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Controls Guide: Key Bindings & Best Setup

Controls are the player interface for directing duplicant behavior, building interactions and game UI. Mastering controls lets you assign tasks, toggle buildings, manage automation and use overlays efficiently to run a stable colony.

Basic camera and movement keys

  • Pan: W/A/S/D.
  • Zoom: Mouse wheel (scroll up/down).
  • Camera home: H.
  • Camera speed modifiers are available in Screenshot Mode (Alt + S) for cinematic controls (I/O to zoom, Z to increase zoom speed, L Shift+Z to decrease).
  • Toggle pause: Space. Cycle simulation speed: Tab. Speed up / slow down: Numpad + / -.

Building placement and editing

  • Dig: G. Mop: M. Clear rubble: K.
  • Build menu hotkeys: Plan 1..10 = 1..0, additional plans on - = and = keys with Shift for extended slots.
  • Rotate building during placement: O. Drag straight placement: Hold Shift.
  • Cancel build: C. Deconstruct building: X. Copy building: B.
  • Toggle building open/enable: / and Enter respectively.
  • Building utilities (alternate functions) use \ [ ] keys.

Overlays and UI management

  • Overlays F1..F11 (and Shift+F1..F4 for additional overlays):
    • F1 Oxygen, F2 Power, F3 Temperature, F4 Materials, F5 Light, F6 Plumbing (liquids), F7 Ventilation (gases), F8 Decor, F9 Germs, F10 Farming, etc.
  • Open management windows:
    • Manage Priorities: L
    • Manage Consumables: F
    • Manage Vitals: V
    • Manage Research: R
    • Manage Report: E
    • Manage Database: U
    • Manage Skills: J
    • Manage Schedule: .
    • Manage Starmap: Z
  • Steam overlay / screenshot handled by Steam (Shift+Tab, F12).

Schedule system

  • The Schedule screen divides the day into 24 blocks; each block represents 25 seconds. Each block can be set to Work, Downtime, Bathtime or Bedtime.
  • Default Schedule: 1 block Bathtime at dawn, 18 blocks Work, 2 blocks Downtime, 3 blocks Bedtime.
  • Behavior by schedule:
    • Work: Duplicants prioritize tasks; they only eat or use the bathroom when absolutely necessary.
    • Bathtime: Duplicants prioritize bathroom activities when Bladder > 40%; otherwise they work. Duplicants must use a bathroom at least once per cycle; if bathtime/downtime are spaced widely it can increase required visits.
    • Downtime: Duplicants prioritize bathroom (>40% Bladder), eating if below ~3300 kcal total, then leisure.
    • Bedtime: Duplicants will sleep (use beds).
  • Emergency states:
    • Yellow Alert forces immediate response to high-priority tasks and ignores the schedule except for bedtime.
    • Red Alert (toggle the ! next to cycle controls) puts all duplicants into emergency state, causing them to ignore needs and focus only on work; use briefly as it causes stress and risks death from neglected needs.

Priorities and alerts

  • Prioritize individual tasks/buildings with the Prioritize tool (P) or Manage Priorities (L).
  • Yellow Alert can be used per building/item via priority overlay to make tasks interrupt schedules (except bedtime).
  • Buildings can be set to remain in yellow indefinitely or until task completion (behavior depends on the building).

Building interactions and controls

  • To interact with a building the duplicant must be on its tile (some deliveries and operations target a specific tile).
  • Many buildings have toggle buttons in their UI: enable/disable, set target values, or assign automated control.
  • Liquid Valve: has a flow setting that limits output from 0 g/s to 10,000 g/s (minimum nonzero 0.1 g/s). Changing the setting requires a duplicant operation and takes time.
  • Some machines (e.g., Synthesizers) require a duplicant to initiate operation by pressing a button in their interface.

Automation basics

  • Automation logic uses 1-bit units; multi-bit automation ports are interpreted with priority/or rules for many gate types:
    • Signal Selector and Buffer-type devices treat multi-bit inputs using OR/amplify rules or interpret the first bit graphically but apply a different bit for logic—be aware of graphical vs. actual interpretation.
  • Configure controlled buildings via Automation Ribbon to restrict or enable operations.
  • Interior Building Restrictions / Control Stations:

Duplicant appearance, blueprints and selection

  • Open Duplicant selection dialogs to manage assignments and change outfits.
  • Applying a blueprint to an existing duplicant: select the duplicant → Options → Blueprint tab → choose or create an outfit (Clothing, Atmo Suit, Overjoyed Response).
  • For freshly printed duplicants: open Supply Closet → Duplicants → select personality → restyle or load from wardrobe.

Consumables and allowed items

  • The Consumables menu shows each duplicant and all discovered food/medicine; tickboxes control which items each duplicant is allowed to consume.
  • Items are grouped by morale bonus or effect; tickboxes show which duplicants may use each item.

Developer/debugging controls

  • Debug mode (Backspace) unlocks advanced map tools: reveal fog of war, infinite zoom out, paint materials, copy/paste map regions (including buildings and contents), and save/load templates. This mode may take time to initialize.

Use these controls to efficiently assign work, configure automation, manage duplicant needs and respond to colony emergencies. Familiarity with overlays, schedules, and automation wiring is essential for large, stable colonies.

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