Sandustry Lava Guide
Where Lava appears, how it interacts with Water and Snow, and why the Cinder process matters.
Lava is found deep in Lava Cave areas and is moved through the Cinder process: freeze it, break the solid form into transportable Cinders, move them, then reignite them.
Use this page when
- You found Lava Cave material and need to move it safely.
- Water contact is creating Steam where you did not expect it.
- You are separating official Lava facts from custom-map heat setups.
Avoid this
- Trying to pipe loose Lava as if it were Water.
- Using modded-map heat arrays as vanilla instructions.
- Reigniting Lava before the destination is sealed.
Lava Transport Chain
The safe transport form is not loose Lava. Move the solid/cinder intermediate, then restore Lava later.
Deep Lava Cave resource
Solidify into Scoria
Break into Cinders
Move by Grabber, belt, or launcher
Reignite into Lava
Quick facts
Lava handling chain
| Stage | Material | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Source | Lava | Heat and advanced reaction resource |
| Freeze | Scoria | Safe solid intermediate |
| Break | Cinders | Transportable form |
| Reignite | Lava | Destination heat source |
Where to find Lava
Official material places Lava naturally in deep Lava Cave areas, which makes it a mid-to-late exploration and automation resource rather than an early convenience.
Water and Lava
Water that falls onto Lava becomes Steam. This is powerful for rain loops but dangerous when uncontrolled because it can flood the factory with vapor and heat interactions.
Cinder process
Freeze Lava into Scoria, break it into Cinders, transport the Cinders with grabbers, conveyors, or launchers, then provide enough heat to turn it back into Lava.
Automation use
Lava can be useful as a heat and ignition tool, but factory layouts should isolate it from general water and seed handling.
Why Lava needs containment first
Lava is useful because it carries heat and ignition potential, but the same traits make it a poor neighbor for early water and seed lines. The destination chamber should exist before you move the first Cinder.
Water contact turns into Steam, so accidental mixing can turn a lava project into a water/steam project. That interaction is useful only when the layout is designed around it.
Recommended flow
- Find Lava in a controlled exploration area.
- Keep Water away before beginning transport.
- Freeze Lava into a solid form such as Scoria.
- Break the solid form into Cinders.
- Move Cinders by hand, conveyor, or launcher.
- Reignite at the destination with enough heat.
Do / Don't
Do
- Build containment first.
- Move the solid/cinder form, not loose Lava.
- Keep water interactions intentional.
Don't
- Do not treat modded heat arrays as base-game instructions.
- Do not pipe Lava unless the game gives you a direct tool for it.
- Do not place Lava near uncontrolled seed or water systems.
FAQ
Can I pipe Lava?
Use the Cinder process unless the current build gives you a direct Lava transport tool.
Does Water destroy Lava?
Official notes indicate Water turns to Steam when it contacts Lava, while Lava amount is not reduced.