Everything you build in Stationeers traces back to ingots, and ingots come from smelting ore in a furnace. But Stationeers smelting isn’t “insert and wait” — it’s a pressure-and-temperature puzzle. This guide covers mining ore, operating the furnace, the gas conditions for ingots and alloys, and the advanced arc furnace.
Furnace facts you need
| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Best fuel mix | 1 part oxygen : 2 parts volatiles (33% / 66%) — burns completely |
| Min temp to accept ore | ~373 K (100 °C) or it sticks in the input |
| Steel recipe | 12 iron + 4 coal → 16 steel (exact amounts) |
| High-pressure alloys | Constantan / Invar need ~18–20 MPa |
| Arc furnace | Power-only, one ore → one ingot, no gas |
Mining ore
Use a mining drill on the deformable voxel terrain to extract ores — iron, copper, gold, silicon, lead, nickel and more. Carry them back to base for processing. Early on, iron and copper cover most of your needs (and combine into steel), so prioritise finding those veins.
Operating the furnace
The furnace smelts ore into ingots, but it needs the right internal pressure and temperature. You feed gases in — typically a mix of volatiles and oxygen (1:2 oxygen-to-volatiles burns cleanest) which combust to raise temperature and pressure. Keep the furnace above ~373 K or ore sticks in the input. Add the ore, hit the target conditions, and it smelts. Reading the furnace’s pressure and temperature gauges is the core skill.
Alloys need precise conditions
Basic ingots are forgiving, but alloys are where smelting gets technical. Each alloy — steel, solder, invar, constantan, electrum and others — needs a specific pressure and temperature window and the exact ratio of inputs at once (steel, for example, is 12 iron + 4 coal). High-pressure alloys like Constantan and Invar require ~18–20 MPa. Miss the window and you get the wrong output or waste material, which is why many players automate the furnace with IC10 — see the IC10 guide.
The arc furnace
For simple, single-ore smelting the Arc Furnace is a fast, power-only option that turns one ore into one ingot with no gas management — great for bulk basic ingots. Use the regular furnace for alloys (which need mixing and precise conditions) and the arc furnace for quick single-metal smelting.
Frequently asked questions
How do you make steel in Stationeers?
Smelt 12 iron + 4 coal together in a gas furnace at the right pressure and temperature to get 16 steel. The amounts are exact — wrong ratios give the wrong output. Heat the furnace with a 1:2 oxygen-to-volatiles mix and keep it above ~373 K so the ore is accepted.
What’s the best gas mix for the furnace?
1 part oxygen to 2 parts volatiles (about 33% / 66%) burns completely, giving the cleanest, most controllable heat and pressure. Off-ratio mixes leave unburnt gas or run hot, making it harder to hold the precise window alloys need.
Furnace or arc furnace?
Use the arc furnace for fast, power-only single-ore smelting (no gas to manage), and the gas furnace for alloys, which need mixed inputs and a precise pressure/temperature window. Most stations run both — the arc for bulk basics, the gas furnace for steel and advanced alloys.
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