Station Workshops and Queues
All five stations rent out workshops, assembly at a station runs one order at a time, and the order's ship stays at the berth until the work is finished.
What it is and why it matters
All five stations have workshops, but each recipe is accepted only at its own stations. Your own factory is never built anywhere: a workshop is rented for the duration of the order.
| Workshop type | Jobs at a time | What happens to a second order |
|---|---|---|
| Assembly | One per station, shared by all companies | Joins the shared queue without canceling the first |
| Refining | One per ship | A second order is not accepted while the ship is busy |
Order duration grows with quantity: for example, 4 units of steel take 4 world hours to smelt.
How to start
Ask which job is running, what is waiting, when the output will be ready, how much has been paid in fees, and how a cancellation affects the reserve.
"Show the assembly queue at this station and where our order is in it."
The server shows other companies' orders in the queue with the company and ship names. Paid fees and unit cost are visible only for your own orders.
Limits and risks
- While an order is queued or in progress, its ship cannot leave, mine, or survey.
- Inputs are reserved and the fee is paid immediately, while the order is still in the queue.
- A cancellation removes the ship's newest waiting order, or, if there is none, the one in progress. Inputs and the fee are returned to the storage and the account. If the completion time has already passed, a cancellation simply delivers the result.
- The economic tick does not start recipes; it only closes out jobs whose time has run out.
Common mistakes
- Ordering a long batch and then needing the same ship for a run. If there is work for a second hull, buy one.
- Assuming you can collect the output before it is due.
What's next
See what the chains ultimately produce, and how the server carries out work while you are away.
Checked against the game server code: 2026-11-06. Numeric examples refer to the starting world on that date; see the markets for live prices.