Filter quick facts
- Configurable to pass one pixel type, or everything except one
- Acts like a normal Conveyor Belt for every other pixel
- Lets liquids and gases through, but blocks the player
- Allowed pixels fall straight down through it
Sorting building
Sandustry Filter: The Conveyor That Lets One Pixel Drop Through
A Filter is a Conveyor Belt with an opinion. Configure it to let a single pixel type fall straight down, or to let everything through except that one type — and for every other pixel it simply behaves like a normal Belt.
Allow one type · or all but one
Blocks the player
Drop-through sorting
Official wiki numbers
Verified against v0.5.5 on 2026-08-20
Official source
Sort a Stream, Step by Step
Sorting is only half configuration. The other half is density, because a Filter drops pixels downward and a crowded pile does not always cooperate.
Set allow or exclude
Configure the Filter to drop only a chosen pixel, or to drop everything but a chosen pixel. For any pixel outside that rule, the Filter carries it onward exactly like the Belt it replaced.
Checkpoint: the rule you set matches the pixel you want separated.
Filter the densest pixels first
Heavy pixels settle at the bottom of a pile, so they are the ones a Filter can pull cleanly. To split Gold out of Sand, allow Gold through — it is always the layer sitting nearest the Belt.
Checkpoint: the densest pixel lines up nearest the Belt and drops through.
Keep liquids out of the pass
A Filter does not block liquids, so Water can flow through while solids are dropping. If it touches Sand or Seeds mid-fall it wets them, changes their type, and jams the machine.
Checkpoint: no Water crosses the Filter while pixels fall.
Try the Cinder auto-burner
Put a solid block right below a Filter and pixels enter with no way out. Trap Cinders this way, ignite them into contained Lava, then run Residue over the top for a compact auto-burner.
Checkpoint: Cinders stay trapped under the Filter and ignite on demand.
When the Filter Jams
A Filter freezes in a few predictable ways, and each has a clear cause. Here is how to spot and clear them.
One pixel is stuck mid-pass
If an allowed pixel changes into a disallowed one while it is already falling through, it freezes in place. Clear it by hand and route Water away so Sand or Seeds cannot turn Wet mid-fall.
The pile will not let anything drop
When a mixed pile rolls over a Filter, pixels on top will not fall if they are lighter than what sits beneath them. Target the densest material in the mix first.
Water wets the material mid-drop
Liquids pass straight through a Filter, so a stray stream can turn Sand or Seeds Wet while they fall and leave a stuck pixel. Route water around the sort point.