Frostpunk 2 Economy Overlay Controls

Economy overlays are among the most powerful tools in a Steward's arsenal. These visual layers reveal resource flows, heat deficits, and district interactions without opening individual building panels. Master the overlay hotkeys to diagnose problems before they escalate into city-wide crises.

Heat and Fuels Overlay (Key 4)

The heat overlay displays generator output, fuel consumption, and per-district heat allocation levels. After the version 1.5 update, heat is managed at the district level rather than city-wide, making this overlay essential for daily management. Districts shown in warning colors are not receiving sufficient heat and will stop functioning if temperatures drop further.

Use this overlay before and during whiteout events to identify which districts to prioritize. Housing and Food Districts typically receive heat first, while Industrial Districts can tolerate brief cold periods if necessary. Plan ahead with our Heat and District Calculator to model fuel consumption before expanding.

Materials Overlay (Key 5)

The materials overlay tracks production and consumption of construction materials across Extraction and Industrial Districts. Materials are required for district maintenance, building upgrades, and hub construction. A negative materials balance leads to gradual efficiency penalties across your city.

Monitor this overlay when expanding rapidly or establishing Frostland colonies that require material shipments. The resource transfer guide explains how to move materials between New London and remote settlements efficiently.

Food Overlay (Key 6)

Press 6 to view food production, consumption, and stockpile levels. Food Districts on fertile soil tiles produce the bulk of your supply, while Hothouse buildings in Housing Districts provide supplementary output. During the campaign prologue, food stockpiling to 40,000 units before the whiteout is the primary objective.

Emergency Shifts on Food Districts temporarily boost output at the cost of increased tension. The prologue walkthrough details optimal food district placement and stockpile hub construction for meeting the 40,000 food target.

Workforce Overlay (Key 7)

The workforce overlay shows employment levels across all districts. Under-staffed districts operate below capacity, while over-extension without adequate housing leads to homelessness and crime. Each district type requires specific workforce amounts: Housing needs 200, Food and Extraction need 600, Industrial needs 600, and Logistics needs 400.

Balance workforce allocation when adding Research Institutes and Council Halls in Housing Districts, as these buildings consume workforce without producing resources directly. Their value comes from unlocking the Idea Tree and Council law system.

Proximity Effects Overlay (Key 8)

The proximity overlay visualizes adjacency bonuses and penalties between districts. Positive effects include heat demand reduction from generator adjacency, crevasse shelter, and same-type clustering. Negative effects include squalor from Industrial-Housing proximity and disease from Industrial-Food adjacency.

Study this overlay while planning district layouts to achieve zero-heat housing blocks and avoid pollution penalties. Our adjacency and heat bonuses guide provides the exact numerical values for each placement scenario.