How to Move Placed Buildings

There is no move, pick-up or relocate tool for placed buildings in Moon Sweepers. That was the most common building complaint at launch, and the building changes in patch 1.0.3 did not add one. To move a building, you remove it with Remove mode on the Building Tool and place a new one in the spot you want, then reconnect its conveyors and power.

Two conditions shape every move. First, removal is not free: players report getting back only about three quarters of the purchase price, so each move costs money. Second, many "move" problems do not need a move at all. Rerouting belts, adding a splitter or building a second structure often fixes a bad layout for less. Vehicles are the exception to all of this: they are not buildings, and you bring them back with the Garage instead.

What You Can and Cannot Move

Press X with the Building Tool out to switch to Remove mode.

Step-by-Step: Relocating a Building

Follow this order so you are never left with a removed machine and no working replacement.

1. Choose the new spot first. Stand where the building will go, check the ground, and picture where its inputs, outputs and power will run.
2. Check your money. You need the full price of the new building. The refund from the old one covers most of it, but not all.
3. Let the building empty. Stop feeding it, or wait until queued material has moved through. Players did not report whether material inside a removed machine is returned.
4. Equip the Building Tool and switch to Remove mode. Aim at the building and read the amount you would get back before confirming.
5. Confirm the removal. Remove the belts that only served the old position at the same time, so they do not confuse the new layout.
6. Place the new building. Rotate it during placement so its input faces the incoming belt and its output faces the route onward.
7. Reconnect conveyors. Draw new sections from the output, checking the direction arrows at each joint. One conveyor section can be up to 30 meters long.
8. Reconnect power. Pressure Chambers need 10 kW and Stone Presses 18 kW. Solar Posts give 3 kW each and a Solar Twin (M) 7.5 kW.
9. Watch one full batch. Follow material from input to output and on to the Depot before moving the next building.

Pick the New Spot Before You Remove Anything

Most second moves happen because the first new spot was chosen in a hurry. A few checks prevent that.

Use foundations properly on 1.0.3

Since patch 1.0.3, machines can stand across several foundations, so Pressure Chambers, Stone Presses and Garages fit on square foundations. Before the patch, players found that larger machines would not sit on a single foundation tile. If you are moving a machine because it would not fit on foundations at launch, the new version may let you place it where you originally wanted.

Know which side is the input

Players reported at launch that buildings have no visible input or output arrows, which led to many reversed placements. For the Pressure Chamber, the input is on the side without the handle. Look at the placement preview carefully for every machine and line up its input with the belt before you click.

Leave space for growth

Leave room beside each machine for a second belt, a splitter, or a later machine. Splitters may refuse to snap into tight spots near other machines, so open space around a line makes later additions easier and avoids another move.

Moving Specific Buildings

Pressure Chamber and Stone Press

These are the most expensive machines to move, and the most often misplaced. A Stone Press needs both raw dust and Moon Sand, so moving one usually means rebuilding a split: one branch of dust straight to the press, one branch through a Pressure Chamber for sand. Plan both feeds and the power connection at the new spot before removing anything. If the only problem is a reversed input, rerouting the belt is usually cheaper than moving.

Robot Vacuum docks

A Robot Vacuum Mk I covers 19 hexes around its dock and a Mk II covers 37. Once that ground is clean, the dock stops being useful, which is the most common good reason to relocate a building. Place the new dock where most of its coverage is untouched ground, not beside areas you have already cleaned, and make sure its capsule output can reach your conveyor network. Rotate the dock so the output faces the route to the Depot.

Garage

A Garage placed facing the wrong way makes every unload awkward. On patch 1.0.3, demolishing a Garage no longer deletes the vehicles stored there; they move to another Garage or wait for the next one you build. Unload the vehicle and any stored dust before removing the old Garage, then build the new one with its unloading area lined up with your belts. If the vehicle does not appear afterwards, use Call back at the new Garage.

Packager

The Packager is a dust drop-off with a conveyor output on its rear. Players often want to move it closer to where they are cleaning. Before moving it, check whether extending the belt from its current position is cheaper; belts were listed at $0.50 per meter. If you do move it, connect the rear output toward the Depot intake straight away so dropped dust has somewhere to go.

Conveyors

Belts are the cheapest thing to rebuild. Remove the wrong sections in Remove mode and draw new ones. Conveyors can be raised over existing belts and brought back down, so a new route can cross an old one without joining it. Check the direction of every new section before extending the next one.

Alternatives That Avoid Moving at All

Because every move costs part of the building's price, try these before removing anything:

• Route belts to the building where it is. One player with a reversed Pressure Chamber chose to run belts to the correct side instead of losing money on a rebuild.
• Add a splitter or merger. They snap onto existing conveyors, and on 1.0.3 they also snap directly to each other, port to port.
• Cross over instead of around. Raise a conveyor over the obstruction and lower it at the machine's input.
• Build a second structure. Players expanding large bases chose to build a second Garage and production area rather than rebuild the first one.
• Use the new foundation rule. If a machine would not sit on foundations before, try again on 1.0.3 before moving it somewhere else.

Moving Buildings in Co-op

In a crew, a move affects everyone who uses that line, so treat it as a shared job.

• Agree before removing. Co-op uses one shared wallet, so the money lost on a removal comes out of everyone's budget.
• Let any crewmate do the rebuild. On patch 1.0.3, splitters and mergers built by crewmates work, so the old advice to have only the host place them no longer applies.
• Assign one person to the new layout. Several players drawing belts at the same machine is a quick way to create reversed sections.
• Check versions first. Every crewmate must be on 1.0.3 to play together, and the foundation and snapping changes depend on it.

Use the Moon Map to Plan Vacuum and Base Moves

When you are moving a Robot Vacuum or starting a new production area, open the Moon Map at a station console before choosing the spot. Orange ground is not cleaned yet, blue is partly cleaned and green is complete. A new vacuum dock belongs in a broad orange area that a conveyor can still reach. For a second base, pick a spot that keeps belts short to your selling route.

Common Mistakes When Rebuilding

• Removing before the new spot is ready. You lose production time while the replacement is planned.
• Forgetting the old belts. Leftover sections can feed material into nowhere.
• Reversing the machine again. Check the input side in the placement preview every time.
• Underpowering the new location. A machine moved away from its solar supply may stop at night or never start.
• Moving a vacuum into cleaned ground. Check the Moon Map so the new dock covers dirty hexes.
• Expecting a vehicle to stay inside a removed Garage. On 1.0.3 it is kept, but you still need a Garage to call it back.

When a Real Move Tool Might Arrive

Players asked for a move or rotate option for placed buildings from launch day, especially for Robot Vacuums. The developers' October 24 message lists quality-of-life improvements as ongoing work, but it does not name a move tool. Until patch notes announce one, remove and rebuild is the only way to relocate a building, so plan placement with that in mind.