How to Get Started With Circuits

Circuits are one of the most daunting and overwhelming pieces of Factorio. It's easy to ignore them or try to build a factory without using them, but circuits are so valuable in the grand scheme of things. In this guide, we'll break down the basics of Circuits in Factorio to make them a little more approachable.

Circuits Explained

In Factorio, a Circuit Network is built using Red or Green wires, which broadcast information from the connected sender. These senders can be Chests, Inserters, Train Stops, and more.

Red and Green Wires serve the same function, but can be used to differentiate networks based on how you choose to use them.

For example, if you connect a Red Wire to a Chest and Inserter (which can be done by selecting the Red Wire from your inventory and simply clicking on both the Chest and the Inserter) this will now connect them to a Circuit Network.

From here, if you click on the Inserter, a new window will pop up with a list of options.

Each Circuit Network menu will have unique options based on the Entity you have chosen. For instance, the "Read Hand Size" option is unique to the Inserter. In the menu, you have the following options:

• None: This will not change how the Inserter and Chest behave.
• Enable/Disable: Turn this Entity on when the condition is true.
• Set Stack Size: Set the maximum stack size of this Inserter based on the count of the selected Circuit Network signal.
• Read hand Size: Reads the contents of the Inserter hand and sends them to the Circuit Network.

For basic Circuit interactions, you'll want to select Enable/Disable. Now, you'll see at the bottom of this menu the term "Enabled Condition."

This is where you will set how you want the Inserter to behave. If you click on the < sign a drop-down menu will appear. Here you have a few different options to choose from. What you are deciding is how much of an object you want the Inserter to feed into the chest.

If you choose 100, this means whatever material you have chosen in the box to the left of the symbol will stop being put into the Chest when it hits 100. This is a simple way to limit how much work your Entity is doing.

You can choose the condition based on what you want. So it can be less than, equal to, greater than, or other options. While this is a very basic interaction, it's useful for learning how Circuit Networks operate. As you get more comfortable with Circuits in Factorio, you can begin to expand and learn more about what they are capable of.

You could daisy chain a bunch of Requester chests together to spread around materials into them using Robots once you've unlocked them. You could also use Circuits to limit the intake of Assemblers if you're running low on resources.

You can attach wires to Power Poles to extend the reach of Circuit Networks if the objects you are trying to connect are far away from each other.

The sky is the limit with a Circuit Network now that you have the fundamentals down.

Looking for more Factorio guides? See:

• Beginner's Guide and Tips
• Helpful Keyboard Shortcuts
• Starter Base Guide
• Combat Basics

Up Next: How to Find the Factorio Save Location

PreviousHow to Get Started With TrainsNextHow to Find the Factorio Save Location

Top Guide Sections

• Beginner's Guide and Tips
• Helpful Keyboard Shortcuts
• Starter Base
• Combat Basics

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