Labor

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v50.12 · v0.47.05 This article is about the current version of DF. Note that some content may still need to be updated. More Info · V

"To get a job done, a dwarf has to do it." - Boss Urist McOverstates-the-obvious

"Put both your backs into it!"

Labor is how jobs get done in a fortress and which labors are enabled for a dwarf determines which jobs they can perform. The skill level and attributes of an individual determine how effectively they perform a job, and a dwarf's overall skill levels determine which profession the game assigns to them.

The sprites of the dwarves, humans, elves will represent the profession they are assigned. For example, a woodcutter dwarf will appear as someone constantly carrying an axe, and a miner will appear as someone always carrying a pickaxe.

Introduction to labor

• Your dwarves function as semi-autonomous entities, usually fulfilling their own basic needs, and sometimes performing jobs when able.
• Most jobs correspond to a labor which a dwarf must have enabled to perform.
• Labors are assigned to dwarves in groups called work details.
• Jobs, the specific tasks to be completed, are created in various ways, including designations, zones, workshop tasks, and manager work orders, and once created, an idle dwarf with that labor enabled will be assigned the job.
• As dwarves perform jobs, their skill in those areas increase. (The terms labor and skill are not synonyms. Skill is a measure of proficiency for a given labor, while a labor is the ability to do the work.)
  • Some skills don't correspond to jobs, like social skills and miscellaneous abilities like swimming.

Work details

The work detail tab is accessed from the y labor menu. Work details are listed on the left side of the screen. By clicking on one of them you will then see a list of all the adult citizens in your fortress on the right. A check mark in the rightmost box shows if the work detail has been assigned to a citizen.

Each work detail has a setting controlling how it is assigned to citizens:

• When "Only select do this" is selected, the work detail can be assigned to as many citizens as you like by checking the rightmost box next to their name.
• With "Everybody does this" selected, all citizens in the fortress will have permission to do the work detail's labors. (Any check marks/permissions set up before selecting "Everybody does this" will go white, showing that they are paused and they will be restored if you go back to "Only select do this".)
• When "Nobody does this" is selected, all citizens in the fortress will be banned from doing the work detail's labors. This does not override permission given by other works details. Any check marks/permissions set up before selecting "Nobody does this" will go red, showing that they are paused and they will be restored if you go back to "Only select do this".

Additionally, each citizen has the option to be specialized, this is shown by the hammer and lock icon just to the right of their name (It can also be viewed and interacted with from the u Citizens menu). When this setting is on, the citizen will ignore any "Everybody does this" work detail.

Labors not assigned to any work detail are treated as "Everybody does this".^[Verify]

Default work details

By default the work details, and the labors associated with them, are as follows^[1]

Miners†	Mining
Woodcutters†	Woodcutting
Hunters†	Hunting
Planters	Farming (fields)
Fisherdwarves	Fishing
Plant gatherers	Plant gathering
Stonecutters	Stonecutting
Engravers	Stone engraving
Haulers	All Hauling labors
Orderlies	Suturing Dressing wounds Feed patients/prisoners Recovering wounded

† The Mining, Woodcutting, and Hunting labors are only accessible from these default work details.

Custom work details

Utilities

You may have noticed that the UI for managing dwarves is a bit difficult to use. If you are using a supported operating system, Dwarf Therapist and/or DFHack can make this much easier.

Additional work details can be defined. Click "Add new work detail", select which labors will be associated with it, and then click done. You can then rename the new work detail.

There is currently no way to choose the work detail's icon, so you are stuck with what the game chooses. The roman numerals are in the file Dwarf Fortress\data\vanilla\vanilla_interface\graphics\images\interface_bits_labor.png and can be changed, but will still be used in order.

Tool requirements

For a few specific jobs, a matching tool is also required for a dwarf to obey the job assignment. Any active miner needs a pick, any active wood cutter needs a battle axe, and any active hunter needs a crossbow (with quiver and bolts). If a labor needs a tool, the labor is considered exclusive such that you can only assign one of the three labors listed to any single dwarf at any one time.

This means that a dwarf cannot be, for instance, a Miner and a Hunter simultaneously, since both labors require a tool. If a dwarf is assigned a tool-labor and another tool-labor was previously assigned to said dwarf, the (old) tool-labor is automatically and silently unassigned, and that tool is immediately dropped where they stand at the time.

Additionally, the assignment of these tools overrides any uniform assigned to a dwarf's squad, so military dwarves should never be assigned any of the aforementioned labors.

To be used, a tool cannot be forbidden, nor in possession of another dwarf (even one that does not currently have a job), and a path must be available from the dwarf to that type of tool. If a tool is not available, the dwarf will typically attempt to fulfil other needs. It is possible, by using locked doors etc. to limit the paths, to force a specific tool to be assigned to a dwarf, but otherwise the tool will be randomly assigned, sometimes involving a dwarf walking long distances and past perfectly useful tools to find the one they think they want.

Facility requirements

Many jobs require a workshop or some other facility in order to be completed. Jobs are designated by way of the workshop, and any dwarf with the corresponding labor associated with the workshop will go to the shop, provided they are not eating, sleeping, drinking, etc..., and begin to complete the task. Most workshop jobs also require some raw materials in order to complete the production.

Managing labor and demand

This can be done from the labor menu y under the work details tab.

• You can view a list of all current, queued, and suspended jobs, as well as which dwarves are doing them, on the tasks menu.
• A manager is incredibly useful for managing production jobs (workshop based). They can queue up a significant list of jobs without the need to select the various workshops, and place orders in bulk (or to be repeated). That said, there are some caveats, the most important being that queued jobs must be done in the correct order of materials required, or the orders will auto cancel. Also, you should not assign your manager to labors that are in high demand, as this will keep them from going to their office to place the orders.
• Migrating dwarves will typically arrive with certain work details already assigned. You will likely want to change these to put them to work in a way that best suits your fortress.

Advanced labor management and design

Managing your dwarves can be a tricky business. If the in-game labor menu is not to your liking, Dwarf Therapist or DFHack are both useful tools that assist you in managing your labors.

As your fortress grows, so will your labor pool, and the way you assign that labor will change over time. Typically at embark, you will have at least one Miner, a Wood cutter, Farmer, Carpenter, Mason/Stonecrafter, Cook/Brewer, Mechanic/Architect, one of which will also be a Broker/Appraiser. There are multiple combinations but this is typical (see Embark and Starting build). Early on, you will probably want to focus on fortress design and development, such that you will place priority on mining and masonry, supplemented by carpentry.

In order to maximize the benefit of highly skilled labor, you will eventually want to specialize your labor, such that each dwarf has a very limited number of labors assigned. Keep in mind however, that some dwarves experience minor negative feelings at not being able to perform a craft or a martial art for too long.

Hauling: Nothing can bog down your production like the distraction of hauling jobs. Losing your fort to a siege is fun, but losing because all your skilled laborers spend all their time hauling stuff is no fun. One solution is to use dedicated haulers. The migrants who appear having no skilled labor, and whose attributes pretty much suck all around, aka peasants, are best used as dedicated haulers.

Labor, skill, and product quality

The amount of experience a dwarf has with a certain labor will determine how well they go about performing this labor; the more experience, the greater the skill. Certain job types can be completed more quickly, based on the skill in the labor. There are exceptions, such as nursing and hauling which will never be completed more quickly, regardless of skill.

Certain labors will produce products that have a quality tag, typically those associated with the production of an item from a workshop. The table below lists in which labors the dwarf's experience will impact the quality of produced items and in which labors a higher experience will only be beneficial for the speed of production.

• Many labors, most notably hauling, have no associated skill, do not generate experience, and do not improve with practice.

Strange moods

A dwarf under a strange mood will perform a specific task to create an artifact that is outside of the player's control. Until they complete the task, both they and the workshop they claim will be unavailable for any labor. If the dwarf cannot complete the artifact, they will go insane and be permanently unable to perform any labor.

"Labor" in other Languages Dwarven: èrith Elvish: equa Goblin: akul Human: ebe

List of labors

Category	Labors	Benefits of higher skill
Mining	Mining	speed only
Woodworker	Carpentry	speed; item and furniture quality
	Crossbow-making	speed; weapon quality
	Wood cutting	speed only
Stoneworking	Masonry	speed only
	Stone carving	speed; items and furniture quality
	Stonecutting	speed only
	Stone engraving	speed; engraving quality
Hunting/Related	Animal training	speed; training quality
	Animal care	none (not implemented)
	Hunting	success rate tends to rise from increasing ambusher and marksdwarf skills
	Trapping	success rate? trap quality?[Verify]
	Small animal dissection	speed only
Healthcare (Medical)	Diagnosis Surgery Setting bones Suturing Dressing wounds	speed; success chance, accuracy (and speed) of treatment
Healthcare (Nursing)	Feed patients/prisoners Recovering wounded	none
Farming/Related	Butchery	speed only
	Tanning	speed only
	Farming (fields)	speed; crop yield (stack size)
	Dyeing	speed; dye quality
	Gelding	less likely to be injured
	Soap making	speed only
	Wood burning	speed only
	Potash making	speed only
	Lye making	speed only
	Milling	speed only
	Brewing	speed only
	Plant gathering	speed; success and plant yield (stack size)
	Plant processing	speed only
	Cheese making	speed only
	Milking	speed only
	Shearing	speed only
	Spinning	speed only
	Cooking	speed; meal and ingredient quality
	Pressing	speed only
	Beekeeping	speed only[Verify]
Fishing/Related	Fishing	speed; fish stack size
	Fish cleaning	speed only
	Fish dissection	speed only
Metalsmithing	Furnace operating	speed only
	Weaponsmithing	speed; weapon quality
	Armoring	speed; armor quality
	Blacksmithing	speed; item and furniture quality
	Metalcrafting	speed; craft, item, decoration, designed building quality
Jewelry	Gem cutting	speed; gem craft quality
	Gem setting	speed; decoration quality
Crafts	Bookbinding	?
	Papermaking	?
	Leatherworking	speed; clothing, decoration, craft quality
	Woodcrafting	speed; craft quality
	Stonecrafting	speed; craft quality
	Bone carving	speed; craft, decoration quality
	Glassmaking	speed; craft, item, furniture quality
	Weaving	speed; cloth quality
	Clothesmaking	speed; clothing, decoration quality
	Strand extraction	speed only
	Pottery	speed; craft, item, furniture quality
	Glazing	speed; glaze quality
	Wax working	speed; craft quality
Engineering	Siege engineering	speed; part, ammunition quality
	Siege operating	speed; accuracy
	Mechanics	speed; mechanism, furniture quality
	Pump operating	none
Hauling	Stone hauling Wood hauling Item hauling Burial Food hauling Refuse hauling Furniture hauling Animal hauling Trade Good Hauling Water Hauling Push/Haul Vehicle	none
Other Jobs	Cleaning	none
	Lever operation	none
	Road building	none
	Wall/floor construction	none

Some jobs are not associated with a labor: eating, drinking, sleeping, going on break, partying, cleaning themselves, and resting.

A few things are listed as "No Job" but can be considered labors in a different sense: running scared, not having a path to any place useful, and being insane.