Space Engineers Wiki

New Official Space Engineers wiki

A new official wiki is now available! - at https://spaceengineers.wiki.gg/

This wiki is deprecated in favour of it.

READ MORE

Space Engineers Wiki
Merge Block

Category: Merges two ships or stations into one.
Status: Functional

Fits small ship
Mass: 152.2 kg

Fits large ship and station
Mass: 473.4 kg

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

A pair of  Merge Blocks can merge two ships of the same size into one, either temporarily or permanently. It can also merge Large Ships onto stations.

  • Only the sides with clamps can merge. If, in addition to the Merge Blocks themselves, any full block surfaces of the two grids touch, use of the merge blocks will permanently bind the grids as one -- which is great for fixing broken grids.
  • If, apart from the Merge Blocks, only slopes or edges of the two grids touch, then the merge is temporary -- which is great for modular builds and airtight hangar doors.
A large and a small Merge Block.

A large and a small Merge Block. Note the clamps indicating the front.

Distinction from other blocks[]

  • A Merge Block is different from a Connector in so far that it does not extend the conveyor system.
    (If you need inventory access, you’ll still need to add Conveyors or Connectors to your merged grids).
  • In contrast to attaching two grids through rotor and rotor head, a merged grid is one mass and easy to handle in flight, whereas using rotors forms subgrids whose mass throws off the Inertial Dampers.
  • Merge Blocks placed to form a seal turn two airtight grids into one airtight grid, whereas subgrids alone are never airtight.

Construction[]

The Merge Block occupies a 1x1x1 sized block space on large ships and stations, or a 1x3x3 block space on small ships. From version 1.199 on, a compact 1x1x1 small-grid variant is also available.

The Block attaches to other blocks on 5 of 6 faces. Only the side with the small clamps can merge. Only blocks of the same size can merge.

Recipe[]

 Merge Block
ComponentLarge Ship/Station
Required
Large Ship/Station
Optional
Small Ship
Required
Small Ship
Optional
 Computer21
 Large Steel Tube1
 Small Steel Tube1511
 Motor21
 Construction Comp.1525
 Steel Plate5713

Usage scenarios[]

Hot-swappable-merge-block-grids

Using merge blocks to add hot-swappable temporary attachments to a mothership

  • Merge Blocks can dock and undock ships and PBWs.
  • Merge blocks can form an airtight seal.
  • Merged grids can be accessed from a Cockpit on either part as if it were all one grid.
  • Merge Blocks can temporarily attach and detach (merge and unmerge) modular block tools or weapons that are to be used for a time and then swapped out, such as a Drill or Rocket Launcher attachment.
  • Merge Blocks can permanently glue together grids that have broken in two. Only merging lets you recreate the permanent structure needed to hold grids together, which is not otherwise possible. In this case, you don’t want to unmerge again, so just grind off the Merge blocks when you’re done.

Prerequisites Check / Troubleshooting[]

  • Both grids must be of the same size (small+small or large+large)
  • You must have control over at least one of the grids: Either it must be flyable, or you need a utility ship (tug) with magnetic landing gear that can lift the grid into position.
  • You need ownership or faction permissions for both grids, for example by hacking, or by transferring both to "nobody".
  • The two grids to be merged cannot be sibling subgrids connected by only one rotor, or piston, or hinge. For example, “grid with merge block - piston - subgrid with merge block” won’t merge. Merging sometimes works when there are levels of indirection and the Merge Blocks are more than one subgrid (e.g. double hinges) apart.
  • If you merge a mobile grid to a static grid, the mobile grid will become static. Turn the static grid into a "ship" first if you want to stay mobile.

How to merge[]

How-to-merge-a-broken-ship

How to fix a broken ship using two merge blocks

  1. Add one merge block to each ship/station. Make sure the clamp sides of the blocks face each other in their intended final positions.
  2. Switch both blocks on and confirm that they light up white.
  3. Push or fly the grids close together.
  4. When the Merge blocks clamps are less than one meter from each other, the blocks light up yellow and become magnetic if powered.
  5. When the Merge block faces are within less than ~0.1 meter, the grids snap and align themselves.
  6. After they merge, the blocks light up green.

The grids that are attached to each other are now treated as one grid. The merging allows power and control to pass through the blocks.

If a ship merges with a station, the mobile ship blocks will convert to static station blocks.

If you want to merge the halves permanently, grind the Merge Blocks off afterwards.

Caveats: Permanent versus temporary merging[]

Mastery of the Merge Block is a bit more complicated.

If any full block surfaces of the two different grids (other than the merge blocks) touch, use of the merge blocks will permanently bind the grids as one. Even switching off, or grinding off the Merge Blocks will not decouple such merged grids. When repairing a split-in-half ship, such permanent merging is done intentionally.

However, if you make sure that the two separate grids only touch each other with the Merge Blocks, and otherwise at most with thin or pointy edges of blocks (Slopes, Blast Door blocks, or similar), then the two grids can couple and decouple an infinite number of times. When building modular ships or PBW/torpedoes, such temporary merging is done intentionally.

Unmerging[]

After switching the Merge blocks off, the grids can become two separate grids again. The requirement for unmerging is that only the two Merge blocks (and beyond that, only blocks with thin/pointy edges) touch.

To unmerge, turn off the Merge blocks from the Control Panel. When you switch one Merge Block off, it releases the other and they lose their magnetic properties.

Warning: Unmerging does not restore the name of the merged smaller grid.

If you are separating a large ship from a station, the next step is to revert the ship-to-station conversion through the Info Screen.

If any blocks got merged unintentionally, you’ll have to grind these blocks apart.

Video[]

Space_Engineers_-_Merge_block,_Conversion_of_station_to_ship,_News_box_in_main_menu

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