Space Engineers: VCZ elevator (lift) mod

Ladders are fine but rather slow especially if you have a very long vertical base or deep mines. You can use pistons to create a type of elevator but these have limited range and you need a lot of pistons to really get very far. That is where this mod comes in. Note that it can only transport engineers, not vehicles.

First subscribe to the VCZ elevator mod on steam. The 2.0 upload works with current Space Engineers update as of 15th March 2024. Then edit the world save and add the mod to the list.

Construction

First, place a VCZ Elevator Bottom on the lowest floor.

Place an Elevator Rotor on top

Use Fillers to create spaces between floors that the elevator ‘car’ can travel between. Think of it like a vertical railway. Place as many of these as you need for the spaces between floors.

💡Tip: It is a good idea to place a wall or column of armour blocks adjacent to the elevator tower to secure it. That’s why if a piece is removed the elevator tower will not be separated into multiple grids.

Middle Pieces allow for elevator stops along the way to the top e.g. if you have 3 floors. I have used armour blocks to represent the floor levels.

Add more fillers and then finally place the top floor. You can remove the top and bottom blocks in order to extend the elevator further in either direction. Just remember to secure the shaft by placing an adjacent solid block such as a wall. If the elevator car isn’t the block you are removing you may need to reset its location.

The control panel in the rotor block can be used to control the settings of the elevator.

From here you can configure the music settings, elevator travel speed, Interior light configuration, or reset the cabin to the rotor block.

The elevator mod also has an Elevator with Vent block. This allows the elevator and car to be plumbed into the pressurised interior setup. Simply add the pipes or conveyors on the input side in the way you add vents to a room.

How to use

Press F on the door to call the elevated to your current location. The door will then open automatically when it reaches your current level. If the car is already at your level, the door will just open.

When inside, Press F again on the desired floor you wish to travel to. Press F on the Stop button at the bottom to halt the elevator mid-travel.

Sensors and external buttons can also be configured to call the elevator to your current level. Configure the setup with the rotor to command it where to send the elevator to in a similar fashion to sensor-controlled doors.

Rotary airlocks (another mod) Can be used in conjunction with elevators to prevent air escaping at floors which are a vacuum/cold. Place the rotary airlock just outside the door of the elevator.