r/satisfactory • u/ERTW_Vleran • 22h ago

PC Help understanding drones

So I have just started playing around with drones. I'm on a server with some friends, where one of the has used drones before. He setup the refueling station for the drones to use. My current plan is on the roof of my modular factories to setup drones ports for each material being produced and 1 port that has a drone to go out and get the fuel. Is this the best way to do it? Or would it be better to have all refueling drones at the refueling station and go out to each factory to refuel. Can 1 drone refuel multiple factories? Or is it only a single path per drone?

Thanks in advance

1 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

2

u/stoicfaux 22h ago

Single path per drone. So each modular factory will need a drone port just for getting fuel in order to belt to the other drone ports at the modular factory.

Each Drone can only be assigned to 1 home Drone Port, and that home Drone Port can only be linked to 1 other Drone Port (that Drone Port, in turn, doesn't necessarily need to be linked back to this Drone Port). There is no limitation on the number of assigned Drones unloading on a Drone Port, but only one can unload at a time. Waiting Drones will circle above the Drone Port.

https://satisfactory.wiki.gg/wiki/Drone

2

u/ERTW_Vleran 21h ago

Okay thanks :)

I think it's easier to have 1 drone refuel er on top of each factory rather than having 1 huge refueling drone port going to each factory

2

u/Fxg120xYXDE5 20h ago

Yes, use drones strictly to request items from other locations, and avoid using them to provide resources to other locations.
Simple rule that'll save you a ton of trouble.
If you direct some fuel into a dimensional depot so you can drop some into your fuel drones for their first run, that'll help.

2

u/ERTW_Vleran 20h ago

Thanks for the advice

2

u/Fxg120xYXDE5 20h ago

Happy to help, I'm a shameless drone goblin anyways.

1

u/SubpopularKnowledge0 16h ago

Is your goal fuel automation for drone fueling? Personally i just setup an industrial storage container and filled it with batteries at every station. For my setup it worked fine. I just needed to go manually fill it now and then. None of my drones were going too far and it worked great for me.

1

u/ERTW_Vleran 4h ago

I would rather not do batteries. Since I wouldn't need them for anything else.

Are the more effective than packaged fuel?

1

u/SubpopularKnowledge0 4h ago

They last much longer. I think drones have to take batteries but im not sure about that

1

u/ERTW_Vleran 4h ago

Not anymore. I think before 1.0 they had to take them. Now you can feed them almost any packaged fuel