RimWorld Flood Light (1.6) | Layout + Power Tool
RimWorld 1.6 Outdoor Lighting Tool
RimWorld Flood Light: Stop Tripping in the Dark
Flood lights are the fast answer for yards, killbox approaches, landing pads, and long outdoor routes. Core 1.6 data gives the Flood light a 50 steel cost, 600 work to build, 100W base draw, and raw glow radius 24. Advanced lights costs 300 research after Electricity, unlocks flood lights, and halves the power draw of most electric lamps.
Quick Fix
Build one fast, light the route, move on
You do not need crop-bright light for daily base traffic. You need the full-speed ring. In RimWorld's pawn stats, darkness penalties stop once the tile reaches 30% light, which is exactly why flood lights are so good outdoors.
- Research Advanced lights so the flood light drops from 100W to 50W.
- Place it on open ground where the route, door, or work yard actually needs the full-speed ring.
- Use one light for small yards, then add more at 24 to 26 tiles between centers as the footprint grows.
- Use sun lamps for crops only. Flood lights are for movement, work, and visibility.
Coverage Visualizer
Raw glow radius 24, practical outdoor ring 17 to 19
The thing def gives the flood light a raw glow radius of 24. In actual base planning, the useful ring for full move and work speed is smaller, which is why spacing rules matter more than the raw def alone.
Lamp Comparison
Watts, radius, and the job each lamp is built for
Advanced lights halves flood, standing, and wall lamp power draw. It does not touch sun lamps.
The outdoor efficiency pick. Big coverage, few placements, easy nighttime budgeting.
Great inside compact rooms. Wasteful outdoors because you need too many to clear long routes.
The space-saving interior lamp. Use it where floor tiles matter more than absolute radius.
Industrial farming light. It automatically shuts off at night and exists to keep crops alive, not routes efficient.
Core 1.6 defs: flood light, standing lamp, wall lamp, and sun lamp all live in the Furniture building defs; Advanced lights halves power draw through a research upgrade factor of 0.5.
Layout Patterns
Outdoor planner for yards, paths, killboxes, and landing pads
Use this as a fast first pass. Open yards want lights spread roughly 24 to 26 tiles apart. Paths and approach lanes want a tighter 18 to 20 tile stagger so there are no dark seams on the actual walkable route.
Center one flood light, then add four more around it. On narrow routes, stagger lights every 18 to 20 tiles and keep them a few tiles off the centerline.
Night Defense
Light the tiles that matter before the fight starts
The best flood light placement is usually not "brightest picture." It is the smallest number of lights that makes your busiest doors, retreat lanes, and firing approach tiles stay inside the full-speed ring.
- Double-cover exterior doors if pawns use them during raids, rescues, or anomaly events.
- Anchor the killbox end first, then backfill roughly 12 to 14 tiles behind it for reload and retreat space.
- Landing pads want one light centered on the pad and another facing the approach.
- Sun lamps are terrible night-defense lighting. Save their 2900W bill for grow rooms.
Power Math
Night draw calculator
Use the exact lamp costs and power draws from the game defs, then treat sun lamps as daytime load unless you intentionally override their schedule.
Battery math here uses 600 Wd per battery as the reserve target. If your night draw is 300W, a 6 hour reserve window calls for roughly 3 batteries.