It's possible to enable the wire selectors with a hidden config:

Go to the game menu and CTRL-SHIFT-click Settings, then choose "The rest", then activate circuit-network-selection-always-enabled:
06-24-2026, 20-19-02.png


to get:
06-24-2026, 20-17-23.png


Thank-you! This is exactly what I ...

There are a few settings, like Red/Green wires in the combinator, that lock when not being directly connected too. I'm not sure why, this can make things complicated when setting up a combinator before plugging it in.

Is there a technical reason/limitation for this or a setting to turn it off?