for the completely random ore preset, would it be possible to change the ore distribution math to favor copper more when you go out a bit ? since you need more iron early game but if you're going to automate space science you just end up trashing a good chunk of it hoping for more copper.

Nope. Ore distribution is a fixed value and not dependent upon distance beyond if the ore is in a starter area or not. I would also have no way to algorithmically determine the appropriate nudges to apply to the weights.

Handling the distribution is a large part of the difficulty of the Scrambled preset.

for the completely random ore preset, would it be possible to change the ore distribution math to favor copper more when you go out a bit ? since you need more iron early game but if you're going to automate space science you just end up trashing a good chunk of it hoping for more copper.

Actually, I did remember. You can change ore distribution globally via the size and frequency sliders. Feel free to try that.