How To Move Lava in Sandustry

Why this is a separate problem

Lava in Sandustry starts as a frustrating resource that spreads and ruins setups the moment you dig into it. Once you learn the Cinder process and proper containment, it becomes a reliable (but consumable) burning power and a source of steam. The community has settled on two patterns: the Cinder round-trip for transport, and the autoburner pattern when you want lava to stay in place.

Method 1 — Cinder round-trip

Lava does not have to stay a liquid:

1. Freeze the lava. Cooling lava with snow or a Cryoblaster turns it into Scoria.
2. Break the Scoria. Destroy it with any weapon, shovel, or rocket — it breaks into Cinder.
3. Move the Cinder. As a powder it behaves like any other solid — conveyors, launchers, drones, grabbers.
4. Re-melt at the destination. Only the direct flame of a Flamethrower converts Cinder back into lava. Passive heat sources do not.

Method 2 — Autoburner pattern

If your goal is burning slag rather than relocating lava, you can avoid transport entirely.

1. Fill a Filter with Cinder.
2. Burn the Cinder to lava in place (Flamethrower).
3. Run your slag over that lava in the slag pit.
4. The heat source stays put and the material comes to it. This feeds burnt slag into a Kinetic Slag Press without you ever piping lava anywhere.

Steering steam

Steam has no directional control of its own. Players report that with enough care in the build you can control both where the steam goes and where the water lands when it condenses. Build the channel you want the steam to follow, roof the places you want it to avoid, and give it a deliberate exit. Steam that rises to the sky comes back as rain on whatever is underneath. If steam ends up somewhere unreachable — including inside a pipe, where it blocks drainage — the grabber tool removes it directly.

FAQ

How do you transport lava in Sandustry?

Freeze it. Cooling lava with a cryo weapon turns it into cinder, which is a powder — so it rides conveyors and launchers like any other solid. Re-melt it with a flamethrower at the destination.

How do you control where steam goes?

With solid blocks. There is no dedicated directional control for steam, but players report that a carefully built block channel lets you decide both where the steam travels and where the water falls when it condenses.

Can I automate burning slag without carrying lava around?

Players describe an autoburner: fill a filter with cinder, burn it to lava in place, and let slag run over it in the slag pit. The lava stays where it is and the slag comes to it.