This page lists key terms used across Ferrumium. Definitions are grouped by area and alphabetized within each section.

General

Connection: A link between two nodes that carries item flow. Rendered as a belt for solid items or a pipe for liquids and gases.

Discover: The public gallery where users browse, search, and import shared content.

Draft: A target-based planning tool. Set a production goal and the solver generates the full recipe chain automatically.

Factory: A saved planning workspace containing machines, connections, groups, and other layout elements. This is the primary unit of work in Ferrumium.

Node: Any object on the planner canvas. Machines, resources, splitters, mergers, storage, notes, groups, and subfactories are all nodes.

Planner: The main visual editor where you place nodes on a canvas, connect them, and inspect production flow.

Rate: The amount of an item produced, consumed, or transported per minute. Measured in items/min, m³/min, or MW depending on the resource type.

Recipe: A production rule defining inputs and outputs. The recipe determines which machine is used and at what rate it operates.

Planner

Compact mode: A simplified view that reduces visual density by hiding secondary fields. Better for large layouts where you need an overview.

Detailed mode: The full view showing all node fields, connection cards, per-node inputs and outputs, power draw, and efficiency.

Group: A visual container for organizing related nodes. Groups keep things tidy without creating a separate workspace.

Machine node: A production building running a specific recipe. Its clock speed and recipe determine throughput.

Merger: A logistics node that combines multiple inputs into one output.

Resource node: A source node for raw extraction such as miners, water extractors, and oil pumps.

Satisfaction: Whether a connection's flow meets the downstream node's demand. Displayed per connection to flag shortfalls.

Splitter: A logistics node that branches one input into multiple outputs.

Subfactory: A complete factory nested inside another factory, with its own inputs, outputs, and workspace. Useful for encapsulating a production line.

Utilization: The percentage of a connection's maximum capacity currently in use.

Drafts

Alternate recipe: A non-default recipe unlocked through research. Must be explicitly enabled before the solver will consider it.

Budget: The available Power Shards and Somersloops for a draft. The budget limits what optimization choices the solver can make.

External input: An item supplied from outside the draft at a fixed rate. The solver treats it as already available and does not generate a production chain for it.

Overclock: Running a machine above 100% clock speed using Power Shards. Increases throughput at the cost of disproportionately higher power consumption.

Target: A production goal defining one item and a rate in items per minute, or set to Maximize to push output as high as possible.

Sharing and publishing

Co-op: Live collaborative editing where multiple users work on the same factory simultaneously. Changes sync in real time.

Import: Downloading a copy of someone's published content into your own library. Creates an independent snapshot that does not stay linked to the original.

Invite link: A URL generated by the factory owner to grant others access to a co-op session.

Publishing: Making content visible on Discover. Published content (factories, drafts, distribution trees, blueprints, and save games) is version-controlled and supports a changelog.

Share link: A unique URL that lets anyone with the link view an item, even if it has not been published to Discover.