Dwarf Fortress Wiki - User contributions [en]

Need

2026-05-26T18:53:00Z

91.49.252.253: /* Fortress actions per need */

{{migrated article}}
{{Quality|Exceptional}}
{{av}}

[[File:needs_v50_preview.png|thumb|262px|right|Status screen.]]

'''Needs''' affect a creature's focus - needs that are unmet for long enough will increasingly damage the creature's '''focus''', while sufficiently well-satisfied needs will improve it. Better focus leads to better results from work--essentially, a boost to all skills. Distraction is the opposite--an unfocused dwarf may become sloppy in their work, making worse crafts or failing a block during combat.

The need system replaces the generalized [[on break]] feature of previous versions. Dwarves will sometimes perform jobs that satisfy their personal needs, instead of working for the betterment of the fortress. These personal-fulfillment jobs generally come in two varieties: low-priority (indicated by green text, e.g. {{DFtext|Listen to Poetry|2:1}}), or high-priority (magenta text with an exclamation point, e.g. {{DFtext|Pray to Lorsïth!|5:1}}). Low-priority jobs may be cancelled to undertake a fortress job. High-priority jobs will not be cancelled for fortress jobs.

== Focus ==
:''Overall, Urist is unfocused by unmet needs.''
Focus affects a dwarf's ability to perform. A dwarf with high focus will work faster and produce better results, while a distracted dwarf will take longer to do everything poorly. Focus is separate and independent of overall mood; a dwarf can be happy even with largely-unmet needs, or unhappy yet focused. However, prolonged insufficiency in meeting needs is a cause for both low focus and bad thoughts. Thus, focus can, with prudence, be used to predict future mood developments.

Focus represents the percentage of the combined totals of met over unmet need values. The ratio of 1:1 (100%) represents a neutral state.

Focus statuses:
{| class = "wikitable sortable"
|-
| {{DFtext|Very focused|2:1}}|| 140% and higher
|-
| {{DFtext|Quite focused|2:0}}|| 120-139%
|-
| {{DFtext|Focused|7:1}}|| 101-119%
|-
| {{DFtext|Untroubled|7:0}}|| 100%
|-
| {{DFtext|Unfocused|6:0}}|| 81-99%
|-
| {{DFtext|Distracted|6:1}}|| 61-80%
|-
| {{DFtext|Badly distracted|4:1}}|| 60% and lower
|}

A highly-focused dwarf can receive an effective skill boost of up to 50%; a badly distracted dwarf can receive an effective skill penalty of up to 50%.{{cite|Dev Log 2015-04-12|http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/dev_2015.html#2015-04-12}}

== Diversity ==
:''She is unfocused by a lack of trouble-making.''

An individual creature's set of needs and their weights (levels) are affected by [[personality facet]]s. For instance, a dwarf that values romance will be unfocused "after being unable to make romance", while a dwarf that personally values nature will be unfettered "after seeing animals". Unreligious dwarves will have no need to pray or meditate; dubious and casual worshippers will have low or medium level needs to pray; committed believers will have high level need; and dwarves following multiple deities will have a separate prayer need, with separate level for each of their deities. Proposed weights per need level are 1, 2, 5, and 10.

As expected, high-level needs hold a much larger sway in a dwarf's overall focus than low-level needs. For example, "immoderation" controls the need for [[alcohol]]; dwarves, thus, are more likely to have a need for alcohol than humans (but most of the time won't have a very strong one). A small percentage have no need for alcohol at all, though they'll still slow down without it, due to dwarves' alcohol dependence.

Needs are shown in the "Needs" sub-tab of the "Personality" tab of a creature's character sheet, which can be accessed by clicking on the creature or from the creat{{k|u}}re tabs by clicking [[File:Mag glass icon.png]] next to the creature in one of the sub-tabs of the "creatures" tab..

Degree of fulfillment:
{| class = "wikitable"
!Descriptor
!Range
|-
| {{DFtext|Unfettered|2:1}}|| 400 to 300
|-
| {{DFtext|Level-headed|2:0}}|| 299 to 200
|-
| {{DFtext|Untroubled|7:1}}|| 199 to 100
|-
| {{DFtext|Not distracted|7:0}}|| 99 to -999
|-
| {{DFtext|Unfocused|6:0}}|| -1,000 to -9,999
|-
| {{DFtext|Distracted|6:1}}|| -10,000 to -99,999
|-
| {{DFtext|Badly distracted|4:1}}|| -100,000 and below
|}

When a need is satisfied, its value is refreshed to maximum (400), regardless of previous value. There is no minimum to how {{DFtext|Badly distracted|4:1}} a need can get. A deeper negative value won't further reduce total focus, which is based on a ratio of all needs' focus rating.

In the absence of needs rated as "Badly distracted" the focus score is expressed as the ratio of:

[6 * number of Unfettered scores +
5 1/3 * number of Level-headed scores +
4 2/3 * number of Untroubled scores +
4 * number of Not distracted scores +
3 1/3 * number of Unfocused scores +
2 2/3 * number of Distracted scores] / (4 * number of scores total)

where the numerator is rounded down to a whole number.

It is currently unknown how "Badly distracted" needs contribute to focus, pending further science, but it is likely that they contribute 2 points each to the numerator.

== Fortress actions per need ==

{| class = "wikitable sortable"
!Positive
!Negative
!Related [[Personality value|Value]] or [[Personality facet|Facet]]
!Job
|-
|spending time with people
|being away from people
|GREGARIOUSNESS
|Socialize
|-
|drinking
|being kept from alcohol
|IMMODERATION, SELF-CONTROL
|Drink alcohol
|-
|communing with [deity] / meditation
|being unable to pray (to [deity])
|
|Pray/meditate in a [[temple]]
|-
|staying occupied
|being unoccupied
|HARD_WORK, ACTIVITY_LEVEL
|(assumedly a sufficient amount of fortress tasks*)
|-
|doing something creative
|doing nothing creative
|ART_INCLINED
|Create or perform any artistic work
|-
|doing something exciting
|leading an unexciting life
|EXCITEMENT_SEEKING
|Varied; including at least being in danger or catching a live vermin; can be satisfied by sparring
|-
|learning something
|not learning anything
|KNOWLEDGE, CURIOUS
|Gain a rank in any skill, learn a new subject from written content. Learn something from watching a guild demonstration.
|-
|being with family
|being away from family
|FAMILY
|Socialize with close family members. Note that this need ''can'' currently be assigned to dwarves without families.
|-
|being with friends
|being away from friends
|FRIENDSHIP
|Socialize with friends. Any social interaction (which involves talking, ie. intellectual discussion, sharing personal insight or just talking, but not getting into an argument) between friends is enough as is making a new friend.
|-
|hearing eloquent speech
|being unable to hear eloquent speech
|ELOQUENCE
|Hear or recite poetry
|-
|upholding tradition
|being away from traditions
|TRADITION
|Talk with [[champion]] (Perform any improvisational form? Religious rites? Justice served?). Can be satisfied by partaking in some performances in a tavern.
|-
|self-examination
|a lack of introspection
|INTROSPECTION
|read anything, compose song or poetry (automatically self-indulgent), sharing a personal insight (random social activity, which can happen also outside a meeting area)
|-
|making merry
|being unable to make merry
|MERRIMENT, HUMOR
|Watching or partaking in any performance (dance, poetry, music)
|-
|practicing a craft
|being unable to practice a craft
|CRAFTMANSHIP
|Craft any item
|-
|practicing a martial art
|being unable to practice a martial art
|MARTIAL_PROWESS
|Gain a rank in any combat skill
|-
|practicing a skill
|being unable to practice a skill
|SKILL
|Use any skill (?); definitly satisfied by gaining a rank in any skill.
|-
|taking it easy
|being unable to take it easy
|LEISURE_TIME
|(assumedly spending a sufficient time idle or self-fulfilling?); ie. satisfied by watching any performance in a tavern (ie. listening to story)
|-
|making romance
|being unable to make romance
|ROMANCE, LOVE PROPENSITY
|''interacting'' with spouse/partner/lover or getting caught up in a new romance (gaining new lover)
|-
|seeing animals
|being away from animals
|NATURE
|Animal must also see the dwarf.*
|-
|seeing a great beast
|being away from great beasts
|EXCITEMENT_SEEKING, NATURE, CURIOSITY
|Uncertain, possibly encounter LARGE_ROAMING?
|-
|acquiring something
|being unable to acquire something
|GREED, COMMERCE
|Acquire any trinket (happens automatically when performing a "Store item in stockpile", "Store item in bin" or "Bring item to depot" job on an eligible [[trade good]], note that this includes clothing, but items claimed via pick-up equipment jobs do not satisfy this need), but some dwarfs are picky and might not want any of your normal trinkets (in that case check the dwarf preferences and get/make some of the dwarfs preferred items (finished goods), preferable with some of the dwarfs favored materials and then make sure, that that dwarf will haul it).
|-
|eating a good meal
|a lack of decent meals
|IMMODERATION
|Eating a preferred food (or a preferred alcohol [[cook]]ed into a meal), or a meal worth over 20☼.
|-
|fighting
|being unable to fight
|VIOLENT
|Partake in a fight or any combat or any sparring session.
|-
|causing trouble
|a lack of trouble-making
|HARMONY, DISCORD
|Fight or Argue
|-
|arguing
|being unable to argue
|FRIENDLINESS
|Argue
|-
|being extravagant
|being unable to be extravagant
|IMMODESTY
|Wear any item with a quality modifier
|-
|wandering
|being unable to wander
|NATURE, ACTIVITY LEVEL
|Complete a Fish, Return kill (hunt) or Gather plants job; complete a [[mission]]
|-
|helping somebody
|being unable to help anybody
|ALTRUISM, SACRIFICE
|Bring water or food to patient/prisoner/animal*; bring wounded units to rest; leading demonstration; being yelled at by unhappy citizens (for relevant nobles). Note: Give water tasks seem to be automatically created, if a dwarf gets thirsty, when already going to bed or on the way to get something to eat, or if a dwarf has already taken a job (ie. mining job), where the dwarf needs a long time to complete the job (ie. reach the digging destination and perform the digging job), and becomes thirsty on the way. And a give water task does not get deleted until completed (with the possible exceptions that the dwarf is no longer on-site or dead).
|-
|thinking abstractly
|a lack of abstract thinking
|ABSTRACT_INCLINED
|Read or write any written content, or compose music or a poem. Playing make-believe. Having an intellectual discussion (social activity). Watch a (guild) demonstration. (Using Architect skill does not satisfy this need.)
|-
|admiring art
|being unable to admire art
|ARTWORK
|Exposure to artful furniture, artistic crafts, or engravings. Watching certain performances.
|}
: (* See also [[animal caretaker]])

Satisfying any need will result in a good thought and a decrease in stress.

== Adventurer actions per need ==

{| class = "wikitable sortable"
!Positive
!Negative
!Related [[Personality value|Value]] or [[Personality facet|Facet]]
!Adventurer activity
|-
|spending time with people
|being away from people
|GREGARIOUSNESS
|{{adv menu icon|k}} Speak to anyone or reply to greeting. They don't have to be able to reply back.
|-
|drinking
|being kept from alcohol
|IMMODERATION, SELF-CONTROL
|Drink alcohol
|-
|communing with [deity] / meditation
|being unable to pray (to [deity])
|
|{{adv menu icon|k}} Speak, Pray to <Deity> or Begin a performance, Give a sermon
|-
|staying occupied
|being unoccupied
|HARD_WORK, ACTIVITY_LEVEL
|Very wide variety of actions
|-
|doing something creative
|doing nothing creative
|ART_INCLINED
|Perform or compose any work
|-
|doing something exciting
|leading an unexciting life
|EXCITEMENT_SEEKING
|A wide variety of actions
|-
|learning something
|not learning anything
|KNOWLEDGE, CURIOUS
|Gain a rank in any skill, learn a new subject from written content.
|-
|being with family
|being away from family
|FAMILY
|Implemented, but inaccessible without modding. If your character has close family members, this need will be filled by spending time with them (seems to only apply to blood [[relationship|relations]]). However, there is currently no way to actually do this outside of mods.
|-
|being with friends
|being away from friends
|FRIENDSHIP
|Unimplemented
|-
|hearing eloquent speech
|being unable to hear eloquent speech
|ELOQUENCE
|Hear or recite poetry
|-
|upholding tradition
|being away from traditions
|TRADITION
|Perform any improvisational form
|-
|self-examination
|a lack of introspection
|INTROSPECTION
|read anything, compose song or poetry (automatically self-indulgent), craft a figurine of yourself
|-
|making merry
|being unable to make merry
|MERRIMENT, HUMOR
|Recite any poem
|-
|practicing a craft
|being unable to practice a craft
|CRAFTMANSHIP
|Craft an item (ie, Knapping, Bone Carving)
|-
|practicing a martial art
|being unable to practice a martial art
|MARTIAL_PROWESS
|Gain a rank in any combat skill
|-
|practicing a skill
|being unable to practice a skill
|SKILL
|Gain a rank in any skill
|-
|taking it easy
|being unable to take it easy
|LEISURE_TIME
|Unknown (I fulfilled this need by going to sleep at a tavern, getting interrupted in the middle of the night by a giant alligator (which the bards killed by the time I went down the stairs) and performing with them for a while)
|-
|making romance
|being unable to make romance
|ROMANCE, LOVE PROPENSITY
|Unimplemented
|-
|seeing animals
|being away from animals
|NATURE
|Animal must also see you
|-
|seeing a great beast
|being away from great beasts
|EXCITEMENT_SEEKING, NATURE, CURIOSITY
|Uncertain, possibly encounter LARGE_ROAMING?{{Verify}}
|-
|acquiring something
|being unable to acquire something
|GREED, COMMERCE
|Acquire any item by trade or demand
|-
|eating a good meal
|a lack of decent meals
|IMMODERATION
|Eating a sufficiently valuable meal. Foods with an [[item value]] of at least 4☼ count.
|-
|fighting
|being unable to fight
|VIOLENT
|Engage in any combat of any lethality
|-
|causing trouble
|a lack of trouble-making
|HARMONY, DISCORD
|Fight or Argue
|-
|arguing
|being unable to argue
|FRIENDLINESS
|Get into any disagreement about values
|-
|being extravagant
|being unable to be extravagant
|IMMODESTY
|Wear any item with a quality modifier on a body part - a waterskin will not work, as it can only be worn ''in'' another item of clothing
|-
|wandering
|being unable to wander
|NATURE, ACTIVITY LEVEL
|Move to/from any site or region tile
|-
|helping somebody
|being unable to help anybody
|ALTRUISM, SACRIFICE
|Reunite family members
|-
|thinking abstractly
|a lack of abstract thinking
|ABSTRACT_INCLINED
|Read or write any written content, or compose music or a poem
|-
|admiring art
|being unable to admire art
|ARTWORK
|Exposure to artistic crafts, examining adornments and coins
|}

Satisfying any need will usually result in a good thought and a mild decrease in stress. (If the dwarf has extremely low CHEER, they may "felt nothing after X").

Creatures with {{token|NOEMOTION|c}} cannot satisfy any need and will inevitably become 'distracted'. In unmodded games, this concerns only [[Intelligent undead]].

==Adventure mode meta-strategy==

Upon creating your adventurer, you may want to avoid having any of the non-fulfillable needs: romance, family, friends. Otherwise, you will suffer never-ending [[focus]] disadvantages.
Some precaution is necessary in sacrifice/altruism -> helping capability is not available as long as you're quite weak (fighting; companions), and maybe in martial prowess if you're not constantly fighting, and so increasing your stats. To fulfill your booze needs, you'll have to visit human towns' taverns or other dwarven fortresses quite often (and fill your extra water storage containers with ale from the barrels for on the road).

{{Category|Dwarves}}

[[ru:Need]]

Talk:Advanced entity position mechanics

2026-05-26T16:13:40Z

91.49.252.253: /* Automatic creation of hist figure for expedition leader in vanilla (if site founded by army without hist figure) */ new section

These lines contradict eachother:
* Premature succession works in fortress mode with landholders. If a unit gets a landholdersposition and that landholder is the appointer of an yet-empty position, which is defined as succeeding from a third one, then the succession is immediately applied. The landholder himself can even be the successor of a newly created position.
* A landholder's position is, in fortress mode, not successable by a site-position or visa versa.

Needs further investigation [[User:Joostheger|Joostheger]] ([[User talk:Joostheger|talk]])
----An interesting tidbit I did find, while validating some info for the variable positions (writing and running some Lua scripts for it): The FORCED_ADMINISTRATOR position of the dwarven civilization is actually used, eventhough I so far found only one instance (where the position was used). Interestingly the precedence was 100 (not 65) and was the only position of a site government belonging to a goblin civ. The site ruled was a Mountain Halls and most inhabitants were also dwarves. The other data in the position definition matched the raw-definition of the FORCED_ADMINISTRATOR (of the dwarven civ). So the token [CONQUERED_SITE] might mean that another civ conquering a site of a dwarven civ will (or might) use the forced administrator for governing that site (and not the other way round).[[Special:Contributions/91.49.240.46|91.49.240.46]] 21:10, 10 February 2026 (UTC)
----That is an interesting fact, but I doubt it still :-) My experience is that it just works. I think that FORCED_ADMINISTRATOR is also a generated position, used by other groups that have variable positions
[[User:Joostheger|Joostheger]] ([[User talk:Joostheger|talk]]) 08:50, 12 February 2026 (UTC)

---- Well I had to create a larger world (with 250 year history) to get a few variable positions. As it turns out a FORCED_ADMINISTRATOR is used by all mayor civs, that have positions, even the tree-huggers. The dwarfs have precedence 65 for the position and all other 100 (not checked everything for the FORCED_ADMINISTRATOR). And the goblins and humans can have other site positions created afterwards, the human can even upgrade create a CUSTOM_LAW_MAKER_2 afterwards. All other vanilla races (elves and dwarves) will not get other site positions with a FORCED_ADMINISTRATOR.
ps. And yes this means that the assumption concerning the meaning of [CONQUERED_SITE] token is wrong.[[Special:Contributions/91.49.240.46|91.49.240.46]] 09:04, 12 February 2026 (UTC)

In addition: The FORCED_ADMINISTRATOR position can appoint other positions, at least if these positions are variable and created afterwards (and the civ has variable positions). But the FORCED_ADMINISTRATOR will not appoint a CUSTOM_MILITARY_STRATEGY position, if the CUSTOM_MILITARY_GOALS position was created (before the creation of the CUSTOM_MILITARY_STRATEGY position), in that case the CUSTOM_MILITARY_STRATEGY position did appoint by the CUSTOM_MILITARY_GOALS position holder. This is probably due to the higher precedence of the CUSTOM_MILITARY_GOALS position in comparison to the FORCED_ADMINISTRATOR. I do need to check the high precedence CUSTOM_OFFICIALs though, whether the reason might be something else other than precedence.[[Special:Contributions/91.49.240.46|91.49.240.46]] 10:23, 12 February 2026 (UTC)

== Possible vanilla Dwarven Civ landholder residence sites ==

It seems that in world-gen a dwarven civilization can make a town a land holder residence (a hamlet has not been found so far). This is rare. The only other sites a vanilla dwarven civ will consider a land holder residence is a (dwarven) Fortress - Hillocks or Mountain Halls will never be considered a land holder residence. These rare cases are related to a site being considered a "land for holding" and "central holding land" by a human civilization (which can only be hamlets or towns) - see note about the name baron (in the article Variable Positions). I have not yet figured out, if such a site after being taken over by a dwarven civ, if it is a town (and not a hamlet), will always be considered a land holder residence or only in some cases. Of course the town would need to be considered a land for holding by a human civ before the take over by a dwarven civ.

BTW: I am not sure, where this tidbit of information does belong (this page, the variable positions page or the noble page, after adding a section about world-gen). As the above ie. implies also something about modded civilizations with landholders (or using some certain variable positions).[[Special:Contributions/87.143.66.20|87.143.66.20]] 03:41, 3 April 2026 (UTC)

Correction: Slightly misread the script output (if two flags are true for dwarven civs in site entity links between a site and the entity of the civ, then the central holding land is missing and not the land holder residence flag). So also other sites can become a land holder residence, but the only non Fortress sites, which can receive all three flags ("land holder residence", "central holding land" and "land for holding") are towns. And this is indeed tied to the above (a human civ considering a town a central holding land and land for holding).[[Special:Contributions/87.143.66.20|87.143.66.20]] 04:09, 3 April 2026 (UTC)

----
Thank you for the insights. I believe that a site can get a landholder, if it has enough other sites economicly linked to them. There are mentions in the old devlogs about this. I think that any type of site (town, fortress, deep fortress, tree city) can become a landholders seat, because the economic system is generic for all kinds of sites.
When a market is build in a hamlet, it becomes a town. and when enough wealth is exported and generated, sites become economicly linked to them. And that triggers the elevation of that site to which it can have a landholder.
So, when I site has all the prerequisits for getting a landholder, it doesn't matter of which type of civ that landholder is. It may be a raw-defined dwarven baron, or a generated human baron-lord.
[[User:Joostheger|Joostheger]] ([[User talk:Joostheger|talk]]) 08:57, 3 April 2026 (UTC)

== Automatic creation of hist figure for expedition leader in vanilla (if site founded by army without hist figure) ==

In vanilla, if a site of a dwarven civilization is founded by the game during fortress mode and the army founding the site (and subsequentially settling at the site) lacks any hist figure, then the game will create a history figure on the spot to fill the expedition leader position (at least if any sentinent abstract population, eg. dwarves, were part of the army - I did not test any shenanigans without any abstract populations or with only pack animals etc. as hist figures in the site founding army). I am not sure if this implies, that for any modded civilization which has site positions, also in such cases a history figure to fill a certain position will be created (or if in such cases all positions will for the time being stay emtpy, until some hist figures settle there).[[Special:Contributions/91.49.252.253|91.49.252.253]] 16:13, 26 May 2026 (UTC)

World activities

2026-05-26T16:04:27Z

91.49.252.253: /* Notes */

{{migrated article}}
{{old}}
{{Quality|Unrated}}
{{av}}

After [[world generation]], game worlds continue to develop and advance while time passes in-game, simulating off-screen various activities in the world outside of the player's influence and without their direct input, referred to as "world activation".

World activation happens when you start a new [[Fortress mode|fortress]] or [[Adventure mode|adventure]] mode game, during the two weeks that pass in the [[calendar]] when you begin. Otherwise, it happens as [[time]] passes as you play at normal fortress/adventurer speed. You can play many games of [[Fortress mode|fortress]] and/or [[Adventure mode|adventure]] mode in the same world, each building up its history.

==Types of activities==
Types of activities that are simulated during world activation:

===Succession===
[[Historical figure]]s can get married, have children, do their various jobs, and die: as can their children ''ad nauseam'', as they are also historical figures.

The various positions of [[nobles]] will either be inherited by another historical figure, or assigned to a new historical figure by the parent civilization when the position is [[Fun|vacated]] or they have an [[unfortunate accident]].
Conflicts over succession and illegitimate site ownership can emerge, and armed usurpations and insurrections can take place.

===Site changes===
[[Image:Legends_artifact_symbol_v50.07_01.png|800px|thumb|A legendary sword being made a symbol during world generation]]
Existing NPC [[site]]s are conquered, liberated, defended, destroyed, reclaimed and new sites are created[http://www.bay12forums.com/smf//index.php?topic=140544.msg6843526#msg6843526] while playing. Bandits will loot villages, armies will conquer cities, and forgotten beasts will ransack fortresses. Abandoned dwarven fortresses can be reclaimed later by the player.

As the player can do in [[fortress mode]], during [[world generation]] and [[world activities]]), certain [[item]]s can also be chosen as the symbol of a [[army|group]]'s administrative position. These items were either, upon construction, an artifact, or were later - but prior to becoming a symbol - made into an artifact by naming the item (ie. to sanctify someone; the item having been that someone's favorite possession).

===Movement===
Consequently, all kinds of creatures and groups travel around on the world map. However, others teleport. No, really.

The following groups teleport:

* [[Caravan]]s
* [[Diplomat]]s
* [[Migrant]]s
* [[Megabeast|The]] [[Semi-megabeast|various]] [[Forgotten beast|beasts]]

The rest physically travel on the map, including:

* [[Bandit]]s
* [[Refugee]]s
* [[Scholar]]s
* [[Thief|Thieves]]
* [[Quester]]s
* [[Religion|Religious]] professions such as [[prophet]]s, [[monk]]s or [[pilgrim]]s
* [[Army|Armies]] like siegers or other invaders

[[File:Df goblins distracted by elves.png|thumb|Screenshot showing Goblin civs prioritizing conquering the Elves down south above attacking the player fort (here highlighted with a yellow 'A' due to the rumour of artifacts.) ASCII mode.]]

[[Army|Armies]] move around the map while playing for various reasons, including site invasion (not just to the player site), harassment, searching for work, reclamation of sites and more. As invaders need to actually travel the world map to get to your site, embarking close to a site of potential invaders increases the chances of an invasion. Other factors that influence the probability of an invasion are the "effective" population of said site{{verify}}, in other words, how many soldiers the site can spare to attack you. While a site may have a high population, it may be occupied with other, more important campaigns than the player's site.

The asterisks {{DFtext|*}} on the fast [[travel map]] in adventure mode are creatures and armies moving around on the world map.

===Non-player adventurers===
[[Quester|Non-player adventurers]] will group up in parties and wander around, or adventure alone. They will also go on [[quest]]s to retrieve [[artifact]]s in play, which they receive from [[historical figure]]s that are in power, for example, a lord or noble from another site. For fortress mode, this manifests as [[visitor]]s coming to your fort and requesting you hand over artifacts. If you say no to them, they may try to steal it from you, or outright attack your fort.

In adventurer mode, this is more subtle: non-player adventurers can be found who are looking for artifacts, and may compete with you when you are trying to get artifacts, if they happen to be looking for the same artifact. If you are holding the artifact they seek (even if you are hiding it in your backpack), they will try to mug you (like [[bandit]]s) and may also attack you, follow you around, or vocally demand that you give them the artifact.

==Information==
{{DFtext|Greetings from the mountainhomes. Let's discuss our situation.|7:1}}

In an active fortress session, the player will get information about current events through the [[liaison]]. During the [[meeting]], communication of this information is implied. The actual information will appear on the [[Civilization and World Info]] screen, under the "News and rumors" tab.

== Notes ==
* In older versions, any world activity stopped after [[world generation]] finished. This is no longer the case since v0.40.01 and the changing of this is what is usually referred to as "world activation". "Restarting" [[world generation]] is not planned.

* Currently, when new sites are founded during fortress mode by other civilizations, ie. forest retreats, hamlets/towns, dark pits or hillocks, then the civ_id (and cur_owner_id) is not set properly (for the created site), instead the civ_id is set to the id of the army, which founded the site (allthough it probably should use the field entity_id of the army_controller instead - terminology according to dfhack), which can potentially lead to problems. Also the cur_owner_id of a site is usually not updated, if another civilization takes over a site in fortress mode. Furthermore, in such cases, the flag "dead" (in the property "flags" of the entity) of the previous site government is not set to true. In such cases it can also happen, that a historical figure, who is created on-the-fly, to be the FORCED_ADMINISTRATOR is not associated with any entity (eg. not belonging to any group) at all (despite being the forced administrator of the new government) and the historical figure can - in that case - ie. lack skills (info.skills is nil for that particular historical figure). In case of a destroyed site getting reclaimed by any civilization then the cur_owner_id will still be set to -1 after successfully reclaiming a site (as destroying a site does set the cur_owner_id to -1). None of the above (except a forced administrator not associated with any group) can be seen without using tools like dfhack (ie. as legends and the game usually do not display these things, only the possible side-effects can be experienced in-game).

{{World}}
{{Category|World}}
{{Category|Legends mode}}

Talk:Cavern

2026-05-26T00:58:34Z

91.49.252.253: /* Cavern and embark item availability section */ new section

== Updating flora/fauna layers to v50 ==

I just updated the [[cave moss]] and [[floor fungus]] raws, and noticed the cavern layers they appear in had been changed compared to in DF2014. The [[Cavern#Grasses|grasses section]] has been updated to reflect this (and the addition of [[underlichen]], but in its light I suspect the trees and creatures may have their layers altered too. I suppose this is a reminder of sorts, to look over those before we mark the page as fully migrated. --[[User:Voliol|Voliol]] ([[User talk:Voliol|talk]]) 21:18, 1 January 2023 (UTC)

Okay, the crop-plants and trees appear unchanged, but I would still keep an eye on the creatures, unless we have something to confirm they are unchanged. --[[User:Voliol|Voliol]] ([[User talk:Voliol|talk]]) 21:36, 1 January 2023 (UTC)

I have now checked everything is all right with the creatures, including the vermin, but excluding the animal people. The changes made to the latter is the big thing to consider before the migrated template can be removed, their new behavior needs some mention. Then there's cavern agitation and the new spoileriffic obsidian things. --[[User:Voliol|Voliol]] ([[User talk:Voliol|talk]]) 21:38, 2 January 2023 (UTC)

== Cavern and embark item availability section ==

The section does not seem to be correct. As it is dwarven caravans can bring dwarven cheese. Depending on the choosen dwarven civ (of a world) it is also possible that that civ has access to ie. nether-caps and other materials, which are usually only found in deeper cavern layers. As it is dwarven caravans (and embark screen) allows for all items (and materials) listed under the resources property of the civ-entity (viewable via dfhack) to be choosen. The entries can include items/materials which are only found in deeper cavern layers. This has been the case since at least the first version of the siege update. Also directly after world-generation all resources listed under the different site-entities of a civ also appear in the civs resource property entries (but not vice-versa). But then I have yet to see a dwarven caravan bring any vermin in cages (allthough I did not check, if any do appear under the resources.animals.pet_races entry, but I suspect for dwarves there will currently never be any vermin entry and so no purring maggots will ever be brought by dwarven caravans).[[Special:Contributions/91.49.252.253|91.49.252.253]] 00:58, 26 May 2026 (UTC)

Designations menu

2026-05-25T18:32:59Z

91.49.252.253:

{{Quality|Exceptional}}
{{av}}
[[File:designation_icons_preview.png|right]]The '''Designations menu''' can be accessed along the bottom center of the screen, and provides the means to mark tiles with various designations including [[mining]], [[wood cutting]], [[plant gathering]], [[smooth|stone detailing]] as well as [[removing]] constructions, controlling [[traffic]] and other miscellaneous designations.

To designate an area ({{Menu icon|m|b|num=1}}), select the desired designation from the menu, place your cursor over the first tile, click once, then drag your cursor over to another tile - which will create a rectangle, then click again. You can also choose to "paint" an area ({{Menu icon|m|B|num=1}}), which lets you specifically designate tiles one by one. Depending on the designation, this also works across [[z-level]]s, allowing 3-dimensional designations in the shape of a cuboid.

To cancel a designation, use Remove Designations ({{Menu icon|x}}).

All designations can be prioritized, with 1 being the highest priority and 7 being the lowest. Note that if two different designations have the same priority, one type may still be favored over the other (allthough such obeserved behavior could just be a result of different distances - in the maximum norm - to the tiles in question). They also can be assigned as "Blueprint only", which is similar to the job being suspended, as it marks tiles in a blue-colored square. This is useful for planning out designations and rooms without dwarves suddenly moving in to do anything yet.

Also note that for any and all designations (wood cutting, plant gathering, smoothing etc.) a dwarf currently doing such a job will when choosing the next job of that type always pick an accessible, designated tile (which has not been flagged as the current/next working tile of another dwarf) with the minimum distance (in the maximum norm) from the current position, regardless of how long the path to actually get there is. And when starting to do such a job the first tile is choosen by the same metric (minimum distance in the maximum norm). If more than one tile have the same distance then it is random which tile is picked first.

== Designations Menu ==
*[[File:designations_v50_preview.png|thumb|260px|right|Designations, both normal and marked (blue).]]Mine ({{Menu icon|m|m}}) - Mark tiles to be [[Mining|mined]] out. Removing stone/soil walls and leaving stone/soil floors. May leave stone/ore/gems. (req. [[Mining]] labor)
*Channel ({{Menu icon|m|u}}) - Mark tiles to be [[Channel|channeled]] out. Removing the stone/soil wall on that tile, the floor, and replacing the stone/soil floor below with a ramp. May leave stone/ore/gem. (req. [[Mining]] labor)
*Remove Up Stairs/Ramps ({{Menu icon|m|x}}) - Mark tiles to remove natural ramps and dug ramps/stairs. (req. [[Mining]] labor)
*Create Stairway ({{Menu icon|m|t}}) - Mark walls to be dug out and replaced with stairs going up or down. (req. [[Mining]] labor)
*Upward Ramp ({{Menu icon|m|r}}) - Mark walls to be dug out and replaced with upward ramps (req. [[Mining]] labor)

*Chop Down Trees ({{Menu icon|l}}) - Mark [[tree]]s to be chopped down. (req. [[Wood cutting]] labor)

*Gather Plants ({{Menu icon|g}}) - Mark [[shrub]]s to be gathered. (req. [[Plant gathering]] labor)

*Smooth Stone ({{Menu icon|v|m}}) - Mark stone walls to be smoothed. (req. [[Stonecutting]] labor)
*Engrave Stone ({{Menu icon|v|g}}) - Mark smoothed walls to be engraved. (req. [[Stone engraving]] labor)
*Carve Fortifications ({{Menu icon|v|f}}) - Mark walls to have [[fortification]]s carved. (req. [[Stonecutting]] labor)
*Carve Track ({{Menu icon|v|t}}) - Mark stone walls to be turned into track for [[minecart]]s. (req. [[Stonecutting]] labor)

*Toggle Blueprint Mode ({{Menu icon|M}}) Toggle existing designations between blueprint mode and standard mode (see [[#Blueprint Mode|below]]).
*Remove Designation ({{Menu icon|x}}) - Remove all designation markings.
*Remove Construction ({{Menu icon|m|x}}) - Mark [[construction]]s to be removed
*Bulk designation of items: ({{Menu icon|i}})
**{{Menu icon|i|F|num=1}}: Reclaim Items/Buildings - Mark area of objects to be [[Reclaim|claimed]].
**{{Menu icon|i|f|num=1}}: Forbid Items/Buildings - Mark area of objects to be [[forbid]]den.
**{{Menu icon|i|m|num=1}}: Melt Items - Mark area of objects to be [[melt]]ed.
**{{Menu icon|i|M|num=1}}: Remove Melt - Remove [[melt]] marking from area.
**{{Menu icon|i|p|num=1}}: Dump Items - Mark area of objects to be [[dump]]ed.
**{{Menu icon|i|P|num=1}}: Remove Dump - Remove [[dump]] marking from area.
**{{Menu icon|i|H|num=1}}: Unhide Items/Buildings - Remove [[Hide Items or Buildings|hide]] marking from area.
**{{Menu icon|i|h|num=1}}: Hide Items/Buildings - Mark area of objects to be [[Hide Items or Buildings|hidden]].
*Set [[Traffic|Traffic Areas]] ({{Menu icon|T}}) - Traffic area values determine where dwarves will travel. Large values for cost mean that dwarves will avoid that area if at all possible; smaller costs mean they will prefer that path even if it is longer than “normal”.
**{{Menu icon|T|h|num=1}}: High Traffic Area - Mark areas with the “cost” listed in “High Traffic Cost”
**{{Menu icon|T|x|num=1}}: Normal Traffic Area - Mark areas with the “cost” listed in “Normal Traffic Cost”
**{{Menu icon|T|l|num=1}}: Low Traffic Area - Mark areas with the “cost” listed in “Low Traffic Cost”
**{{Menu icon|T|r|num=1}}: Restricted Traffic Area - Mark areas with the “cost” listed in “Restricted Traffic Cost”

== Designations modification==
Mining {{Menu icon|m|n}} can also be modified to change behavior:
*{{Menu icon|m|v|num=1}}: Designate all - Standard behavior.
*{{Menu icon|m|V|num=1}}: Automining Ore/Gems - Once this tile has been processed, all neighboring tiles will be marked for mining, if they contain the same ore or gems. Can only be designated on revealed ores/gems. Will appear green.
*{{Menu icon|m|o|num=1}}: Designating Ores/Gems - What it says on the tin. Only works on revealed tiles.
*{{Menu icon|m|g|num=1}}: Designating Gems - See above.

== Priority ==
[[File:priority_anim.gif|right]]Designations can be assigned a priority by clicking [[File:Designation priority 1.png|25px]]-[[File:Designation priority 7.png|25px]]. By default, all designations are made with a priority of [[File:Designation priority 4.png|25px]], but higher priority jobs can be marked by using priorities [[File:Designation priority 1.png|25px]]-[[File:Designation priority 3.png|25px]], and lower priority ones with [[File:Designation priority 5.png|25px]]-[[File:Designation priority 7.png|25px]]. Note that [[File:Designation priority 1.png|25px]] is the ''highest'' priority, and [[File:Designation priority 7.png|25px]] the ''lowest''.
When a dwarf has several jobs of different priority to do, the ones with higher priority are executed first, regardless of how convenient they are for the dwarf in question; a job marked [[File:Designation priority 1.png|25px]] on the other side of the map will take precedence over a job marked [[File:Designation priority 2.png|25px]] right next to them.

Care should be taken not to set important tasks on too low of a priority, as many other incoming and existing tasks will take precedent over those lowest priority tasks, meaning those tasks will never get done unless their priority is changed manually.

== Blueprint mode ==
Designations can be placed in the default standard mode—the jobs are eligible to begin as soon as the game is unpaused—or in blueprint mode. Switch the mode of new designations with {{Menu icon|M}}. Blueprint mode designations appear cyan instead of beige.

Dwarves will not actually undertake blueprint mode designations. This can be used to plan future projects, and it offers a few advantages:
* There is no need to designate the entire project at once. Doubtful portions can be deferred until nearby terrain is revealed, for example.
* Blueprint designations will not disrupt jobs already underway.
* The full range of priorities is available, as opposed to delaying the project by forcing low priorities. Thus the new project can take priority over existing designations when it's ready, without the need to remove the old designations.

When it is time for your dwarves to begin a blueprint-mode project, designate a {{Menu icon|M|k|num=1}} standard toggle and choose an area that contains all the blueprint designations you wish, in all three dimensions. All blueprint-mode designations within will change to standard mode, and vice versa. The opposite ({{Menu icon|M|L|num=1}}) can be used to temporarily deactivate existing standard designations as well.

==Notes==
* With [[DFHack]] installed, there is also be a setting available in the mining menu {{Menu icon|m|Ctrl+d|num=1}} that allows to configure whether your miners will ignore [[Digging designation canceled|warm or damp stone]].
{{V50 menus}}
{{Category|Interface}}
{{Category|Designations|*}}
[[ru:Designations menu]]

Miner

2026-05-25T14:02:46Z

91.49.252.253: /* Mining behavior */ Updated to fit the observed mining behavior.

{{Quality|Exceptional}}
{{v50_skill
| color = 7:0
| graphic = [[File:miner_sprite_icon.png]]
| skill = Miner
| profession = Miner
| job name = [[Mining]]
| tasks =
* [[Dig]]
| attributes =
* Strength
* Toughness
* Endurance
* Willpower
* Spatial Sense
* Kinesthetic Sense}}
{{av}}
'''Miner''' is the skill associated with both the '''mining''' [[labor]] and its associated profession. Miners are necessary to build any kind of [[fortress]] that is [[underground]] or involves [[stone]]. They are required to dig tunnels, [[channel]]s, [[stair]]s and [[ramp]]s, as well as remove said stairs and ramps. Miners require a [[pick]] to do any work. As of [[Release information/53.07|53.07]], digging speed is affected by the [[material]] and [[quality]] of the [[pick]]. There is a 20% boost per quality level up to double (100% boost)[https://www.twitch.tv/blindirl/clip/HomelyTriangularSparrowCopyThis-nKUITLddzJfvnWXO] at masterwork/artifact quality.

Miners gain experience for every tile mined, which means they gain experience faster in easier-to-dig soil and slower in stone. Due to the constant demand, straightforward work and fast experience curve, miners level-up to [[skill|legendary skill]] faster than any other profession. Most players will have one or two legendary miners within thirty minutes of gameplay.

Mining skill affects only the speed at which stone is mined, not the chance of acquiring resources from mining. Normal rocks and ore deposits drop an average of 1 boulder for every 4 squares mined; in compensation, one ore gives 4 bars of [[metal]] (although some types of ore sometimes give 1-4 extra bars of another metal) and one stone boulder yields 4 [[block]]s. Gem clusters drop rough [[gem]]s 100% of the time. Graphically, miners will often wear light grey tunics to resemble their occupation.

In order for any mining to be done, the {{menu icon|m}}ining [[Designations menu|designation]] must be used.

==Mining behavior==
{{Main|Mining}}
If a large area is designated for mining (with the same mining priority), miners will start clearing out the area starting from the accessible designated mining area which is nearest to them (when they decide to mine, eg. take the first mining spot, but, if the dwarf does not have a pickaxe in inventory, the decision where to mine is done after picking up a pickaxe), here nearest means whichever location is nearest to them in the maximum norm (actual pathing distance to get to the spot is irrelevant).

Once mining, a dwarf will automatically continue on to mine any connected tiles (on the same level) designated for mining, even diagonally, rather than shift to mine a discontinuous tile. But once all such tiles (which were designated for mining) have been mined the dwarf will pick any tile designated for mining (which is not already tagged by another miner as the next mining spot) with the minimum distance (in the maximum norm) from the position the miner is currently at, which might just be a tile one z-level above or below the current dwarf's position (even if the actual pathing distance is much longer than the actual pathing distance to the next tile, designated for mining, on the current z-level). If more than one tile has the same minimum distance than it is more or less random, which tile is picked next.

== Mining speed ==
A zero-skill Miner takes 20 job ticks (5 per 'wear' on the wall being dug - a soil tile would just be 5) at about 11 frames per tick, for a total of about 215 frames to mine a single tile. A Proficient miner, however, did the same work in only 60% of the time (12 job ticks, 3 per wear level). A Legendary miner did the job in 20% of the time (4 job ticks, 1 per wear level).

If you're doing a lot of digging, [[Embark|starting]] with a semi-skilled Miner can save you a lot of time.

==Combat==
The miner skill is also used when fighting with a pickaxe. Pickaxes are brutally effective [[Weapon|weapons]], combining a piercing and a slashing attack, and make really good weapons for adventurers. [[Immigrants]] can come to the fort with low-quality [[copper]] or [[bronze]] pickaxes, so consider replacing them with better-quality materials, like [[iron]] made by skilled weaponsmiths. Despite their effectiveness, however, a miner who is attacked when they're busy mining will not generally use their pick in combat, unless they are forced to.
[[File:dwarf_miner.png|thumb|270px|center|He's got his sights on some [[native platinum]].]]
{{Skills}}
{{Category|Professions}}