Oxygen Not Included oxygen guide: calculate demand and restore supply

Calculate demand by population and production by uptime

A standard Duplicant consumes 100g/s of oxygen, or 60kg per cycle. One cycle is 600 seconds. These calculations assume no trait or disease modifiers and no other oxygen-consuming equipment. Maximum output is not the same as the amount that actually reaches Duplicants.

Wide tables scroll horizontally.

No matching entries in this table. Shorten the query or clear it to restore all entries.

One diffuser theoretically supports 5 standard Duplicants; one Electrolyzer supports 8.88. These are not recommended population targets. Missing inputs, outages, overpressure, and distribution delays reduce output. Provide backup capacity, especially when operating near the limit.

Provide both algae supplies and airflow for Oxygen Diffusers

Oxygen Diffuser consumes 120W and produces 1.5kDTU/s of building heat while operating. It needs no water pipe, but algae delivery remains an ongoing errand. Breathable air around the machine is not enough if oxygen never reaches bedrooms or work areas.

1. Place it where oxygen can spread to beds and normal workplaces. Provide spaces between floors or ventilation such as Airflow Tile, rather than squeezing it into a narrow dead end.
2. Check whether algae is already mined, whether suppliers can reach it, and whether Life Support deliveries are being postponed. Resources listed in storage are useless to the building if they cannot arrive.
3. If the surroundings are overpressurized, check gas types and escape routes before adding more machines. The diffuser stops when nearby gas exceeds its approximately 1.8kg cutoff; this can also happen in carbon dioxide or other gases.
4. Verify startup through the generator, battery, and wiring. Check whether it keeps running during research or processing to identify problems caused by shared power.

Temporary overpressure after oxygen spreads is normal. If the base is short of oxygen while only the machine is overpressurized, suspect placement or distribution first.

Estimate remaining algae time before supplies run out

Algae is convenient early fuel for oxygen production, but accessible deposits are finite. Calculate how many cycles your usable stocks cover before increasing population to help choose when to switch to Electrolyzers.

1. In a simple diffuser-only calculation, each 1kg of oxygen requires 1.1kg of algae. Six standard Duplicants need 360kg of oxygen and approximately 396kg of algae per cycle.
2. For example, 3,960kg of usable algae covers about 10 cycles of breathing for six standard Duplicants. This rough estimate excludes naturally produced oxygen, other algae consumption, and oxygen needed to fill new space.
3. For the transition, identify missing water, power, plumbing, hydrogen handling, and heat management in that order. Waiting until the last algae deposit is mined before starting research leaves no startup margin.
4. Keep diffusers while testing the new system. Maintain their inputs and power as backup so they can resume immediately if the new system stops.

About 10 cycles is a worked example using stocks and consumption. Do not count unmined deposits as immediately usable inventory.

Handle oxygen, hydrogen, and heat separately when switching to Electrolyzers

Electrolyzer consumes 120W and produces 1.25kDTU/s of building heat, plus oxygen and hydrogen at a minimum of 70°C. Hotter input water can also affect outputs. Feeding it cold water does not make it produce cold air.

1. Plan water supply without exhausting domestic reserves. The input must be Water, not untreated polluted water or salt water. Run an unobstructed pipe from the source to the input.
2. Place the Electrolyzer thermally apart from farms and bedrooms. To collect its gases, allow space to handle hydrogen above and oxygen below separately. If gas cannot escape, overpressure stops production.
3. Each Gas Pump moves up to 500g/s and consumes 240W while operating. A single oxygen pump cannot collect the full 888g/s output. Count any separate hydrogen pump as an additional load.
4. Before feeding Hydrogen Generator, use a gas filter or another separation method to provide a hydrogen-only route. Do not feed mixed startup air straight into the generator.
5. Place oxygen vents in the areas that need air, and provide heat exchange before hot oxygen leaves the pipes. Insulate hot transport sections and use heat-exchanging pipes where cooling is intended.
6. Retain a startup power source, such as manual generation, so the system can restart after an outage. Include pumps and filters in load calculations; do not assume hydrogen generation always makes it self-sufficient.

Hydrogen Generator consumes 100g/s of hydrogen to produce 800W, with 4kDTU/s of building heat. The Electrolyzer's maximum 112g/s hydrogen byproduct alone cannot promise surplus power while ignoring pumps, water supply, and downtime.

When oxygen falls, trace backward from machine status

Wide tables scroll horizontally.

No matching entries in this table. Shorten the query or clear it to restore all entries.

After recovery, confirm that oxygen reaches where it is needed, rather than only checking whether the machine lights up. Track changes to inputs, machinery, and outputs one at a time to avoid leaving recurrence causes unresolved.

When suffocation alerts appear, secure a return route before expanding

If a Duplicant cannot breathe at a distant dig, extra oxygen machines in the base may not help in time. Stop dangerous errands, check ladders and doors, and secure a route back to breathable air.

1. Select the Duplicant and move them to a reachable safe area. If trapped, review construction or digging orders that block the exit.
2. The covered version allows rescue and resuscitation of Duplicants incapacitated by suffocation, but rescuers also need air and access. Inspect the site before sending successive rescuers into an oxygen-free area.
3. After recovery, reduce distant work areas and travel distances. Prepare oxygen transport or equipment before resuming work across long oxygen-free stretches.

Frequently asked questions