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11 Overview
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33 Automation in Solarpunk allows players to offload repetitive tasks to machines. Automated devices handle Resource Gathering, farming, and material processing without constant player input. All automated machines require power from the Energy System to operate.
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66 Automated Machines
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88 Automatic Drill
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1111 The Automatic Drill extracts resources from the ground without manual mining. In earlier builds, the drill produced stone as a byproduct alongside the target resource. This has been changed: the drill no longer produces stone as a byproduct. Stone is now mined at dedicated stone spots using manual tools or other methods. This change makes the drill's output cleaner and more predictable for production chain planning.
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1313 Automatic Magnet Fisher
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1515 The Automatic Magnet Fisher collects materials from below the floating islands. Its primary output is algae, which is used as an ingredient in advanced crafting recipes. The Magnet Fisher operates continuously when powered, accumulating algae over time that players can collect from its storage.
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1717 Farming Robots and Drones
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1919 Farming robots and drones automate the watering of crops. Once set up and powered, they cover designated crop areas, freeing the player from manual watering. This is especially valuable for larger farms where manually watering every plant becomes time-consuming. Drones work the same way inside greenhouses as they do outdoors.
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2121 Logic Components
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2323 Solarpunk supports a small but flexible set of logic components that let players build conditional automation chains without writing code. These were added in a major mid-2025 update.
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2626 Switches
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2828 Switches provide manual control over automated systems. They connect inline with energy cables and allow players to turn entire networks, or individual sections, on and off. This is useful for conserving battery power; for example, turning off drills at night when solar panel output drops, or disabling a processing line that has a full output buffer. Switches can be toggled at any time.
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3030 Rain Sensors
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3232 Rain sensors detect when it is currently raining outside and toggle a connected circuit on or off accordingly. A common use case is shutting off automated watering drones during a rainstorm, since rain already waters outdoor crops, and pausing solar-fed power loads when the weather system reduces solar output.
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3434 Day/Night Sensors
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3636 Day/night sensors detect the current phase of the day/night cycle. Players use them to switch non-essential power loads off at night, when solar generation drops to zero, and back on at sunrise. Combining a day/night sensor with a battery and a wind turbine produces a base that effectively manages its own peak/off-peak power profile without manual switch toggling.
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3838 Production Chains
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4040 By connecting multiple automated machines together through the energy network, players can create production chains where the output of one machine feeds into the input of another. This allows for more complex manufacturing setups where raw materials are automatically processed through several stages into finished goods.
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4242 Effective production chains require careful planning of:
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4444 ChainDetailsPower budgetEvery machine in the chain draws power. Ensure sufficient solar panels and batteries are available.LayoutPlace machines close together to minimize cable runs and keep the base organized.SwitchesUse switches to disable parts of the chain when they are not needed, saving energy.SensorsUse rain and day/night sensors to gate sections of the chain automatically.StoragePlan for output storage so that finished goods do not back up and stall the chain.
4545 Automation Tips
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4747 Start with a single Automatic Drill before scaling up to avoid overloading your power gridThe Magnet Fisher runs constantly; make sure to empty its algae storage regularlyPlace farming drones near a reliable power source so they do not shut down during cloudy weatherWire rain sensors to your outdoor watering drones so they pause during stormsUse day/night sensors to switch non-essential loads off at night, conserving battery for the morningPlan production chains on paper (or mentally) before building to avoid inefficient layouts