commonly used term that refers to running the end of a [[Transport belt]] into the side of another, so that only the lane on the side of the belt that the other belt is on is filled. This is typically done to create a belt that carries two different resources side-by-side on the same belt.
;Small plane : An item from the New Hope campaign. (No further spoilers.)
;Smart furnace : A smelting setup that can process multiple materials (e.g. iron ore, copper ore, iron plates, stone).
;Spaghetti : A community term referring to the "spaghetti" look of many belts/entities placed in a disorganized fashion. Typically created by new players to Factorio. Generally, it will be moved away from as soon as the player realizes the logistical problems it causes.
;Speedrun : A term referring to attempting to quickly finish the game as soon as possible. At the time of this writing, the record is just over an hour.
;Stacker : Also known as '''Parking lot'''. A waiting bay for trains, allowing them to wait on different parallel tracks and not block each other until their destination becomes free. Recommended in front of large, multi-platform stations.
;Sushi belt : The strategy of mixing many different types of items on transport belts to supply machines that need some or all of those items. It sacrifices throughput for compactness (and beauty). It looks colorful and diverse like a tray of sushi. Its perhaps most popular application is supplying labs with science packs. Sometimes called sushi bar or rainbow belt.

== T ==
;Terminus : A train station design where trains come in and leave from the same side, thus requiring double-headed trains, unlike RORO stations.
;Throughput : A term that refers to the maximum amount of resources that can travel through something (such as a belt) in a certain amount of time. Usually quantified in items per second.
;Tick : The smallest measurable amount of time in Factorio. There are 60 ticks per second (when running at 60 UPS), and 3600 ticks in a minute.
;Tile : A piece of map. It is not really known how big it is, but for simplifying things we can assume that a tile is a quadratic with side of 1 meter.
;Time : Game time is normally identical with real time, one second in the game is one second in reality, but it can be faster or slower. For example, when the calculations for an update takes longer than a tick, the game slows down (aka UPS). Alternatively, a mod can provide ways to let the game run faster.
;TINS : Abbreviation of "There Is No Spoon", the name of the in-game achievement.
;Train bus : A popular alternative to the [[#M|main bus]] pattern. Instead of using a belt bus to provide materials for various production cells, a large rail system allows many trains to route materials between more distant cells, sometimes called subfactories. It's a UPS-friendlier strategy for large factories such as megabases.
;Trash can : A simple 'public utility' of sorts, which is an active provider that players can dump unwanted items into. Logistic robots pick them up and store them away. It's useful if you need to get rid of large quantities of items (such as wood or landfill) and your logistic trash slots are full.
;Turret : Stationary defense weapon. There are three types of turrets in Factorio, the [[Laser turret]], [[Gun turret]], and [[Flamethrower turret]].
;Turret creep : The tactic of leap-frogging with turrets into hostile territory. It's very effective due to the strength and range of turrets. Typically done with laser turrets, blueprints and personal roboports, but can also be done by manually placing gun turrets and inserting ammo.

== U ==
;UPS : Internal clock speed, "Updates Per Second". The game tries its best to maintain the ideal 60 UPS, but it is affected by the size and complexity of the game world and your computer hardware. A lower UPS means that the simulation runs slower. At 30 UPS everything would take twice as long as under ideal conditions. This is a common concern on megabases or when playing with many mods active. It can be set to more than 60 UPS by changing the game speed via script, processing power permitting. The Transport Belt Madness and Tight Spot campaigns are examples where the game speed can be increased.

== V ==
;Vanilla : Regular version of the game with no mods.

== W ==
;Wube : The company based in the Czech Republic that develops Factorio.

== Z ==
;Zoo : A group of biter or spitter nests around which the player has built a safe containment zone, i.e. a circle of turrets. Reasons for doing this include exploiting the nests' pollution absorption and automating the destruction of items (using requester chests near the nests).

Glossary

2017-05-16T16:18:01Z

Supply: /* F */ corrected list position of Factorissimo

{{Languages}}
__NOTOC__

This page acts as a general glossary of all terms used in Factorio and its community. We recommend searching the page with {{keybinding|CTRL|F}} to find specific terms. The page is also organized alphabetically.

Additionally, you can click a letter below to be taken to that letter in the list, if you wish to search manually.

[[##|#]] [[#A|A]] [[#B|B]] [[#C|C]] [[#D|D]] [[#E|E]] [[#F|F]] [[#G|G]] [[#H|H]] [[#I|I]] [[#J|J]] [[#K|K]] [[#L|L]] [[#M|M]] [[#N|N]] [[#O|O]] [[#P|P]] [[#Q|Q]] [[#R|R]] [[#S|S]] [[#T|T]] [[#U|U]] [[#V|V]] [[#W|W]] [[#X|X]] [[#Y|Y]] [[#Z|Z]]

== # ==

;1-1, 1-2-1, 2-4, 4-8-4 and similar : A somewhat ambiguous shorthand notation for train configurations. The first number is usually the number of locomotives at the head of the train, followed by the number of cargo wagons or fluid wagons, and optionally followed by the number of tail locomotives if it's a double-headed train. In general, the smaller numbers are the number of locomotives.

== A ==
;Ammo : Ammunition, used for guns/rocket launchers/turrets, etc.
;Angel's mods : A term referring to the mods made by user ''Arch666Angel'', a popular modder who makes extremely popular difficulty/complexity mods that complement bob's mods.
;Angelbobs : A community term that means a game with both Angel's mods and Bob's mods installed.
;Assembly : Another word for an [[Assembling machine]].

== B ==
;Backed-up : Refers to a machine having no output, and so the input channel fills up. Can also refer to belts being backlogged due to low consumption. This is not necessarily a bad thing.
;Belt balancer : This is a belt setup that balances multiple belts to contain the same amount of resources, to maximize throughput. See [[Balancers]].
;Belt compression : This term refers to ensuring that all items on a belt are right after each other, to ensure no space is wasted and highest throughput.
;Blackout : When your factory completely loses power. This typically happens at night when relying on solar+accumulator power, enemies destroying vital electric poles, or after a prolonged brownout when using electric mining drills and/or electric inserters (instead of their burner variants).
;Bob's mods : A term referring to the mods made by user ''bobingabout'', a popular modder who makes extremely popular difficulty/complexity mods that complement Angel's mods.
;Bootstrap factory : A factory that's made at the start of a new game in order to jump-start automation of basic equipment, climb the tech tree, and ultimately produce construction materials for a bigger, more organized factory, such as a megabase. The purpose of this factory is to allow you to grow your production to a decent size and then have a fresh start with all of the tech at your disposal, rather than building a giant factory from the ground up and then having to refactor parts of it.
;Bots : Shorthand version for [[Construction robot]] or [[Logistic robot]]. Sometimes also refers to the combat robots created from capsules (unlocked by researching Combat robotics 1–3).
;Bottleneck : A term that means a single point where resources are constrained, such as a slow part of a belt that slows down everything.
;BP : Short for [[Blueprint]].
;Braiding : The space-saving technique of alternating between two or more different underground belt types (basic, fast and express) in a straight line, one tile wide. The different types of underground belts don't interfere with each other, and inserters can interact with the belt entrance and exit entities.
;Brownout : When your factory's machines are running slower than normal because you're not generating enough electricity.
;Buffer: A place where a stockpile of items is stored to be available when the production stops. Typically a chest.
;Bus : Short for [[#M|Main bus]].

== C ==
;Capacity : Maximum amount of items/fluid that can exist within something.
;Chokepoint : Artificial or natural geography that funnels attackers into a narrow, movement-constricting area, making it more difficult for them to breach fortifications. Examples: peninsulas with narrow connections to the mainland, artificial land bridges to islands, nearby lakes, corridors through thick forests.
;Coin : An item used in the Tight Spot campaign.
;Computer : An item used in the New Hope campaign. (No further spoilers.)
;Contaminated : A belt with incorrect items on it (such as coal on an iron belt). Can also refer to pipes with mixed liquids.
;Cracktorio : A community term referring to the addictive qualities of Factorio, jokingly comparing the game to crack cocaine.

== D ==
;Death world : A world generation configuration that results in a large quantity of [[Enemies]], to increase the game's difficulty.
;Double header : This is a term that refers to a train with [[Diesel locomotive]]s on both ends, making the train capable of driving in both directions. Opposite of a single header, or standard train.

== E ==
;Entity : Anything that can be manipulated in-game. Nearly everything in factorio is an entity. Any device, items, trees... Even the player is just an entity.
;Evolution : The development and growth of the native population. Over the course of a game, biters and spitters become bigger and more powerful. See [[Enemies#Evolution]].

== F ==
;Factorissimo : A popular mod that allows for factories to be built within buildings added by the mod.
;FFF : The weekly blog that the developers make to talk about the development of Factorio. Expanded, it is Factorio Friday Facts, posted every Friday.
;FPS : Visual rendering speed, "Frames per second". When this is reduced beneath 60, the game may stutter visually, jitter, or otherwise appear unstable. Low FPS will not necessarily result in low UPS, but they are loosely tied together.
;Fuel : Refers to any burnable item that can be used to fuel burner devices, such as [[wood]], [[coal]], etc.

== G ==
;Ghost : A translucent preview image that designates a position for the construction of an entity. Ghosts are created when you shift+click with an entity under your cursor, when you use the [[Rail_planner#Ghost_Planner|ghost rail planner]], when an entity is destroyed after you've researched construction robotics, and when you place a blueprint. Construction robots automatically attempt to construct ghosts within their logistic or personal roboport network, and if unable will create an alert for missing construction materials.
;Gigabase : An even larger megabase, typically has RPM counts > 10.

== I ==
;Inventory : The ability for an entity to hold items within it. Almost all entities have inventories.
;Item : An item is another form of entity, representing the un-built version of a machine, tools, etc. Typically, items are found on belts, in the player's inventory, and inside machines. Items can be provided to recipes to create other items.
;Item Explosion : A phenomenon when a lot of items are spilled on the ground in a square-like fashion. Usually due to accidentally removing power armor when having a full inventory.
;Item request slot : A special request slot for machines with module slots that allows them to request the modules in the blueprint from which they were constructed. The deconstruction planner has a filter for canceling these requests.

== K ==

;Kovarex : The founding father of Factorio and where [[Kovarex enrichment process]] gets its name from.

== L ==
;Lane balancer : This is a belt setup that balances the two lanes on a belt to be equal, to maximize throughput. See [[Balancers]].
;Legs : [[Exoskeleton]]
;Loader : An abandoned concept for a belt-based mechanism that continuously loads and unloads machines, as an alternative to inserters. Functional loader entities can still be found in the editor, and some mods give them a proper texture and make them available in regular games. Loaders are used in the official Team Production scenario.

== M ==
;Main bus : The opposite of spaghetti, this refers to placing multiple belts side by side containing one resource, and branching off of it in order to create setups. Allows for organized layout of resource transportation.
;Mall: Also known as store. A location in a factory that produces many types of different items that the player needs but in relatively small amounts.
;Map exchange string : A long piece of text that encodes the settings used to generate a map. See [[World generator#Map Exchange String]].
;Market : A building where you can buy items using coins. It's available in the editor and used in the Tight Spot campaign.
;Mats : Shorthand for materials.
;Megabase : A community term referring to a significantly large base that has been built over a significant time/effort. Often, these bases are quantified in terms of rockets per minute, or "RPM". A base typically is considered a megabase when it can maintain 1 RPM.
;Mod : This term refers to a script or collection of scripts that change how the game acts, adds new items/entities, etc.
;Modpack : A community term referring to a collection of mods that work well together.

== N ==
;Night steam : The strategy of relying on solar panels to generate electricity during the day and steam engines during the night.
;No path : A common error that means that a train cannot find a valid route to a train stop. See [[Railway#No_path]].

== P ==
;Priority splitter : A splitter design that directs as many resources as possible from a bus to an offshoot before letting excess items flow past. This is in contrast to a splitter that always distributes some percentage of items to both sides (depending on the particular arrangement of splitters).

== Q ==
;QOL : Quality of life, often refers to mods that increase ease of play.

== R ==
;Rainbow belt : A transport belt with many different types of items on it, rather than the easier-to-manage one or two types of items. See [[#S|Sushi belt]].
;Ribbon world : A world which has been set up to have limited space in one dimension (width or height), adding a new challenge. The smallest ribbon world in which you can launch a rocket is a map limited to a width of 9 tiles, the width of the rocket silo.
;RORO : Abbreviation for "Roll on, roll off" in the context of train station design. It means that trains arrive at the station at one end and leave the station at the other end (driving past the train stop), as opposed to terminus stations.
;Roundabout : This term refers to a type of path for trains, to allow the trains to enter the circle, and exit onto the exit rail that they path to. Generally recommended against, due to throughput and self collision issues.
;RPM : Shorthand for rockets per minute, usually used to meassure the size of very big bases, see [[#M|Megabase]] and [[#G|Gigabase]].

== S ==
;Scenario : A map that has been saved via the [[Map editor]]. Special scripting can be added to make simple "events".
;Seed : A number associated with each map that determines the outcome of certain pseudo-random processes, like terrain generation. All other settings being equal, different seeds result in vastly different terrain features. The seed is included in [[#M|Map exchange strings]].
;Shuttle : A train for personal transportation around the factory. Sometimes called a taxi.
;Sideloading : This is a commonly used term that refers to running the end of a [[Transport belt]] into the side of another, so that only the lane on the side of the belt that the other belt is on is filled. This is typically done to create a belt that carries two different resources side-by-side on the same belt.
;Small plane : An item from the New Hope campaign. (No further spoilers.)
;Smart furnace : A smelting setup that can process multiple materials (e.g. iron ore, copper ore, iron plates, stone).
;Spaghetti : A community term referring to the "spaghetti" look of many belts/entities placed in a disorganized fashion. Typically created by new players to Factorio. Generally, it will be moved away from as soon as the player realizes the logistical problems it causes.
;Speedrun : A term referring to attempting to quickly finish the game as soon as possible. At the time of this writing, the record is just over an hour.
;Stacker : Also known as '''Parking lot'''. A waiting bay for trains, allowing them to wait on different parallel tracks and not block each other until their destination becomes free. Recommended in front of large, multi-platform stations.
;Stealing : Some entities allow inserters to insert and remove items from the same slots, including fuel in boilers, ammo in gun turrets, science packs in labs, modules in beacons, robots in roboports, and any items in chests. 'Stealing' is a technique that makes use of this mechanic in order to supply some machines with consumables (i.e. fuel, ammo or science packs) without having to use belts. You simply chain multiple machines together with inserters that take the items out of the previous machine and insert them directly into the next. The commonly used phrases are 'coal stealing' and 'ammo stealing'.
;Sushi belt : The strategy of mixing many different types of items on transport belts to supply machines that need some or all of those items. It sacrifices throughput for compactness (and beauty). It looks colorful and diverse like a tray of sushi. Its perhaps most popular application is supplying labs with science packs. Sometimes called sushi bar or rainbow belt.

== T ==
;Terminus : A train station design where trains come in and leave from the same side, thus requiring double-headed trains, unlike RORO stations.
;Throughput : A term that refers to the maximum amount of resources that can travel through something (such as a belt) in a certain amount of time. Usually quantified in items per second.
;Tick : The smallest measurable amount of time in Factorio. There are 60 ticks per second (when running at 60 UPS), and 3600 ticks in a minute.
;Tile : A piece of map. It is not really known how big it is, but for simplifying things we can assume that a tile is a quadratic with side of 1 meter.
;Time : Game time is normally identical with real time, one second in the game is one second in reality, but it can be faster or slower. For example, when the calculations for an update takes longer than a tick, the game slows down (aka UPS). Alternatively, a mod can provide ways to let the game run faster.
;TINS : Abbreviation of "There Is No Spoon", the name of the in-game achievement.
;Train bus : A popular alternative to the [[#M|main bus]] pattern. Instead of using a belt bus to provide materials for various production cells, a large rail system allows many trains to route materials between more distant cells, sometimes called subfactories. It's a UPS-friendlier strategy for large factories such as megabases.
;Trash can : A simple 'public utility' of sorts, which is an active provider that players can dump unwanted items into. Logistic robots pick them up and store them away. It's useful if you need to get rid of large quantities of items (such as wood or landfill) and your logistic trash slots are full.
;Turret : Stationary defense weapon. There are three types of turrets in Factorio, the [[Laser turret]], [[Gun turret]], and [[Flamethrower turret]].
;Turret creep : The tactic of leap-frogging with turrets into hostile territory. It's very effective due to the strength and range of turrets. Typically done with laser turrets, blueprints and personal roboports, but can also be done by manually placing gun turrets and inserting ammo.

== U ==
;UPS : Internal clock speed, "Updates Per Second". The game tries its best to maintain the ideal 60 UPS, but it is affected by the size and complexity of the game world and your computer hardware. A lower UPS means that the simulation runs slower. At 30 UPS everything would take twice as long as under ideal conditions. This is a common concern on megabases or when playing with many mods active. It can be set to more than 60 UPS by changing the game speed via script, processing power permitting. The Transport Belt Madness and Tight Spot campaigns are examples where the game speed can be increased.

== V ==
;Vanilla : Regular version of the game with no mods.

== W ==
;Wube : The company based in the Czech Republic that develops Factorio.

== Z ==
;Zoo : A group of biter or spitter nests around which the player has built a safe containment zone, i.e. a circle of turrets. Reasons for doing this include exploiting the nests' pollution absorption and automating the destruction of items (using requester chests near the nests).

Glossary

2017-05-16T15:58:15Z

Supply: added shuttle, smart furnace, trash can, zoo

{{Languages}}
__NOTOC__

This page acts as a general glossary of all terms used in Factorio and its community. We recommend searching the page with {{keybinding|CTRL|F}} to find specific terms. The page is also organized alphabetically.

Additionally, you can click a letter below to be taken to that letter in the list, if you wish to search manually.

[[##|#]] [[#A|A]] [[#B|B]] [[#C|C]] [[#D|D]] [[#E|E]] [[#F|F]] [[#G|G]] [[#H|H]] [[#I|I]] [[#J|J]] [[#K|K]] [[#L|L]] [[#M|M]] [[#N|N]] [[#O|O]] [[#P|P]] [[#Q|Q]] [[#R|R]] [[#S|S]] [[#T|T]] [[#U|U]] [[#V|V]] [[#W|W]] [[#X|X]] [[#Y|Y]] [[#Z|Z]]

== # ==

;1-1, 1-2-1, 2-4, 4-8-4 and similar : A somewhat ambiguous shorthand notation for train configurations. The first number is usually the number of locomotives at the head of the train, followed by the number of cargo wagons or fluid wagons, and optionally followed by the number of tail locomotives if it's a double-headed train. In general, the smaller numbers are the number of locomotives.

== A ==
;Ammo : Ammunition, used for guns/rocket launchers/turrets, etc.
;Angel's mods : A term referring to the mods made by user ''Arch666Angel'', a popular modder who makes extremely popular difficulty/complexity mods that complement bob's mods.
;Angelbobs : A community term that means a game with both Angel's mods and Bob's mods installed.
;Assembly : Another word for an [[Assembling machine]].

== B ==
;Backed-up : Refers to a machine having no output, and so the input channel fills up. Can also refer to belts being backlogged due to low consumption. This is not necessarily a bad thing.
;Belt balancer : This is a belt setup that balances multiple belts to contain the same amount of resources, to maximize throughput. See [[Balancers]].
;Belt compression : This term refers to ensuring that all items on a belt are right after each other, to ensure no space is wasted and highest throughput.
;Blackout : When your factory completely loses power. This typically happens at night when relying on solar+accumulator power, enemies destroying vital electric poles, or after a prolonged brownout when using electric mining drills and/or electric inserters (instead of their burner variants).
;Bob's mods : A term referring to the mods made by user ''bobingabout'', a popular modder who makes extremely popular difficulty/complexity mods that complement Angel's mods.
;Bootstrap factory : A factory that's made at the start of a new game in order to jump-start automation of basic equipment, climb the tech tree, and ultimately produce construction materials for a bigger, more organized factory, such as a megabase. The purpose of this factory is to allow you to grow your production to a decent size and then have a fresh start with all of the tech at your disposal, rather than building a giant factory from the ground up and then having to refactor parts of it.
;Bots : Shorthand version for [[Construction robot]] or [[Logistic robot]]. Sometimes also refers to the combat robots created from capsules (unlocked by researching Combat robotics 1–3).
;Bottleneck : A term that means a single point where resources are constrained, such as a slow part of a belt that slows down everything.
;BP : Short for [[Blueprint]].
;Braiding : The space-saving technique of alternating between two or more different underground belt types (basic, fast and express) in a straight line, one tile wide. The different types of underground belts don't interfere with each other, and inserters can interact with the belt entrance and exit entities.
;Brownout : When your factory's machines are running slower than normal because you're not generating enough electricity.
;Buffer: A place where a stockpile of items is stored to be available when the production stops. Typically a chest.
;Bus : Short for [[#M|Main bus]].

== C ==
;Capacity : Maximum amount of items/fluid that can exist within something.
;Chokepoint : Artificial or natural geography that funnels attackers into a narrow, movement-constricting area, making it more difficult for them to breach fortifications. Examples: peninsulas with narrow connections to the mainland, artificial land bridges to islands, nearby lakes, corridors through thick forests.
;Coin : An item used in the Tight Spot campaign.
;Computer : An item used in the New Hope campaign. (No further spoilers.)
;Contaminated : A belt with incorrect items on it (such as coal on an iron belt). Can also refer to pipes with mixed liquids.
;Cracktorio : A community term referring to the addictive qualities of Factorio, jokingly comparing the game to crack cocaine.

== D ==
;Death world : A world generation configuration that results in a large quantity of [[Enemies]], to increase the game's difficulty.
;Double header : This is a term that refers to a train with [[Diesel locomotive]]s on both ends, making the train capable of driving in both directions. Opposite of a single header, or standard train.

== E ==
;Entity : Anything that can be manipulated in-game. Nearly everything in factorio is an entity. Any device, items, trees... Even the player is just an entity.
;Evolution : The development and growth of the native population. Over the course of a game, biters and spitters become bigger and more powerful. See [[Enemies#Evolution]].

== F ==
;FFF : The weekly blog that the developers make to talk about the development of Factorio. Expanded, it is Factorio Friday Facts, posted every Friday.
;FPS : Visual rendering speed, "Frames per second". When this is reduced beneath 60, the game may stutter visually, jitter, or otherwise appear unstable. Low FPS will not necessarily result in low UPS, but they are loosely tied together.
;Factorissimo : A popular mod that allows for factories to be built within buildings added by the mod.
;Fuel : Refers to any burnable item that can be used to fuel burner devices, such as [[wood]], [[coal]], etc.

== G ==
;Ghost : A translucent preview image that designates a position for the construction of an entity. Ghosts are created when you shift+click with an entity under your cursor, when you use the [[Rail_planner#Ghost_Planner|ghost rail planner]], when an entity is destroyed after you've researched construction robotics, and when you place a blueprint. Construction robots automatically attempt to construct ghosts within their logistic or personal roboport network, and if unable will create an alert for missing construction materials.
;Gigabase : An even larger megabase, typically has RPM counts > 10.

== I ==
;Inventory : The ability for an entity to hold items within it. Almost all entities have inventories.
;Item : An item is another form of entity, representing the un-built version of a machine, tools, etc. Typically, items are found on belts, in the player's inventory, and inside machines. Items can be provided to recipes to create other items.
;Item Explosion : A phenomenon when a lot of items are spilled on the ground in a square-like fashion. Usually due to accidentally removing power armor when having a full inventory.
;Item request slot : A special request slot for machines with module slots that allows them to request the modules in the blueprint from which they were constructed. The deconstruction planner has a filter for canceling these requests.

== K ==

;Kovarex : The founding father of Factorio and where [[Kovarex enrichment process]] gets its name from.

== L ==
;Lane balancer : This is a belt setup that balances the two lanes on a belt to be equal, to maximize throughput. See [[Balancers]].
;Legs : [[Exoskeleton]]
;Loader : An abandoned concept for a belt-based mechanism that continuously loads and unloads machines, as an alternative to inserters. Functional loader entities can still be found in the editor, and some mods give them a proper texture and make them available in regular games. Loaders are used in the official Team Production scenario.

== M ==
;Main bus : The opposite of spaghetti, this refers to placing multiple belts side by side containing one resource, and branching off of it in order to create setups. Allows for organized layout of resource transportation.
;Mall: Also known as store. A location in a factory that produces many types of different items that the player needs but in relatively small amounts.
;Map exchange string : A long piece of text that encodes the settings used to generate a map. See [[World generator#Map Exchange String]].
;Market : A building where you can buy items using coins. It's available in the editor and used in the Tight Spot campaign.
;Mats : Shorthand for materials.
;Megabase : A community term referring to a significantly large base that has been built over a significant time/effort. Often, these bases are quantified in terms of rockets per minute, or "RPM". A base typically is considered a megabase when it can maintain 1 RPM.
;Mod : This term refers to a script or collection of scripts that change how the game acts, adds new items/entities, etc.
;Modpack : A community term referring to a collection of mods that work well together.

== N ==
;Night steam : The strategy of relying on solar panels to generate electricity during the day and steam engines during the night.
;No path : A common error that means that a train cannot find a valid route to a train stop. See [[Railway#No_path]].

== P ==
;Priority splitter : A splitter design that directs as many resources as possible from a bus to an offshoot before letting excess items flow past. This is in contrast to a splitter that always distributes some percentage of items to both sides (depending on the particular arrangement of splitters).

== Q ==
;QOL : Quality of life, often refers to mods that increase ease of play.

== R ==
;Rainbow belt : A transport belt with many different types of items on it, rather than the easier-to-manage one or two types of items. See [[#S|Sushi belt]].
;Ribbon world : A world which has been set up to have limited space in one dimension (width or height), adding a new challenge. The smallest ribbon world in which you can launch a rocket is a map limited to a width of 9 tiles, the width of the rocket silo.
;RORO : Abbreviation for "Roll on, roll off" in the context of train station design. It means that trains arrive at the station at one end and leave the station at the other end (driving past the train stop), as opposed to terminus stations.
;Roundabout : This term refers to a type of path for trains, to allow the trains to enter the circle, and exit onto the exit rail that they path to. Generally recommended against, due to throughput and self collision issues.
;RPM : Shorthand for rockets per minute, usually used to meassure the size of very big bases, see [[#M|Megabase]] and [[#G|Gigabase]].

== S ==
;Scenario : A map that has been saved via the [[Map editor]]. Special scripting can be added to make simple "events".
;Seed : A number associated with each map that determines the outcome of certain pseudo-random processes, like terrain generation. All other settings being equal, different seeds result in vastly different terrain features. The seed is included in [[#M|Map exchange strings]].
;Shuttle : A train for personal transportation around the factory. Sometimes called a taxi.
;Sideloading : This is a commonly used term that refers to running the end of a [[Transport belt]] into the side of another, so that only the lane on the side of the belt that the other belt is on is filled. This is typically done to create a belt that carries two different resources side-by-side on the same belt.
;Small plane : An item from the New Hope campaign. (No further spoilers.)
;Smart furnace : A smelting setup that can process multiple materials (e.g. iron ore, copper ore, iron plates, stone).
;Spaghetti : A community term referring to the "spaghetti" look of many belts/entities placed in a disorganized fashion. Typically created by new players to Factorio. Generally, it will be moved away from as soon as the player realizes the logistical problems it causes.
;Speedrun : A term referring to attempting to quickly finish the game as soon as possible. At the time of this writing, the record is just over an hour.
;Stacker : Also known as '''Parking lot'''. A waiting bay for trains, allowing them to wait on different parallel tracks and not block each other until their destination becomes free. Recommended in front of large, multi-platform stations.
;Stealing : Some entities allow inserters to insert and remove items from the same slots, including fuel in boilers, ammo in gun turrets, science packs in labs, modules in beacons, robots in roboports, and any items in chests. 'Stealing' is a technique that makes use of this mechanic in order to supply some machines with consumables (i.e. fuel, ammo or science packs) without having to use belts. You simply chain multiple machines together with inserters that take the items out of the previous machine and insert them directly into the next. The commonly used phrases are 'coal stealing' and 'ammo stealing'.
;Sushi belt : The strategy of mixing many different types of items on transport belts to supply machines that need some or all of those items. It sacrifices throughput for compactness (and beauty). It looks colorful and diverse like a tray of sushi. Its perhaps most popular application is supplying labs with science packs. Sometimes called sushi bar or rainbow belt.

== T ==
;Terminus : A train station design where trains come in and leave from the same side, thus requiring double-headed trains, unlike RORO stations.
;Throughput : A term that refers to the maximum amount of resources that can travel through something (such as a belt) in a certain amount of time. Usually quantified in items per second.
;Tick : The smallest measurable amount of time in Factorio. There are 60 ticks per second (when running at 60 UPS), and 3600 ticks in a minute.
;Tile : A piece of map. It is not really known how big it is, but for simplifying things we can assume that a tile is a quadratic with side of 1 meter.
;Time : Game time is normally identical with real time, one second in the game is one second in reality, but it can be faster or slower. For example, when the calculations for an update takes longer than a tick, the game slows down (aka UPS). Alternatively, a mod can provide ways to let the game run faster.
;TINS : Abbreviation of "There Is No Spoon", the name of the in-game achievement.
;Train bus : A popular alternative to the [[#M|main bus]] pattern. Instead of using a belt bus to provide materials for various production cells, a large rail system allows many trains to route materials between more distant cells, sometimes called subfactories. It's a UPS-friendlier strategy for large factories such as megabases.
;Trash can : A simple 'public utility' of sorts, which is an active provider that players can dump unwanted items into. Logistic robots pick them up and store them away. It's useful if you need to get rid of large quantities of items (such as wood or landfill) and your logistic trash slots are full.
;Turret : Stationary defense weapon. There are three types of turrets in Factorio, the [[Laser turret]], [[Gun turret]], and [[Flamethrower turret]].
;Turret creep : The tactic of leap-frogging with turrets into hostile territory. It's very effective due to the strength and range of turrets. Typically done with laser turrets, blueprints and personal roboports, but can also be done by manually placing gun turrets and inserting ammo.

== U ==
;UPS : Internal clock speed, "Updates Per Second". The game tries its best to maintain the ideal 60 UPS, but it is affected by the size and complexity of the game world and your computer hardware. A lower UPS means that the simulation runs slower. At 30 UPS everything would take twice as long as under ideal conditions. This is a common concern on megabases or when playing with many mods active. It can be set to more than 60 UPS by changing the game speed via script, processing power permitting. The Transport Belt Madness and Tight Spot campaigns are examples where the game speed can be increased.

== V ==
;Vanilla : Regular version of the game with no mods.

== W ==
;Wube : The company based in the Czech Republic that develops Factorio.

== Z ==
;Zoo : A group of biter or spitter nests around which the player has built a safe containment zone, i.e. a circle of turrets. Reasons for doing this include exploiting the nests' pollution absorption and automating the destruction of items (using requester chests near the nests).

Glossary

2017-05-16T13:39:03Z

Supply: corrected the list position of Contaminated, added coin and computer

{{Languages}}
__NOTOC__

This page acts as a general glossary of all terms used in Factorio and its community. We recommend searching the page with {{keybinding|CTRL|F}} to find specific terms. The page is also organized alphabetically.

Additionally, you can click a letter below to be taken to that letter in the list, if you wish to search manually.

[[##|#]] [[#A|A]] [[#B|B]] [[#C|C]] [[#D|D]] [[#E|E]] [[#F|F]] [[#G|G]] [[#H|H]] [[#I|I]] [[#J|J]] [[#K|K]] [[#L|L]] [[#M|M]] [[#N|N]] [[#O|O]] [[#P|P]] [[#Q|Q]] [[#R|R]] [[#S|S]] [[#T|T]] [[#U|U]] [[#V|V]] [[#W|W]] [[#X|X]] [[#Y|Y]] [[#Z|Z]]

== # ==

;1-1, 1-2-1, 2-4, 4-8-4 and similar : A somewhat ambiguous shorthand notation for train configurations. The first number is usually the number of locomotives at the head of the train, followed by the number of cargo wagons or fluid wagons, and optionally followed by the number of tail locomotives if it's a double-headed train. In general, the smaller numbers are the number of locomotives.

== A ==
;Ammo : Ammunition, used for guns/rocket launchers/turrets, etc.
;Angel's mods : A term referring to the mods made by user ''Arch666Angel'', a popular modder who makes extremely popular difficulty/complexity mods that complement bob's mods.
;Angelbobs : A community term that means a game with both Angel's mods and Bob's mods installed.
;Assembly : Another word for an [[Assembling machine]].

== B ==
;Backed-up : Refers to a machine having no output, and so the input channel fills up. Can also refer to belts being backlogged due to low consumption. This is not necessarily a bad thing.
;Belt balancer : This is a belt setup that balances multiple belts to contain the same amount of resources, to maximize throughput. See [[Balancers]].
;Belt compression : This term refers to ensuring that all items on a belt are right after each other, to ensure no space is wasted and highest throughput.
;Blackout : When your factory completely loses power. This typically happens at night when relying on solar+accumulator power, enemies destroying vital electric poles, or after a prolonged brownout when using electric mining drills and/or electric inserters (instead of their burner variants).
;Bob's mods : A term referring to the mods made by user ''bobingabout'', a popular modder who makes extremely popular difficulty/complexity mods that complement Angel's mods.
;Bootstrap factory : A factory that's made at the start of a new game in order to jump-start automation of basic equipment, climb the tech tree, and ultimately produce construction materials for a bigger, more organized factory, such as a megabase. The purpose of this factory is to allow you to grow your production to a decent size and then have a fresh start with all of the tech at your disposal, rather than building a giant factory from the ground up and then having to refactor parts of it.
;Bots : Shorthand version for [[Construction robot]] or [[Logistic robot]]. Sometimes also refers to the combat robots created from capsules (unlocked by researching Combat robotics 1–3).
;Bottleneck : A term that means a single point where resources are constrained, such as a slow part of a belt that slows down everything.
;BP : Short for [[Blueprint]].
;Braiding : The space-saving technique of alternating between two or more different underground belt types (basic, fast and express) in a straight line, one tile wide. The different types of underground belts don't interfere with each other, and inserters can interact with the belt entrance and exit entities.
;Brownout : When your factory's machines are running slower than normal because you're not generating enough electricity.
;Buffer: A place where a stockpile of items is stored to be available when the production stops. Typically a chest.
;Bus : Short for [[#M|Main bus]].

== C ==
;Capacity : Maximum amount of items/fluid that can exist within something.
;Chokepoint : Artificial or natural geography that funnels attackers into a narrow, movement-constricting area, making it more difficult for them to breach fortifications. Examples: peninsulas with narrow connections to the mainland, artificial land bridges to islands, nearby lakes, corridors through thick forests.
;Coin : An item used in the Tight Spot campaign.
;Computer : An item used in the New Hope campaign. (No further spoilers.)
;Contaminated : A belt with incorrect items on it (such as coal on an iron belt). Can also refer to pipes with mixed liquids.
;Cracktorio : A community term referring to the addictive qualities of Factorio, jokingly comparing the game to crack cocaine.

== D ==
;Death world : A world generation configuration that results in a large quantity of [[Enemies]], to increase the game's difficulty.
;Double header : This is a term that refers to a train with [[Diesel locomotive]]s on both ends, making the train capable of driving in both directions. Opposite of a single header, or standard train.

== E ==
;Entity : Anything that can be manipulated in-game. Nearly everything in factorio is an entity. Any device, items, trees... Even the player is just an entity.
;Evolution : The development and growth of the native population. Over the course of a game, biters and spitters become bigger and more powerful. See [[Enemies#Evolution]].

== F ==
;FFF : The weekly blog that the developers make to talk about the development of Factorio. Expanded, it is Factorio Friday Facts, posted every Friday.
;FPS : Visual rendering speed, "Frames per second". When this is reduced beneath 60, the game may stutter visually, jitter, or otherwise appear unstable. Low FPS will not necessarily result in low UPS, but they are loosely tied together.
;Factorissimo : A popular mod that allows for factories to be built within buildings added by the mod.
;Fuel : Refers to any burnable item that can be used to fuel burner devices, such as [[wood]], [[coal]], etc.

== G ==
;Ghost : A translucent preview image that designates a position for the construction of an entity. Ghosts are created when you shift+click with an entity under your cursor, when you use the [[Rail_planner#Ghost_Planner|ghost rail planner]], when an entity is destroyed after you've researched construction robotics, and when you place a blueprint. Construction robots automatically attempt to construct ghosts within their logistic or personal roboport network, and if unable will create an alert for missing construction materials.
;Gigabase : An even larger megabase, typically has RPM counts > 10.

== I ==
;Inventory : The ability for an entity to hold items within it. Almost all entities have inventories.
;Item : An item is another form of entity, representing the un-built version of a machine, tools, etc. Typically, items are found on belts, in the player's inventory, and inside machines. Items can be provided to recipes to create other items.
;Item Explosion : A phenomenon when a lot of items are spilled on the ground in a square-like fashion. Usually due to accidentally removing power armor when having a full inventory.
;Item request slot : A special request slot for machines with module slots that allows them to request the modules in the blueprint from which they were constructed. The deconstruction planner has a filter for canceling these requests.

== K ==

;Kovarex : The founding father of Factorio and where [[Kovarex enrichment process]] gets its name from.

== L ==
;Lane balancer : This is a belt setup that balances the two lanes on a belt to be equal, to maximize throughput. See [[Balancers]].
;Legs : [[Exoskeleton]]
;Loader : An abandoned concept for a belt-based mechanism that continuously loads and unloads machines, as an alternative to inserters. Functional loader entities can still be found in the editor, and some mods give them a proper texture and make them available in regular games. Loaders are used in the official Team Production scenario.

== M ==
;Main bus : The opposite of spaghetti, this refers to placing multiple belts side by side containing one resource, and branching off of it in order to create setups. Allows for organized layout of resource transportation.
;Mall: Also known as store. A location in a factory that produces many types of different items that the player needs but in relatively small amounts.
;Map exchange string : A long piece of text that encodes the settings used to generate a map. See [[World generator#Map Exchange String]].
;Market : A building where you can buy items using coins. It's available in the editor and used in the Tight Spot campaign.
;Mats : Shorthand for materials.
;Megabase : A community term referring to a significantly large base that has been built over a significant time/effort. Often, these bases are quantified in terms of rockets per minute, or "RPM". A base typically is considered a megabase when it can maintain 1 RPM.
;Mod : This term refers to a script or collection of scripts that change how the game acts, adds new items/entities, etc.
;Modpack : A community term referring to a collection of mods that work well together.

== N ==
;Night steam : The strategy of relying on solar panels to generate electricity during the day and steam engines during the night.
;No path : A common error that means that a train cannot find a valid route to a train stop. See [[Railway#No_path]].

== P ==
;Priority splitter : A splitter design that directs as many resources as possible from a bus to an offshoot before letting excess items flow past. This is in contrast to a splitter that always distributes some percentage of items to both sides (depending on the particular arrangement of splitters).

== Q ==
;QOL : Quality of life, often refers to mods that increase ease of play.

== R ==
;Rainbow belt : A transport belt with many different types of items on it, rather than the easier-to-manage one or two types of items. See [[#S|Sushi belt]].
;Ribbon world : A world which has been set up to have limited space in one dimension (width or height), adding a new challenge. The smallest ribbon world in which you can launch a rocket is a map limited to a width of 9 tiles, the width of the rocket silo.
;RORO : Abbreviation for "Roll on, roll off" in the context of train station design. It means that trains arrive at the station at one end and leave the station at the other end (driving past the train stop), as opposed to terminus stations.
;Roundabout : This term refers to a type of path for trains, to allow the trains to enter the circle, and exit onto the exit rail that they path to. Generally recommended against, due to throughput and self collision issues.
;RPM : Shorthand for rockets per minute, usually used to meassure the size of very big bases, see [[#M|Megabase]] and [[#G|Gigabase]].

== S ==
;Scenario : A map that has been saved via the [[Map editor]]. Special scripting can be added to make simple "events".
;Seed : A number associated with each map that determines the outcome of certain pseudo-random processes, like terrain generation. All other settings being equal, different seeds result in vastly different terrain features. The seed is included in [[#M|Map exchange strings]].
;Sideloading : This is a commonly used term that refers to running the end of a [[Transport belt]] into the side of another, so that only the lane on the side of the belt that the other belt is on is filled. This is typically done to create a belt that carries two different resources side-by-side on the same belt.
;Small plane : An item from the New Hope campaign. (No further spoilers.)
;Spaghetti : A community term referring to the "spaghetti" look of many belts/entities placed in a disorganized fashion. Typically created by new players to Factorio. Generally, it will be moved away from as soon as the player realizes the logistical problems it causes.
;Speedrun : A term referring to attempting to quickly finish the game as soon as possible. At the time of this writing, the record is just over an hour.
;Stacker : A waiting bay for trains, allowing them to wait on different parallel tracks and not block each other until their destination becomes free. Recommended in front of large, multi-platform stations.
;Stealing : Some entities allow inserters to insert and remove items from the same slots, including fuel in boilers, ammo in gun turrets, science packs in labs, modules in beacons, robots in roboports, and any items in chests. 'Stealing' is a technique that makes use of this mechanic in order to supply some machines with consumables (i.e. fuel, ammo or science packs) without having to use belts. You simply chain multiple machines together with inserters that take the items out of the previous machine and insert them directly into the next. The commonly used phrases are 'coal stealing' and 'ammo stealing'.
;Sushi belt : The strategy of mixing many different types of items on transport belts to supply machines that need some or all of those items. It sacrifices throughput for compactness (and beauty). It looks colorful and diverse like a tray of sushi. Its perhaps most popular application is supplying labs with science packs. Sometimes called sushi bar or rainbow belt.

== T ==
;Terminus : A train station design where trains come in and leave from the same side, thus requiring double-headed trains, unlike RORO stations.
;Throughput : A term that refers to the maximum amount of resources that can travel through something (such as a belt) in a certain amount of time. Usually quantified in items per second.
;Tick : The smallest measurable amount of time in Factorio. There are 60 ticks per second (when running at 60 UPS), and 3600 ticks in a minute.
;Tile : A piece of map. It is not really known how big it is, but for simplifying things we can assume that a tile is a quadratic with side of 1 meter.
;Time : Game time is normally identical with real time, one second in the game is one second in reality, but it can be faster or slower. For example, when the calculations for an update takes longer than a tick, the game slows down (aka UPS). Alternatively, a mod can provide ways to let the game run faster.
;TINS : Abbreviation of "There Is No Spoon", the name of the in-game achievement.
;Train bus : A popular alternative to the [[#M|main bus]] pattern. Instead of using a belt bus to provide materials for various production cells, a large rail system allows many trains to route materials between more distant cells, sometimes called subfactories. It's a UPS-friendlier strategy for large factories such as megabases.
;Turret : Stationary defense weapon. There are three types of turrets in Factorio, the [[Laser turret]], [[Gun turret]], and [[Flamethrower turret]].
;Turret creep : The tactic of leap-frogging with turrets into hostile territory. It's very effective due to the strength and range of turrets. Typically done with laser turrets, blueprints and personal roboports, but can also be done by manually placing gun turrets and inserting ammo.

== U ==
;UPS : Internal clock speed, "Updates Per Second". The game tries its best to maintain the ideal 60 UPS, but it is affected by the size and complexity of the game world and your computer hardware. A lower UPS means that the simulation runs slower. At 30 UPS everything would take twice as long as under ideal conditions. This is a common concern on megabases or when playing with many mods active. It can be set to more than 60 UPS by changing the game speed via script, processing power permitting. The Transport Belt Madness and Tight Spot campaigns are examples where the game speed can be increased.

== V ==
;Vanilla : Regular version of the game with no mods.

== W ==
;Wube : The company based in the Czech Republic that develops Factorio.

Glossary

2017-05-16T13:33:56Z

Supply: added no path, ghost, item request slot, seed, chokepoint, evolution, added examples for game speed increase, loader, small plane, market, Kovarex, changed definitions for bots, backed-up, sushi belt

{{Languages}}
__NOTOC__

This page acts as a general glossary of all terms used in Factorio and its community. We recommend searching the page with {{keybinding|CTRL|F}} to find specific terms. The page is also organized alphabetically.

Additionally, you can click a letter below to be taken to that letter in the list, if you wish to search manually.

[[##|#]] [[#A|A]] [[#B|B]] [[#C|C]] [[#D|D]] [[#E|E]] [[#F|F]] [[#G|G]] [[#H|H]] [[#I|I]] [[#J|J]] [[#K|K]] [[#L|L]] [[#M|M]] [[#N|N]] [[#O|O]] [[#P|P]] [[#Q|Q]] [[#R|R]] [[#S|S]] [[#T|T]] [[#U|U]] [[#V|V]] [[#W|W]] [[#X|X]] [[#Y|Y]] [[#Z|Z]]

== # ==

;1-1, 1-2-1, 2-4, 4-8-4 and similar : A somewhat ambiguous shorthand notation for train configurations. The first number is usually the number of locomotives at the head of the train, followed by the number of cargo wagons or fluid wagons, and optionally followed by the number of tail locomotives if it's a double-headed train. In general, the smaller numbers are the number of locomotives.

== A ==
;Ammo : Ammunition, used for guns/rocket launchers/turrets, etc.
;Angel's mods : A term referring to the mods made by user ''Arch666Angel'', a popular modder who makes extremely popular difficulty/complexity mods that complement bob's mods.
;Angelbobs : A community term that means a game with both Angel's mods and Bob's mods installed.
;Assembly : Another word for an [[Assembling machine]].

== B ==
;Backed-up : Refers to a machine having no output, and so the input channel fills up. Can also refer to belts being backlogged due to low consumption. This is not necessarily a bad thing.
;Belt balancer : This is a belt setup that balances multiple belts to contain the same amount of resources, to maximize throughput. See [[Balancers]].
;Belt compression : This term refers to ensuring that all items on a belt are right after each other, to ensure no space is wasted and highest throughput.
;Blackout : When your factory completely loses power. This typically happens at night when relying on solar+accumulator power, enemies destroying vital electric poles, or after a prolonged brownout when using electric mining drills and/or electric inserters (instead of their burner variants).
;Bob's mods : A term referring to the mods made by user ''bobingabout'', a popular modder who makes extremely popular difficulty/complexity mods that complement Angel's mods.
;Bootstrap factory : A factory that's made at the start of a new game in order to jump-start automation of basic equipment, climb the tech tree, and ultimately produce construction materials for a bigger, more organized factory, such as a megabase. The purpose of this factory is to allow you to grow your production to a decent size and then have a fresh start with all of the tech at your disposal, rather than building a giant factory from the ground up and then having to refactor parts of it.
;Bots : Shorthand version for [[Construction robot]] or [[Logistic robot]]. Sometimes also refers to the combat robots created from capsules (unlocked by researching Combat robotics 1–3).
;Bottleneck : A term that means a single point where resources are constrained, such as a slow part of a belt that slows down everything.
;BP : Short for [[Blueprint]].
;Braiding : The space-saving technique of alternating between two or more different underground belt types (basic, fast and express) in a straight line, one tile wide. The different types of underground belts don't interfere with each other, and inserters can interact with the belt entrance and exit entities.
;Brownout : When your factory's machines are running slower than normal because you're not generating enough electricity.
;Buffer: A place where a stockpile of items is stored to be available when the production stops. Typically a chest.
;Bus : Short for [[#M|Main bus]].

== C ==
;Capacity : Maximum amount of items/fluid that can exist within something.
;Chokepoint : Artificial or natural geography that funnels attackers into a narrow, movement-constricting area, making it more difficult for them to breach fortifications. Examples: peninsulas with narrow connections to the mainland, artificial land bridges to islands, nearby lakes, corridors through thick forests.
;Cracktorio : A community term referring to the addictive qualities of Factorio, jokingly comparing the game to crack cocaine.
;Contaminated : A belt with incorrect items on it (such as coal on an iron belt). Can also refer to pipes with mixed liquids.

== D ==
;Death world : A world generation configuration that results in a large quantity of [[Enemies]], to increase the game's difficulty.
;Double header : This is a term that refers to a train with [[Diesel locomotive]]s on both ends, making the train capable of driving in both directions. Opposite of a single header, or standard train.

== E ==
;Entity : Anything that can be manipulated in-game. Nearly everything in factorio is an entity. Any device, items, trees... Even the player is just an entity.
;Evolution : The development and growth of the native population. Over the course of a game, biters and spitters become bigger and more powerful. See [[Enemies#Evolution]].

== F ==
;FFF : The weekly blog that the developers make to talk about the development of Factorio. Expanded, it is Factorio Friday Facts, posted every Friday.
;FPS : Visual rendering speed, "Frames per second". When this is reduced beneath 60, the game may stutter visually, jitter, or otherwise appear unstable. Low FPS will not necessarily result in low UPS, but they are loosely tied together.
;Factorissimo : A popular mod that allows for factories to be built within buildings added by the mod.
;Fuel : Refers to any burnable item that can be used to fuel burner devices, such as [[wood]], [[coal]], etc.

== G ==
;Ghost : A translucent preview image that designates a position for the construction of an entity. Ghosts are created when you shift+click with an entity under your cursor, when you use the [[Rail_planner#Ghost_Planner|ghost rail planner]], when an entity is destroyed after you've researched construction robotics, and when you place a blueprint. Construction robots automatically attempt to construct ghosts within their logistic or personal roboport network, and if unable will create an alert for missing construction materials.
;Gigabase : An even larger megabase, typically has RPM counts > 10.

== I ==
;Inventory : The ability for an entity to hold items within it. Almost all entities have inventories.
;Item : An item is another form of entity, representing the un-built version of a machine, tools, etc. Typically, items are found on belts, in the player's inventory, and inside machines. Items can be provided to recipes to create other items.
;Item Explosion : A phenomenon when a lot of items are spilled on the ground in a square-like fashion. Usually due to accidentally removing power armor when having a full inventory.
;Item request slot : A special request slot for machines with module slots that allows them to request the modules in the blueprint from which they were constructed. The deconstruction planner has a filter for canceling these requests.

== K ==

;Kovarex : The founding father of Factorio and where [[Kovarex enrichment process]] gets its name from.

== L ==
;Lane balancer : This is a belt setup that balances the two lanes on a belt to be equal, to maximize throughput. See [[Balancers]].
;Legs : [[Exoskeleton]]
;Loader : An abandoned concept for a belt-based mechanism that continuously loads and unloads machines, as an alternative to inserters. Functional loader entities can still be found in the editor, and some mods give them a proper texture and make them available in regular games. Loaders are used in the official Team Production scenario.

== M ==
;Main bus : The opposite of spaghetti, this refers to placing multiple belts side by side containing one resource, and branching off of it in order to create setups. Allows for organized layout of resource transportation.
;Mall: Also known as store. A location in a factory that produces many types of different items that the player needs but in relatively small amounts.
;Map exchange string : A long piece of text that encodes the settings used to generate a map. See [[World generator#Map Exchange String]].
;Market : A building where you can buy items. It's available in the editor and used in the Tight Spot campaign.
;Mats : Shorthand for materials.
;Megabase : A community term referring to a significantly large base that has been built over a significant time/effort. Often, these bases are quantified in terms of rockets per minute, or "RPM". A base typically is considered a megabase when it can maintain 1 RPM.
;Mod : This term refers to a script or collection of scripts that change how the game acts, adds new items/entities, etc.
;Modpack : A community term referring to a collection of mods that work well together.

== N ==
;Night steam : The strategy of relying on solar panels to generate electricity during the day and steam engines during the night.
;No path : A common error that means that a train cannot find a valid route to a train stop. See [[Railway#No_path]].

== P ==
;Priority splitter : A splitter design that directs as many resources as possible from a bus to an offshoot before letting excess items flow past. This is in contrast to a splitter that always distributes some percentage of items to both sides (depending on the particular arrangement of splitters).

== Q ==
;QOL : Quality of life, often refers to mods that increase ease of play.

== R ==
;Rainbow belt : A transport belt with many different types of items on it, rather than the easier-to-manage one or two types of items. See [[#S|Sushi belt]].
;Ribbon world : A world which has been set up to have limited space in one dimension (width or height), adding a new challenge. The smallest ribbon world in which you can launch a rocket is a map limited to a width of 9 tiles, the width of the rocket silo.
;RORO : Abbreviation for "Roll on, roll off" in the context of train station design. It means that trains arrive at the station at one end and leave the station at the other end (driving past the train stop), as opposed to terminus stations.
;Roundabout : This term refers to a type of path for trains, to allow the trains to enter the circle, and exit onto the exit rail that they path to. Generally recommended against, due to throughput and self collision issues.
;RPM : Shorthand for rockets per minute, usually used to meassure the size of very big bases, see [[#M|Megabase]] and [[#G|Gigabase]].

== S ==
;Scenario : A map that has been saved via the [[Map editor]]. Special scripting can be added to make simple "events".
;Seed : A number associated with each map that determines the outcome of certain pseudo-random processes, like terrain generation. All other settings being equal, different seeds result in vastly different terrain features. The seed is included in [[#M|Map exchange strings]].
;Sideloading : This is a commonly used term that refers to running the end of a [[Transport belt]] into the side of another, so that only the lane on the side of the belt that the other belt is on is filled. This is typically done to create a belt that carries two different resources side-by-side on the same belt.
;Small plane : An item from the New Hope campaign. (No further spoilers.)
;Spaghetti : A community term referring to the "spaghetti" look of many belts/entities placed in a disorganized fashion. Typically created by new players to Factorio. Generally, it will be moved away from as soon as the player realizes the logistical problems it causes.
;Speedrun : A term referring to attempting to quickly finish the game as soon as possible. At the time of this writing, the record is just over an hour.
;Stacker : A waiting bay for trains, allowing them to wait on different parallel tracks and not block each other until their destination becomes free. Recommended in front of large, multi-platform stations.
;Stealing : Some entities allow inserters to insert and remove items from the same slots, including fuel in boilers, ammo in gun turrets, science packs in labs, modules in beacons, robots in roboports, and any items in chests. 'Stealing' is a technique that makes use of this mechanic in order to supply some machines with consumables (i.e. fuel, ammo or science packs) without having to use belts. You simply chain multiple machines together with inserters that take the items out of the previous machine and insert them directly into the next. The commonly used phrases are 'coal stealing' and 'ammo stealing'.
;Sushi belt : The strategy of mixing many different types of items on transport belts to supply machines that need some or all of those items. It sacrifices throughput for compactness (and beauty). It looks colorful and diverse like a tray of sushi. Its perhaps most popular application is supplying labs with science packs. Sometimes called sushi bar or rainbow belt.

== T ==
;Terminus : A train station design where trains come in and leave from the same side, thus requiring double-headed trains, unlike RORO stations.
;Throughput : A term that refers to the maximum amount of resources that can travel through something (such as a belt) in a certain amount of time. Usually quantified in items per second.
;Tick : The smallest measurable amount of time in Factorio. There are 60 ticks per second (when running at 60 UPS), and 3600 ticks in a minute.
;Tile : A piece of map. It is not really known how big it is, but for simplifying things we can assume that a tile is a quadratic with side of 1 meter.
;Time : Game time is normally identical with real time, one second in the game is one second in reality, but it can be faster or slower. For example, when the calculations for an update takes longer than a tick, the game slows down (aka UPS). Alternatively, a mod can provide ways to let the game run faster.
;TINS : Abbreviation of "There Is No Spoon", the name of the in-game achievement.
;Train bus : A popular alternative to the [[#M|main bus]] pattern. Instead of using a belt bus to provide materials for various production cells, a large rail system allows many trains to route materials between more distant cells, sometimes called subfactories. It's a UPS-friendlier strategy for large factories such as megabases.
;Turret : Stationary defense weapon. There are three types of turrets in Factorio, the [[Laser turret]], [[Gun turret]], and [[Flamethrower turret]].
;Turret creep : The tactic of leap-frogging with turrets into hostile territory. It's very effective due to the strength and range of turrets. Typically done with laser turrets, blueprints and personal roboports, but can also be done by manually placing gun turrets and inserting ammo.

== U ==
;UPS : Internal clock speed, "Updates Per Second". The game tries its best to maintain the ideal 60 UPS, but it is affected by the size and complexity of the game world and your computer hardware. A lower UPS means that the simulation runs slower. At 30 UPS everything would take twice as long as under ideal conditions. This is a common concern on megabases or when playing with many mods active. It can be set to more than 60 UPS by changing the game speed via script, processing power permitting. The Transport Belt Madness and Tight Spot campaigns are examples where the game speed can be increased.

== V ==
;Vanilla : Regular version of the game with no mods.

== W ==
;Wube : The company based in the Czech Republic that develops Factorio.

Glossary

2017-05-14T23:44:41Z

Supply: minor tweaks to my previous additions

{{Languages}}
__NOTOC__

This page acts as a general glossary of all terms used in Factorio and its community. We recommend searching the page with {{keybinding|CTRL|F}} to find specific terms. The page is also organized alphabetically.

Additionally, you can click a letter below to be taken to that letter in the list, if you wish to search manually.

[[##|#]] [[#A|A]] [[#B|B]] [[#C|C]] [[#D|D]] [[#E|E]] [[#F|F]] [[#G|G]] [[#H|H]] [[#I|I]] [[#J|J]] [[#K|K]] [[#L|L]] [[#M|M]] [[#N|N]] [[#O|O]] [[#P|P]] [[#Q|Q]] [[#R|R]] [[#S|S]] [[#T|T]] [[#U|U]] [[#V|V]] [[#W|W]] [[#X|X]] [[#Y|Y]] [[#Z|Z]]

== # ==

;1-1, 1-2-1, 2-4, 4-8-4 and similar : A somewhat ambiguous shorthand notation for train configurations. The first number is usually the number of locomotives at the head of the train, followed by the number of cargo wagons or fluid wagons, and optionally followed by the number of tail locomotives if it's a double-headed train. In general, the smaller numbers are the number of locomotives.

== A ==
;Ammo : Ammunition, used for guns/rocket launchers/turrets, etc.
;Angel's mods : A term referring to the mods made by user ''Arch666Angel'', a popular modder who makes extremely popular difficulty/complexity mods that complement bob's mods.
;Angelbobs : A community term that means a game with both Angel's mods and Bob's mods installed.
;Assembly : Another word for an [[Assembling machine]].

== B ==
;Backed-up : Refers to a machine having no output, and so the input channel fills up. Can also refer to belts not moving due to being full of items. This is not necessarily a bad thing.
;Belt balancer : This is a belt setup that balances multiple belts to contain the same amount of resources, to maximize throughput. See [[Balancers]].
;Belt compression : This term refers to ensuring that all items on a belt are right after each other, to ensure no space is wasted and highest throughput.
;Blackout : When your factory completely loses power. This typically happens at night when relying on solar+accumulator power, or after a prolonged brownout when using electric mining drills and/or electric inserters (instead of their burner variants).
;Bob's mods : A term referring to the mods made by user ''bobingabout'', a popular modder who makes extremely popular difficulty/complexity mods that complement Angel's mods.
;Bootstrap factory : A factory that's made at the start of a new game in order to jump-start automation of basic equipment, climb the tech tree, and ultimately produce construction materials for a bigger, more organized factory, such as a megabase. The purpose of this factory is to allow you to grow your production to a decent size and then have a fresh start with all of the tech at your disposal, rather than building a giant factory from the ground up and then having to refactor parts of it.
;Bots : Shorthand version for [[Construction robot]] or [[Logistic robot]].
;Bottleneck : A term that means a single point where resources are constrained, such as a slow part of a belt that slows down everything.
;BP : Short for [[Blueprint]].
;Braiding : The space-saving technique of alternating between two or more different underground belt types (basic, fast and express) in a straight line, one tile wide. The different types of underground belts don't interfere with each other, and inserters can interact with the belt entrance and exit entities.
;Brownout : When your factory's machines are running slower than normal because you're not generating enough electricity.
;Buffer: A place where a stockpile of items is stored to be available when the production stops. Typically a chest.
;Bus : Short for [[#M|Main bus]].

== C ==
;Capacity : Maximum amount of items/fluid that can exist within something.
;Cracktorio : A community term referring to the addictive qualities of Factorio, jokingly comparing the game to crack cocaine.

== D ==
;Death world : A world generation configuration that results in a large quantity of [[Enemies]], to increase the game's difficulty.
;Double header : This is a term that refers to a train with [[Diesel locomotive]]s on both ends, making the train capable of driving in both directions. Opposite of a single header, or standard train.

== E ==
;Entity : Anything that can be manipulated in-game. Nearly everything in factorio is an entity. Any device, items, trees... Even the player is just an entity.

== F ==
;FFF : The weekly blog that the developers make to talk about the development of Factorio. Expanded, it is Factorio Friday Facts, posted every Friday.
;FPS : Visual rendering speed, "Frames per second". When this is reduced beneath 60, the game may stutter visually, jitter, or otherwise appear unstable. Low FPS will not necessarily result in low UPS, but they are loosely tied together.
;Factorissimo : A popular mod that allows for factories to be built within buildings added by the mod.
;Fuel : Refers to any burnable item that can be used to fuel burner devices, such as [[wood]], [[coal]], etc.

== G ==
;Gigabase : An even larger megabase, typically has RPM counts > 10.

== I ==
;Inventory : The ability for an entity to hold items within it. Almost all entities have inventories.
;Item : An item is another form of entity, representing the un-built version of a machine, tools, etc. Typically, items are found on belts, in the player's inventory, and inside machines. Items can be provided to recipes to create other items.

== L ==
;Lane balancer : This is a belt setup that balances the two lanes on a belt to be equal, to maximize throughput. See [[Balancers]].

== M ==
;Main bus : The opposite of spaghetti, this refers to placing multiple belts side by side containing one resource, and branching off of it in order to create setups. Allows for organized layout of resource transportation.
;Mall: Also known as store. A location in a factory that produces many types of different items that the player needs but in relatively small amounts.
;Map exchange string : A long piece of text that encodes the settings used to generate a map. See [[World generator#Map Exchange String]].
;Mats : Shorthand for materials.
;Megabase : A community term referring to a significantly large base that has been built over a significant time/effort. Often, these bases are quantified in terms of rockets per minute, or "RPM". A base typically is considered a megabase when it can maintain 1 RPM.
;Mod : This term refers to a script or collection of scripts that change how the game acts, adds new items/entities, etc.
;Modpack : A community term referring to a collection of mods that work well together.

== N ==
;Night steam : The strategy of relying on solar panels to generate electricity during the day and steam engines during the night.

== P ==
;Priority splitter : A splitter design that directs as many resources as possible from a bus to an offshoot before letting excess items flow past. This is in contrast to a splitter that always distributes some percentage of items to both sides (depending on the particular arrangement of splitters).

== Q ==
;QOL : Quality of life, often refers to mods that increase ease of play.

== R ==
;Rainbow belt : A transport belt with many different types of items on it, rather than the easier-to-manage one or two types of items. See [[#S|Sushi belt]].
;Ribbon world : A world which has been set up to have limited space in one dimension (width or height), adding a new challenge. The smallest ribbon world in which you can launch a rocket is a map limited to a width of 9 tiles, the width of the rocket silo.
;RORO : Abbreviation for "Roll on, roll off" in the context of train station design. It means that trains arrive at the station at one end and leave the station at the other end (driving past the train stop), as opposed to terminus stations.
;Roundabout : This term refers to a type of path for trains, to allow the trains to enter the circle, and exit onto the exit rail that they path to. Generally recommended against, due to throughput and self collision issues.
;RPM : Shorthand for rockets per minute, usually used to meassure the size of very big bases, see [[#M|Megabase]] and [[#G|Gigabase]].

== S ==
;Scenario : A map that has been saved via the [[Map editor]]. Special scripting can be added to make simple "events".
;Sideloading : This is a commonly used term that refers to running the end of a [[Transport belt]] into the side of another, so that only the lane on the side of the belt that the other belt is on is filled. This is typically done to create a belt that carries two different resources side-by-side on the same belt.
;Spaghetti : A community term referring to the "spaghetti" look of many belts/entities placed in a disorganized fashion. Typically created by new players to Factorio. Generally, it will be moved away from as soon as the player realizes the logistical problems it causes.
;Speedrun : A term referring to attempting to quickly finish the game as soon as possible. At the time of this writing, the record is just over an hour.
;Stacker : A waiting bay for trains, allowing them to wait on different parallel tracks and not block each other until their destination becomes free. Recommended in front of large, multi-platform stations.
;Stealing : Some entities allow inserters to insert and remove items from the same slots, including fuel in boilers, ammo in gun turrets, science packs in labs, modules in beacons, robots in roboports, and any items in chests. 'Stealing' is a technique that makes use of this mechanic in order to supply some machines with consumables (i.e. fuel, ammo or science packs) without having to use belts. You simply chain multiple machines together with inserters that take the items out of the previous machine and insert them directly into the next. The commonly used phrases are 'coal stealing' and 'ammo stealing'.
;Sushi belt : The strategy of mixing many different types of items on transport belts to supply machines that need some or all of those items. It sacrifices throughput for compactness (and beauty). It looks colorful and diverse like a tray of sushi. Its perhaps most popular application is supplying labs with science packs. Sometimes called rainbow belt.

== T ==
;Terminus : A train station design where trains come in and leave from the same side, thus requiring double-headed trains, unlike RORO stations.
;Throughput : A term that refers to the maximum amount of resources that can travel through something (such as a belt) in a certain amount of time. Usually quantified in items per second.
;Tick : The smallest measurable amount of time in Factorio. There are 60 ticks per second (when running at 60 UPS), and 3600 ticks in a minute.
;Tile : A piece of map. It is not really known how big it is, but for simplifying things we can assume that a tile is a quadratic with side of 1 meter.
;Time : Game time is normally identical with real time, one second in the game is one second in reality, but it can be faster or slower. For example, when the calculations for an update takes longer than a tick, the game slows down (aka UPS). Alternatively, a mod can provide ways to let the game run faster.
;TINS : Abbreviation of "There Is No Spoon", the name of the in-game achievement.
;Train bus : A popular alternative to the [[#M|main bus]] pattern. Instead of using a belt bus to provide materials for various production cells, a large rail system allows many trains to route materials between more distant cells, sometimes called subfactories. It's a UPS-friendlier strategy for large factories such as megabases.
;Turret : Stationary defense weapon. There are three types of turrets in Factorio, the [[Laser turret]], [[Gun turret]], and [[Flamethrower turret]].
;Turret creep : The tactic of leap-frogging with turrets into hostile territory. It's very effective due to the strength and range of turrets. Typically done with laser turrets, blueprints and personal roboports, but can also be done by manually placing gun turrets and inserting ammo.

== U ==
;UPS : Internal clock speed, "Updates Per Second". The game tries its best to maintain the ideal 60 UPS, but it is affected by the size and complexity of the game world and your computer hardware. A lower UPS means that the simulation runs slower. At 30 UPS everything would take twice as long as under ideal conditions. This is a common concern on megabases or when playing with many mods active. It can be set to more than 60 UPS by changing the game speed via script, processing power permitting.

== W ==
;Wube : The company based in the Czech Republic that develops Factorio.

Glossary

2017-05-14T23:33:06Z

Supply: added ribbon world, sushi/rainbow belt, underground belt braiding, train bus, stacker, fuel/ammo/science pack stealing

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This page acts as a general glossary of all terms used in Factorio and its community. We recommend searching the page with {{keybinding|CTRL|F}} to find specific terms. The page is also organized alphabetically.

Additionally, you can click a letter below to be taken to that letter in the list, if you wish to search manually.

[[##|#]] [[#A|A]] [[#B|B]] [[#C|C]] [[#D|D]] [[#E|E]] [[#F|F]] [[#G|G]] [[#H|H]] [[#I|I]] [[#J|J]] [[#K|K]] [[#L|L]] [[#M|M]] [[#N|N]] [[#O|O]] [[#P|P]] [[#Q|Q]] [[#R|R]] [[#S|S]] [[#T|T]] [[#U|U]] [[#V|V]] [[#W|W]] [[#X|X]] [[#Y|Y]] [[#Z|Z]]

== # ==

;1-1, 1-2-1, 2-4, 4-8-4 and similar : A somewhat ambiguous shorthand notation for train configurations. The first number is usually the number of locomotives at the head of the train, followed by the number of cargo wagons or fluid wagons, and optionally followed by the number of tail locomotives if it's a double-headed train. In general, the smaller numbers are the number of locomotives.

== A ==
;Ammo : Ammunition, used for guns/rocket launchers/turrets, etc.
;Angel's mods : A term referring to the mods made by user ''Arch666Angel'', a popular modder who makes extremely popular difficulty/complexity mods that complement bob's mods.
;Angelbobs : A community term that means a game with both Angel's mods and Bob's mods installed.
;Assembly : Another word for an [[Assembling machine]].

== B ==
;Backed-up : Refers to a machine having no output, and so the input channel fills up. Can also refer to belts not moving due to being full of items. This is not necessarily a bad thing.
;Belt balancer : This is a belt setup that balances multiple belts to contain the same amount of resources, to maximize throughput. See [[Balancers]].
;Belt compression : This term refers to ensuring that all items on a belt are right after each other, to ensure no space is wasted and highest throughput.
;Blackout : When your factory completely loses power. This typically happens at night when relying on solar+accumulator power, or after a prolonged brownout when using electric mining drills and/or electric inserters (instead of their burner variants).
;Bob's mods : A term referring to the mods made by user ''bobingabout'', a popular modder who makes extremely popular difficulty/complexity mods that complement Angel's mods.
;Bootstrap factory : A factory that's made at the start of a new game in order to jump-start automation of basic equipment, climb the tech tree, and ultimately produce construction materials for a bigger, more organized factory, such as a megabase. The purpose of this factory is to allow you to grow your production to a decent size and then have a fresh start with all of the tech at your disposal, rather than building a giant factory from the ground up and then having to refactor parts of it.
;Bots : Shorthand version for [[Construction robot]] or [[Logistic robot]].
;Bottleneck : A term that means a single point where resources are constrained, such as a slow part of a belt that slows down everything.
;BP : Short for [[Blueprint]].
;Braiding : The space-saving technique of alternating between two or more different underground belt types (basic, fast and express) in a straight line, one tile wide. The different types of underground belts don't interfere with each other, and inserters can interact with the belt entrance and exit entities.
;Brownout : When your factory's machines are running slower than normal because you're not generating enough electricity.
;Buffer: A place where a stockpile of items is stored to be available when the production stops. Typically a chest.
;Bus : Short for [[#M|Main bus]].

== C ==
;Capacity : Maximum amount of items/fluid that can exist within something.
;Cracktorio : A community term referring to the addictive qualities of Factorio, jokingly comparing the game to crack cocaine.

== D ==
;Death world : A world generation configuration that results in a large quantity of [[Enemies]], to increase the game's difficulty.
;Double header : This is a term that refers to a train with [[Diesel locomotive]]s on both ends, making the train capable of driving in both directions. Opposite of a single header, or standard train.

== E ==
;Entity : Anything that can be manipulated in-game. Nearly everything in factorio is an entity. Any device, items, trees... Even the player is just an entity.

== F ==
;FFF : The weekly blog that the developers make to talk about the development of Factorio. Expanded, it is Factorio Friday Facts, posted every Friday.
;FPS : Visual rendering speed, "Frames per second". When this is reduced beneath 60, the game may stutter visually, jitter, or otherwise appear unstable. Low FPS will not necessarily result in low UPS, but they are loosely tied together.
;Factorissimo : A popular mod that allows for factories to be built within buildings added by the mod.
;Fuel : Refers to any burnable item that can be used to fuel burner devices, such as [[wood]], [[coal]], etc.

== G ==
;Gigabase : An even larger megabase, typically has RPM counts > 10.

== I ==
;Inventory : The ability for an entity to hold items within it. Almost all entities have inventories.
;Item : An item is another form of entity, representing the un-built version of a machine, tools, etc. Typically, items are found on belts, in the player's inventory, and inside machines. Items can be provided to recipes to create other items.

== L ==
;Lane balancer : This is a belt setup that balances the two lanes on a belt to be equal, to maximize throughput. See [[Balancers]].

== M ==
;Main bus : The opposite of spaghetti, this refers to placing multiple belts side by side containing one resource, and branching off of it in order to create setups. Allows for organized layout of resource transportation.
;Mall: Also known as store. A location in a factory that produces many types of different items that the player needs but in relatively small amounts.
;Map exchange string : A long piece of text that encodes the settings used to generate a map. See [[World generator#Map Exchange String]].
;Mats : Shorthand for materials.
;Megabase : A community term referring to a significantly large base that has been built over a significant time/effort. Often, these bases are quantified in terms of rockets per minute, or "RPM". A base typically is considered a megabase when it can maintain 1 RPM.
;Mod : This term refers to a script or collection of scripts that change how the game acts, adds new items/entities, etc.
;Modpack : A community term referring to a collection of mods that work well together.

== N ==
;Night steam : The strategy of relying on solar panels to generate electricity during the day and steam engines during the night.

== P ==
;Priority splitter : A splitter design that directs as many resources as possible from a bus to an offshoot before letting excess items flow past. This is in contrast to a splitter that always distributes some percentage of items to both sides (depending on how many splitters you use and how you combine them).

== Q ==
;QOL : Quality of life, often refers to mods that increase ease of play.

== R ==
;Rainbow belt : A transport belt with many different types of items on it, rather than the easier-to-manage one or two types of items. See [[#S|Sushi belt]].
;Ribbon world : A world which has been set up to have limited space in one dimension (width or height), adding a new challenge. The smallest ribbon world in which you can launch a rocket is a map limited to a width of 9 tiles, the width of the rocket silo.
;RORO : Abbreviation for "Roll on, roll off" in the context of train station design. It means that trains arrive at the station at one end and leave the station at the other end (driving past the train stop), as opposed to terminus stations.
;Roundabout : This term refers to a type of path for trains, to allow the trains to enter the circle, and exit onto the exit rail that they path to. Generally recommended against, due to throughput and self collision issues.
;RPM : Shorthand for rockets per minute, usually used to meassure the size of very big bases, see [[#M|Megabase]] and [[#G|Gigabase]].

== S ==
;Scenario : A map that has been saved via the [[Map editor]]. Special scripting can be added to make simple "events".
;Sideloading : This is a commonly used term that refers to running the end of a [[Transport belt]] into the side of another, so that only the lane on the side of the belt that the other belt is on is filled. This is typically done to create a belt that carries two different resources side-by-side on the same belt.
;Spaghetti : A community term referring to the "spaghetti" look of many belts/entities placed in a disorganized fashion. Typically created by new players to Factorio. Generally, it will be moved away from as soon as the player realizes the logistical problems it causes.
;Speedrun : A term referring to attempting to quickly finish the game as soon as possible. At the time of this writing, the record is just over an hour.
;Stacker : A waiting bay for trains, allowing them to wait on different parallel tracks and not block each other until their destination becomes free. Recommended in front of large, multi-platform stations.
;Stealing : Some entities allow inserters to insert and remove items from the same slots, including fuel in boilers, ammo in gun turrets, science packs in labs, modules in beacons, robots in roboports, and any items in chests. 'Stealing' is a technique that makes use of this mechanic in order to supply some machines with consumables (i.e. fuel, ammo or science packs) without having to use belts. You simply chain multiple machines together with inserters that take the items out of the previous machine and insert them directly into the next. The commonly used phrases are 'coal stealing' and 'ammo stealing'.
;Sushi belt : The strategy of mixing many different types of items on transport belts to supply machines that need some or all of those items. It sacrifices throughput for compactness (and beauty). It looks colorful and diverse like a tray of sushi. It's perhaps most popular for supplying labs with science packs. Sometimes called rainbow belt.

== T ==
;Terminus : A train station design where trains come in and leave from the same side, thus requiring double-headed trains, unlike RORO stations.
;Throughput : A term that refers to the maximum amount of resources that can travel through something (such as a belt) in a certain amount of time. Usually quantified in items per second.
;Tick : The smallest measurable amount of time in Factorio. There are 60 ticks per second (when running at 60 UPS), and 3600 ticks in a minute.
;Tile : A piece of map. It is not really known how big it is, but for simplifying things we can assume that a tile is a quadratic with side of 1 meter.
;Time : Game time is normally identical with real time, one second in the game is one second in reality, but it can be faster or slower. For example, when the calculations for an update takes longer than a tick, the game slows down (aka UPS). Alternatively, a mod can provide ways to let the game run faster.
;TINS : Abbreviation of "There Is No Spoon", the name of the in-game achievement.
;Train bus : A popular alternative to the [[#M|main bus]] pattern. Instead of using a belt bus to provide materials for various production cells, a large rail system allows many trains to route materials between more distant cells, sometimes called subfactories. It's UPS-friendlier strategy for large factories such as megabases.
;Turret : Stationary defense weapon. There are three types of turrets in Factorio, the [[Laser turret]], [[Gun turret]], and [[Flamethrower turret]].
;Turret creep : The tactic of leap-frogging with turrets into hostile territory. It's very effective due to the strength and range of turrets. Typically done with laser turrets, blueprints and personal roboports, but can also be done by manually placing gun turrets and inserting ammo.

== U ==
;UPS : Internal clock speed, "Updates Per Second". The game tries its best to maintain the ideal 60 UPS, but it is affected by the size and complexity of the game world and your computer hardware. A lower UPS means that the simulation runs slower. At 30 UPS everything would take twice as long as under ideal conditions. This is a common concern on megabases or when playing with many mods active. It can be set to more than 60 UPS by changing the game speed via script, processing power permitting.

== W ==
;Wube : The company based in the Czech Republic that develops Factorio.

Glossary

2017-05-14T21:33:45Z

Supply: added bootstrap factory, train configuration notation, night steam, map exchange string, BP, clarified UPS

Glossary

2017-05-14T19:21:46Z

Supply: added RORO, Terminus and TINS

Glossary

2017-05-14T19:06:27Z

Supply: added blackout, brownout, priority splitter and turret creep