Residue Bottleneck Guide
Residue Bottleneck Guide
Enter the residue generation and sink rates you verified in your current build. A positive net accumulation shows the additional sink rate required; storage time appears only when compatible capacity data is present.
On this page
Residue Generation and Sinks
Use this page when a byproduct named residue appears to accumulate in the part of the factory you are observing. Record each visible generation stream and every sink you can verify. Classify a sink as burn, process, or export only to keep the arithmetic readable; those labels do not claim a specific machine or best layout exists in every version.
The ledger calculates generation − burn − process − export. Positive net accumulation is a mathematical buildup under the current inputs. Zero within tolerance is stable, and a negative value is draining. Confirm the real machine and storage behavior separately in your current build.
Residue Bottleneck Diagnostics
Residue storage rises during a fixed observation window
Verified generation may exceed verified burn, process, and export sinks during that window.
Enter every observed stream, confirm compatible units, and use required sink rate as the exact arithmetic gap to investigate.The planner shows capacity not provided
Net accumulation can be calculated without storage capacity, but time to full cannot.
Add current storage and total capacity only when both are visible and use compatible quantity units; otherwise keep the explicit unknown state.The planner shows over-capacity or a unit conflict
Initial storage exceeds capacity, or a mass, volume, and count value was mixed without a valid same-dimension conversion.
Correct the source fields. Do not reinterpret one dimension as another or keep an old time estimate after validation fails.Storage Buffer and Time-to-Full Calculation
To protect your factory from unexpected byproduct jams, calculate your storage safety margin:
- Sum total residue generation from all source machines (
generation). - Sum the user-entered sink categories: burn (
burnSink), process (processSink), and export (exportSink). - Calculate Net Accumulation Rate:
netAccumulationRate = generation - burnSink - processSink - exportSink. - Determine Remaining Storage Capacity:
remainingCapacity = storageCapacity - initialStorage. - Calculate Time to Full:
timeToStorageFull = remainingCapacity / netAccumulationRate(in minutes).
Open the Material Balance Planner to test the current numbers. Do not publish a “best burner,” lava route, or guaranteed layout from this result without separate versioned evidence.
Residue Bottleneck FAQ
What happens when residue storage completely fills up?
The planner does not guess the in-game consequence. It reports full-now or over-capacity from the values you entered; verify the connected machine behavior in your current build.
How can I calculate the minutes until my residue storage is full?
Compute remaining capacity and divide by positive net accumulation. If capacity is missing, units conflict, the initial value exceeds capacity, or accumulation is not positive, the planner shows an explicit state instead of inventing a time.
Sources and verification
- Steam Store: Sandustry (Opens in a new tab)
Valve / Hooded Horse · Checked 2026-08-20 · Store page details, platform compatibility (Windows, macOS, Linux), and Early Access release date 2026-08-13.
- Material Balance Formula & Transparency Specification (Opens in a new tab)
Sandustry Guide Editorial · Checked 2026-08-20 · Repository document docs/material-balance-formulas.md: linear conservation equations for water/steam, residue, and generic chain throughput.