Warhead
| Warhead | |
|---|---|
| |
| Category: | Defense |
| Function: | Explodes when struck |
| Fits small grid | |
| Mass: | 106.2 kg |
| PCU: | 50 |
| Size: | 1x1x1 |
| Time to Build: | 10 sec |
| Fits large grid | |
| Mass: | 700.4 kg |
| PCU: | 100 |
| Size: | 1x1x1 |
| Time to Build: | 30 sec |
| Data Controls: | [edit] [purge] (?) |
The 
Warhead is an weapon block in Space Engineers. The warhead is a powerful explosive device. Warheads have a greater explosion radius than Rockets but do not come with any means of aiming or throwing them. They are useful as torpedo heads or bombs in wars, when demolishing structures, or as quick mining charges when tunneling through the ground and asteroids. A smaller variant is the Explosive Barrel.
Usage
After being armed, a Warhead is set off
- by collision with other blocks or voxels
- by damage from thruster plumes
- by weapon fire
- by neighbouring warhead explosions.
Physical contact with a player will not cause it to detonate.
Alternatively, without arming it, players can detonate it manually, either immediately or after a countdown. Players can use this countdown time to get out of its blast radius, or use an Antenna and Remote Control to detonate it from another ship entirely.
How to dig using mining charges
You want to build a huge hangar or underground base on a planet, moon, or asteroid, but don’t want to spend hours with a digging machine? Drill some tunnels and place armed large warheads in them to clear out rock. Be careful to not blow up the ores.
How to ignite warheads
- To be detonated through damage or through the manual detonation button, you must first arm the warhead in the Control Panel Screen. An unarmed warhead just gets destroyed like regular blocks after a few shots. An armed warhead will explode very easily after just one shot; so exercise caution when handling anything that contains armed warheads!
- To detonate after a countdown, you do not need to arm the warhead. Set a countdown time to get out of its blast radius.
- To detonate a warhead from the safety of another ship entirely, attach an Antenna, power, and Remote Control to the Warhead to access the Control Panel Screen remotely to Arm and Detonate it.
- To detonate several warheads, stagger them in a chain reaction: One armed warhead can ignite unarmed warheads in its blast radius.
- To be detonated by proximity of a player or ship, set up a Sensor (and possibly Timer Blocks) to trigger the warhead’s actions: Arm and Detonate.
Note: Due to server lag, Sensors likely need to trigger at further distances, and Timers after longer delays, in multiplayer versus singleplayer.
How to disarm warheads
You have a chance of canceling the explosion if you can open the Control Panel Screen (possibly through Remote Access Screen) of the warhead quickly enough.
- If it's armed, click Arm warhead again to disarm it.
- If the countdown is ticking down, click Stop countdown.
The warhead then becomes inert and non-explosive, and damage just damages it as any block.
How to build torpedoes
Using Artificial Masses and a Gravity Generator, or Thrusters set to Thruster Override, you can propel a Warhead towards a target, effectively creating a torpedo. Add Automaton blocks to build guided missiles. Such torpedos or missiles are called Player Built Weaponss (PBW).
Using Landing Gear to hold on to armed Warheads in battles carries a high risk of them detonating prematurely in crossfire, unless the Warhead is well enclosed or decoyed.
In Creative mode, players can cheaply copy and paste PBW torpedoes and flares containing Warheads, but in Survival mode, it is often more affordable to shoot Rockets. Rockets are both cheaper to produce and more accurate when fired, although the expensive custom-made PBW does enjoy the possibilities of near-unlimited range and being built with either remote-steering or autonomous homing.
How to build traps
You can combine Warheads with Sensors or use other creative ways to rig them in the perfect moment.
| Spoiler: Ship wreck trap |
|---|
| Use a ship wreck as trap: Set the ship to thruster override so the other player follows it. Place one of the ship's reverse thrusters so that its exhaust will damage and detonate the armed Warhead. While the trap ship flies forwards, it doesn't use the reverse thrusters. When a player takes over control and turns on the Inertial Dampers to brake, the reverse thrusters ignite the warhead. Some Pre-Built Ships use this method, so check the Control Panel thoroughly. |
Damage
Note that the warhead area of effect obviously differs depending on its size:
- The small-grid warhead disintegrates small blocks in a 20 block diameter (5 metres) and barely deforms one layer of large-grid light armour.
- The large-grid warhead disintegrates large-grid blocks in a 12 block diameter (30 metres) of any block size and will crack through and damage half a dozen layers.
Construction
Both size variants take up 1x1x1 blocks of their size and have mount points on any side.
A large warhead has a control panel, so when you place it, remember to rotate it to keep it accessible. A small warhead has no control panel, so you need to either attach it to a grid that has access panels, or attach a Control Panel block to the warhead.
You can attach warheads to voxels, or to static or mobile grids. Or you arm and unmerge them in mid-air so they drop onto the ground (or float in space, respectively): Loose warheads can be used like mines, or you let them roll downhill on a countdown towards an enemy.
Recipe
| Warhead | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Component | Large Ship/Station Required | Large Ship/Station Optional | Small Ship Required | Small Ship Optional |
 Steel Plate | 10 | 10 | 1 | 3 |
 Small Steel Tube | 12 | — | 2 | — |
 Girder | 24 | — | 1 | — |
 Explosives | 6 | — | 2 | — |
 Construction Comp. | 12 | — | 1 | — |
 Computer | 2 | — | 1 | — |
