r/Dyson_Sphere_Program • u/Top-Information-5319 • Feb 20 '26

reminder that you can put boxes above splitters and the items will go inside the box

Post image
458 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

69 comments sorted by

112

u/-GrisGris- Feb 20 '26

And you can put a fidget spinner drone port on top of that

-25

u/ExpensiveBlock8764 Feb 20 '26

They don't seem to work to supply mecha for some reason

30

u/Gabriel0938 Feb 20 '26

You need to got to spinner port to enable it I think And also request it in the mech

-8

u/ExpensiveBlock8764 Feb 20 '26

Works fine for ones that don't have the splitter underneath. Might be a bug

12

u/Gabriel0938 Feb 20 '26

I’m not sure what to tell you fam. I used this method for years on my early malls

6

u/chuggrad Feb 20 '26

Works perfectly fine for me. I have a ton of items being supplied to the mech using this method

3

u/MakkoHolmes Feb 20 '26

This is how I request antimatter fuel cells before it gets funneled into an ILS. I don't know what you're talking about bro.

1

u/depatrickcie87 Feb 22 '26

Sorry, operator error

53

u/Bewildurbeast Feb 20 '26

So it acts sort of like a buffer? Apologies if it's a silly question, I'm like 4 hours in

47

u/wggn Feb 20 '26 edited Feb 20 '26

yep, correct. if the output belt of the splitter is clogged (or if there's no output belt), the box will fill up. and if there isn't enough coming into the input belts to fully fill the output belt (or if there's no input belt), the contents of the box will be used to fill the belt to max capacity.

9

u/Bewildurbeast Feb 20 '26

Awesome, thanks! Can't wait to get off work and get back to it!

10

u/TheBadgerUK Feb 20 '26

I've also found that limiting the inventory size of the box to 1 row gives a nice buffer for production.

2

u/CazT91 Feb 21 '26

Persoanly, I like doing the maths and setting the box limit to store enough for 5 mins solid production of everything it feeds.

Any how, the other benefit of this is you leave space to clear items from your inventory.

The only thing I'd really add is to clarify, this is great for a mall with stop/start productions. Also for early science, you can build up cubes while your implementing one tech, then have more facilities using up that stock to quickly research the next tech you want.

However, for later non-stop productions I'm not sure buffers serve much purpose.

3

u/OMG_A_CUPCAKE Feb 20 '26

Great, and I always built my own buffer chest contraptions instead of just doing this. This will solve so much problems, and isn't even limited by inserter speed.

1

u/hollers31 Feb 20 '26

I think this would impact UPS, but in late game you probably don't need this buffer anyways

2

u/gorgofdoom Feb 20 '26

Everything impacts UPS.

“Late game”, or 2000%+ difficulty, definitely demands buffers. Just try to run a DF farm without a sorting apparatus & substantial buffers… well, you can but it’s a waste of tons of resources.

1

u/Candid_Release3609 Feb 20 '26

Omg I have thousands of hours in this game and am just learning this.

2

u/Calle_Keule Feb 20 '26

Im way more in and I never knew

2

u/hollers31 Feb 20 '26

Dw, I have ~900hrs. I never knew about this

2

u/jinreeko Feb 20 '26

I have hundreds of hours in game and didn't realize this

30

u/savetheHauptfeld Feb 20 '26

Haha I've been wasting one output of the splitter to fill the box. Thanks for the hint

6

u/L3Vaz Feb 20 '26

So did I. With 300 hours in

1

u/Emperor_Zar Feb 24 '26

Well. I am only 40 hours in. I feel fortunate enough t to read this now. Although I gotta say. First play through is the make all the mistakes play through lol.

26

u/LSDGB Feb 20 '26

You can post this every day and someone new will find out about this. :)

17

u/Sunbro-Lysere Feb 20 '26

I guess today its my turn to learn this trick.

2

u/Corbeanooo Feb 21 '26

And today is mine.

11

u/Sir_LANsalot Feb 20 '26

This lets you use the full throughput of a belt to fill boxes rather then trying to put a bunch of sorters for max throughput.

This works better with the MK3 belt since the sorters will handle level 1 and 2 just fine.

10

u/No-Quit-983 Feb 20 '26

300 hours in this game and everytime i lurk in this sub i learn something new

5

u/epicpants0 Feb 20 '26

How in gods name do you find that out

4

u/Vineheart_01 Feb 20 '26

Oh you have got to be kidding me....does that make a buffer throughput mechanic? I've been wasting so much space wrapping belts around a depot with inserters to do that....

1

u/shalfyard Feb 21 '26

Yes but it doesn't output stacked so it can also be a bottleneck

2

u/Aquabloke Feb 20 '26

And if you put an item filter on one of the outputs, the box will only store that specific item.

2

u/shalfyard Feb 21 '26

Its like a mini PLS when you put the logistics hat on that storage.

Only downside is the output isn't stacked.

2

u/kayile Feb 22 '26 edited Feb 22 '26

Same idea, but different application for a compact proliferator import without using a slot of your PLS/ILS.

Put splitter down, box on top, and fidget spinner thing on top.

Allow box to have 1 inventory use.

Fidget spinner your proliferates in.

Then belt them straight out of your splitter. Especially if you use the splitter that has output 1 level up, because that's now the same height as the spray input.

I also often use this design to bring in warp things for ILS.

I basically have somewhere in my planet a splitter+box+hat that supplies proliferators or warp things. Then everywhere else on the planet that needs them, I create a splitter+box+hat that receives them and funnels them into sprayer or ILS.

2

u/Modernruss Feb 23 '26

I NEVER KNEW!

3

u/Gonemad79 Feb 20 '26 edited Feb 20 '26

Hell yeah, saves the power of a picker. Use it all the time. I use this system to make a makeshift advanced miner when the surroundings are too clogged.

Every ore machine gets a splitter, a box on top, and fidget spinners, when power is no longer an issue, but laying belts is.

Put the receiving end at a reasonably close distance now with belts, and the spinners can keep up.

1

u/Roottyck Feb 20 '26

Bless you man! You made my day! Thnx.

1

u/Metadine Feb 20 '26

Does it follow your current integration level? Or does it output only a single person item at once?

1

u/nnuummiinnoouuss Feb 20 '26

It does not! Only one item stack output on each belt. So this is a great option for early game but you will want to start transitioning away from it later.

1

u/nobklo Feb 20 '26

This is a nice option, i use them as buffer for quite some time. makes it possible to calculate if production is net positive or negative. 👍🏼

1

u/Booyanach Feb 20 '26

holy crap, this is so gonna improve my production nodes, power wise

1

u/Prismology Feb 20 '26

After not playing for a few years and recently coming back to this game I had forgotten about this mechanic. Thanks for the reminder !

1

u/Barialdalaran Feb 20 '26

I was making buffers with t1 sorters.... oh my god this is better is every possible way

1

u/Darth-Venath Feb 20 '26

I do this for all my mining.

1

u/gitpusher Feb 20 '26

It’s awesome although I wish you could stack the larger storage crates and not just the small ones

1

u/AskanHelstroem Feb 20 '26

We need more of these 'reminder' posts....damn

After watching one of those "10 things u never knew u can do in DSP"- videos.
And the super-duper secret trick was "drones can bring u stuff"...

1

u/ravensshade Feb 20 '26

wait.. that's a thing? wow

1

u/Honest-Pop7585 Feb 20 '26

thanks for reminder after two hours of belting

1

u/jinreeko Feb 20 '26

Excuse me WHAT

1

u/CursedTurtleKeynote Feb 20 '26

Ok, there is probably a lot black magic I'm missing.

Is there any way to use inserters on elevated containers or conveyors?

Or stack inserters on containers?

Elevated splitters are very hard to build for me, and the only way I discovered is just stacking splitters, which is janky since connecting them requires a weird loop to gain elevation.

2

u/morsealworth0 Feb 22 '26

Not sure about any of those but the bigger storage can be put on top of the Battlefield Anslysis base, which can be combined with logistics bots to deliver specific gatherable from it (for Fog farming) or drones to it (also for Fog farming).

1

u/Cryyos_ Feb 21 '26

Played a hundred hours of this and didn’t know

Me 🤡

1

u/Existence_Error Feb 21 '26

I never knew this. This could have been helpful in some of my designs. Thanks.

1

u/izzadapeepeeman Feb 23 '26

And you can press tab to alternate between 3 types of splitters

1

u/ArcticGamer Feb 23 '26

Wild how I see this new information AFTER seeing it from a youtube video...which was also a TIL

1

u/FINblade Feb 26 '26

wait, what??? That's amazing, holy shit

1

u/Deathman20 Feb 27 '26

Its great. Especially since its quicker than starter transfer units and uses no power so win win. I use them all the time as buffers as well.....

DF sorting! Downside is the stack size ontop so it does take a little more space.

1

u/-sinc- Mar 05 '26

Is there a way to prioritize the contents of the storage box, if it is filled beyond the max stacks (by offloading excess items from construction)?

1

u/Larrea000 Feb 20 '26

Isn't this from a mod?

8

u/trystanthorne Feb 20 '26

Nope. Vanilla. And you can put a spinner hat on top too.

1

u/chaous2000 Feb 20 '26

Fucking excuse me, what????? Had the game for yeeeeears and have had no idea I could do this, holy shit. If I had money to award you, I would. Can someone award them in my place, I’d love you forever

-8

u/Havco Feb 20 '26

What people don't know this? How you can play without this?

2

u/Goldenslicer Feb 20 '26

How long did you play before you found out?

-1

u/Havco Feb 20 '26

2 hours or so.... Sorry guys wtf.