Drone Setup and Stalled Drone Fixes

Tested build and platform: v0.5.7 on Windows through Steam. Sandustry is also available for macOS and Linux through Steam, but these stall fixes were not retested on those operating systems. Older input behavior has its own build label below.

You send the swarm to clean one tidy patch, tune a belt, and return to find your tiny workforce buried under its own delivery. Very efficient. Very Sandustry. Check the pickup and drop-off endpoints first: loose material can cover the exact cell a drone needs even when the rest of the factory looks open.

Sweeper Drone: Set the Pickup and Drop-Off Zones

A Sweeper Drone collects one marked batch of grabbable material. It may make several trips to finish that batch. Selected particles freeze in place so the drones have a fixed pickup target.

Select Sweeper Drone.
Hold the primary mouse button and drag across the loose material. Selected material appears green, while material queued for the next trip appears red.
Release the button while the cursor is inside the Sandustry window. The Set Drop-off Zone prompt should appear.
Click a clear conveyor cell or an empty point in open air above a roomy catch pit. The exact drop-off cell must have room for the material.
Watch the first trip. Confirm that the marked material stays exposed and that each load can leave the destination instead of building a lid over it.

Flow check: exposed material → marked pickup cells → Sweeper Drone → empty drop-off cell → conveyor or catch pit → draining buffer.

Hauler Drone: Make a Repeat Route

A Hauler Drone repeats a route between two selected cells until its line is removed. The pickup cell may be empty when you create the route; the Hauler waits there until material arrives.

Select Hauler Drone.
Click the pickup cell where material is present or will arrive.
Click a drop-off cell with open space for the load.
Keep the tool selected and inspect the Hauler-line list. It shows the endpoints and lets you move either point, add or remove drones, or delete the route.
Run a small test batch. No material at pickup makes the Hauler wait empty. No room at drop-off makes it wait while carrying material.

v0.5.7 limitation — tested on Windows through Steam: Hauler lines cannot be assigned inside artifact rooms. If an older save already has one there, use the hotbar-overlay buttons to move its drop-off outside the room. This restriction was not separately retested on macOS or Linux.

Required Clearance Check

Above a granular pickup pile: expose the marked grains and leave open air directly above them. Stop fresh material from falling onto the selected cells during the test.
Around the destination: keep the exact drop-off cell empty and leave enough nearby air for a full load. Put it on a clear conveyor or above open space so the material moves away.
After the destination: add a draining buffer or overflow area. A sealed box eventually becomes a sandy little prison.
Along the route: watch the first round trip. If the return path seems blocked, open both endpoints and note the exact place where movement stops. Do not cut through walls or doors unless you can see a drone collide there; a covered drop-off often looks like a route problem.

Stall Symptoms and Fixes

What you see	Likely cause	What to do
No drop-off prompt	The drag crossed no grabbable material, or the cursor left the game window during selection.	Clear the unfinished selection, drag across a smaller green patch, and release inside the window.
Invalid selection	The chosen cell is empty, not grabbable, or inside an artifact room where v0.5.7 blocks Hauler lines.	Choose loose material or a valid endpoint. Move Hauler endpoints outside artifact rooms.
Full hands or hovering drones	The destination has no free space or the exact drop-off cell is covered.	Clear the drop-off cell first, then empty the conveyor or buffer meant to carry the load away.
Drones have vanished	A growing destination pile may have buried the swarm.	Return to the last pickup area that worked, trace the intended trip toward the destination, and inspect beneath the newest piles. Remove material in thin layers; drones may emerge a few at a time.
Delivery finished, but drones did not return	A covered endpoint can look like a blocked return path. An empty Hauler pickup and a full drop-off are normal wait states.	Check both endpoints before rebuilding the corridor. Clear covering material, then watch one drone to find the last place it still moves.

The Activity Heatmap may not reveal a buried swarm. Start at the last working pickup area, move toward the destination, and inspect every fresh mound near the drop-off. The guilty cell is often under a pile that looks perfectly harmless from above.

Safe Recovery Order

Stop the job. Delete the bad Hauler line. A deleted Hauler finishes its current delivery before disappearing, so you may still need to clear its destination. An active Sweeper job has no cancel control; stop the incoming material feed and avoid starting another job.
Clear material. Use the Grabber to expose the drones, pickup cells, and exact drop-off cell. Begin at the destination instead of excavating the whole route.
Reopen the destination. Empty its conveyor or buffer and restore an open exit. If an active Sweeper is still running, move near its old drop-off and reassign the point.
Reselect the zones. After the Sweeper finishes, mark a smaller pickup batch and choose an open destination. For Haulers, recreate or edit both endpoints and test with a small load.
Reload only if necessary. Preserve the affected save first. Reload after clearing the physical blockage, but do not assume a reload repairs every stalled job or save.

Multi-Monitor Selection Caveat

Older input caveat — v0.5.3, desktop multi-monitor setup in windowed and full-screen play; operating system not recorded: letting the cursor leave the game window while drawing a Sweeper pickup zone could prevent the Set Drop-off Zone prompt from appearing after the cursor returned. This was not retested in v0.5.7. Keep the full drag on one monitor. If the prompt fails, click once to clear the selection and redraw a shorter area.

When to Preserve the Save and Report It

If both endpoints are open, a small test still stalls, and reloading does not restore the job, stop rebuilding around your only copy. Preserve the affected save and, if possible, keep a copy from before the failed order. While the bad state is visible, press F2 to open Sandustry’s feedback action. Include the game version, operating system, storefront, drone type, material, and whether clearing the endpoint or reloading changed the behavior.

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