Sandustry Shaker Guide: Wet Sand, Residue and Gold

Understand the machine's job before placing it

The Shaker is an early production building that turns Wet Sand into the materials needed for progression. Its output is asymmetric: Residue is the dependable stream, while Gold is a chance output. Plan storage and downstream capacity around both behaviors rather than treating every input as guaranteed Gold.

Gold can pass through the Shaker. The official wiki recommends a diagonal arrangement that uses this property to separate Gold from the main material flow. That geometry is part of the process, not decoration. Preserve access to both sides so a misplaced pixel can be removed without dismantling the feed.

Follow the documented input and output rules

The official Shaker page states that Wet Sand produces Residue every time and has a 25 percent chance to produce Gold. A chance per processed unit converges only over a large sample. Four inputs do not promise exactly one Gold, and a brief unlucky run does not establish a broken machine.

Wet Sand itself comes from contact between Sand and Water. The official Sand page documents one Sand plus one Water becoming two Wet Sand. Keep that wetting reaction upstream and provide a buffer so the Shaker receives a controlled solid input rather than an active mixture that can occupy unintended cells.

Build a serviceable layout

Begin with the official diagonal concept: give Wet Sand a clear route into the active area, let Gold use the pass-through path, and collect Residue in a separate pocket. Make each destination visible during commissioning. A hidden shared cavity makes chance output difficult to count and lets Residue conceal Gold.

Provide an overflow or shutoff before the input. Residue is produced consistently and can fill its destination before the Gold route looks busy. If the output backs into the Shaker, adding more Wet Sand worsens the evidence. Pause supply, clear both destinations, and reopen a small measured batch.

Measure sustainable throughput

Treat Shaker as one boundary in a longer chain. Start with empty or recorded buffers, count how much Wet Sand reaches the input during a fixed interval, and compare that with Residue and occasional Gold leaving the output. Record material still inside the chamber. A growing reserve before the machine identifies an intake or processing limit; a growing reserve after it identifies a collection or destination limit.

Do not infer an exact rate from a short animation. Let startup material clear, repeat the interval, and test again after saving and loading. If supply arrives in bursts, record both average flow and the largest burst. Add parallel capacity only after the same boundary limits two clean observations. Otherwise extra machines can hide a routing fault while consuming space, power, heat, cold, or scarce construction resources.

Diagnose the first failed boundary

If nothing processes, verify that the input is Wet Sand rather than dry Sand, Water, or a visually similar product. Inspect the final cell before the Shaker and the active cell inside it. Material beside a building is not proof that the documented input reached the processing position.

If Residue appears but Gold does not, count a larger sample before diagnosing failure. If Gold appears in the wrong stream, inspect the pass-through direction and diagonal geometry. If both outputs stop after a period, check the Residue destination first because its guaranteed flow usually fills faster.

Apply the v0.5.6 version notes

The v0.5.6 announcement does not publish a new Shaker conversion ratio, so the current official Shaker and Sand pages remain the factual basis for this guide. Record v0.5.6 on new rate measurements instead of combining them with demo or playtest observations.

Aura production later attracts Auralite globally toward the Aura Extractor. The official Aura tip recommends keeping relevant Shakers near the extractor radius. Treat that late-game Auralite arrangement as a separate module from the early Wet Sand Shaker line unless the route and material are explicitly documented.

Validate the design in a small test cell

Build one isolated Shaker with a limited input sample, visible output pocket, and a way to stop supply. Label the game version and active mods. Observe the expected transformation, any byproduct, where each pixel settles, and what happens when the destination fills. Then clear the cell and reverse the loading order if two materials share space. A repeatable small test gives a stronger design basis than a screenshot of a large factory.

After the test passes, copy the geometry into production while keeping access to the input, output, and removal controls. Leave enough room to inspect or drain the machine without opening a neighboring line. Recheck the route after patches that mention the machine, its materials, density, heat, fluids, energy, or building events. Keep the prior measurement with its version so a future change is visible instead of becoming an unexplained slowdown.

Use the pre-launch checklist

Before opening full supply, confirm that the input really is Wet Sand, the planned result is Residue and occasional Gold, every required power or temperature connection is active, and no incompatible material can enter. Verify output clearance, overflow capacity, a shutoff point, and a safe path for the player. Take one recovery save before connecting a rare or destructive input.

During the first long run, compare starting and ending inventory at every boundary. Watch for material trapped inside building cells, a mixed network, a full destination, and a reserve that only delays failure. If the line remains balanced through its normal burst and restart conditions, record the observed rate and promote the module as the factory's current versioned standard.

Field facts

Troubleshooting

• The Shaker has material nearby but does not process.

  Confirm that Wet Sand reaches the active input cell and that neither output pocket is full.

• A short batch produces no Gold.

  The Gold result is probabilistic. Clear the output and test a substantially larger counted batch before reporting a fault.

• Gold mixes with Residue.

  Recheck the pass-through direction and diagonal separation geometry, then test with a limited batch.