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A small atmospheric mining ship with two block drills
A small atmospheric mining ship with two block drills
Drill

Category: Functional Block
Status: Functional

Fits small ship
Mass: 830 kg
Capacity: 3,375 L
Power: -2 kW

Fits large ship and station
Mass: 6,837 kg
Capacity: 23,437.50 L
Power: -2 kW

Data Controls: [edit] [purge] (?)

The  Drill is a Ship Tool block in Space Engineers. Players use block drills in Survival Mode as an industrial miner to gather ores or to remove layers of stone (also know as voxel material), instead of using the smaller Hand Drill.

For other ways of removing voxels, see also Voxel Hands.

Usage[]

Block Drills produce a hole about three small blocks in diameter and one or two blocks deep, depending on how far the Drill is from the surface.


Drill radius diagram by Consty
Drill radius diagram by Consty

Clearing out Stone[]

Like Hand Drills, Block Drills have a secondary tool mode (RMB) that simply clears out rock and ores (!) quickly without collecting the chunks. Deleting voxels is mainly useful for getting past the outer stone "shell" of an asteroid or planet to get to the more valuable ore within without having to mine out and collect lots of comparatively less valuable stone.

To use primary and secondary mode of a drill on a ship just as you would a Hand Drill, drag the drill from the "Block Tools" (!) section of the Toolbar Config menu to your toolbar. Now LMB clicking activates the ship drill to collect ores, and RMB clicking clears voxels.

Tip: A drill will not destroy the grid it is built on. If you want to dig out an NPC encounter wreck, drilling will also destroy its blocks. Instead, attach the drill, a seat, and a power source to the wreck(!), sit in the seat and use the secondary tool mode (hold RMB) to clear out the surrounding stone, then grind and rebuild the drill to reach more areas, and so on.

Inventory[]

The grid drills have a built-in inventory with a capacity of 3,375L on small ships and 23,437.5L on large ships and stations. This inventory will only accept ore type items. Drills will send push requests for all of their contents through Conveyor systems.[1]

Placement[]

The drill can be placed on large ships, small ships, and stations.

The small ships' drill is 3x3x6 mini-cubes big, while the large is 1x1x3 cubes (meaning they are the same overall size). The gap between the drills is important: two small drills can be separated by a single space without problem, but with the large drill any gap is enough to allow an unground rock spur to get between the drills, preventing them from boring deeper - or even damaging them.

Power[]

A single Drill uses 2 kW of power while it is running. It does not matter if it is in contact with stone or not.

Recipe[]

 Drill
ComponentLarge Ship/Station
Required
Large Ship/Station
Optional
Small Ship
Required
Small Ship
Optional
 Computer51
 Motor51
 Large Steel Tube124
 Small Steel Tube8
 Construction Comp.408
 Steel Plate1801202012

Video[]

Official video of Update 01.034 when Drills were made available for large ships. Space_Engineers_-_Space_suit_color_selection,_large_ship_drills,_spectator_mode

Official video of Update 01.008.004 when the Drill was released for small ships. Some features shown may be outdated.
01.008.004_Video

References[]

Blocks

Functional Blocks

Cockpits & Control
 Cockpit,  Fighter Cockpit,  Control Station,  Flight Seat,  Helm,  Saddle Cockpit,  Saddle Cockpit Compact,  Cab Cockpit,  Buggy Cockpit,  Rover Cockpit,  Passenger Seat,  Control Panel,  Control Panel Pedestal,  Vertical Button Panel,  Sci-Fi One-Button Terminal,  Sci-Fi Four-Button Panel,  Sci-Fi Control Panel, ( Inset)  Button Panel,  Button Panel Pedestal,  Remote Control,  Custom Turret Controller

Automation
 Sensor,  Timer Block,  Programmable Block,  Event Controller,  Emotion Controller,  AI Basic,  AI Flight,  AI Defensive,  AI Offensive,  AI Recorder

Communication
 Antenna,  Beacon,  Round Beacon, ( Top Mounted)  Camera,  Laser Antenna,  LCD Panel,  Corner LCD,  Text Panel,  Wide LCD Panel,  Transparent LCD,  Sci-Fi LCD Panel,  Holo LCD,  Inset LCD Panel,  Sloped LCD Panel,  Curved LCD Panel,  Ore Detector,  Sound Block

Defense & Offense
 Decoy,  Gatling Gun,  Gatling Turret,  Interior Turret,  Rocket Turret,  Reloadable Rocket Launcher,  Rocket Launcher,  Artillery,  Autocannon,  Artillery Turret,  Autocannon Turret,  Railgun,  Assault Cannon,  Assault Cannon Turret,  Target Dummy,  Warhead,  Explosive Barrel

Power
 Battery,  Small Battery,  Large Reactor,  Small Reactor,  Solar Panel,  Colorable Solar Panel,  Hydrogen Engine,  Wind Turbine,  Twin-Blade Wind Turbine

Life Support
 Medical Room,  Corner Medical Room,  Survival Kit,  Cryo Chamber,  Inset Cryo Room,  Oxygen Farm,  Interior Light,  Offset Light,  Spotlight,  Offset Spotlight,  Inset Light,  Air Vent ( Full),  Air Vent Fan ( Full)

Mobility
 Gyroscope,  Atmospheric Thruster,  Ion Thruster,  Hydrogen Thruster,  Parachute Hatch,  (Short)  Wheel Suspension 1x1,  (Short)  Wheel Suspension 2x2,  (Short)  Wheel Suspension 3x3,  (Short)  Wheel Suspension 5x5,  Offroad Wheels

Mining & Manufacturing
 Basic Refinery,  Refinery,  Basic Assembler,  Assembler,  Drill,  Grinder Block,  Welder Block,  Projector,  O2/H2 Generator,  Oxygen Farm,  Yield Module,  Power Efficiency Module,  Speed Module

Storage
 Large Cargo Container,  Medium Cargo Container,  Small Cargo Container,  Oxygen Tank,  Hydrogen Tank,  Store,  Contracts Block

Inventory Management
 Connector,  Small Connector/Ejector,  Collector,  Conveyor Junction,  Conveyor Tube  (Reinforced),  Curved Conveyor Tube  (Reinforced),  Conveyor Tube T Junction  (Reinforced),  Conveyor Sorter;  Small Conveyor,  Small Conveyor Tube  (Reinforced),  Small Curved Conveyor Tube  (Reinforced),  Small Conveyor Tube T Junction  (Reinforced),  Small Conveyor Sorter;  Conveyor Frame,  Conveyor Converter

Mechanical Blocks & Gravity Control
 Advanced Rotor,  Rotor,  Piston,  Hinge,  Landing Gear,  Magnetic Plate,  Merge Block,  Artificial Mass,  Gravity Generator,  Spherical Gravity Generator,  Safe Zone