Foundations and the World Grid in Satisfactory

Foundations are the first thing to place at any build site and the last thing most players think about. They provide the snap grid that everything else attaches to, and the grid is larger than the foundation you are standing on.

The world grid

Foundations snap to a grid shared across the entire world, not just to each other.

The alignment is 800 cm in the horizontal directions and 100 cm vertically. Hold Ctrl while not pointing at another foundation and the piece snaps to that world grid rather than to whatever is nearby.

The practical consequence is the useful part: two structures built kilometres apart line up with each other automatically, provided both were snapped to the world grid. A rail line begun at one factory meets the platform at the other without adjustment.

This is worth doing deliberately at the start of any large project. If your first foundation sits at an arbitrary angle or offset, everything downstream inherits it, and joining two areas later means a corrective ramp at every junction.

Snap points are one metre

Placing structures on top of a foundation aligns them to a grid with one metre steps. That is finer than the foundation itself, which is why machines and walls sit neatly without you thinking about it.

Foundations also provide the surface that walls, walkways and multi-storey construction attach to. A factory built directly on terrain has none of this, which is the underlying reason terrain-built factories look improvised — they literally have no shared alignment.

Zoop places up to ten at once

Zoop build mode places up to 10 foundations in one action rather than one at a time.

For laying a floor this is the difference between a tedious job and a quick one, and it is worth learning early rather than discovering after you have hand-placed a hundred pieces. The same mode works for walls and several other repeated pieces.

Combined with the world grid, the workflow for a new site is: place one foundation with Ctrl held to snap it to the world grid, then Zoop outward from it.

Low foundations clip through terrain

A specific and common annoyance: foundations placed too close to the ground, or on sloped terrain, let the terrain or grass clip through the surface.

There is one fix, and it is not subtle: build the foundation higher up. No setting suppresses the clipping, and no amount of nudging resolves it.

This is why experienced players place their first foundation at a deliberate height above the highest point of the site rather than at ground level. The pillars underneath cost almost nothing, and the alternative is grass poking through your factory floor for the rest of the playthrough.

Building into terrain is fine

Distinct from the clipping problem: foundations intersecting terrain — a platform cut into a hillside — works normally and looks deliberate. Only the visible faces matter, and half a factory buried in a hill functions exactly as one in the open.

There is no terrain deformation in this game, so “cutting into a hill” means placing foundations that pass through it rather than excavating anything.

The distinction:

• Foundation slightly above uneven ground — grass clips through, looks bad, raise it.
• Foundation deliberately intersecting a slope — reads as architecture, no problem.

Height standards are worth setting

A habit that pays across a whole playthrough: pick one or two standard heights and use them everywhere.

One for main factory floors, one higher for long-distance belt and rail runs. Every new structure then joins a system that already exists, and lines from separate projects meet at the same level without reconciliation.

The alternative — choosing a height per project based on what the terrain suggested that day — produces a factory where every junction between two areas needs a ramp or a lift. Each adjustment is trivial and collectively they are a large amount of wasted work.

Foundations as a tool, not just a floor

Three uses beyond holding up machines:

As a road. A line of foundations between two frequently visited places is flat, fast on foot, and free of the terrain snags that slow you down.

As creature protection. Most hostile creatures cannot path onto an elevated platform. A factory floor one level above ground is effectively safe without walls.

As vegetation clearance. Foundations remove grass and ground clutter as they are placed, so laying the platform first does most of the site clearing for free. Clearing before building means paying for work the foundations would have done anyway.

Which foundation type to use

Several variants exist and they differ in surface material and thickness rather than in function. All of them provide the same snap grid.

The choices that actually matter:

Thickness. Thinner foundations look better for walkways and upper floors; thicker ones read as substantial and hide belts running underneath. Pick one for floors and one for walkways and stay consistent.

Surface finish. Grip metal, concrete, asphalt and the rest are cosmetic. They matter for how a factory reads visually, not for anything mechanical, and mixing them arbitrarily is the fastest way to make a build look unplanned.

Ramps and corners. Worth placing deliberately rather than as afterthoughts. A ramp that lines up with the grid is walkable and looks intentional; one placed freehand rarely does either.

Starting a new site

The sequence that avoids the most rework:

One foundation first, with Ctrl held, at a height above the highest point of the ground you intend to cover. This fixes both your world-grid alignment and your height reference in a single action.

Check what that one foundation reveals. If it is floating three metres above the ground at one edge, the site needs pillars rather than optimism. Better to know before you have placed forty pieces.

Zoop outward to the extent of the platform, leaving room beyond what you currently need.

Only then place machines. Everything from here inherits a clean grid.

That sequence takes a couple of minutes and removes the most common cause of a factory that cannot be extended cleanly.

Common mistakes

Placing machines before foundations. Everything after inherits the misalignment.

Not using Ctrl to snap to the world grid. Separate build sites then fail to line up.

Building at ground level on uneven terrain. Grass clips through and the only fix is raising it.

Ignoring Zoop. Ten at a time versus one at a time, for the same click.

Choosing a new height for every project. Every junction between areas then needs a ramp.