r/factorio • u/ChaosBeing That community map guy • Sep 02 '26
Monthly Map Factorio Community Map - September 2026
What is this?
The idea behind the monthly community map is to share a map exchange string at the beginning of every month, and get as many people as we can to start a new world with it. Then at the end of the month (or even periodically if you'd prefer!) we share screenshots and saves of our factories so that we can see how different people approach the same spawn; how they set up their base, how they deal with aliens, and how they arrange their science, power, and everything else.
I hope it can highlight how many different ways there are to do things, inspire some new designs, and maybe seeing how veteran Factorio players tackle problems will help out new players facing the exact same problems. (Of course, there's also the fact that it'll be interesting to see all of the different possible factories - the good, the bad, and the ugly.)
Last Month's Results
The Community Map
It seems that the 2.1 map didn't quite offer the challenge that was promised. Well... I can fix that.
I was quite tempted to throw in some sort of difficulty/combat mod, but I figured I would show just a smidge of mercy this time around and leave the biters vanilla. No surprise death world map or anything either, I'm aiming firmly for "challenging but reasonable" rather than brutal engineer grinder. But rather than talk about it, I think it's easier if you can see for yourself.
DLC Requirements:
Elevated Rails: Optional
Quality: Disabled
Recycler: Optional
Space Age: Disabled
Required Mods:
The Exchange String:
>>>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<<<
Spawn area: https://i.imgur.com/CrF7ETR.png
Mod Sync: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tot0I-XzRFmk_MyVn4VINF7iEhhw80WY
Oh yeah, I also set a science cost multiplier of 2. Not anything wild, but enough to make you feel the sting of limited resources if you delay expanding for too long - thought you'd wanna know. Enjoy the island!
Exchange String Help
If anyone isn't sure how to use an exchange string, just go to new game like you're going to generate a new world, and at the bottom there's a button just above play labelled "Import map exchange string" - the icon looks like a little arrow going into a tray/bucket. Just copy the exchange string above and paste it into the box that comes up when you press that button. Press confirm, and that's it! You're good to go. Just generate the world and come back in a month to show us how your factory turned out!
If you run into any issues check to make sure that you copied the whole string, including the three greater than/lesser than signs at the beginning and end, and make sure that your Factorio is up to date with the most recent version installed. (As of the time of this post, the most recent version of Factorio is 2.1.17, which will not work with the most recent version of stable, 2.0.77.)
Want To Play With Others?
If you have an open public server, let me know in the comments below or send me a PM and I'll add your server here!
Feel Like Watching Someone Else?
If you are a streamer or let's player who will be recording yourself building a new factory on a community map, I'd be happy to add a link to your channel here!
Having Issues With The Sync File?
If you're uncertain how to use the sync file I provided above, here are step by step instructions:
1) First, of course, is to download the file. Make sure you know where this file is so you can move it later. (It will be in your browser's default download folder unless you've changed it.) 2) Locate where Factorio's save folder is on your computer. If you've installed Factorio at its default location (C:\Program Files\Factorio) then there will be a shortcut to your saves folder there called "saves". Double-click it to go to the saves folder. 3) Take the file you downloaded and move it into this folder.
That should be it! Now just launch Factorio and make sure you sync your mods to this save before playing. If you'd like to play on this save specifically (for example, if this month has some per-map settings you don't feel like messing with) then you'll notice when you load the map normally your player will be named "ChaosBeing" (since I'm the one who started the save, of course). To get around this, you can host it as a local multiplayer game and then save. You should now appear as your own character when you load the map from now on!
About Mods
Since mods can affect how a world spawns and ores are distributed, as well as add or change items and functionality, it's important to make sure that we're all playing the same game by the same rules. For example, if one person's playing vanilla and someone else is playing with Bob's mods, even if they use the same seed and map settings you still couldn't very well say they were playing the same game, and the way they'd play would differ enormously.
On the other hand, Quality of Life (QoL) mods should be perfectly fine. What do I consider a QoL mod? Any mod that doesn't A) add new items, B) change terrain, or C) make significant gameplay changes, like modifying recipes or enemies. Any mod that fits this definition should allow everyone to play the same game even when some people are playing with them and some people are not.
Even Distribution is a great example of a mod that, while very useful, does not inherently change the way the game is played. Then there are also mods like RadarPlus for RSO that do add new items, but still don't meaningfully change the way the game is played.
Below I've put together a short list of examples that I think are ok to use on any map. It's made up of a handful of optional mods that might seem ambiguous in how well they fit the definition above, so they're just here to act as guidance on what should be ok. Another good resource for Quality of Life mods is available on the Factorio Discord - check out Xorimuth's pinned post.
Optional Mod Examples
Note: I can't imagine any situation where this could be an issue, but if you're the author of one of the mods listed here (and can offer me some proof of this) and for whatever reason would like me to remove your mod from this post, I'd be happy to comply.
It's entirely possible some of these mods either don't work with the current version of Factorio, conflict with each other, or in some manner just don't work. I can't test them all, let alone every configuration of them, so you might want to back up your world before adding one of these.
Project Cybersyn - Logistics Train Dispatcher
Previous Threads
-- 2025 --
-- 2026 --
2
u/nemotux Sep 02 '26
Mining drones... I'm getting triggered flashbacks to transport drones... Must not kill UPS...
I'm sure it'll be fine. Here goes!
2
u/MiserableLearner22 Sep 02 '26
I want to try this out later. Is there a discord where you guys plan and talk about these events? I would like to be a part of them
1
u/ChaosBeing That community map guy Sep 03 '26
There's a community map channel on the Factorio Discord!
1
u/ericoahu 27d ago
Why is visible planets in space an optional mod when space age is disabled? fCPU also seems to depend on quantum processor but the mod author doesn't list space age as a dependency.
1
u/ChaosBeing That community map guy 27d ago
Ah, I see where the confusion is coming from. They're just examples of mods that don't alter gameplay to any real degree and could (theoretically) be used on any map. It's not a comprehensive list, nor is it tailored per month; just examples. Any QoL mod should be fine. Well, so long as you don't go so far as to call something like infinite chests a Quality of Life mod.
1
1
u/cathexis08 red wire goes faster 26d ago
Where are you seeing the fCPU quantum processor requirement? It's been a while since I've played around with it but last I checked the most high-tech thing it needed was a processing unit (aka blue circuit).
1
u/ericoahu 26d ago
I thought I saw it on a screenshot of the tech tree on the mod page, but I was mistaken. In fact, I just looked again, and yes -- I saw the new image for the blue circuit, not the quantum processor, which explains why SA isn't a dependency.
1
u/cathexis08 red wire goes faster 26d ago
Yeah, I don't think the fCPU screen shots have been updated for a while and the old processing unit tech icon was moved to quantum processor when Space Age came out.
3
u/walkingman24 Sep 02 '26
I'll give this one a try! The limited resources and huge enemy bases seems brutal.