Moonstone is the most valuable thing you can sell in Moon Sweepers, but the Stone Press is not automatically the better buy. Moon Sand sells for three times the value of raw Dust, and Moonstone sells for seven times. The Stone Press also costs twice as much as a Pressure Chamber, needs almost twice the power, and cannot run without a chamber feeding it Sand.
The practical answer depends on what limits your base:
- Dust is scarce: Moonstone gets the most money out of every kilogram you collect. Build toward the Stone Press.
- Cash is scarce but Dust is plentiful: a $500 Pressure Chamber is the cheaper way to raise income first, and you need one for Moonstone anyway.
- Power is scarce: fix power before buying either machine. A press without enough power earns less than a chamber that runs.
The comparison below uses the in-game build menu values and the state of the game at patch 1.0.3. Where a value depends on something the game does not state, it is marked.
The Sale Values You Are Choosing Between
| Material | How you get it | Listed sale value |
|---|---|---|
| Moon Dust | Collected by tools, vehicles, robots and J.O.O.N.A.S | Base value |
| Moon Sand | Pressure Chamber presses Dust into Sand | 3 times Dust |
| Moonstone | Stone Press combines 1 kg Dust and 1 kg Sand into 2 kg Moonstone | 7 times Dust |
These multipliers come from the build menu text and appear the same way in several gameplay videos. They describe material value. They are not measured hourly profit, because profit also depends on how fast your line runs, how much you spent to build it and whether the material actually reaches the Depot.
Value per Kilogram of Dust You Collect
If Dust collection is your limit, the useful question is how much money each kilogram of collected Dust becomes. The answer depends on one unconfirmed detail: whether the chamber returns the same weight of Sand as the Dust it takes in. The build menu does not say. Assuming the weight carries over, the routes compare like this:
| Route | Dust used | What you sell | Value in units of raw Dust |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sell raw | 2 kg | 2 kg Dust | 2 |
| Pressure Chamber only | 2 kg | 2 kg Sand | 6 |
| Chamber plus Stone Press | 2 kg, half pressed into Sand | 2 kg Moonstone | 14 |
Under that assumption, each kilogram of collected Dust is worth about 3 times as much when sold as Sand and about 7 times as much when it ends up in Moonstone. Moonstone more than doubles the value of the Sand route for the same Dust.
That is why players describe the Stone Press as the step that makes processing worthwhile, once a base has enough Dust and power to feed it. It is also why a press that sits idle is such a waste: the extra value only exists while it runs.
Value per Minute at the Listed Speeds
Machine speed matters as much as value. The listed cycles are a Pressure Chamber at up to 5 kg of Dust every 12 seconds and a Stone Press at 2 kg of Moonstone every 6 seconds. At those ceilings, and with the same weight assumption, one minute of full-speed running looks like this:
| Machine at full speed | Material out per minute | Value per minute, in raw Dust units | Same Dust sold raw |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pressure Chamber | Up to 25 kg Sand | Up to 75 | 25 |
| Stone Press | Up to 20 kg Moonstone | Up to 140 | 20 |
The press line uses 20 kg of Dust a minute, half of it as Sand from a chamber, to produce value that would take far more Dust to match as Sand. These are ceilings, not promised results. Guides that list the rates warn that delivery, power and blocked outputs keep real lines below them.
The Price of Each Machine
| Item | Cost | Power need |
|---|---|---|
| Building Tool | $50 | None listed |
| Pressure Chamber | $500 | 10 kW |
| Stone Press | $1,000 | 18 kW |
| Solar Post | $75 | Provides 3 kW |
| Solar Twin (M) | Price not confirmed | Provides 7.5 kW |
A Moonstone line is never just the press. It needs at least one Pressure Chamber for Sand, a Splitter so raw Dust bypasses the chamber, belts, and enough solar for both machines. One chamber and one press together need 28 kW.
Count power in the price
A Pressure Chamber needs at least four basic Solar Posts to reach its 10 kW on nominal solar alone, and two Solar Twin (M) units would provide 15 kW. A Stone Press at 18 kW needs considerably more. Players who bought the press with just enough cash for the machine have found they could not afford the power to run it.
Low power cuts profit without always stopping the machine. One player's machines ran at 52% under a low power warning until more solar went in. A press at half speed earns about half its potential, so the extra solar is part of the real price.
What Players Found When They Compared
A Steam player compared setups using the in-game board and first concluded that, for the same $1,000, two Pressure Chambers beat one Stone Press. After spending more, they changed their verdict: one chamber split across several presses with splitters multiplied profits substantially, and they called the press worth it.
That matches the numbers above. With limited cash and lots of Dust, two cheap chambers turn more Dust into higher-value material than one press can. Once you can afford a press line and keep it fed, Moonstone value pulls ahead.
Other players reached the same idea from a different angle. One streamer with a chamber already running noted that more Sand alone would not grow income faster because the line was already bottlenecked, and that the press at $1,000 would earn much more, though it would need more machines later too.
Which One to Buy at Your Stage
| Your situation | Better next purchase | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Raw Dust not yet reaching the Depot reliably | Neither | Fix delivery first; processing adds nothing if material does not sell |
| Steady Dust, under $1,000, limited power | Pressure Chamber | Cheaper, 10 kW, triples value, needed for Moonstone later |
| Chamber running, Dust left over, enough cash and power | Stone Press | Raises value from 3 times to 7 times on the Dust it uses |
| Plenty of Dust, chamber always busy, little cash | Second Pressure Chamber | Processes more Dust per dollar spent |
| Press running but often waiting | Fix supply or power | An idle press earns nothing extra |
Do not sell a working chamber to afford a press. The press cannot make Moonstone without Sand, and buildings reportedly return only about 75% of their cost when removed, so selling and rebuilding loses money.
Profit Mistakes That Erase the Difference
The gap between 3 times and 7 times only matters if the line actually runs. These are the mistakes that most often make a Moonstone line earn less than a simple Sand line:
- Sending all Dust into the chamber. The press needs raw Dust on one input and Sand on the other. With no raw Dust branch, the press makes nothing and you have paid $1,000 for an idle machine.
- Swapping the press inputs. The two ports are marked for Dust and for Sand. Belts on the wrong ports leave both ingredients waiting.
- Reversing the chamber. Its input is on the side without the handle. A reversed chamber makes no Sand, so the press starves too.
- Building past your power. A press that stops every night earns only during the day, which can wipe out its advantage over a chamber that runs on less power.
- Expanding before measuring. A second press that competes with the first for the same Sand adds cost without adding Moonstone.
Fix these before deciding the Stone Press is not worth it. Most disappointing press lines turn out to be wiring or power problems, not a weak machine.
Make Sure Processed Material Pays Out
Before 1.0.3, some players reported inconsistent payment for processed material sold automatically. Patch 1.0.3 changed this: the deposit intake now pays exactly what its screen shows, and Dust and stone arriving by belt are paid as they come in. If your group plays together, every crewmate must be on 1.0.3.
If a Sand or Moonstone line seems to earn less than expected, update first, then follow one batch to the intake before deciding the machine is not worth it.
Upgrades that change the comparison
The Market Contracts upgrade raises the launch payout for Dust. Sources do not say whether it applies the same way to Sand and Moonstone, so do not assume it changes the gap between routes until you see it on the intake screen.
Measure Your Real Profit
The multipliers tell you which route is worth more per kilogram. Only your own base tells you which earns more per hour.
- Note your money and the time.
- Run the line unchanged for a fixed period in good power.
- Note your money again and divide by the time.
- Change one thing, such as adding a press, and repeat for the same period.
- Compare the two results against what the change cost.
If adding the press raised income by more than its price over the time you expect to keep playing that save, it paid for itself. If not, the limit is somewhere else: Dust supply, Sand supply, power or delivery. Fix that limit before buying the next machine.