TL;DR
Move the create barrel and filling/emptying barrel recipes from the Intermediates tab to the Logistics tab to match their true function and align with the game's productivity rules.What?
I suggest relocating the crafting of barrel and filling/emptying recipe for from the Intermediates tab to the Logistics tab or to entirely new tab related to fluids.These are currently grouped alongside components like iron gears, copper wires, and electronic circuits. I propose moving these to the Logistics tab, likely right next to fluid-handling infrastructure like the storage tank and pipes, as its sole purpose is fluid transportation.
Why?
Currently, looking for the barrel in the Logistics tab is a common instinct for me because a barrel's only function is fluid logistics. I always ends up checking it in logistics tab and only then in intermediate tab. Putting it in Intermediates feels unintuitive, another argument for moving it actually comes from the game's own mechanical logic regarding **Productivity Modules**.Factorio has a strict rule: true intermediate recipes allow productivity modules to create extra outputs. However, barreling and unbarreling recipes explicitly do not allow productivity modules. This restriction is entirely logical, as allowing productivity would create a fatal loop where players could infinitely duplicate steel barrels and fluids out of thin air.
By blocking productivity, the game mechanically acknowledges that barreling is not a transformative production step (like turning iron into a gear), but rather a closed-loop logistical function (like putting items into a chest or fluid into a pipe).
Because the barrel is denied the primary characteristic of an intermediate item, keeping it in the Intermediates tab creates a logical inconsistency in the UI. Moving the barrels related recipes to the Logistics (Or separate) tab would:
1. Align the visual UI with the game's underlying mechanical rules regarding productivity.
2. Match player intuition, as barrels serve the exact same purpose as portable, itemized storage tanks.
3. Keep the Intermediates tab cleaner and focused entirely on items that actually participate in true, module-compatible production chains.
Thanks for all the fish