Farming & Crop Guide

Farming & Crop Guide (1.0 Drilling Thunder)

Farming is one of Scrap Mechanic's core survival systems. Grow crops for food, trade them at packing stations for currency, and manage the raid mechanic that triggers when your farm becomes too valuable. This guide is verified for version 1.0 Drilling Thunder and covers all 12 crop types, the complete trade progression chain, raid mechanics, automated irrigation, and defense.

How Farming Works

The farming cycle in Scrap Mechanic follows these steps:

1. Prepare soil — Place Soil Bags or use a hoe to create farmland
2. Plant seeds — Place seeds on tilled soil (use Growbed for controlled farming)
3. Water crops — Crops need water to grow (manual or automated via vacuum pipes)
4. Wait for growth — Crops grow over time, faster with proper watering and fertilizer
5. Harvest — Collect mature crops for food, cooking, or packing
6. Manage raids — High total crop value triggers robot attacks

All 12 Crop Types (1.0 Verified)

Version 1.0 Drilling Thunder includes 12 plantable crop types. Each crop has a different farm value that contributes to raid trigger thresholds. Data sourced from the 1.0 item database.

Starter Crops (Found Early Game)

Trade-Unlock Crops (Mid Game)

Advanced Crops (Late Game)

Trade Progression Chain

To unlock higher-tier crop seeds, you must grow and pack lower-tier crops, then trade them at the Trader. This is the core farming progression loop in 1.0.

How Packing Works

1. Take your crops to the appropriate Vegetable or Fruit Packing Station
2. Use a Vacuum Pump to "inject" the crop into the receptacle
3. The station outputs packed crates of the crop
4. Transport the packed crates to the Trader and deposit them
5. You need a suitable vehicle with a Large Storage container to transport crates

Raid Mechanic Explained

Scrap Mechanic's signature farming mechanic is the raid system. When the total value of your growing crops exceeds a threshold in a 256×256 area, the robots detect "unauthorized farming" and launch an attack.

Max Crops Per 256×256 Area (by value)

Semi-Automatic Farm Without Raids

It is possible to farm 36 plots close together without generating raids, provided you know exactly where the 256×256 block corners are and do not exceed 9 crop value in each section. Watering such a large plot becomes a chore, so an automatic watering system is recommended.

Managing Farm Value

• Early game — Keep total farm value under the threshold to avoid raids before you have defenses
• Harvest promptly — Harvest crops as soon as they mature to remove them from the value calculation
• Use low-value crops — Carrots, tomatoes, redbeets (value 1) give you more plants before hitting the threshold
• Space out planting — Plant in batches across different 256×256 zones
• Build defenses first — Once you have walls and turrets, you can safely farm at higher values

Automated Irrigation

Vacuum pipes and pumps allow you to automate crop watering. This is essential for large-scale farming.

Components Needed

• Vacuum Pump — Draws water from a source (lake, river, or water container)
• Vacuum Pipes — Transport water from pump to crops
• Water Container — Stores water for farms far from natural sources
• Controller — Can automate pump scheduling (optional)

Basic Setup

1. Place a Vacuum Pump at the edge of a water source
2. Connect Vacuum Pipes from the pump to your farm rows
3. Position pipe outlets above or beside crops
4. Power the pump (some setups require a generator or engine)
5. Test by activating the pump — crops should get watered automatically

Farm Defense

When raids trigger, you need solid defenses to protect your crops and base.

Wall Design

• Minimum height — At least 7 blocks high (Haybots can climb 3-block walls)
• Attack gaps — Leave gaps at the 3rd and 5th block levels to shoot bots through
• Corner protection — Reinforce corners, bots often target them
• Spike traps — Place spikes along the base of walls for passive damage

Automated Defenses

• Spud Gun Turrets — Automated turrets that target hostile bots
• Logic sensors — Use sensors to trigger lights, alarms, or traps when bots approach
• Piston gates — Automated doors that close during raids
• Flamethrowers (1.0) — New flame-based defenses using the fire physics system

1.0 Drilling Thunder Farming Changes

• Two new crops — Chili and Pigment Flower added to the base game
• Cookbot meals — Cooked meals now provide temporary buffs (speed, mining, health regen, fall damage reduction)
• Health-only system — Food now heals directly instead of filling hunger, so you always need a food supply
• Flame physics — Fire can spread to crops, so keep fire sources away from farms. Some bots now use fire attacks.
• Claygun — Can reshape terrain for custom farm layouts, but some bots can dig through clay.
• Raid calculator — 1.0 raid pressure is based on crop value, not crop count. Use the raid calculator for precise thresholds.

Quick Tips

1. Start small — A few carrot plants is enough for early food. Do not trigger raids before you are ready.
2. Follow the trade chain — Carrots → Bananas → Pineapple/Cotton is the most efficient progression for food and crafting.
3. Build near water — Saves you from building long vacuum pipe systems early on.
4. Harvest daily — Check your farm regularly and harvest mature crops to keep farm value low.
5. Plant cotton early — You will need fabric for many crafting recipes.
6. Use potatoes for ammo — Potatoes are ammunition for the Spud Gun, making them doubly useful.
7. Know your 256×256 zones — Plan farm layout around zone boundaries to maximize plants without triggering raids.
8. Light up your farm — Bots spawn more in darkness, and lights help you see incoming raids.

Related Guides

• Survival Mode Complete Guide — Master the full survival loop
• Vacuum Pump & Fluid Guide — Automated irrigation and fluid systems
• Base Building Guide — Design a defensible base with farm integration
• Spud Gun & Weapons Guide — Weapons and turret setup for farm defense
• Warehouse Guide — Find rare seeds and loot in warehouses