Factorio Forums

Exactly what rules do trains follow to select a stop from a set of stops of the same name?

For example, I have two stops named Iron and about 10 trains with Iron in their schedule. Both stops get trains arriving, but I have no idea how the trains are deciding between them when neither stop is free.

Some explanation from a dev would be nice if no-one else knows, which seems to be case from my searching

If both stations are same distance from the train's departure station then the one picked depends a lot on train pathfinding algorithm internals. For us mere players that means they pick a "random" one.

If one station is further away then it will be less likely to be picked. Until a point where it would be so far away that the train pathfinding algorithm would never pick it.

In summary: By naming stations the same you give up control to the trains to do whatever they want.

Yoyobuae wrote:In summary: By naming stations the same you give up control to the trains to do whatever they want.

Which is actually awesome. I have a fairly large base with about 40 trains bringing in constant flow of ores. Say, 15 with Iron. I also have multiple unload stations for each ore that are side by side, to prevent trains from sitting around waiting forever for the previous trains to unload. So right before the unload, one train stop that I called "PreUnload", so the trains come in, stop there briefly and decide which "Unload-Iron" station to go to based on distance and availability. (Availability being a green signal on the line, which is controlled not only by a train currently unloading, but also by circuits to ensure the receiving chests are near empty before letting a new train in).

Doesn't this work wonders to do a refueling station? This thread ended 1 hour of pondering of how the hell avoid a bottle neck to refuel

It works good for an unloading station with multiple stops next to each other since they are really close together.

It gets more difficult to setup mining outposts where the stations share one name.
The clostest outpost will be occupied all the time and the remote ones are rarely visited.
It requires some logic to controll it better.

HuevoPodrido wrote:Doesn't this work wonders to do a refueling station? This thread ended 1 hour of pondering of how the hell avoid a bottle neck to refuel

Yes! I currently have four refuel centers, each having multiple stops, all named the same.

JimBarracus wrote:It works good for an unloading station with multiple stops next to each other since they are really close together.

It gets more difficult to setup mining outposts where the stations share one name.
The clostest outpost will be occupied all the time and the remote ones are rarely visited.
It requires some logic to controll it better.

I like that my closest outposts get over used. It clears space for future building