Space Engineers is Keen Software House's block and voxel sandbox, on Steam Early Access from 23 October 2013 and fully released on 28 February 2019. You build ships, stations and rovers from large grid blocks 2.5 metres per edge or small grid blocks at 0.5 metres, and anything you build can be ground down, shot apart or flown into a mountain. The vanilla Star System holds eight bodies, and their ore rules set the whole progression: platinum appears only on moons and asteroids, uranium only on asteroids.
These tips go beyond the basics. They're the strategies experienced players use to play more efficiently, the hidden mechanics most people miss, and the optimizations that compound over a full playthrough. If you're just starting, check our beginner's guide first.
Essential Tips
1. Uranium has not spawned on planets or moons since version 1
Uranium has not spawned on planets or moons since version 1.189. Nuclear reactors, railgun sabots, artillery shells and rockets all depend on it, so a planet locked base is permanently on solar, wind and hydrogen.
2. Platinum appears on moons and asteroids but never on planets, and Thruster Components need it
Platinum appears on moons and asteroids but never on planets, and Thruster Components need it. Ion Thrusters and Jump Drives are therefore gated behind leaving the surface, so plan the Moon run before designing anything for deep space.
3. The Basic Refinery cannot process silver, gold, uranium or platinum
The Basic Refinery cannot process silver, gold, uranium or platinum. Hauling those ores home while you still only own a Basic Refinery is the most common wasted expedition in survival saves.
4. Atmospheric thickness matters far more than density
Atmospheric thickness matters far more than density. Every atmospheric body sits near 1 atm at sea level, but the shell is 14.4 km on EarthLike and Mars, 3.9 km on Triton, 1.6 km on Pertam, 1.15 km on Europa and 0.6 km on Titan.
5. Reactor fuel maths is blunt: 1 kg of uranium ingot yields 1 MWh
Reactor fuel maths is blunt: 1 kg of uranium ingot yields 1 MWh. A Large Reactor at its full 300 MW output burns a kilogram every twelve seconds, which is why nobody leaves them idling.
6. Batteries limit throughput as well as capacity
Batteries limit throughput as well as capacity. A large grid Battery stores 3 MWh but moves only 12 MW in or out, so a hydrogen heavy ship can still brown out on spin up with a full bank.
7. Wind Turbines need atmosphere, clearance and a static grid
Wind Turbines need atmosphere, clearance and a static grid. They produce nothing in space, nothing on the airless Moon and nothing on a moving vehicle, and ground level placement gives 150 to 200 kW against 200 to 400 kW when elevated.
8. Ice is the real fuel supply
Ice is the real fuel supply. Roughly 1,000 kg of ice becomes about 20,000 litres of hydrogen, so scout an ice source before committing to a hydrogen design. On Pertam the ice is underground, beneath oases and discoloured sand patches.
9. Carry a spare Hydrogen Bottle at all times
Carry a spare Hydrogen Bottle at all times. The suit reservoir holds 125 litres against the bottle's 400, and bottles in inventory refill the jetpack automatically once the suit drops to roughly a quarter.
10. Turn autorespawn off at world creation if friends might join later
Turn autorespawn off at world creation if friends might join later. That setting cannot be changed once the world exists, and discovering it forty hours in means starting over or living with it.
Advanced Strategies
Build Optimization
The difference between an average build and an optimized one is massive. See our builds guide for full breakdowns.
For Atmospheric mining ship (A-Tier):
- Focus on Large and small grid building combinations for maximum output.
- Core gear: Hand Drill
- Stat priority: Offensive stats first
For Hydrogen launch vehicle (A-Tier):
- Versatile approach that handles any situation.
- Core gear: Grinder
- Stat priority: Balanced stats
Mechanic Interactions
Understanding how Space Engineers's systems interact is where the real optimization lives. Our combat guide covers this in detail.
Large and small grid building + Ore refining and assembly: Large grid blocks measure 2. Combined with Ore refining and assembly, the refinery converts ore to ingots at fixed yields, 70 percent for iron, 40 percent nickel, 10 percent silver, 1 percent gold and uranium and 0.
Thruster and gravity flight + Oxygen, hydrogen and life support: Atmospheric Thrusters do nothing in vacuum, Ion Thrusters do almost nothing in atmosphere, and Hydrogen Thrusters work everywhere at the worst fuel cost. When paired with Oxygen, hydrogen and life support, the o2 h2 generator melts ice into gas, producing 250 litres of oxygen or 500 litres of hydrogen per five second cycle on large grid.
Block damage and repair scaling: Every block carries its own integrity value. The Grinder strips blocks back into components and the Welder rebuilds them, and pairing a Welder with a Projector holding the original blueprint is the entire ship repair loop.
Equipment Efficiency
| Equipment | Best Use Case | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Hand Drill | The first hours on any body, and precise digging where a ship mounted Drill would carve out far too much. | The handheld mining tool every survival start ships with. |
| Grinder | Recycling the starting drop pod, stripping cargo ship encounters and undoing misplaced blocks. | Breaks blocks back down into their components. |
| Survival Kit | The opening minutes of a survival start, before a real Refinery and Assembler exist. | A combined respawn point, small assembler and stone processor. |
| Refinery | Everything past the first hour, and mandatory before any rare ore run is worth making. | The full refinery, running at roughly twice the speed factor of the Basic Refinery and the only version that processes silver, gold, uranium or platinum. |
| Artillery Turret | Base defence and ship engagements at ranges where a Gatling Turret cannot reach. | One of the free Warfare 2 additions in update 1. |
Location Efficiency
EarthLike (Starting world): 120 km across at 1.0 g, with breathable air at 1 atm reaching 14.4 km up and 3.5 percent ore coverage. Silicon, magnesium, iron, cobalt, nickel, gold, silver and ice are all here; platinum and uranium are not.
Moon (First trip off world): 19 km across at 0.25 g with no atmosphere whatsoever, so atmospheric thrusters and wind turbines are dead weight. Ore coverage is only 1.4 percent, but it carries platinum, which no planet does.
Mars (Mid game colony): 120 km at 0.9 g with a full 1 atm atmosphere 14.4 km deep that contains no oxygen. Atmospheric thrusters and wind turbines work there; your lungs do not, and the wiki steers you toward solar rather than wind.
Pertam (Advanced): 60 km across at 1.2 g with an atmosphere only 1.6 km thick, which makes it the hardest launch in the game. Ore coverage is 0.3 percent and ice sits underground beneath oases and discoloured sand.
Triton (Mid to late game): 80 km at 1.0 g with breathable air in the valleys, surface ice lakes and 3.5 percent ore coverage. It holds every ore except platinum and uranium, which no planet has anyway.
Mistakes Even Veterans Make
- Mining platinum ore while only owning a Basic Refinery, which cannot process it at all.
- Building a large grid rover where small grid at 0. 5 metre blocks would have been powerable and mobile
- Fitting only Atmospheric Thrusters, then stalling out a few kilometres up, or far lower on Titan and Pertam.
- Planting Wind Turbines on the Moon, which has no atmosphere for them to work in.
- Prospecting planets for uranium, which has not spawned there since version 1. 189
Pro Quick Tips
- Uranium has not spawned on planets or moons since version 1.189. Nuclear reactors, railgun sabots, artillery shells and rockets all depend on it, so a planet locked base is permanently on solar, wind and hydrogen.
- Platinum appears on moons and asteroids but never on planets, and Thruster Components need it. Ion Thrusters and Jump Drives are therefore gated behind leaving the surface, so plan the Moon run before designing anything for deep space.
- The Basic Refinery cannot process silver, gold, uranium or platinum. Hauling those ores home while you still only own a Basic Refinery is the most common wasted expedition in survival saves.
- Start with Hydrogen launch vehicle, switch to Atmospheric mining ship when ready
- Invest in Hand Drill above everything else
- Clear areas in order: EarthLike → Moon → Mars → Pertam → Triton. See our maps guide
- Large and small grid building + Ore refining and assembly together are stronger than either alone
More Space Engineers Guides
- Space Engineers Space Engineers Overview
- Space Engineers Best Builds
- Space Engineers Tier List
- Space Engineers Walkthrough
- Space Engineers Beginner's Guide
- Space Engineers Weapons Guide
- Space Engineers Combat Guide
- Space Engineers Boss Guide
- Space Engineers Maps & Locations
- Space Engineers Crafting Guide
- Space Engineers Classes & Characters
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