Does it matter where I put thrusters?

[Artrysa]

So if I make a large ship, can I have all thrusters basically at the back? Or will that make my ship list forward? I'm not sure in how much the aerodynamics and such matter.

[bossbill1]

They dont matter, you can put thrusters anywhere you like. Just remember to leave enough space in front of the thruster if you have thruster damage enabled.

[Dan2D3D]

Hi, not really but the mass can change the "Center of mass" of the ship that we can see by enabling "Show center of mass" from the "Info" Tab of grid terminal.

For example
-> Placing all heavy blocks on the back of the ship will move the center of mass a bit more to the back so where most of the mass is.

+
The "center of mass" is where the ship will rotate around so the pivot point.

[Dan2D3D]

I will add,
it's more obvious on cars where adding more mass on the back will lower the back suspension for example.

[herrschaftg35]

There is no aerodynamics in the game. Gyroscopes determine how well a ship turns, thruster positioning is irrelevant.

[Quill]

It only matters if your ship's thrust comes from a Clang Drive. They are more stable when placed at the center of mass

For normal propulsion like thrusters it doesn't matter

[Unruly]

No, but yes. All thrust is said to go through the center of mass for that axis. However, it makes a different where you place blocks inasmuch as a long thin ship maneuvers way slower than the same blocks arrange in a more compact cube.

[Crown]

Thruster placement matters. Cause you're not going to stop otherwise. Unless you intend on trying to fly like you just watched an episode of The Expanse.

[Dan2D3D]

Indeed, but we all know on doing the engineer testing that we must have thrusters on all sides to fly.

[Dan2D3D]

Also,
the best Drones are the ones that can fly on all sides so the ones having the same amount of thrusters on all sides.

[Ronin Planetary Industries]

Originally posted by Unruly:

No, but yes. All thrust is said to go through the center of mass for that axis. However, it makes a different where you place blocks inasmuch as a long thin ship maneuvers way slower than the same blocks arrange in a more compact cube.

To expand on what you said:

There's a maximum speed limit in the game regarding how fast the farthest block from the center of mass in a grid can move. There's a limit for large grids and a limit for small grids. So if a grid is built particularly long in one or more dimensions, there's a hard limit to how fast it can rotate no matter how many gyroscopes are used. More gyros means getting to that maximum rotational speed faster. But more gyroscopes means a lot more mass. More mass makes everything about the build more sluggish.

[Bobucles]

Thruster direction matters. Thruster position does not. The thrust behaves the same in any location. Thrusters have a "burn zone" that will damage blocks placed in their line of fire, but with a big enough chamber they can even be hidden inside your ship.

Controlling your center of gravity is its own thing and depends on all the parts.

[Someone]

I know where you can stick your thrusters. . . In all 6 directions

Edit: and don't forget gyros, I always forget