Inserters
< Transport network
Inserters are the fundamental components used to move items from one part of the factory to another. They are a vital component in almost all contraptions. They look and operate like a robot arm: they take items from behind and place them in front. For example, inserters can move items between machines, into or out of storage (such as chests) or onto transport belts.
Inserter Mechanics
Inserters will:
- Pick up Items off the Ground, off a Transport belt, or from any object that has storage space for stacks (including chests, furnaces and assembling machines)
- Place the item onto the ground, onto a transport belt, or into any object that has storage space for stacks.
Inserters act differently depending on what they are moving items to/into so as not to monopolize all of the items being picked up. This allows other machines and inserters on the same transport belt to pick up a share of the items.
Insertion Limits
Inserters will stop inserting items into certain buildings if they already have enough of that item. For example, if a boiler has 5 or more items of fuel in it, an inserter will not insert additional fuel. When the fuel drops below 5 items, the inserter will continue to insert more fuel, up to the limit of 5 items.
| Entity | Item type | Inserter limit | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boilers, Burner inserters, Furnaces | Fuel | 5 | Modders should avoid recipes for furnaces with fuel. |
| Gun turrets | Magazines | 10 | Since v0.8.4 |
| Assembling machines | Items needed for the recipe | Double the number of items needed in the recipe | |
| Furnaces | Items needed for the recipe | Double the number of items needed in the recipe | |
| Labs | Science packs | Double the number of items needed for one research point |
An inserter that takes items from an object containing stacks of items (such as a chest) can overfill the target building due to the Inserter item stack size. Overfilling can also happen if you use multiple inserters to insert items into the building.
Inserters and transport belts
Transport belts have two lanes on which items can travel. Inserters only place items onto one side of the belt. Which side they place it on depends on the orientation of the inserter and the belt, as described below. If you want to rearrange the items once they are on a belt see Transport_belts/Belt_lane#Changing_side_of_lane.
- Inserters will always place the item on the furthest lane.
- Inserters prefer taking items from the nearest lane.
- When the direction of the inserter and the belt are the same, the inserter will place items in the direction of their rotation. By default, this is the top for horizontal belts, or the left for vertical belts. When taking from a belt, this direction might change.
- The end of the belt places the items onto the next Tile. Therefore, an inserter placed just past the end of the belt will be able to pick up items coming off of the belt. The end of the belt should be placed just before the inserter, to prevent two items from getting left at the end of the belt.
- Inserters can place items on
- All types of conveyor belts
- Underground belt entrances and exits
- Curves, however there is a high chance that the items will block
- Inserters cannot place items on splitters
- Inserters can pick up items from
- Splitters
- The first half of the conveyor belt
- Inserters have problems picking up items
- From fast belts, because the items are moving too quickly.
- From curves (Burner inserters can't pick from curves: http://www.factorioforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=5678 )
- From the entry or exit of an underground belt
Power usage
- Inserter Power Efficiency: Movements per energy and exact power usage numbers.
- Small Inserter Test: Comparison if energy usage per item.
- Inserters/Reduce power consumption
- Inserter heartbeats: In some situations it is not possible to calculate the needed power usage.
Types
| Item | Total raw | Max power | Speed (Rot/sec) | Range (tiles) | Special |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
|
180 W (burner) | 0.6 (1x) |
1 | Only inserter powered by Fuel. Since v0.10.0 it will insert fuel items into itself before it runs out of fuel. |
 |
|
12.6 W (electric) | 0.8 (1.4x) |
1 | Standard inserter. |
| |
|
18 W (electric) | 1.1 (2x) |
2 | Inserter with longer reach. |
| |
|
31.5 W (electric) | 2 (3.5x) |
1 | Basic fast inserter. |
 |
|
44.1 W (electric) | 2 (3.5x) |
1 | A fast inserter that can be configured to only pick up certain types of item, and apply filters that use a Circuit network. |
Special behavior
- Inserters/Interaction with other Entities
- Inserters/Instead of belt: Use it instead of a belt
- Inserter item stack size: Inserter moves more than an item per turn, works only for transport from stack to stack
- Inserters:Focus/Grep-Points
- Inserters/Priority
- Storages/Sorting (extended filtering)