Factorio quality modules not working?

If your Factorio quality modules produce only normal items, check the machine's Quality value and remove speed-module penalties. Then check the research for the quality you want. A working production line needs both a positive upgrade chance and an unlocked destination tier; buying the expansion or installing stronger modules alone does not provide both.

These checks cover standard Space Age production on Windows, macOS, Linux and Nintendo Switch 2. Quality arrived with the PC expansion on 21 October 2024; the Switch 2 expansion followed on 22 December 2025 and requires the free Switch 2 Edition upgrade. The original Switch version has no Space Age expansion. The numerical examples below use the stable 2.0 rules.

On PC, also check your update branch. The 2.1 experimental release, introduced on 23 June 2026, lets Space Age run with its built-in Quality mod disabled. Check that Quality is enabled for your game. If your machine is a crusher using an asteroid reprocessing recipe, 2.1 deliberately prevents that recipe from accepting quality modules; removing speed beacons cannot restore that older setup.

Restore a positive Quality value

Inspect the crafting machine's tooltip and find Quality. Check that the quality modules are inside the machine itself: quality modules cannot transmit their effect through a beacon. Researching their recipe makes them available, but you still need to craft and install them to give ordinary ingredients an upgrade chance.

Before removing speed modules, note their positions so you can restore your layout afterwards. A beacon can serve several machines, so changing its modules also changes the production around your quality line. For a simple diagnosis, remove speed modules from the affected machine and from beacons supplying it, then inspect Quality again.

Speed modules apply a negative quality effect as well as increasing crafting speed. Enough of that penalty can cancel your entire upgrade chance. Under the stable 2.0 rules, one normal-quality Quality module contributes +1%, while one Speed module contributes -1% when installed directly in the same machine. Together they leave no chance to upgrade an item.

Keep the displayed value above zero while diagnosing the line. You can combine speed and quality effects when the total remains positive; the useful check is the final value, rather than the presence of any speed module. Expect production to slow after removing speed bonuses. Quality modules also have their own crafting-speed penalty, so a slower machine can still be working correctly.

Unlock the tier you are trying to produce

Open the technology tree and check the completed research, especially when uncommon or rare products appear but epic and legendary never do. The module's tier and the item's quality are separate upgrades. A Quality module 3 improves your chance; it does not open every quality level.

• Quality module research unlocks uncommon and rare quality, alongside the first module recipe.
• Epic quality research opens epic items. With the full Space Age campaign enabled, this research requires agricultural science from Gleba.
• Legendary quality research opens legendary items and follows epic quality. The full campaign requires cryogenic science from Aquilo.

Match your target to that research progress. A line turning normal ingredients into uncommon or rare products has already demonstrated an upgrade; waiting longer cannot open a locked epic tier. Finish the relevant technology before spending more materials trying to obtain it.

Check a fresh batch after changing modules

Keep the machine supplied and let it complete fresh crafts after you finish adjusting the modules. On 2.0, reducing the quality chance during a craft can invalidate that craft's upgrade roll. Leave the setup steady while judging its output rather than repeatedly swapping modules halfway through production.

Read a positive percentage as a chance, not a progress counter. With a 1% upgrade chance, a small batch can still produce only ordinary items; each hundred crafts does not award a scheduled upgrade. Watch for an output above the ingredient quality, within the tiers you have researched, rather than expecting every product to improve.

Still getting no upgrades with positive Quality and completed research? Record the game version, active mods, machine, recipe, ingredient quality and module layout, and include the save with a report on Factorio's bug forum. Those details distinguish a standard production problem from a modified recipe or save-specific issue without changing your research through console commands.