Conveyor Belt

Conveyor Belts are used to transport items such as raw ores, refined materials and such, (and Lizard Doggos) between structures. They consist of a single track which can curve around bends and slanted up and down in order to allow vertical placement. Many structures have ports in order to allow belts to be connected into these buildings.

Speed
There are multiple tiers of conveyor belt available, which determines their speed. When items join a belt at a rate higher than the belt's speed, items can be compressed together. For a visual comparison of the different belt speeds, see this YouTube video from Coffee Stain Studios.

Mk.5 belts are available in Experimental, and Mk.6 belts are currently unavailable in Early Access.

Length
The maximum length a belt can span between Conveyor Poles and/or buildings is 49 meters (equivalent to 6.125 foundation lengths). It costs approximately 1 plate every 2 meters.

Slope
The maximum allowed slope is 35° -> 1:1/tan(35) = 1:1,428. Note that the turning of belt is always horizontal thus only the straight part counts towards the sloping.

Turning radius
The turning radius of conveyor belt is 2 meters.

Tiers
There are currently 4 tiers of conveyor belts available in the game:

Unreleased
There are two unreleased conveyor belt tiers planned for future updates. Mk.5 is currently accessible in the Experimental branch only.

Encroaching others clearance
This error means that the belt could not be built, because it's within another building's collision box. A belt can only collide with the building it's built out from. Splitters and Mergers, on the other hand, can collide with buildings. Take note when planning the location of Splitters and Mergers.

Wrong way connection
The game prevents the engineer from connecting a conveyor belt the wrong way into a building. Should the engineer not be able to connect the belt between two buildings, check if the buildings are rotated properly.

Spiral conveyor elevator
Engineers can easily make an early-game spiral conveyor belt by placing down ladders and using them as a foundation for the conveyor belt. There must be at least 2 foundation spots open to make a spiral conveyor staircase. The stairs can be removed once the conveyor is set up. Conveyor Lifts are cheaper and much easier to build than spiral conveyor elevators though.

Simple stacking
You could stack belts on a structure. Place the starting point of the belt on a terrain or foundation, you could end the belt on top of a building such as splitters or containers. You could even stack belts on belts directly, without Conveyor Pole Stackable.

Navigation
The conveyor belts can be used to move players around. They move the player faster than its corresponding belt speed. Belts can be built temporarily for exploration, such as acquiring Power Slugs.

To run against the belt direction, the player can jump onto the guardrail of the belt and run along it.

"The floor is too steep"
Trying to land a belt on the edge of the cliff or thin structures such as on power cables will result in this message. Usually moving your cursor around would solve the problem.

"The conveyor belt is too long"
The length limit for conveyor belt is 48 meters and it is counted in 3-dimensional length. To fly over the belt across large gaps it is advised to build a bridge first such as foundations. Walkways could also solve the problem.

Belt crossing
It is possible to cross belts, as belts do not collide with each other. Belts can also pass through other objects such as terrain, trees, walls, foundation, etc. Belt cannot pass through splitters, mergers, factories and power poles.

Trivia

 * The conveyor belt was first shown in the E3 trailer
 * On tiers 1-3, the bottom texture of conveyor belts displays the reversed direction. Tiers 4-6 have metal on the bottom, but still show the reversed direction texture when clipped trough.
 * Higher tiers of belts generally have guards at the edges to prevent items (and the Engineer) from slipping off the sides.

History

 * At Patch 0.1.15 the Mk.4 and Mk.5 belts and lifts was increased from 450 to 480 and 660 to 780 respectively.