| Warhead | |
|---|---|
| |
| Category: | Defense |
| Status: | Functional |
| Function: | |
| Explodes when struck | |
| Fits small ship | |
| Mass: | 26.2 kg |
| Fits large ship and station | |
| Mass: | 700.4 kg |
| Data Controls: | [edit] [purge] (?) |
The 
Warhead is a block in Space Engineers. The warhead is a powerful explosive device. Warheads have a greater explosion radius than Rockets but do not come with any means of aiming or throwing them. They are useful as torpedo heads or bombs in wars, when demolishing structures, or as quick mining charges when tunneling through the ground and asteroids. A smaller variant is the Explosive Barrel.
Warhead, Beta 1.166 12/19/2016
Construction[]
Both size variants take up 1x1x1 blocks of their size and can attach to other blocks on any side.
A large warhead has a control panel, so when you place it, remember to rotate it to keep it accessible. A small warhead has no control panel, so you need to either attach it to a grid that has access panels, or attach a Control Panel block to the warhead.
You can attach warheads to voxels, or to static or mobile grids. Or you arm and unmerge them in mid-air so they drop onto the ground (or float in space, respectively): Loose warheads can be used like mines, or you let them roll downhill on a countdown towards an enemy.
How to ignite warheads[]
- To be detonated through damage or through the manual detonation button, you must first arm the warhead in the Control Panel Screen. An unarmed warhead just gets destroyed like regular blocks after a few shots. An armed warhead will explode very easily after just one shot; so exercise caution when handling anything that contains armed warheads!
- To detonate through a countdown, you do not need to arm the warhead. In the Control Panel Screen, players can set a countdown time to get out of its blast radius.
- To detonate it from the safety of another ship entirely, attach an Antenna, power, and Remote Control to the Warhead to access the Control Panel Screen remotely, arm the warhead, and click the Detonate button to detonate it immediately.
- To be detonated by proximity of a player or ship, set up a Sensor (and possibly Timer Blocks) to trigger the warhead’s actions: Arm and Detonate immediately, or just Arm and wait for impact.
Note that due to server lag, Sensors likely need to trigger at further distances, and Timers after longer delays in multiplayer versus singleplayer.
To detonate several warheads most effectively, stagger them.
How to disarm warheads[]
You have a chance of canceling the explosion if you can open the Control Panel Screen/Remote Access Screen of the warhead quickly enough.
- If it's armed, click Arm warhead again to disarm it.
- If the countdown is ticking down, click Stop countdown.
The warhead then becomes inert and non-explosive, and damage just damages it as any block.
Usage and effect[]
After being armed, a Warhead is set off by collision with other blocks or voxels, or when it takes damage from thrusters or weapons fire or neighboring explosions. Physical contact with a player will not cause it to detonate.
Alternatively, without arming it, players can detonate it manually, either immediately or after a countdown. Players can use this countdown time to get out of its blast radius, or use an Antenna and Remote Control to detonate it from another ship entirely.
Note that the warhead area of effect obviously differs depending on its size:
- The small-grid warhead disintegrates small blocks in a 20 block diameter (5 metres) and barely deforms one layer of large-grid light armour.
- Whereas a large-grid warhead disintegrates large-grid blocks in a 12 block diameter (30 metres) of any block size and will crack through and damage half a dozen layers.
Usage: Mining Charge[]
You want to build a huge hangar or underground base on a planet, moon, or asteroid, but don’t want to spend hours with a digging machine? Drill some tunnels and place armed large warheads in them to clear out rock. Be careful to not blow up the ores.
Usage: Torpedoes[]
Using Artificial Masses and a Gravity Generator, or Thrusters with an Override, you can propel a Warhead towards a target, effectively creating a torpedo. Add Automaton blocks to build guided missiles. Such torpedos or missiles are called Player Built Weaponss (PBW).
Using Landing Gear to hold on to armed Warheads in battles carries a high risk of them detonating prematurely in crossfire, unless the Warhead is well enclosed or decoyed.
In Creative mode, a player can copy and paste PBW torpedoes and flares with Warheads, but in Survival mode, it is often more affordable to shoot Rockets. Rockets are both cheaper to produce and more accurate when fired, although the expensive custom-made ordnance does enjoy the possibilities of near-unlimited range and being built with either remote-steering or autonomous homing.
Usage: Booby traps[]
You can combine Warheads with Sensors or use other creative ways to rig them in the perfect moment. For example, Warheads are used in some Pre-Built Ships to lay traps for unsuspecting players.
| Spoiler |
|---|
| Usually one of the ship's reverse thrusters is placed so that its exhaust will damage and detonate an armed Warhead next to it. After spawning in, the ship flies forwards and doesn't use the reverse thrusters. When the player takes over control and turns on the Inertial Dampers to brake, the reverse thrusters ignite the warhead. In some cases, this first detonation will set off a chain reaction. |
Recipe[]
| Warhead | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Component | Large Ship/Station Required | Large Ship/Station Optional | Small Ship Required | Small Ship Optional |
 Explosives | 6 | — | 2 | — |
 Computer | 2 | — | 1 | — |
 Small Steel Tube | 12 | — | 2 | — |
 Construction Comp. | 12 | — | 1 | — |
 Girder | 24 | — | 1 | — |
 Steel Plate | 10 | 10 | 1 | 3 |
Video[]
