Electricity Bricklayer: How to Anchor Parts (Why Unanchored Parts Despawn After 4 Minutes)
Parts you leave unanchored in Electricity Bricklayer despawn after 4 minutes. Here's what anchoring prevents, and why saving a build doesn't stop the timer.
Your parts disappear in Electricity Bricklayer because unanchored parts despawn after 4 minutes. Anchoring a part before those 4 minutes run out is what stops the removal: an anchored part is kept, while a part that is never anchored in time is gone.
Why your parts despawn
Since Update 4.1, the game removes unanchored parts on a timer: a part that is not anchored despawns after 4 minutes. The timer tracks whether a part is anchored, not where it sits — a loose brick on your plot, a piece you just dropped, or a part you set down "for now" all count as unanchored, so all of them vanish once the 4 minutes elapse.
What anchoring a part prevents
Anchoring prevents exactly that 4-minute despawn. Anchor a part within the window and it stays instead of being removed. The catch is timing: once a part has despawned, it is gone, so anchoring only saves parts that are still there. If you keep losing pieces, anchor each one sooner after placing it rather than at the end of a long building session.
| Part state | What happens |
|---|---|
| Unanchored | Despawns after 4 minutes |
| Anchored within the 4 minutes | Kept — no despawn |
| Saved in a build while unanchored | Still despawns after 4 minutes unless anchored |
Saving a build does not stop the timer
Update 4.1 also restored saving of unanchored parts — earlier versions handled this differently. But saving does not exempt them from the despawn: the same update states that unanchored parts still despawn after 4 minutes if they are not anchored by then. So a part can be included in your saved build and still disappear in the world while it sits unanchored. The safe order is: anchor the part first, then save your build.
If you want the current tool and control basics while you practice this, the how to play guide covers getting started.