SAND Raiders Guides

Correct as of Update #6 · 2026-08-03

Crew sizes and match queues

Maximum crew is six. Update #6 redefined the queue brackets on 2026-08-03 — and the publisher's own FAQ still shows the old ones, which is why so many guides have this wrong.

Correct as of Update #6 · 2026-08-03

The publisher states · Update #6 · 2026-08-03
Current queue brackets, from the developer's own announcement.
QueueCrew sizeSet by
Duo only2 playersUpdate #6 · 2026-08-03
Small Crews3–4 playersUpdate #6 · 2026-08-03
Large Crews5–6 playersUpdate #6 · 2026-08-03

Confirmed on a first-party surface — the developer’s Steam announcements or the publisher’s support site.

The FAQ is wrong, and here is how

When we checked the publisher's support FAQ on 2026-08-06 — three days after Update #6 — it still listed the old 2–3 / 4–6 brackets. That is the surface a search engine sends you to, and it is stale. The current brackets live in the announcement, which is harder to find. If a guide repeats “small crews are 2–3”, that is where it came from.

The teams-of-four trap

The publisher states · support article dated 2026-08-04

The publisher lists as a frequently reported issue that teams of four cannot select Small Crews, with an official workaround: form a team of three or fewer, choose Small Crews, then invite the fourth player.

Confirmed on a first-party surface — the developer’s Steam announcements or the publisher’s support site.

This is worth calling out because Update #6 defines Small Crews as teams of threeand four, while the shipped behaviour blocks the four. Both statements are first-party and they disagree. If you queue as a full four and Small Crews is greyed out, that is the bug, not you — use the workaround above.

What we deliberately leave out

Stated, but not against these brackets

Older material lists server caps of 15 for solos, 36 for small teams and 45 for large teams. Those numbers were stated against the previous bracket definitions and were not restated in Update #6.

So we do not publish them next to the current brackets. They are real numbers attached to a bracket scheme that no longer exists, and mapping them onto the new one would be a guess. Printing them here anyway is the exact mistake the stale guides make.