One of the most important things you need to learn early on in your playthrough of Raft is moving fuel and water around your base, from one machine to another. To do this job, you need to use Pipes. This may sound like an easy thing to do, but Pipes in Raft have some unique mechanics that you need to learn about which will help you use them in the most efficient way possible.
If you’re looking to learn how to use Pipes in Raft, look no further than this guide where we’ll be showing you how to craft and use the different types of Pipes in the game.
Types of Pipes
There are only two types of Pipes in Raft: Water Pipes and Fuel Pipes. As their names suggest, Water Pipes are used for transporting water between different machines, while Fuel Pipes are used to move biofuel.
More specifically, Water Pipes are used to move water from between Water Tanks, Sprinklers and Purifiers while Fuel Pipes are used to move biofuel from Biofuel Tanks to appropriate machines.
How to Get Water Pipes
To get Water Pipes in Raft, you need to first find the Water Pipe blueprint. The blueprint for the Water Pipe can be found after the crane puzzle. You’ll find after you go past the big storage area in the Tangaroa basement.
Once you have the Water Pipe Blueprint, you can research it at the research table to learn the crafting recipe.
Water Pipes cannot be crafted individually; you have to craft 2 of them at a time. To craft 2x Water Pipes, you need 4x Scrap.
How to Get Fuel Pipes
To get Fuel Pipes in Raft, you’ll need to find the blueprint for it first. The Fuel Pipe blueprint can be found inside Relay Station 4 on Balboa Island.
Once you’ve found the blueprint, research it at the research table and you’ll learn the crafting recipe for the Fuel Pipe. Just like Water Pipes, you’ll receive two Fuel Pipes each time you craft them. To craft 2x Fuel Pipes, you need 4x Scrap.
How to Use Pipes in Raft
The process of setting up functional Pipes in Raft is quite simple. For each Water or Fuel Pipe you craft, you’ll get two individual Pipes.
Since you need Scrap to craft Water and Fuel Pipes, you have to learn how to farm Scrap in Raft. Luckily, Scrap is a relatively common resource that can be found in many different ways.
You can find Scrap in Vacated Rafts, Barrels and by the reefs surrounding the islands. You can also use a hook to collect Scrap that is buried underwater.
Once you’ve crafted your desired Pipes, simply hold them in your hand and press left-click to place them on the ground. Pipes can be placed in any direction. If you have one foundational Pipe, you can attach another pipe to any of its sides.
If you’ve already placed a Pipe but want to change its position, aim towards it and press the X button to pick it back up.
An important thing to note is that if you’re placing Pipes above or under your base, you need to first lay down flooring to be able to place them down. Once the Pipes are all laid down, you can remove the flooring and the pipes will float in the air.
To connect your Sprinklers, Water Tanks, Purifiers and Biofuel Tanks to different machines, simply place the respective Pipe down next to these machines and they will automatically connect to them. Then create a pipeline to the machine you want to transport the biofuel/water to and connect it to them in the same way.
Once the Pipes are connected to the machines, you do not need to use any extra power or pressure system to make the Pipes work. As long as the machines are powered up, the Pipes will work on their own.
This means that the length of the pipeline or its shape has absolutely no effect on the flow of the water or biofuel.
If your Pipes are connected to multiple water or fuel sources, the Pipes will first drain the source that is closest to them. It will then move on to the next closest source and so on.
When it comes to the ideal layout for the Pipes, you need to lay them down in a way so that they go from point A to point B with minimal displacement. So ideally, you’ll want to place straight pipelines instead of curvy ones as the latter will need more individual pipes.
Another thing to note is that each Pipe takes one block of space on your base. So if you lay down the Pipes inside the base, you will quickly run out of space to place other objects.
To avoid this problem, build a platform around, above or underneath your base to lay your Pipes on. This will make it so the Pipes don’t interfere with anything else and don’t take up unnecessary space in your base.
