District Crossing

District Crossing is a two-sided building that connects two Districts and manages the controlled transfer of Goods between them. Each side of a District Crossing belongs to the District it faces, maintains its own 30-slot inventory, and employs up to ten crossing workers on its side; functionally it is two separate buildings constructed as one. District Crossings replace older buildings such as the District Gate, Distribution Post, and Drop-off Point and combine their responsibilities for inter-district logistics.

A Crossing is configured through the Distribution window (Manage distribution). For each Good you choose whether the receiving District will Do not import, Import if needed, or Import always. Import always attempts to keep the Crossing’s 30-slot inventory full for that Good, subject to available workers, distances, and stock on each side. Each Good also has a slider that sets the percentage of that Good the District keeps (the fraction not exported); moving the slider to 100% forces the District to retain that resource and prevents it from being sent onward. These controls prevent resources from bouncing between Districts and ensure each District maintains sufficient local stock.

District Crossings are often used as import, export, or pass-through nodes. New Districts can import essential Goods from connected Districts until they become self-sufficient; setting critical items (food, water, basic construction supplies) to Import always ensures a ready supply before demand appears. For pass-through Districts, the import choices imply export behavior: Do not import means the pass-through District will not take those items but will forward them; Import if needed and Import always both allow the District to import and export. To optimize pass-through throughput, set the pass-through to Import if needed, build large storage on both sides of the Crossing, give both sides enough haulers, and configure nearby warehouses so imports are supplied and exports obtained as intended.

Practical layout and operation notes:

• Build bypass roads to keep traffic flowing while waiting for a Crossing to be placed, and reserve clear space on both sides to place storage near the Crossing to shorten delivery distances.
• You may place multiple District Crossings between two Districts to increase the number of crossing workers beyond the per-Crossing cap of ten per side.
• Crossing workers balance Goods between Districts proportionally to the amount of storage available; a large sender storage and small receiver storage will slow transfers. Reduce unnecessary sender storage or increase receiver storage to speed balancing.
• Use Do not import for Goods a District does not use or is already self-sufficient in; this prevents crossing workers from bringing unwanted items and improves efficiency.
• For Goods you want guaranteed delivered to a new District, set them to Always import so upstream Districts fill the Crossing inventory in advance.
• To improve throughput, build bulk storage adjacent to Crossings so haulers move large quantities while crossings focus on district-to-district transfer.

Additional facts:

• Each side of the Crossing has an independently selectable interface and inventory display.
• The building’s flavor text references classic riddles about crossing the road.
• The Ironteeth faction’s Crossing skin includes colors and patterns reminiscent of the Transgender Pride Flag.