How do I let Wet Sand through but not water?
Wall water with Blocks and belts. A basic Filter will not stop liquid. Use the Filter to sort solids on that belt.
Sandustry Filters
Sandustry filter guide: sort gold from slag by name. Water passes through Filters 1 — wall it. Advanced Filters handle liquids. Verified August 2026.
When leftover water and short throws miss the collection pit — wall the liquid.
~8 min read
At A Glance
This Sandustry filter page separates the confirmed Early Access factory loop from Demo-era numbers that may be stale after the 2026 simulation rewrite. Sandustry is a 2D falling-sand factory game from Lantto Games, published by Hooded Horse. Dig a destructible world, wet sand, shake gold, burn slag, pipe water, and unlock research while exploring ancient vaults. Use it beside the factory, not as a promise that every ratio still matches a 2025 wiki printout.
Gold buys research. Purple Fluxite buys tool, weapon, and drone upgrades. Energy exists as a later resource. When a ratio is uncertain, bank what you have and re-check the live panel.
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Platform | Steam PC · GOG · Game Pass |
| Mode | Single-player |
| Status | Early Access · Aug 13, 2026 |
| Topic | Filters |
| Filters 1 | One solid at a time · Allow or Block · official ~100 gold |
| Does not stop | Water and other liquids — they pass through |
| Liquids later | Advanced Filters · or wall with Block / belt |
| Source boundary | Steam listing, official site, and current EA player footage; Demo ratios stay TBA until re-checked |
After the first split
Matched by build plan, shared topics, and guide progression — not random related links.
How do I let Wet Sand through but not water?
That search is a real jam, but the early building is the wrong tool for the liquid half. Official Filter text: basic Filters sort solid resources only, and water can pass through the block. Wall the washer with Blocks and Conveyor Belts so the lake cannot drain onto the Shakers. Use the Filter on the solids that share that belt — Allow Wet Sand if you must peel sand or slag off the same line.
The reliable foundation is the same on every seed: sand plus water becomes Wet Sand, a Shaker drops gold and slag, gold only counts in a Collector, and leftover water will flood a solids line unless you wall it with Blocks or belts. A basic Filter sorts one solid — it does not dam a lake. That is why filters advice should start with banking and containment, not with a supposed infinite trick.
- Do01Wall the washer first — Block and belts stop water; a Filter will not
- Do02Research Filters 1 after Logistics when gold and slag share a belt
- Do03Set Allow or Block to one solid name (Wet Sand, Gold, or Slag)
- Do04Add a second Filter if you need a second solid — one name per machine
- Do05Save Advanced Filters for liquid or gas splits; confirm the live research node
Treat the first factory as disposable
Early Access footage shows players throwing down a tiny Shaker just to bank the first research unlocks — Logistics 1 for belts and launchers — then deleting that stub once the washer can run. Hover is a Fluxite / movement upgrade, not a gold research node. A pretty first box is optional. A Collector that actually receives gold is not.
Copy (Shift-select, C) and delete (X-drag) are the hotkeys that keep this rebuild cheap. Press V while placing to read tile counts. Ctrl-place overwrites old pieces instead of stacking collisions.
Spend gold; do not hoard it
Holding thousands of gold in the first hour slows the factory more than it protects you. Unlock the next belt, Filter, or Flamethrower so the line can run while you scout. The Kinetic Slag Press is repeatedly called out in current EA clips as the early gold spike once slag can be burned.
With that baseline in place, the next question is not “can I scale?” but “what fails if water, slag, or Crackstone shows up on this line?”
What should I decide while working on Filters?
If water still arrives, the Filter is doing what the wiki says it does — letting liquid through. If two solids still travel together, the Allow/Block name is wrong or you asked one machine to sort two solids.
Use the table as a decision aid, not a hidden-stat calculator. Sandustry worlds are procedural and Early Access numbers move. A conservative threshold — bank gold, contain water, burn slag before pressing — beats a copied Demo ratio that no longer matches the live panel.
| Situation | Action | Why it is safer |
|---|---|---|
| Water arrives with Wet Sand | Wall with Block / belt; do not trust Filters 1 | Basic Filters ignore liquids |
| Gold and slag share a belt | Filter after the Shaker: Allow Gold or Block Slag | This is the early Filter job |
| Need two solids caught | Stack two Filters | One solid per Filter |
| Need to sort water or steam | Advanced Filter or pipes — verify the live node | Later research, not Filters 1 |
Make the irreversible choice last
Deleting a running washer, dumping lava into a gold pit, or researching a vanity gun before Filters can remove options. Before doing any of those, confirm what the factory keeps if the attempt fails. If the answer is “the line floods,” choose the reversible option first: add a Filter, raise a wall, or pause the launchers.
That same habit makes progress steadier. One secure Collector cycle funds Logistics; a flooded pit repeats the first twenty minutes with no new research.
Should I filter by name or by density?
Official UI is Allow or Block on a single solid name. There is no confirmed density slider on Filters 1. If a Demo chart lists Sand 150 and water 100, that is stack physics, not a Filter setting. Name the pixel you want.
Avoid turning one creator’s layout into a universal rule. A 44×28 washer works in that cave. Your sand pit may be shallower. Record the context: water on which side, how high the launchers sat, and whether leftover water reached the Shakers.
One name, one job
Allow Gold lets only gold through and sends everything else along the belt. Block Slag does the inverse for that one solid.
The useful follow-up is to connect this observation to the wider factory: does it bank more gold, stop a flood, unlock a research door, or only look neat? If it does not answer one of those questions, do not let it pull you off the Collector.
Test with a teaspoon
One launcher pulse through a new Filter tells you more than a full lake dump.
The useful follow-up is to connect this observation to the wider factory: does it bank more gold, stop a flood, unlock a research door, or only look neat? If it does not answer one of those questions, do not let it pull you off the Collector.
Where else do Filters save a factory?
After the Shaker: gold one way, slag the other. On a spore line: keep a solid you do not want out of the planter feed. On a Fluxite grow: keep Voidbloom off the gold belt. Each of those is the same building with a new allow list. None of them replace a wall on a lake.
A conservative guide matters while EA and Demo wikis sit side by side. Steam confirms the pixel-physics factory, artifacts, and mod tools. It does not publish a complete density table. This site therefore marks unverified costs and chances as TBA instead of inventing a databook.
One job per Filter
A single machine cannot Allow two solids. Stack Filters instead of inventing a combo setting.
If the observed result matters to your next unlock, verify it on the live research panel or compare a short clip in the official Discord. Keep the claim narrow: “this happened in this EA seed” lasts longer than “always 20 percent.”
Walls still matter
A Filter is not a dam. Blocks and belts stop a lake from flanking the line.
If the observed result matters to your next unlock, verify it on the live research panel or compare a short clip in the official Discord. Keep the claim narrow: “this happened in this EA seed” lasts longer than “always 20 percent.”
What should I verify before trusting Filters advice?
Check the current Early Access build before treating a gold chance, research cost, channel name, or “unlimited water” clip as settled. The official Steam page is the source for the game’s premise; sandustry.com is the source for the Discord invite. Demo tutorials can still teach hotkeys and washer shape — they cannot guarantee today’s numbers.
- Do01Confirm the claim is about Sandustry, not Mindustry or a sandwich guide
- Do02Check whether the clip is Early Access (August 2026+) or a 2025 Demo rewrite leftover
- Do03Separate a confirmed system (Shaker, Collector, Fluxite upgrades) from a personal layout
- Do04Keep a Collector and a water wall before testing a risky burn or rocket shot
- Do05Use gold guide when the next decision leaves this page
- Do06Use the verified Steam listing or the official Discord for details marked TBA
Sandustry Filters FAQ
When should I research Filters?
After Logistics, when gold and slag share a belt. Research Advanced Filters later if you must sort liquids.
Is every filters number confirmed?
No. This guide labels Demo-era ratios, full artifact lists, and unverified costs as TBA rather than guessing.
What should I read next?
Next: gold guide. It continues the factory decision from this page.
Related pages
Matched by build plan, shared topics, and guide progression — not random related links.