A working early Gold line has four separate jobs: mix one Sand with one Water to make two Wet Sand, spread Wet Sand across Shakers, clear Residue from the top, and give Gold an open path below to a Collector. The Shaker does not guarantee Gold on every input: each Wet Sand always becomes Residue and has a 25% chance to produce one Gold. Gold visible in the factory is not research currency until a Collector receives it, so collection is part of the production chain.
What you need before you build
| Requirement | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Sand and a controlled Water supply | They react directly at a confirmed 1:1 input ratio and create two Wet Sand pixels. |
| At least one Shaker | This is the first machine that extracts Gold from Wet Sand while producing Residue. |
| Two clear output routes | Gold exits below; Residue remains above and moves toward the Shaker's facing side. |
| A Collector | Gold must enter it before the amount is added to the research balance. |
Step-by-step Sandustry setup
Separate storage from the reaction chamber
Keep bulk Sand dry and hold Water in its own basin. Let a narrow feed from each side meet only above the Shaker route. This prevents the inputs from reacting in storage and gives you a visible place to correct an uneven feed.
Success check: Wet Sand appears at one intended contact point and neither input route is being converted upstream.
Use a thin Shaker feed
Place the first Shaker under the Wet Sand outlet. For more throughput, continue with a downward diagonal staircase rather than a flat row buried under one pile. Wet Sand is denser than Residue, helping fresh input sink toward later Shaker surfaces while lighter Residue moves upward.
Success check: More than one Shaker receives a shallow Wet Sand layer instead of one machine carrying the entire pile.
Open the lower Gold path
Keep the cells beneath every Shaker free of terrain and unrelated solids. Gold is the only solid that passes through the building; anything else dragged into the body can become trapped. Use gravity or a clean belt route to send the falling Gold toward collection.
Success check: A produced Gold pixel falls away from the Shaker immediately instead of remaining inside or below it.
Clear Residue continuously
Face each Shaker toward a shared side route and leave space above it. The machine pushes Residue slowly, so a dead-end top surface will eventually block new Wet Sand. Move the by-product toward a contained burn chamber or temporary storage without crossing the Gold path.
Success check: The top surface returns to a thin working layer after each batch and Residue reaches a separate destination.
Close the loop at the Collector
Route the dense Gold output into a Collector and watch the research balance, not just the material pile. Once Burnt Residue and the Kinetic Press are available, route recovered Gold to the same collection stage and split the accompanying Seed toward the plant chain.
Success check: The research balance rises when Gold reaches the Collector; a Gold pile elsewhere does not count as success.
Symptoms, causes, and the next check
Change one variable at a time. Start at the input and follow the material state through the line instead of rebuilding every machine at once.
| What you see | Likely cause | What to check next |
|---|---|---|
| No Gold after a few Wet Sand | The Shaker output is probabilistic, so a short run can produce only Residue. | Confirm Wet Sand is being consumed, clear both outputs, and observe a larger sample before rebuilding. |
| Gold exists but research stays unchanged | The material has not entered a Collector. | Trace the lower route to the Collector and remove any ledge, mixed pile, or blocked entrance. |
| Wet Sand piles above the Shaker | Residue is backing up or the machine is facing away from its exit. | Clear the top, rotate or reroute the side output, and restart with a thinner feed. |
| The machine contains a stuck solid | A non-Gold material entered the Shaker body. | Stop the feed and remove the foreign pixel manually before it becomes hidden by more input. |
| Estimated yield is lower than a calculator | Gold chance and later Residue burning introduce variation and loss. | Measure a longer production window and treat community ratios as planning estimates, not guarantees. |
What not to do
- Do not judge a Shaker from one or two inputs; 25% is a chance per Wet Sand, not a fixed one-in-every-four sequence.
- Do not send Residue and Gold into one undifferentiated bin. Their next uses and exit directions are different.
- Do not let the Residue route end on top of the last Shaker.
- Do not count visible Gold as spendable research until it has entered a Collector.
Sources, confidence, and Early Access limits
This guide separates confirmed mechanics from layout recommendations. The mechanics below were checked against official Sandustry Wiki pages; layout advice is a practical way to satisfy those rules, not a claim that only one factory design works.
- Official Shaker pageWet Sand conversion, 25% Gold chance, output direction, and diagonal layouts
- Official Gold pageGold sources, collection, density, and Liquid Gold storage value
- Official Wet Sand pageSand-to-Water reaction and Shaker processing
Sandustry is in Early Access. Recheck balance-sensitive values, research costs, and machine behavior in the current build after a game update.