How to Farm Clay in Astroneer With the Soil Centrifuge

Clay can be awkward to find naturally in Astroneer, especially for new players wandering the surface and hoping the planet feels generous. The reliable method is to make it from soil with the Soil Centrifuge.

Farming Clay in Astroneer

Efficient Clay farming needs two items: a Soil Centrifuge and at least one Small Canister.

Craft the Soil Centrifuge at a Medium Printer with:

• 2x Compound
• 1x Aluminum

Craft the Medium Printer at a Small Printer with 2x Compound if it is not already built.

Next, craft a Small Canister from the backpack using 1x Resin. Making two Small Canisters is recommended because the centrifuge needs two full canisters of soil for one complete run.

Turn Soil Into Clay

Equip the Terrain Tool, which defaults to E on PC, and collect soil from any convenient patch of land until the canisters fill.

Place the filled canisters into the Soil Centrifuge. Select Clay from the centrifuge menu, start the process, and wait for it to finish. One full soil conversion produces six Clay blocks.

Trade for Clay

Clay can also be obtained through the Trade Platform. Craft the Trade Platform at the Medium Printer using:

• 1x EXO Chip
• 1x Tungsten
• 1x Iron

Then trade 1x Scrap for 2x Clay.

The Trade Platform does not require a platform or power to operate as of patch 1.0.

Clay Crafting Recipes

Clay is used for two recipes in the source material:

• PUM-KN Shelter: 1x Clay, 1x Resin, 1x Carbon, and 1x Plastic at the Large Printer
• Ceramic: 1x Clay at the Smelting Furnace