Cinder in Sandustry

Cinder is the portable form of Lava. You get it by digging Scoria - itself frozen Lava - and unlike Lava it can be carried and routed like any other solid. To turn it back into Lava you need the direct flame of a Flamethrower; ambient or passive heat will not melt it. The Lava-to-Scoria-to-Cinder-to-Lava cycle is the standard early and mid game method for relocating heat around a factory.

There is a full walkthrough for this material as well: read the Cinder guide.

How to get Cinder

Cinder has exactly one documented source in the current build: destroy scoria. Everything downstream of it therefore depends on keeping that one step supplied.

What Cinder is used for

Cinder exists for one purpose: producing Lava. That single downstream step is the whole reason to collect it.

Conversions

Cinder has documented conversions but no stated yields, so test a small batch before sizing a permanent line around any of them.

• Lava: Passive heat sources are not sufficient.

Cinder properties

At density 50, Cinder sorts itself relative to everything else in the pile, which is often cheaper than filtering it deliberately.

Related machines and materials

The machines below are the ones that produce, consume or transform Cinder; the material links point at the steps either side of it in the chain.

• Flamethrower
• Cryoblaster

Tips

• Converting Lava to Scoria and then Cinder is the early-game way to move Lava around your factory.

Version notes

The changes below are the reason a Cinder layout copied from an older video may not work in the current version.

• Update #3 (2025-04-03): With a cold Thermal Buffer, Lava now converts to Cinder rather than being fully consumed.