"How do I delete this?" is one of the most-searched Sandustry questions, and the honest answer is that removal is split across three different tools depending on what you built. Here is the complete demolition manual, then the drones themselves.
Removing haulers
Current Early Access behaviour: select the Hauler Drone tool and a list of your existing hauler routes appears. From it you can change a route's pick-up and drop-off points, add or remove drones from a route, or delete the route entirely — a deleted hauler politely finishes its current delivery before disappearing.
If you remember this being impossible: it was. The demo had no delete at all — placing a new drone past the limit silently removed your oldest one, and when players complained on the forums the developer's reply was that "a drone admin is coming." The route list is that promise, delivered.
Removing pipes
Pipes are built behind other structures (so they can run through your factory), which is why no ordinary tool touches them. The game ships a dedicated building for exactly this: the Pipe Remover — described, in the wiki's own words, as "the Demolisher but for Pipes." If a pipe seems undeletable, you are holding the wrong tool, not facing a bug.
Removing buildings
Everything else — machines, belts, filters — goes through the Demolisher, or by Marquee-selecting placed blocks. Remember that a Pump you demolish may leave its liquid behind, and a Filter you remove releases whatever it was trapping (captive lava included — see the lava guide before freeing one of those).
The drone roster
Four drone types exist, each with its own research entry:
| Drone | Tier / Cost | Job |
|---|---|---|
| Sweeper | T2, 800 Gold | Auto-collects loose material off the ground |
| Digger | T3, 2500 Gold | Digs autonomously until hitting a surface it can't break |
| Hauler | T4, 3000 Gold | Carries material between a pick-up and a drop-off you assign |
| Recon | — | Scouts the map |
Assigning a hauler is click-the-pickup, click-the-dropoff; upgrades (capacity, speed) are bought with Fluxite. Per-level upgrade stats are unconfirmed — the wiki's upgrade tables are empty stubs as of this check, and we have not measured them ourselves yet.
When not to use haulers
Haulers are the expensive, flexible option — 3000 gold before upgrades. The beginner economy runs entirely on gravity and belts, and the wiki notes none of the basic logistics buildings need power. The standing community advice matches the mechanics: gravity for anything falling, belts for anything horizontal, haulers only for routes too awkward for either — which is why compact designs advertise themselves as "no drones" (see blueprints).