Satisfactory recipes are conversion rules: they specify the inputs, building or workstation, output, and production rate needed to turn materials into items. Learn to read them in the Codex, unlock them through milestones and research, and judge alternate recipes against your factory’s actual resources, power, space, and future production chain.
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This guide explains the recipe types, progression requirements, Hard Drive process, per-minute planning, and a repeatable way to choose alternates without chasing a supposedly universal “best” option.
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What a recipe does in Satisfactory
A recipe describes a conversion from one or more inputs into one or more outputs. It is not just a crafting formula: the recipe also determines where production can happen and how quickly a machine consumes and produces materials. The official Recipes documentation separates recipes into three categories.
| Recipe type | Where it is used | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Crafting recipe | Factory buildings, the Craft Bench, or the Equipment Workshop | Converts listed ingredients into an item or component. |
| Building recipe | Build Gun | Defines the materials required to construct a building. |
| Customizer recipe | Customizer | Changes a building variant or appearance rather than producing a normal inventory item. |
That distinction matters when planning a line. A crafting recipe can be automated in a factory building, while an alternate crafting recipe is intended for factory buildings rather than the Craft Bench. A building recipe belongs to construction, and a customizer recipe changes a structure’s variant. Treating all three as interchangeable leads to searches for a machine or menu that cannot use the selected recipe.
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How recipes become available
Recipe visibility and recipe access are related but not identical. The Codex can show a recipe after its relevant prerequisite becomes visible, but you still need to complete the milestone, research, or other requirement that grants access. Recipes can be unlocked through HUB milestones, MAM research, the AWESOME Shop, and the AWESOME Sink, as described in the official recipe reference.
Milestones are the main progression gate
Milestones are completed at the HUB Terminal by submitting the required resources. The Progression documentation explains that later tiers depend on completing earlier HUB work and advancing the Space Elevator through its phases. Milestone rewards can include buildings, recipes, equipment, and systems that make later production possible.
Before designing a large factory, open the current milestone and read its reward list. A component you want may be visible in a recipe tree while the machine that produces it is still locked. Building around an unavailable recipe creates a dead end: the layout may be sound, but the required machine or input cannot yet be supplied.
MAM research and other unlock sources
Some recipes are tied to research rather than a HUB milestone. The MAM handles research paths, including Hard Drive analysis for alternate recipes. The AWESOME Shop and AWESOME Sink provide additional unlock routes. Check the relevant requirement instead of assuming that every item is earned at the HUB or that finding a recipe in the Codex makes it immediately craftable.
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A practical unlock check
- At the HUB Terminal, inspect the next available milestone and its reward list.
- Confirm that the milestone’s required resources are available and submit them when you are ready.
- For a recipe associated with research, open the MAM and check the active research path or Hard Drive analysis.
- For an item associated with the AWESOME systems, inspect the appropriate Shop or Sink unlock.
- Return to the Codex and verify that the recipe is now available for the building or workstation you intend to use.
Use the Codex as your recipe reference
The Codex is the most useful first stop when you need to make an item. It shows recipes once the relevant prerequisite visibility has been reached and lets you inspect the production details instead of relying on memory.
What to record from an entry
- The building or workstation that runs the recipe.
- Every input item and the amount consumed.
- Every output item and the amount produced.
- The recipe duration and the resulting input and output rates per minute.
- Any prerequisite that still prevents the recipe from being used.
Expand the Codex entry to reveal per-minute input and output rates. Those rates are the numbers you need for belt, pipe, storage, and machine-capacity decisions. Looking only at the item list can hide a throughput problem: a recipe may require a small quantity per cycle but consume materials continuously at a rate your upstream line cannot sustain.
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The Codex also provides an overclocking simulation. Use it to test how changing a machine’s clock affects consumption and production before placing a large factory. This is a planning aid, not an unlock: simulation does not grant the recipe, the building, or the resources required to run it.
A useful planning note contains the normal rate, the proposed clock setting, and the resulting per-minute rates. Compare those figures with the output of your miners, generators, and preceding machines. If the simulated rate exceeds an upstream supply, either lower the clock, add machines, or redesign the chain before committing construction materials.
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A beginner workflow for any new item
Use the following sequence whenever a new milestone, project, or production goal calls for an unfamiliar item.
- Start with progression. Complete the relevant HUB milestone or research requirement, and read the reward list before making a factory plan.
- Find the item in the Codex. Open its entry and identify the building, inputs, outputs, cycle information, and per-minute rates.
- Check prerequisites. If the Codex shows the entry but the machine, recipe, or research is unavailable, return to the listed milestone, MAM path, or AWESOME unlock.
- Trace the inputs backward. Open each input in turn and note the recipe and rate needed to supply the target. Continue until you reach raw resources or materials you already produce.
- Test capacity with the simulation. Try the planned machine count or clock setting and compare the resulting rates with your existing supply.
- Choose a baseline recipe. Build the simplest available version first when you need the item immediately and have not yet evaluated alternates.
- Leave room for change. Keep machine rows, storage, and logistics accessible so an alternate can be substituted later without demolishing the entire line.
This workflow separates two decisions that beginners often mix together: whether a recipe is unlocked and whether it is a good fit. Unlock status is governed by progression; suitability depends on the factory you are actually operating.
Alternate recipes: where they come from
Alternate recipes are optional conversion rules with different input, output, or production characteristics. They are found on Hard Drives recovered from Crash Sites and analyzed in the MAM. The official alternate-recipe tutorial reports 118 Crash Sites and 113 alternate recipes on its current tutorial page, so finding every option is a substantial exploration project rather than an early prerequisite for basic automation.
Finding and analyzing a Hard Drive
- Explore the world and locate a Crash Site.
- Recover the Hard Drive from the site.
- Bring the drive to the MAM and start its analysis.
- Wait for the scan to finish before evaluating the rewards.
- Review the alternate-recipe options and decide whether to accept the result or use the available reroll.
- After the result is saved in the Hard Drive Library, select it when you are ready to use the alternate in a factory building.
The current Hard Drive flow presents two alternate-recipe options, permits one reroll, and stores the result in the Hard Drive Library for later selection. You do not have to rebuild a factory at the instant a drive finishes scanning; save the result and make the selection when your production plan is clear.
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When the MAM offers no reward
If an alternate is not eligible because a prerequisite is missing, the MAM can report that no rewards are currently available. That message does not mean the Hard Drive is broken. Check your progression and research status, complete the missing requirement, and return to the MAM when the alternate becomes eligible.
Where alternates can be used
Alternate recipes are for factory buildings. They are not Craft Bench recipes. If you have selected an alternate in the library but cannot find it in the Craft Bench, that behavior is expected; configure the appropriate production building instead.
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There is no universal ranking in which one alternate is always superior. The official alternate-recipes reference frames the choice as a balance among raw materials, factory space, power, simplicity, and material availability. Add downstream compatibility to that list: a recipe that looks efficient on its own can complicate the next product in the chain.
| Decision axis | Question to ask | What a favorable answer looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Raw-resource consumption | Which recipe uses less of the resources that limit this factory? | It reduces pressure on scarce or distant nodes without creating a worse bottleneck elsewhere. |
| Power | How much additional generation and distribution will the recipe require? | Its machines fit the current power budget and do not force an unstable expansion. |
| Machine count and complexity | How many buildings, inputs, and balancing points are needed? | The line is understandable, maintainable, and easy to expand. |
| Floor space and logistics | Will the recipe need more room, belts, pipes, storage, or crossings? | The layout fits the site and leaves access for maintenance. |
| Material availability | Are all required materials already nearby and reliable? | You can feed the recipe without a long logistics project or a new resource outpost. |
| Downstream compatibility | Does the output fit the products you plan to make next? | It supplies the next stage directly or avoids an unwanted by-product and extra conversion. |
A repeatable comparison method
- Write both recipes’ inputs, outputs, and per-minute rates from the Codex.
- Circle the input that is currently hardest for your factory to supply. Compare how much each recipe consumes.
- Count the machines and note any extra materials, transport routes, or intermediate stages.
- Estimate the power and floor-space consequences using the planned machine clocks.
- Look one production step downstream. Check whether each output supports your next target or introduces another conversion.
- Choose the option that solves your current bottleneck with the least total complexity, not the option with the most attractive single ratio.
For example, an alternate that saves a raw resource may require an additional machine line and more power. That trade can be worthwhile at a constrained node, but wasteful when space and electricity are the real limits. Conversely, a recipe with a simpler input list may be the better temporary choice while you establish transport, even if a later alternate becomes more efficient after expansion.
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When to delay a selection
Keep an analyzed result in the Hard Drive Library when you cannot yet answer the comparison questions. Delay the choice if you have not located the relevant resource nodes, do not know which downstream products you will prioritize, or are still operating near your power limit. A stored option preserves flexibility; selecting a recipe is not a race.
Planning ingredients per minute
Per-minute rates turn a recipe into a factory requirement. Start with the output target, then work backward through every input.
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Backward calculation
- Set the desired output rate for the final item.
- Use the Codex rate to determine how many recipe cycles or machines produce that output.
- Multiply the recipe’s input rate by the number of machines or the selected clock setting.
- Repeat the calculation for each intermediate input until you reach raw resources or an existing supply line.
- Compare each required rate with the actual upstream production shown by the corresponding Codex entries and your available resource supply.
Keep rates attached to a specific clock setting. A rate from an overclocked simulation is not the same as the normal machine rate, and a one-machine figure cannot be treated as the capacity of an entire row. Label your notes with the recipe, building, machine count, and clock so a later redesign does not mix incompatible numbers.
Balancing a line
If an input line is short, the affected machines will not run at the planned output rate. You can add machines, reduce the target output, alter the clock, or select an alternate that uses a more available material. The Codex tells you what the recipe demands; your node supply, logistics, and power system determine whether that demand is practical.
Common mistakes and how to fix them
- Planning from a locked recipe: The Codex can reveal a recipe before its unlock is complete. Check the prerequisite and finish the milestone, MAM research, or other required path.
- Ignoring the reward list: Starting construction before reading a milestone can leave you missing the machine that makes the desired item. Review rewards at the HUB Terminal first.
- Using an alternate at the Craft Bench: Alternates belong in factory buildings. Select the recipe in the appropriate machine instead.
- Choosing an alternate from one ratio alone: Compare raw materials, power, machine complexity, floor space, logistics, availability, and downstream use together.
- Building before checking rates: Expand the Codex entry and record per-minute inputs and outputs before laying belts or placing a large machine row.
- Assuming a Hard Drive result is immediately eligible: If the MAM reports no rewards, inspect missing prerequisites and return after progressing.
- Discarding a useful option too early: Save analyzed results in the Hard Drive Library when the factory context is still uncertain.
- Overclocking without checking upstream supply: Use the Codex simulation, then verify that miners, generators, and preceding machines can sustain the new rate.
A compact recipe-planning checklist
Before committing to a production line, confirm each item below:
- The target recipe is unlocked, not merely visible in the Codex.
- The selected building or workstation is available.
- All inputs and outputs are recorded with their per-minute rates.
- The intended machine count and clock setting fit the available power.
- Raw-resource nodes and transport routes can sustain the input demand.
- The layout has enough room for expansion, storage, and access.
- Any alternate has been compared against the current bottleneck and the next downstream product.
- The Hard Drive result is stored in the library if you are postponing the final choice.
Putting the system together
Milestones and research determine which recipes you can access; the Codex tells you how each one behaves; and your factory context determines which recipe is sensible. Follow progression first, verify the exact machine and rates second, and treat alternates as situational tools rather than mandatory upgrades. That approach lets a beginner automate the next required item immediately while preserving the information needed to redesign efficiently when a better-fitting recipe becomes available.
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