Expand roboport requests: limit maximum number of bots and request for repair packs.

[everything-narrative]

TL;DR

Make the roboport requests more like logistic requests, being able to set a maximum number.

Also request repair packs.

WHAT?

Basically the roboport request interface feels half-baked, and missing the full feature set of other logistics requests. It is possible to set a minimum number of bots in a roboport, but not a maximum.

It is also not possible to request that a number of repair packs be kept in roboports, which just seems like it'd be a slam dunk feature.

If this proposal is implemented it would mean that when setting a maximum number of allowed bots to a roboport, then any extra bots would 'flee' to other roboports (if possible) and if any were inserted by an inserter or player, they would also 'flee'.

WHY?

A very common design pattern is to have assemblers building robots on demand and inserting them directly into a roboport based on circuit conditions.

This works well when the condition is dependent on available robots be low, as the network will automatically summon any inserted robots

However it works poorly when the condition is some total number of robots in the network, as the roboport will simply get filled up.

Additionally, sometimes certain roboports are best served as being marked 'off limits', such as surrounding a bot mall, to make it more likely logistic bots will store themselves in the roboports inside the mall, and that construction robots will keep their distance.

Roboports can store repair packs, but barely do in practice. Wanting to keep repair packs on hand near defensive structures, one has to use buffer chests (if one has even researched the logistic network.)

Visual aides:

Here's an example of me wanting to shove some extra robots in my network, and not having a good time:

08-29-2026, 13-38-12.png (863.84 KiB) Viewed 340 times

Here's what it could look like:

08-29-2026, 13-39-56.png (43.26 KiB) Viewed 340 times

[eugenekay]

117495

You can configure a Limit, sort-of.

11-15-2025, 12-16-39.png
You can specify multiple Qualities of Robot in the Robot Request, as in the left-side Roboport. If the number of Requests meets or exceeds the number of Slots, then "Extra" robots will evict themselves into nearby Roboports.

11-15-2025, 12-17-28.png
The right-side Roboport has no Requests specified, so the 50 "Extra" Normal Construction Bots are tasked to move there, in order to make room for the higher-Quality Robots. Since there is only 1 Quality of bots available in the Network the Uncommon+ Requests go unfulfilled.

Good Luck!

[everything-narrative]

117495

You can configure a Limit, sort-of.

11-15-2025, 12-16-39.png
You can specify multiple Qualities of Robot in the Robot Request, as in the left-side Roboport. If the number of Requests meets or exceeds the number of Slots, then "Extra" robots will evict themselves into nearby Roboports.

11-15-2025, 12-17-28.png
The right-side Roboport has no Requests specified, so the 50 "Extra" Normal Construction Bots are tasked to move there, in order to make room for the higher-Quality Robots. Since there is only 1 Quality of bots available in the Network the Uncommon+ Requests go unfulfilled.

Good Luck!

That's a moderately applicable workaround, but firmly a workaround. Similarly, bufferchests are a workaround to not being able to directly request repair packs.

Workaround ≠ useful feature.

[Alfonse215]

I'm not sure that repair pack requests are a thing that makes sense for roboport requests. Remember: these requests don't cause logistic bots to bring something to the roboport. They cause that thing to *come to the roboport*. Repair packs can't fly themselves to the roboport, so this mechanism is probably not appropriate for that task.

Indeed, the ability to have repair packs in roboports at all is really just because buffer chests are later in the game (though even their behavior might be sub-optimal).

[everything-narrative]

I'm not sure that repair pack requests are a thing that makes sense for roboport requests. Remember: these requests don't cause logistic bots to bring something to the roboport. They cause that thing to *come to the roboport*. Repair packs can't fly themselves to the roboport, so this mechanism is probably not appropriate for that task.

Indeed, the ability to have repair packs in roboports at all is really just because buffer chests are later in the game (though even their behavior might be sub-optimal).

That's a fair point.

Gonna remove the repair packs in my rebalance mod.