Sandustry Map Guide
Sandustry drops you on a vast, fully destructible planet with no map at all — you research it. Here is how to unlock every map system, what each one costs, and what to expect from the world itself.
Official media The World
The store page describes "a vast unexplored planet filled with diverse biomes and beautiful landscapes" — an open world where every pixel can be mined, moved, or destroyed.
Depth matters: "Deep beneath the planet's surface lie countless mysteries for you to explore" — vaults and puzzle challenges left behind by an ancient civilization, guarding artifacts and knowledge.
How to Unlock the Map
The map is not available from the start. It sits in the Research tree, along with three upgrades that extend it. All five exploration unlocks, verbatim from the official Research list:
| Research | Tier | Cost | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Map | Tier 1 | 100 Gold | "Unlocks the Map and Minimap." |
| Flare Gun | Tier 1 | 150 Gold | Light up dark areas |
| Flashlight | Tier 2 | 600 Gold | Shine a light where you aim |
| Activity Heatmap | Tier 3 | 700 Gold | "Unlocks the Activity Heatmap on the map" |
| Recon Drone | Tier 4 | 2,500 Gold | "Unlocks the Recon Drone for scouting." |
The Minimap also guides you: active objectives are marked with a yellow arrow on it, so you always know which direction the current goal is.
Is the map the same for everyone?
No — plan around procedural generation. Back in the demo era (March 2025), the developer answered this directly: "Yes, the full game will feature a big procedurally generated map instead of a fixed one." The same reply noted that "the modders have also already made multiple map generators with configurable options".
The current Early Access FAQ confirms the direction: "We will refine the procedural generation process to make it more granular, and we will add more buildings, resources, production chains, quests, biomes and technologies for players to unlock as they proceed deeper into the planet."
That is why this page is not a coordinate atlas: your save and someone else's save will not share terrain. What transfers between saves is the system knowledge — what to research, how to scout, and what each biome offers.
No fixed coordinates — scout instead
Because terrain is generated per save, guides that promise exact locations are guessing. Invest in the Activity Heatmap (700 Gold) and Recon Drone (2,500 Gold) instead: they turn the map you unlocked into an actual scouting tool for your world.
Beginner Guide
Everything else you unlock in your first hours.
Artifacts
What the ruins beneath the surface are hiding.