| Conveyor Sorter | |
|---|---|
| |
| Category: | Functional Block |
| Status: | Functional |
| Function: | |
| Controls the flow of items in a conveyor system. | |
| Fits small ship | |
| Fits large ship and station | |
| Data Controls: | [edit] [purge] (?) |
The 
Conveyor Sorter is a block in Space Engineers that is used to control the directional flow of items in a Conveyor system and can be used to filter, sort, or pump items using a blacklist or a whitelist, actively or passively. The block exists for small and large grid and is often used together with Connectors.
Items can flow through the block only in the direction of the arrow painted on its side.
- Filter Mode - Set up filters to passively allow/prevent items from going in or out of containers, in the direction where the arrow points. Use two Sorters to control both directions.
- Drain All - Activate this mode to actively pull all whitelisted items (or all non-blacklisted items) from one side and push them into the conveyor system on the side where the arrow points.
Mastery of this block lowers the demand of mods and scripts to manage inventory.
Construction[]
The sorter is available for large and small grid.
- The large grid variant of the Conveyor Sorter is 1x1x1 large blocks in size and has large ports on two opposite sides.
- The small-grid variant of the Conveyor Sorter is 1x3x3 small blocks in size and also has large ports on the two opposite 3x3 sides.
- The small-grid Small Conveyor Sorter is 1x1x1 small blocks in size and has two small ports on opposite sides. It is limited to transfer only small items like ores.
Filter Mode (Passive)[]
For the passive Filter Mode, choose either a whitelist or blacklist.
- If you select whitelist, only what is listed in the "active filters" list is allowed through. If the "active filters" list is empty, nothing is allowed through in that direction.
- If you select blacklist, nothing that is listed in the "active filters" list is allowed through. If the "active filters" list is empty, everything is allowed through in that direction.
Note: Here, Active filter means that the filter is in use, not that it actively pulls or pushes items through the pipe.
How to manage the Active Filters list:
- Select an entry from the "add a new filter" list and click Add to define a criterion.
- Or select an entry from the Active Filter list and click Remove to remove this filter.
Possible filters are:
- Ammo
- Components
- Hand tools
- Ingots
- Ores
- Or select specific items from the list, e.g.
Ice.
Tip: Ice is considered an ore, so remember to filter ice separately. Gases cannot be filtered, only Hydrogen Bottles and Oxygen Bottles as items.
Drain All (Active)[]
Think of conveyor sorters as either passive filters or active pumps.
- Drain All makes the conveyor sorter continually move found whitelisted objects in the arrow direction.
- Drain All makes the conveyor sorter continually move everything except the blacklisted objects in a likewise fashion.
If Drain All is switched off, items only move through the sorter if allowed by the whitelist/blacklist and if actively pulled by another block. Exception: Conveyor Sorters will not attempt to drain ingots from assemblers.
Usage Examples[]
Twin Conveyor Sorters on T Junctions control what goes in and out of dedicated production machines and cargo inventories.
For fine control of both directions of flow, you often combine Sorters with other Sorters on T Junctions. (see below)
You can use Sorters to set up dedicated Production machines that focus on processing one ore or that mass produce certain components.
- A dedicated Refinery that focuses on Stone or Cobalt processing while other Refineries specialise on other faster ores.
- Actively eject gravel or stone through a Connector/Ejector to not clog up inventories.
Setting up dedicated Cargo Containers that only store one type of item is valuable when used together with an Event Controller. Set it to monitor the container's fill level and raise a specific alarm when you are running low on a specific item.
- E.g. monitor your fill level of Ammunition or Metal Grids...
To transfer items between ships you often use Sorters together with Connectors/Ejectors.
- A fighter that returns to a base connector can activate a sorter to quickly pull ammo.
- An Autopiloted delivery drone uses Sorters to pull certain ores from cargo containers at the mines, and delivers specific ores at one base, and the remaining ores at another base.
How to control both directions of flow[]
Remember that Space Engineers is modular, and in many cases, you achieve the desired filtering effect by chaining together multiple Sorters with different blacklist/whitelist settings. Use Junctions and T-Junctions to build parallel conveyor branches:
- one branch controlling input items in one direction, and
- the other branches controlling the flow of output items in the other direction.
Similarly when you want to use both whitelists and blacklists on the same conveyor line (as in "allow all materials, but disallow uranium ingots"), you'll also need two sorters.
…tube - junction -> sorter -> junction - tube…
| |
tube <- sorter <- tube
Handling of Gases[]
Conveyor sorters allow the transfer of hydrogen and oxygen gas in any direction,
- if a tank on the other side of the sorter pulls gas because it's set to Stockpile, or
- if an O2/H2 Generator pushes gas into the system.
There are some irregular glitches that sometimes prevent Sorters from conveying gasses, though.
- A Survival Kit or Medical Room cannot pull gas through a Sorter to recharge your suit.
Oxygen and Hydrogen bottles as items are treated separately from gases: You can set up blacklists and whitelists for gas bottles like for any items in Sorters.
Recipe[]
| Conveyor Sorter | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Component | Large Ship/Station Required | Large Ship/Station Optional | Small Ship Required | Small Ship Optional |
 Computer | 2 | — | 5 | — |
 Motor | 2 | — | 2 | — |
 Small Steel Tube | 50 | — | 5 | — |
| File:Icon Item Construction Component.png Construction Component | 100 | 20 | 10 | 2 |
 Interior Plate | 40 | 10 | 4 | 1 |
Small:
| Conveyor Sorter | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Component | Large Ship/Station Required | Large Ship/Station Optional | Small Ship Required | Small Ship Optional |
| Computer | — | — | 5 | — |
| Motor | — | — | 2 | — |
| Small Steel Tube | — | — | 5 | — |
| File:Icon Item Construction Component.png Construction Component | — | — | 10 | — |
| Interior Plate | — | — | 4 | 2 |
DLC Content[]
The paid Heavy Industry DLC contains the Industrial Conveyor Sorter, an aesthetic, more rounded variant of the sorter that is available for large grids.
