Satisfactory recipes are conversion rules: they define which inputs a machine, workbench, or building tool consumes and which outputs it produces. Progress comes from unlocking the right recipe, then choosing a production method that fits your available materials, power, machines, floor space, and future factory plans. This guide explains the recipe types, unlock paths, Codex planning tools, Hard Drive alternates, and a practical way to compare competing recipes without assuming there is one universal “best” choice.
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What a recipe does in Satisfactory
Every recipe describes a conversion from one or more inputs into one or more outputs. The recipe determines the required ingredients, the building or interface that can use it, and the production rates you must plan around. A recipe is therefore more than an item list: it is the rule that connects resource extraction, factory machines, logistics, and later production chains.
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| Recipe category | What it controls | Where you use it |
|---|---|---|
| Crafting recipes | Conversions that make items or materials. | Factory buildings, the Craft Bench, or the Equipment Workshop, depending on the recipe. |
| Building recipes | The parts and materials required to construct structures. | The Build Gun while placing buildings and other structures. |
| Customizer recipes | Variants that change the appearance or style of a building. | The building customizer rather than a production machine. |
The official recipe reference explains these categories and their uses at Satisfactory Recipes. A crafting recipe appearing in the Codex does not mean you can automatically use it everywhere: a factory machine may accept it while the Craft Bench does not, and an item can remain locked until its required milestone or research is complete.
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How recipe unlocks fit into progression
Recipes enter your game through several progression systems: HUB milestones, MAM research, the AWESOME Shop, and the AWESOME Sink. Each system serves a different purpose, so checking only one menu can leave you wondering why a recipe is visible but unavailable.
HUB milestones are the main early-game gate
Milestones drive the normal progression path. At the HUB Terminal, you submit the required resources for a selected milestone. Completing it can unlock buildings, recipes, equipment, and related systems. Later tiers depend on completing earlier HUB work and, at the appropriate points, advancing Space Elevator phases. The progression overview is documented on the official Milestones page.
Before designing a large line, open the milestone’s reward list and check exactly what it provides. A production plan that depends on a machine, conveyor capability, or recipe from a later tier may be impossible to build yet, even if you already possess some of the ingredients.
MAM research and other sources add separate requirements
Some recipes are tied to research rather than a HUB milestone. Alternate recipes, for example, are obtained through Hard Drives and the MAM. Other unlocks can come from the AWESOME Shop or the AWESOME Sink. Treat the unlock source as part of the recipe’s requirements: acquiring the raw material is not enough if the relevant research, purchase, or milestone has not been completed.
Why a Codex entry may still be unavailable
The Codex is a reference for recipes whose visibility prerequisites you have reached; it is not a bypass for progression. A recipe can appear after its prerequisite information becomes visible while still requiring a milestone, MAM research, or another unlock before use. If a recipe is missing or cannot be selected, verify its stated prerequisite instead of rebuilding your factory around it.
Use the Codex as your first recipe reference
The Codex is the fastest way to inspect what an item needs and what it can become. Use it before placing machines, especially when an item will feed several later products.
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- Open the Codex and search for the item you need to produce or consume.
- Open the item’s recipe entry and identify the required building or interface.
- Record every input, every output, and the displayed production time or rate.
- Expand the entry to view input and output quantities per minute when those rates are available.
- Use the Codex’s overclocking simulation to test how changing machine speed affects capacity before committing to a large layout.
- Check the recipe’s unlock condition and confirm that the milestone, research, or other prerequisite is complete.
Per-minute figures turn an item requirement into a factory requirement. Instead of asking only “Can this machine make the part?”, you can ask how many machines, miners, belts, or buffers are needed to sustain the target rate. The Codex page documents these reference and simulation functions at Satisfactory Codex.
Read the recipe in both directions
When planning, inspect the item you want to make and the materials it consumes. Then inspect those input items in turn. This reveals whether the recipe creates a short chain from nearby resources or depends on several intermediate products you have not unlocked. It also exposes a downstream use for a by-product before you commit to a layout that has nowhere to send it.
Finding and unlocking alternate recipes
Alternate recipes are optional versions of existing factory conversions. They do not simply replace the standard recipe with a stronger one; they change the balance of materials, machines, power, logistics, or space. The official explanation is available at Alternate recipes.
Locate Hard Drives at Crash Sites
Hard Drives are found at Crash Sites across the world. The current official tutorial lists 118 Crash Sites and 113 alternate recipes, so finding every drive is not the same as collecting a unique alternate for every location. Treat those figures as the tutorial’s current count, not as a promise that every discovered drive immediately gives a new recipe.
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Analyze each drive in the MAM
- Take a recovered Hard Drive to the MAM.
- Start the Hard Drive analysis and wait for the scan to finish.
- Review the alternate-recipe rewards offered by the completed analysis.
- If none of the available choices fit your factory, use the permitted reroll once rather than accepting a recipe blindly.
- Keep the result in the Hard Drive Library so you can select the unlocked recipe when you are ready to use it.
The current Hard Drive flow presents two alternate-recipe options, allows one reroll, and stores the result in the Hard Drive Library for later selection. A reroll changes the choices; it does not turn the drive into an unlimited source of recipes. If the MAM reports that no rewards are currently available, a prerequisite for the alternate pool has not been met yet. Finish the relevant progression or research and check again.
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How to choose between two recipes
There is no universal ranking that makes one alternate recipe best for every world. The better choice depends on your nodes, factory location, power generation, available buildings, logistics distance, and the products you plan to make next. Compare both recipes against the same criteria before selecting one.
| Decision axis | Questions to ask | Why it changes the result |
|---|---|---|
| Raw-resource consumption | Does the recipe use less of a scarce resource, or does it trade one input for another that is abundant nearby? | A lower total amount is useful only when the required resource is available at the scale and location you need. |
| Power draw | How many machines will run, and what additional extraction, transport, or processing power will they require? | A recipe with fewer raw materials can still cost more power if it needs more or faster machines. |
| Machine count and complexity | How many production stages, splitters, mergers, and recipes must be maintained? | A compact material balance may be worth more than a theoretical input saving when you are building your first line. |
| Floor space and logistics | Will the recipe fit your current platform, and how far must each input travel? | Extra belts, pipes, storage, and transport routes can outweigh a smaller ingredient list. |
| Material availability | Do you have the required node types and quantities now, or would the recipe force a distant outpost? | Using materials already present near the factory can shorten construction and reduce ongoing logistics. |
| Downstream compatibility | Which recipe supplies the parts your next production chain needs, and does it create a useful or awkward by-product? | A recipe that fits the next chain can avoid a second conversion line and reduce storage problems. |
A practical comparison method
- Write the target output rate from the Codex.
- For each recipe, list all input materials and their per-minute requirements.
- Circle inputs that are scarce, far away, or already committed to another line.
- Estimate the number of machines and the logistics connections each option needs, using the Codex’s overclocking simulation to test different machine speeds.
- Check whether the resulting outputs feed your next planned product without an extra conversion stage.
- Select the recipe that best fits your current factory constraints, not the one with the most attractive single ingredient ratio.
This method deliberately leaves room for a later redesign. An alternate that is excellent for a compact starter factory may be less suitable after you unlock additional buildings or open a new resource area.
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Once you have selected a recipe, turn its information into a build plan in a fixed order. This prevents the common mistake of placing a machine first and discovering later that its inputs cannot be sustained.
Step 1: Define the output you actually need
Choose a purpose for the line: supplying a milestone, feeding another product, stocking construction parts, or maintaining a buffer. The required output rate determines every upstream requirement. A temporary line can be intentionally small; a permanent line should leave room for belt routing and expansion.
Step 2: Trace inputs back to resources
Follow every ingredient through its own Codex entry until you reach extractable resources. Note where a chain branches into multiple products. This tells you which inputs must arrive continuously and which can be supplied from storage during a short build phase.
Step 3: Convert rates into machine capacity
Use the displayed per-minute inputs and outputs to determine how many machines are needed at their intended speed. The overclocking simulation lets you test whether a smaller number of machines can meet the target or whether the resulting rate creates an awkward fractional balance. Check the capacity of every stage, not just the final assembler or manufacturer.
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Step 4: Plan logistics before foundations
Decide where resources enter, where products leave, and where overflow goes. Keep belt, pipe, splitter, and merger routes accessible. If an alternate recipe introduces a material you do not currently bring to the site, include that transport in the comparison rather than treating it as a free input.
Step 5: Build a small proof line
Construct one working segment and verify that the selected recipe is available in the intended machine. Confirm that inputs arrive at the expected rates and that outputs are not blocked. A short proof line can reveal an unlock or logistics problem before you duplicate the entire design.
Step 6: Expand only after the balance is stable
Once the proof line runs, add parallel machines, storage, and distribution. Keep a record of the recipe used so a later alternate-recipe decision does not leave you guessing which inputs a mature factory expects.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Crafting, building, and customizer recipes in daily play
Crafting recipes
Crafting recipes are the conversions that make usable items and materials. Depending on the recipe, you may run it in a factory building, make it manually at the Craft Bench, or use the Equipment Workshop. Manual crafting can help during setup, but it does not replace a sustained factory line when the required quantity grows.
Building recipes
Building recipes define the construction parts for structures placed with the Build Gun. They are not production recipes for a factory machine. If a planned building is unavailable, check the milestone that unlocks the building or its required construction parts before changing your production chain.
Customizer recipes
Customizer recipes change building variants and appearance. They affect how a structure looks rather than how its production conversion works, so do not count a visual variant as an alternative manufacturing method.
Common recipe mistakes and fixes
“The Codex shows it, but I cannot use it.”
Visibility and availability are separate. Open the recipe’s prerequisite information, then check the relevant HUB milestone, MAM research, AWESOME Shop unlock, or other requirement. Complete that progression step before redesigning the factory.
“I selected an alternate because it used fewer ingredients.”
Recheck power, machine count, floor space, logistics distance, material availability, and downstream compatibility. A lower raw-material figure can create a more expensive or complicated factory under your actual conditions.
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“The MAM has no alternate reward.”
The alternate pool may not yet be eligible because a prerequisite is missing. Continue the required progression or research, then return to the MAM. Do not assume the Hard Drive is broken or permanently consumed until the analysis state confirms what happened.
“The line works briefly and then stops.”
Compare the Codex’s per-minute input requirement with the upstream supply rate. Check for a blocked output, an undersized transport route, an unpowered machine, or a downstream stage that consumes less than the preceding stage produces. The recipe can be correct while the factory balance is not.
“I cannot decide which Hard Drive option to keep.”
Use the one permitted reroll if neither option fits your current plan. Otherwise, store the result in the Hard Drive Library and defer the choice until you know your node locations, power budget, and next production chain. Unlocking an alternate does not require you to rebuild an existing line immediately.
A repeatable beginner workflow
- Complete the next HUB milestone and read its full reward list.
- Open the Codex entry for the item required by your goal.
- Record the machine, inputs, outputs, unlock condition, and per-minute rates.
- Trace the ingredients back to resource nodes and identify transport requirements.
- Use the overclocking simulation to test a realistic capacity before placing many machines.
- Build a small proof line and verify recipe availability, power, input flow, and output clearance.
- Explore Crash Sites when you can safely reach them, bring Hard Drives to the MAM, and review the two offered alternate recipes.
- Compare alternates using raw resources, power, machine complexity, space, availability, and downstream use.
- Use the reroll only when both current choices are poor fits; save a suitable result in the Hard Drive Library for later selection.
- Expand the line after the balance is proven, and revisit the decision when a new node, building, or production chain changes the factory context.
The central rule for recipe decisions
Use the standard recipe when it is the simplest fit for the resources and machines you already have. Choose an alternate when its complete factory—including extraction, power, transport, space, and downstream processing—solves a real constraint. The Codex supplies the rates, milestones establish access, and Hard Drives broaden your options; your factory context determines which option is actually better.
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