If you’ve been playing Atomcraft for a few hours, you’ve probably noticed that the game doesn’t explain everything. Some mechanics are easy to miss, while others aren’t mentioned at all unless you stumble across them through experimentation.
I ran into this myself with things like programmable filters and the Gun Pixel. They look straightforward at first, but there’s a lot more going on once you know the hidden controls. To save you some trial and error, I’ve put together the most useful tips, shortcuts, and mechanics every player should know.
Atomcraft Beginner Guide Wiki – Hotkeys & Secrets
One of the biggest quality-of-life features in Atomcraft is the programmable filter, but the in-game description is a little outdated.
It mentions that you need to place an adjacent reference pixel to configure the filter. Thankfully, that’s no longer necessary.
The Faster Method
- Place your programmable filter.
- Hover your cursor over it.
- Press R (Rotate).
- A searchable material list will appear.
- Select the material you want to filter.
This method is much faster and lets you configure filters without setting up any reference blocks.
Copy Multiple Filters at Once
After unlocking the Wrench Tool, you can apply one filter setting to several programmable filters in a single action.
If you haven’t unlocked the wrench yet, you can still duplicate configured filters by copying and pasting them with a small blueprint.
This saves a huge amount of time when building automated production lines.
How the Gun Pixel Actually Works
The Gun Pixel is one of the least explained machines in Atomcraft.
Many players place it, connect a switch, and wonder why nothing happens.
The missing step is ammunition.
How to Use the Gun Pixel
- Rotate the gun so it faces the direction you want.
- Connect it to a switch or logic signal.
- Drop one Steel Pixel onto the top of the gun.
- The steel becomes ammunition.
- Activate the signal to fire.
Without steel loaded into the gun, it simply won’t shoot.
You Can Reuse Bullets
Another nice detail is that bullets aren’t always destroyed.
If they strike a durable material like Ceramic, you can often recover the steel and use it again, making automated farms much more resource-efficient.
The Gun Pixel is especially useful for harvesting things like:
- Trees
- Wheat
- Other automated farming systems
Hidden Hotkeys You Should Know
Atomcraft includes several useful shortcuts that aren’t shown in the main key bindings menu.
Learning these makes building much faster.
ALT + Mouse Wheel
Changes the size of your currently selected tool.
Perfect when switching between detailed work and large construction jobs.
Middle Mouse Button
Hover over any pixel and press the middle mouse button to instantly select that material into your current hotbar slot.
It’s basically an eyedropper tool.
CTRL Material Filter
Holding CTRL changes how materials are collected.
If you’re pointing at nothing while holding CTRL, the filter automatically switches to your currently selected hotbar material.
This works for both:
- Hand tool
- Drill
It’s extremely useful when cleaning up large builds without picking up unwanted materials.
SHIFT with the Hand Tool
Holding SHIFT changes the hand into a precision dropper.
Instead of moving large amounts of material, you’ll only collect or place one pixel per click.
Perfect for detailed construction.
SHIFT with the Drill
Normally the drill mines in a circular pattern.
Holding SHIFT changes it into a square mining area.
Depending on your project, this often creates much cleaner excavation.
Multiple Toolbelts
Later in the game you’ll unlock additional hotbars.
Use:
- CTRL + Mouse Wheel to switch between material hotbars.
- SHIFT + CTRL + Mouse Wheel to cycle through additional toolbelts.
These shortcuts become incredibly useful once your inventory grows.
How Power Works
One of the biggest misconceptions among new players is assuming every machine needs cables.
Fortunately, that’s not how Atomcraft works.
Wireless Power
Machines like:
- Laser Pixels
- Electrolysis Pixels
receive power wirelessly.
Power comes from:
- Solar Panels
- Turbines
No physical wiring is required.
Generators Must Be Simulated
There’s one important limitation.
Power generators only work while they’re actively being simulated by the game.
To ensure this happens:
- Build generators close to the machines using them.
- Or place them near your spaceship.
- Enable Simulate Around Spaceship in:
ESC → Settings → Sim
This keeps generators active even when you’re working elsewhere.
Solar Panels Don’t Need Direct Sunlight
Unlike many automation games, Atomcraft doesn’t require solar panels to have an unobstructed view of the sky.
You can safely place them indoors or underground and they’ll still generate power.
There Is No Power Storage
Currently, electricity cannot be stored.
Solar panels and turbines only provide power while they’re actively producing it, so machines depend on real-time generation.
Water Filters Are More Powerful Than They Look
Water Filters don’t simply block liquids.
They actually separate mixed liquids into their individual components.
Example Uses
Seawater
Passing seawater through a Water Filter separates:
- Fresh Water
- Salt
This is much more useful than simply stopping water from flowing.
Milk
Filtering milk separates it into:
- Water
- Cream
This opens up additional processing possibilities for automated factories.
Be Careful with Advanced Materials
Some complex liquids cannot currently be restored after being filtered.
Examples include:
- Potassium Heptafluorotantalate
- Potassium Heptafluoroniobate
Once separated, these materials can’t be rehydrated, making them unusable for their intended production chains.
If you’re working with niobium or tantalum processing, avoid accidentally filtering these compounds.
Understanding the 3×3 Reaction System
Crafting reactions don’t happen across your entire machine.
Instead, every reaction is limited to a 3×3 area.
This has an important consequence.
If a recipe creates more output pixels than there is available space inside that area, the reaction simply won’t occur.
Ceramic Example
Cooking clay into ceramic also produces steam.
If there’s nowhere for the steam to appear, the clay never finishes cooking.
Always leave enough free space for by-products.
Large Recipes
Some advanced recipes already use all nine tiles inside the crafting area.
In those situations there isn’t room for extra blocks like blenders or other machines.
The recipe must exactly match the required layout.
Useful Building Tricks
Several small mechanics make building much easier.
Wires Can Turn Corners
Wires transmit signals through all eight adjacent tiles, including diagonals.
This means you don’t always need perfectly straight cable layouts.
Filters Also Work Diagonally
Many players assume filters only check the four cardinal directions.
They also interact diagonally, allowing for more compact automation designs.
Watch Out for Chickens
This one catches almost everyone eventually.
Chickens can escape through walls that are only one pixel thick.
If you’re building an animal enclosure, make the walls thicker or use a more secure design to prevent unexpected escapes.
Don’t Forget the Material Guide Back Button
The in-game Material Guide includes a back button in the top-right corner.
It’s surprisingly easy to overlook, especially when browsing multiple recipes.
Instead of searching again every time, simply use the back button to return to previously viewed materials.
It sounds obvious once you notice it, but it’s a feature many players completely miss during their first few hours.
Atomcraft hides a surprising number of useful mechanics behind undocumented controls and subtle interactions. Once you learn shortcuts like filter programming with R, hidden hotkeys, wireless power behaviour, and the way reactions work inside the 3×3 crafting area, building efficient factories becomes much smoother. Even small discoveries—like reusing Gun Pixel ammunition or knowing that solar panels don’t need open skies—can save you a lot of time as your projects become more complex.