Dwarf Fortress Wiki - User contributions [en]

v0.34:How large a farm do I need

2013-01-26T02:01:31Z

Ahf: /* The math */ Fixed a mistaken conclusion..

{{Quality|Fine|21:40, 3 April 2012 (UTC)}}
{{av}}

[[Dwarves]] require approximately 2 units of [[food]] and 4 units of [[drink]] each season. [[Farming]] can produce enough [[crop]]s to satisfy part or all of these requirements. However, be aware that the more and larger your farms are, the more time and effort must be accorded to their maintenance.

==The math==
Your dwarves can plant 1 [[seed]] per tile on each [[farm plot]], and depending on the crop, the [[skill]] of the [[grower]], and whether the farm plot was [[fertilizer|fertilized]], each planted tile will yield a stack of 0-12 (average: 5) edible, [[mill|millable]], [[brewing|brewable]], or otherwise [[farmer's workshop|processable]] plants each harvest cycle. Brewing always quintuples stack sizes; for example, a stack of [[cave wheat]]s [5] is brewed into a [[barrel]] of [[Dwarven beer]] [25] at a [[still]]. Processing [[quarry bush]] plants into quarry bush leaves at a farmer's workshop also quintuples stack size, as does processing [[sweet pod]]s into [[Dwarven syrup]]. [[mill|Milling]] sweet pods into [[Dwarven sugar]] does ''not'' increase stack size. [[Pig tail]]s and [[plump helmet]]s grow faster than other crops, and as long as the mature plants are harvested promptly, it is not hard to grow multiple crops of either plant each season from the same plot.

{| class="wikitable"
! Plant Name
! Active Seasons
! Days Per Harvest
! Harvests Per Tile Per Season
! Harvests Per Tile Per Year
! Average Plants Harvested Per Tile Per Year
! Average Processed Food/Drink Per Tile Per Year
|-
|Plump helmet
|4
|25
|3
|12
|60
|300
|-
|Pig tail
|2
|25
|3
|6
|30
|150
|-
|Cave wheat
|2
|42
|2
|4
|20
|100
|-
|Sweet pod
|2
|42
|2
|4
|20
|100
|-
|Quarry bush
|3
|42
|2
|6
|30
|150
|-
|Prickle berry
|4
|25
|3
|12
|60
|300
|-
|Wild strawberry
|4
|25
|3
|12
|60
|300
|-
|Longland grass
|4
|25
|3
|12
|60
|300
|-
|Rat weed
|4
|25
|3
|12
|60
|300
|-
|Fisher berry
|4
|25
|3
|12
|60
|300
|-
|Rope reed
|4
|25
|3
|12
|60
|300
|-
|Sliver barb
|4
|25
|3
|12
|60
|300
|-
|Sun berry
|4
|25
|3
|12
|60
|300
|-
|Whip vine
|4
|25
|3
|12
|60
|300
|}

A beginning fortress has 7 dwarves, each of which consumes 6 [[Main:urist|urist]]s of food and drink per dwarf per season, or 168 for the whole fortress for the year. The starting group can theoretically be fed by a single farm tile, but in practice they will need more because they are unable to use the farm tile to its fullest potential. A properly-managed and fully-utilized 3x3 plot could produce an average of up to 2700 units of food and drink per year, enough to feed an entire mature fortress. A single 5x5 plot could produce an average of up to 7500 units of food and drink per year, enough to feed over three hundred dwarves.

The general limitation is not the size of the farm per se, but the skill of the growers, the availability of seeds and [[potash]] for fertilizer, and careful management of [[labor]], [[stockpiles]], and the food industry to ensure that crops are harvested (rather than left to [[wear|wither]] in the field), are properly stored away from [[vermin]], the plants are processed, and seeds are recovered so that the cycle can continue next season.

==Approaches==
Many fortresses begin with a single large farm (5x5) with [[plump helmet]]s, or several smaller farms (3x3 or 1x5 are common) with a wider variety of crops. Given the small number of dwarves, a single smaller farm (2x4 or 3x3) is probably best for beginning fortresses. As the growers [[experience|level up]] and farm yields increase the farm can be expanded and newer, smaller farms with different crops can be added to enable new growers to practice their skills. The more tiles of farm plot you have, the more growers (and harvesters) you will need.

To minimize the cost of [[fertilize|fertilization]], farm plots should ideally be one less than a multiple of 4 tiles -- ex. (1x3), (1x7), (3x5), (3x9), (5x7), (7x9)

{{Template:Farming FAQ}}

v0.34:How large a farm do I need

2013-01-26T01:55:52Z

Ahf: /* The math */ Revised the numbers and added a chart.

{{Quality|Fine|21:40, 3 April 2012 (UTC)}}
{{av}}

[[Dwarves]] require approximately 2 units of [[food]] and 4 units of [[drink]] each season. [[Farming]] can produce enough [[crop]]s to satisfy part or all of these requirements. However, be aware that the more and larger your farms are, the more time and effort must be accorded to their maintenance.

==The math==
Your dwarves can plant 1 [[seed]] per tile on each [[farm plot]], and depending on the crop, the [[skill]] of the [[grower]], and whether the farm plot was [[fertilizer|fertilized]], each planted tile will yield a stack of 0-12 (average: 5) edible, [[mill|millable]], [[brewing|brewable]], or otherwise [[farmer's workshop|processable]] plants each harvest cycle. Brewing always quintuples stack sizes; for example, a stack of [[cave wheat]]s [5] is brewed into a [[barrel]] of [[Dwarven beer]] [25] at a [[still]]. Processing [[quarry bush]] plants into quarry bush leaves at a farmer's workshop also quintuples stack size, as does processing [[sweet pod]]s into [[Dwarven syrup]]. [[mill|Milling]] sweet pods into [[Dwarven sugar]] does ''not'' increase stack size. [[Pig tail]]s and [[plump helmet]]s grow faster than other crops, and as long as the mature plants are harvested promptly, it is not hard to grow multiple crops of either plant each season from the same plot.

{| class="wikitable"
! Plant Name
! Active Seasons
! Days Per Harvest
! Harvests Per Tile Per Season
! Harvests Per Tile Per Year
! Average Plants Harvested Per Tile Per Year
! Average Processed Food/Drink Per Tile Per Year
|-
|Plump helmet
|4
|25
|3
|12
|60
|300
|-
|Pig tail
|2
|25
|3
|6
|30
|150
|-
|Cave wheat
|2
|42
|2
|4
|20
|100
|-
|Sweet pod
|2
|42
|2
|4
|20
|100
|-
|Quarry bush
|3
|42
|2
|6
|30
|150
|-
|Prickle berry
|4
|25
|3
|12
|60
|300
|-
|Wild strawberry
|4
|25
|3
|12
|60
|300
|-
|Longland grass
|4
|25
|3
|12
|60
|300
|-
|Rat weed
|4
|25
|3
|12
|60
|300
|-
|Fisher berry
|4
|25
|3
|12
|60
|300
|-
|Rope reed
|4
|25
|3
|12
|60
|300
|-
|Sliver barb
|4
|25
|3
|12
|60
|300
|-
|Sun berry
|4
|25
|3
|12
|60
|300
|-
|Whip vine
|4
|25
|3
|12
|60
|300
|}

A beginning fortress has 7 dwarves, each of which consumes 6 [[Main:urist|urist]]s of food and drink per dwarf per season, or 168 for the whole fortress for the year. The starting group can theoretically be fed by a single farm tile, but in practice they will need more because they are unable to use the farm tile to its fullest potential. A properly-managed and fully-utilized 3x3 plot could produce an average of up to 2700 units of food and drink per year, enough to feed an entire mature fortress. A single 5x5 plot could produce an average of up to 7500 units of food and drink per year, enough to feed over a thousand dwarves.

The general limitation is not the size of the farm per se, but the skill of the growers, the availability of seeds and [[potash]] for fertilizer, and careful management of [[labor]], [[stockpiles]], and the food industry to ensure that crops are harvested (rather than left to [[wear|wither]] in the field), are properly stored away from [[vermin]], the plants are processed, and seeds are recovered so that the cycle can continue next season.

==Approaches==
Many fortresses begin with a single large farm (5x5) with [[plump helmet]]s, or several smaller farms (3x3 or 1x5 are common) with a wider variety of crops. Given the small number of dwarves, a single smaller farm (2x4 or 3x3) is probably best for beginning fortresses. As the growers [[experience|level up]] and farm yields increase the farm can be expanded and newer, smaller farms with different crops can be added to enable new growers to practice their skills. The more tiles of farm plot you have, the more growers (and harvesters) you will need.

To minimize the cost of [[fertilize|fertilization]], farm plots should ideally be one less than a multiple of 4 tiles -- ex. (1x3), (1x7), (3x5), (3x9), (5x7), (7x9)

{{Template:Farming FAQ}}

v0.34:Office

2013-01-23T20:13:49Z

Ahf: /* Reducing Office Space */ The "was embarrassed to conduct a meeting in..." thoughts only happen if the noble doesn't actually have an office. They are not caused by overlapping offices with other rooms.

{{av}}
{{Quality|Fine}}

==Overview==
An '''office''' (called a study in some game-menus) is a [[room]] required by certain [[nobles]] and administrators. Some higher-ranking nobles require a "throne room", but this is the same thing, just fancier. These can simply be designated from a [[throne]] or chair using {{K|q}}, and do not (necessarily) have to be a separate enclosed space separated from other areas by walls and a [[door]].

Note that if you assign an office to a dwarf, sometimes he will eat a meal in his office and complain about the lack of [[table]]s. To avoid this thought, put a table next to the chair in said office.

==Reducing Office Space==
A "meager office" can consist of a 1-tile-big area designated from a single chair, designated as a study/office, and assigned to a particular dwarf. You will probably first encounter this need in the [[bookkeeper]]. Assigning one of the chairs in the dining room for him is perfectly acceptable.

If you put a table next to the office chair and assign it to be a dining room, both rooms will be used like they are supposed to. However, overlapping rooms drop considerably in value rating, making it harder to meet demands by higher ranking nobles. While this can be countered with high-value [[furniture]] (very helpful: artifacts), actual individual areas, designated separately from other areas (whether or not separated by walls) are the easier way to meet demands.

{{buildings}}
{{Category|Rooms}}

v0.34:Well guide

2013-01-01T21:08:29Z

Ahf: Removed the Step by Step section: it was an incomplete outline did not contain useful information.

{{quality|Masterwork|22:15, 22 September 2012 (UTC)}}{{av}}
''This guide assumes you've read the main article on '''[[well]]s''' and are familiar with the basic information found in that article, of what a well does and what is required to build one.''

A well can be vital to any fortress, but deciding that you need one and building one are two different things. Draining water from the surface can flood your fortress if you aren't careful, and building a well only to see the water source dry up or freeze is beyond frustrating. This guide will walk you through a number of different situations, and explain solutions that have been found for these problems.
If you are looking for the step by step guide: [[#Step by Step|see below]].

== Why Build a Well? ==

Honestly, not every fortress NEEDS a well. But they all need some form of safe ''water source'' to bring water to patients and prisoners. If they do not have this and you find yourself in a siege with six injured dwarves, you're in for a little bit of [[Fun]]... But a hole full of water can be just as good for that as a well.

=== Why You Might Not ===

1. Wells are currently a little wonky, like everything else, but in a not-so-friendly way. There are plenty of opportunities to flood a fortress through a well, and even if you don't, dwarves and animals might still occasionally fall in.

2. They take a lot of time and effort to construct, especially when compared to alternatives.

3. Because of the way wells are, a single hole in a flat ceiling, it makes it more difficult for creatures to get out, should they find themselves in your water source.

4. Technically, a trench full of water can be designated as a water source just as easily as a well, and dwarves will sanely path around such a thing, as well as bathe in it more easily.

5. If you do make a shallow pool as a water source, and have a meeting hall designated therein, unoccupied dwarves will hang out in the water, gaining swimming skill.

=== Why You Might ===

1. While a trench full of water can be used as a water source, a well can draw water from a source that is 30+ levels below. Also, a trench water source can only be one level deep, dwarves will not draw water from any level deeper than that. A well will.

2. Wells can be made to have extraordinarily high value, due to the various skills and materials, each with their own quality levels, which go into its construction. Thus, as the center piece for a meeting room, even if they have no water, wells can be very handy in making dwarves very happy.

3. As far as the well itself goes, they take up very little space in your actual fortress. With a water-filled channel, the reservoir is equivalent to the floor space occupied.

4. This is a glitch, but wells are the easiest method for making salt water drinkable. Wells will ignore salinity and allow dwarves to drink salt water directly from its source without a glitch. So long as it isn't murky.

== Choosing a Location ==

Once you've decided it's time to construct a well, you need to consider where the well needs to be. It helps if you've been planning for this while building the rest of your fortress, and have made room for it.

You want a well central to your dwarves, so they'll all get good thoughts from seeing it, and near any [[hospital]] beds you have, but you want it off the main traffic routes. You can have more than one well, which solves that problem, but raises the one of engineering water to feed them all. If it's indoors (or behind walls), then there's little threat from [[carp]], [[goblin]]s, or [[animal]]s, and it can provide a safe source of drinking water during a [[siege]].

Depending on your start location, you may already have a pre-existing water source, such as a flooded cavern, which you can just build a well over. Or, as is usually the case, you may need to transport water from some other location to where you want your well to be. This is where things get complicated.

== Water sources ==

A well needs a water source of at least 3/7 depth, at least 1 [[z-level]] somewhere directly below its opening, with no obstructions between itself and said water. Pre-existing water is safe because it's the most predictable - what you see is what you've got, no surprises. You can instead use dwarven engineering to bring water from a distant source to beneath your well, with a safety factor based on your experience and the complexity of the project. (See [[flood]].)

The important part about the well is to make sure that you don't create a situation where the water will [[flood]] your fortress, due to [[Water_pressure|pressure]] from a source at a higher level. If the water is stable before you build the well above it, it will be safe (unless your dwarves change things), but if you are introducing a flow, make sure you understand how pressure works and will not fall victim to its surprises. (See [[Water_pressure|pressure]].)

=== Pre-existing sources ===

A [[brook]], [[river]], [[murky pool]], or [[cavern]] lakes can provide water under a well. If the water source is only one z-level deep and contains a pile of mud, the water produced will be [[Water#Water_laced_with_mud|muddy]]. The surface of a brook tile will have to be channeled out, but it otherwise works just fine. Murky pools are not optimal: they can dry up in warm seasons, and water directly from murky pools is [[Water#Stagnant_water|stagnant]], which is just as bad as being muddy. Murky pools can refill from [[rain]], but on hot maps, this may never happen.

=== [[Aquifer|Aquifers]] ===

If you have an aquifer, just channel a 1x1 square in any open stretch of floor above it and build the well. It will automatically fill and never flood. You'll have other construction projects to worry about.

=== [[Ocean|Oceans]] ===

Oceans and aquifers near oceans carry [[Water#Salt_water|salty]] water. This is normally unusable for treating wounds or drinking. However, salty water obtained from a well is used just like normal. This is a bug{{bug|1260}}.

=== [[Reservoir|Reservoirs]] ===

If you need to move water to your well, you need to dig/build a reservoir. A reservoir is basically a big hole intended for the storage of large quantities of water.

When digging a reservoir, you need to consider your needs and the space you have available. Do you really need a 20x20x20 reservoir, holding 56,000 tiles of water, requiring 560,000 uses of the well to fully dry up? Frequently, in well-managed fortresses, wells are really only used for the care of sick or imprisoned dwarves and animals. As a result, it doesn't really need to be anything special, unless it's a meeting hall, in which case dwarves will drink from it at random.

Another consideration is safety. Specifically, dwarves fighting near wells can fall into them, whether as a result of sparring or due to overcrowding of animals. You may wish to place some sort of escape route from the well, should anyone do so. At the least, this just needs to be a staircase going up the side of the well to the surface. The shorter the distance they need to go, the better off they are. Keep in mind, of course, that if any wildlife is able to access your reservoir, and if any of them are able to leave the water, they may wander into your fortress through the escape route. If they're particularly malicious, they may even path their way in to attack your dwarves.

If you are filling the reservoir by aqueduct, consider the fill point. If you are using only gravity to fill the well, but the water needs to flow up to do so, you may experience problems when it comes time to refill your well. Specifically, water floods upwards into empty space very easily, but for some reason doesn't like to flood through still water. Thus, it may be more appropriate to have the reservoir fill from its top, though keep in mind that this is a very fast fill method and can flood a bit if you aren't watching and have a small reservoir. (As a side note on that, it is possible to fill a well by pouring water directly through the well opening itself)

Finally, you may find some circumstance where you'd wish to make changes to the well. For example, building a statue in its reservoir, or recovering a lost loved one who fell in and cracked his skull open. In these instances, you may wish to construct a manual drain. All it requires is a hatch or floodgate at the bottom of the well, connected to a lever, covering a tunnel leading to an appropriate dump site... Like your subterranean farming operation. Or your obsidian factory. Or a room full of captured <s>nobles</s> goblins. If you already have a drain for the aqueduct, you can easily connect the two.

== Filling the Well ==

If you've had to construct a well separate from a pre-existing water source, you need to move that water to the well itself. There's two main ways to go about this.

=== Bucket Filling a Well ===

If you designate your well as a pit/pond and have empty buckets, dwarves will fill the well manually. Keep in mind that this is slow, time-consuming and occupies dwarves who could be doing something else. Of course, for particularly small wells, it may be of no concern. If the walking distance is quite far, (Like STUPIDLY far- your fortress would need to be a truly tangled maze for this to happen) the water may evaporate faster than dwarves can fill the well.

=== Piping water to your reservoir ===

If the water is not where you want to build the well, you can dig a tunnel or channel and/or otherwise create an [[aqueduct]] to bring it to where you want it. You should consider adding a door or floodgate somewhere near the water source so that you can dry out your tunnels for future projects, repair, or recovery of lost items.

Channels are open to the sky, and if not done properly, (taking advantage of some weird quirks in game functionality) they are subject to evaporation and freezing. As a result, they aren't normally an optimal method of moving water. Of course, there's nothing stopping you from digging a moat, then filling your well from that. Keep in mind, however, that open water frequently becomes a random hazard, as dwarves can be quite careless at times. If you do have open water set up somewhere, make sure your dwarves have some way out of it. You never know when a random goblin will kick your elite stonecrafter into your moat.

Digging tunnels, then, is generally a better way of moving water from place to place. You need to be careful about how you dig such aqueducts. Water can move through diagonal openings, so be sure to avoid flooding nearby rooms from accidental corner intersections. Make sure that any unnecessary access points to your aqueduct are properly sealed before letting the water flow.

The generally accepted method for digging an aqueduct has five steps.

1. Dig out the reservoir where you want to store the water.

2. From the reservoir, dig a tunnel up to your water source, but leave one space of earth to prevent water from flooding in and killing your dwarf.

3. Build a door or floodgate in the aqueduct, either at the end of the tunnel or at the entrance to the reservoir. Or both if you're fancy. (Doors are better, because the dwarf can walk through it if he builds it from the wrong side)

4. Connect the door/floodgate to a lever, and make sure any dwarves stuck in the tunnel are safely evicted.

5. Channel out the final tile from above, pull the lever. Let the water fill the reservoir, then pull the lever again, sealing the water source.

Keep in mind, when you command the lever to be pulled to end filling, it may take some time for an available dwarf to actually do it. Even then, there is some lag time between the lever pull and the action it causes. Finally, if your plug is at some point in the aqueduct, but not at the entrance of the reservoir, any water in the aqueduct above the water level in the reservoir will continue to pour in.

If you want to empty the aqueduct, use a similar method to build a drain to some reasonable dumping location, like a cavern. Make sure you can control it with levers, however, or it will constantly drain instead of filling your well.

== Safety ==

A well is not an obstructing object. That is to say, it doesn't stop things from passing through its space. This is why wells can function through other wells, why water will flood out of them, and why a (very) few monsters may be able to climb out through them if you're tremendously unlucky.

=== Flooding ===

More fortresses have fallen at the hands of a flooding well than they have to megabeasts, sieges or demons. If you are going to be shifting water around in any form other than buckets, be prepared for the worst.

There are several solutions to the flooding problem.

1. Overflow Drainage. At the top of a reservoir, dig a tunnel to drain water out the side, and have it dump out into some appropriate sump, like a cavern full of armok-knows-what.

2. Emergency auto-plug. You can make pressure plates sense water. If you set up a pressure plate beside your well, and connect it to a hatch or door blocking your reservoir, it will automatically seal the reservoir off from its flow source, should the thing flood.

3. No Exits. The safest and easiest way to do it, is to dig out the reservoir, ''but not the opening for the well itself''. This way, you can fill the reservoir completely, and because there's nowhere for it to flood out to, it simply WON'T! Then you can seal off the reservoir at your leisure and dig the opening without concern! (Though not without caution. Make sure you turned the taps off first.)

=== Monsters ===

You don't need to worry too much about monsters crawling out of your well to gobble down your hairy friends these days, but that doesn't mean it's impossible. It all depends on what beasts may be lurking around- and how you build your well.

First off, if you're bucket-filling a well, you need to make sure that their initial water source is safe. Make sure it isn't full of crocodiles or carp. (Or other dangerous fishy things)

If you are draining water through an aqueduct, and you know there may be dangerous animals (Or even just unwanted regular animals) living in it, there is a way to stop them from wandering in. You can place [[Grate|wall grates]], [[Bars|upright bars]], or [[fortification]]s in the aqueduct to act as filters. These allow water to pass through, but animals cannot. It has been observed that in very rare occasions, animal may be pushed through. If you're that concerned about it (Or have HORDES of angry crocodiles in your river) putting two filters in a row pretty much eliminates any chance of this happening. If you plan to use filters in conjunction with [[floodgate]]s, remember to connect your floodgate to its trigger ''before'' placing the filters.

Even if monsters do get into your well, they're rarely a genuine threat, and at worst can give your dwarves an unhappy thought by scaring them. However, if your reservoir is filled right to the brim, carp and other fish CAN attack your dwarves, just as they would from a river. Also, any amphibious creatures may be able to use an escape passage to make their way into your fortress and make a mess. (Keep in mind, zombified fish are amphibious) And, of course, anyone who falls into a well full of predators is pretty much doomed.

To prevent amphibians from getting out of your well, should they somehow get there, simply put a lockable hatch over the escape route.

Finally, if you are drawing directly from a cavern lake, and have simply opened a hole in its ceiling for the well, any flying creatures in the cavern may be able to use the well as an access point to your fortress. You could potentially construct a wall surrounding the pathway of the bucket. This would prevent flying creatures from entering, unless they are also capable of swimming. Do not forget the perils of dwarves falling into a well, however, falling into a cavern lake full of cave crocodiles will cause lots of fun.

== Above Ground ==

The previous sections focused mostly on subterranean wells and gravity-filling reservoirs. Now we need to consider the special circumstances of wells built at ground level, above ground level, and simply outdoors.

The main problem is that anything above what was ground level at embark is considered "above ground" and has different behavior, even if enclosed to be indoors. In particular, it will freeze and evaporate according to the temperature. This includes everything on level 0 and -1, unless there is something about them preventing the temperature from removing them, like rivers flowing faster than the water can evaporate out of them.

Enclosing the water, so that it is "indoors" will decrease the rate of evaporation, but there isn't much you can do to prevent water from freezing above ground. (There is a way, but if you're new, you may not enjoy [[#Fighting the Ice|the prospects of actually constructing it]].)

=== Outdoor Wells ===

There are plenty of good reasons to build a well outdoors. First and foremost, to be decorative or thematic. The wells don't necessarily need to be functional if this is your intent. But another use would be as a functional source for an outdoor meeting hall... Or in other words, a vomitorium. Because dwarves will clean themselves in a well, having one in such a vomitorium would just make things more efficient!

Of course, as with any outdoor meeting place, you need to be certain that it is a safe place, where goblins and giant eagles are unlikely to descend upon your sickly party-goers.

=== On The Level ===

Now, about ground level, or specifically, the place where "above ground" and "below ground" meet. Z-levels 0 and -1 on flat maps. If you are on a very cold or very hot map, any water open to the sky on these levels will freeze or evaporate very quickly. As said before, you can minimize this by simply roofing in the water and making it "indoors".

Also keep in mind the floor type. Murky pools, even when roofed over, will behave as though they are open to the sky. This is because murky pools, rivers, oceans, etc. all have a special floor tile which modifies the behavior of any water above it. Simply putting floor tiles on the basin of a murky pool can minimize evaporation, but it will eliminate rain refill.

If you dig a channel down to z-2, the water in it will not evaporate very quickly at all, as it's "under ground".

=== In the Sky ===

And now for the final type of well, and this one is very uncommon, you may wish to build a well high above ground. A well tower may indeed be a cool, though completely non-functional idea. Be aware what the environmental conditions are before you do this, of course, as the only real way of dealing with ice involves pumping magma up the tower as well.

In all honesty, a sky well would be built and function pretty much the same as a subterranean well. The only difference is that it is very difficult to get the water up there. You need to build a pumpstack, lifting the water, level by level, pump by pump, up to your reservoir. And you need to lift the water to the top of your reservoir, as pumps will not pump upward naturally.

== Style and Design ==

This section discusses purely aesthetic and functional decisions people have made in the past with their wells, as well as advanced designs.

=== Fighting the Ice ===

So you have a frozen well, and you want to know how to keep it liquid do ya? You're going to need to build a heated reservoir.

First, have magma on your map. If you don't, dig deeper and be prepared for [[Fun]].

Next, you need some [[magma-safe]] materials. You'll need this to build floodgates and pumps.

Now, you need to pipe and pump the magma with the magma-safe pumping equipment. Be sure to use mechanical power for these, as dwarves are too likely to kill themselves.

The magma needs to be piped under your reservoir. That is to say, there needs to be just one floor tile between the two, just enough to keep them from touching and turning into an accidental obsidian factory.

The magma needs to be piped around under your water, it needs to keep on moving or the water will freeze again. That means it needs an infinite, cyclical flow.

And even if you get all of this built and working, it will only melt one level. Which means the reservoir can only be 1 level deep.

That's a lot of work to have an above-ground well in a frozen environment. Probably easier to melt a pool and drain it.

=== Ultimate Party Machine ===

It is possible to pour water through the mouth of a well from above. This frequently causes water to spray out in a mist, which pleases dwarves. If you power it, you could have a pump stack draw water from beneath the well and pour it back in from above, turning your fancy meeting hall into a FANCIER meeting hall! Throw in some platinum statues while you're at it.

=== Well Stacking ===

Have you ever needed to have more than one well on multiple z-levels and disliked the work of setting up multiple reservoirs? Well fret no more!

Because a well can function through the opening of another well, it's possible to stack well openings through z-levels! So long as they're all in a perfectly straight line above each other, and there's at least 3/7 tiles of water somewhere directly below them, they will all be perfectly functional!

Of course, if you go too far, this may become something of a safety concern, as dwarves would plummet mile after mile, through dozens of well openings before finally hitting the bottom.

=== Multitasking Wells ===

Because wells aren't actually USED all that often, and are usually more valuable as decorations, there isn't really any reason to keep its reservoir completely full all the time. So, what can you do with a giant bucket of water in the middle of your fortress? Well, luckily, there are a few other reasons you could have for piping water around.

First, you need to "irrigate" stone floors before you can actually farm on them. Instead of making a separate, elaborate irrigation system for just one use, (mud doesn't dry naturally, though it could be smoothed/floored over and disappears when reclaiming a fortress) why not just drain it out of your well?

You could also use your well as a water reservoir for an obsidian factory. Fill a chamber with a single layer of magma, then pour your well's contents over it!

You could use your well to dispose of unwanted life forms, such as siegers, elves, goblins, nobles and other miscellaneous things that wandered into your cage traps. (This only works on non-amphibious creatures)

=== The Dwarven Toilet ===

I built this in an experiment. At the top of the reservoir is a platform with a pressure plate on it. When the pressure plate senses 5/7 water, it triggers, closing the fill pipe, and opening the drain. So, when you pull the lever to fill the thing, it fills up to the top, then drains. Just like a giant toilet. I have not found any functional use for this. In all honesty, it was a simple accident I made, connecting the pressure plate to the drain as well as the plug. But, hey, what the heck, I made a giant toilet. There ya' go. Perhaps you could use this to get rid of the crud that accumulates in a well as dwarves clean themselves in it?

This can be VERY useful when you have a larger reservoir that fills your well. This way every pull of the lever delivers a set amount of water into your well. Thus eliminating1 the risk of flooding due to the well becoming pressurized. 
1Beware dwarves that throw tantrums, they randomly pull levers.

{{Category|Guides}}
{{Category|Design}}

v0.34:Well guide

2013-01-01T21:03:12Z

Ahf: /* Oceans */ Removed outdated information (salinity mechanics were changed in 0.34.09, and there is no "salty water" thought in the List of Dwarven Thoughts)

{{quality|Masterwork|22:15, 22 September 2012 (UTC)}}{{av}}
''This guide assumes you've read the main article on '''[[well]]s''' and are familiar with the basic information found in that article, of what a well does and what is required to build one.''

A well can be vital to any fortress, but deciding that you need one and building one are two different things. Draining water from the surface can flood your fortress if you aren't careful, and building a well only to see the water source dry up or freeze is beyond frustrating. This guide will walk you through a number of different situations, and explain solutions that have been found for these problems.
If you are looking for the step by step guide: [[#Step by Step|see below]].

== Why Build a Well? ==

Honestly, not every fortress NEEDS a well. But they all need some form of safe ''water source'' to bring water to patients and prisoners. If they do not have this and you find yourself in a siege with six injured dwarves, you're in for a little bit of [[Fun]]... But a hole full of water can be just as good for that as a well.

=== Why You Might Not ===

1. Wells are currently a little wonky, like everything else, but in a not-so-friendly way. There are plenty of opportunities to flood a fortress through a well, and even if you don't, dwarves and animals might still occasionally fall in.

2. They take a lot of time and effort to construct, especially when compared to alternatives.

3. Because of the way wells are, a single hole in a flat ceiling, it makes it more difficult for creatures to get out, should they find themselves in your water source.

4. Technically, a trench full of water can be designated as a water source just as easily as a well, and dwarves will sanely path around such a thing, as well as bathe in it more easily.

5. If you do make a shallow pool as a water source, and have a meeting hall designated therein, unoccupied dwarves will hang out in the water, gaining swimming skill.

=== Why You Might ===

1. While a trench full of water can be used as a water source, a well can draw water from a source that is 30+ levels below. Also, a trench water source can only be one level deep, dwarves will not draw water from any level deeper than that. A well will.

2. Wells can be made to have extraordinarily high value, due to the various skills and materials, each with their own quality levels, which go into its construction. Thus, as the center piece for a meeting room, even if they have no water, wells can be very handy in making dwarves very happy.

3. As far as the well itself goes, they take up very little space in your actual fortress. With a water-filled channel, the reservoir is equivalent to the floor space occupied.

4. This is a glitch, but wells are the easiest method for making salt water drinkable. Wells will ignore salinity and allow dwarves to drink salt water directly from its source without a glitch. So long as it isn't murky.

== Choosing a Location ==

Once you've decided it's time to construct a well, you need to consider where the well needs to be. It helps if you've been planning for this while building the rest of your fortress, and have made room for it.

You want a well central to your dwarves, so they'll all get good thoughts from seeing it, and near any [[hospital]] beds you have, but you want it off the main traffic routes. You can have more than one well, which solves that problem, but raises the one of engineering water to feed them all. If it's indoors (or behind walls), then there's little threat from [[carp]], [[goblin]]s, or [[animal]]s, and it can provide a safe source of drinking water during a [[siege]].

Depending on your start location, you may already have a pre-existing water source, such as a flooded cavern, which you can just build a well over. Or, as is usually the case, you may need to transport water from some other location to where you want your well to be. This is where things get complicated.

== Water sources ==

A well needs a water source of at least 3/7 depth, at least 1 [[z-level]] somewhere directly below its opening, with no obstructions between itself and said water. Pre-existing water is safe because it's the most predictable - what you see is what you've got, no surprises. You can instead use dwarven engineering to bring water from a distant source to beneath your well, with a safety factor based on your experience and the complexity of the project. (See [[flood]].)

The important part about the well is to make sure that you don't create a situation where the water will [[flood]] your fortress, due to [[Water_pressure|pressure]] from a source at a higher level. If the water is stable before you build the well above it, it will be safe (unless your dwarves change things), but if you are introducing a flow, make sure you understand how pressure works and will not fall victim to its surprises. (See [[Water_pressure|pressure]].)

=== Pre-existing sources ===

A [[brook]], [[river]], [[murky pool]], or [[cavern]] lakes can provide water under a well. If the water source is only one z-level deep and contains a pile of mud, the water produced will be [[Water#Water_laced_with_mud|muddy]]. The surface of a brook tile will have to be channeled out, but it otherwise works just fine. Murky pools are not optimal: they can dry up in warm seasons, and water directly from murky pools is [[Water#Stagnant_water|stagnant]], which is just as bad as being muddy. Murky pools can refill from [[rain]], but on hot maps, this may never happen.

=== [[Aquifer|Aquifers]] ===

If you have an aquifer, just channel a 1x1 square in any open stretch of floor above it and build the well. It will automatically fill and never flood. You'll have other construction projects to worry about.

=== [[Ocean|Oceans]] ===

Oceans and aquifers near oceans carry [[Water#Salt_water|salty]] water. This is normally unusable for treating wounds or drinking. However, salty water obtained from a well is used just like normal. This is a bug{{bug|1260}}.

=== [[Reservoir|Reservoirs]] ===

If you need to move water to your well, you need to dig/build a reservoir. A reservoir is basically a big hole intended for the storage of large quantities of water.

When digging a reservoir, you need to consider your needs and the space you have available. Do you really need a 20x20x20 reservoir, holding 56,000 tiles of water, requiring 560,000 uses of the well to fully dry up? Frequently, in well-managed fortresses, wells are really only used for the care of sick or imprisoned dwarves and animals. As a result, it doesn't really need to be anything special, unless it's a meeting hall, in which case dwarves will drink from it at random.

Another consideration is safety. Specifically, dwarves fighting near wells can fall into them, whether as a result of sparring or due to overcrowding of animals. You may wish to place some sort of escape route from the well, should anyone do so. At the least, this just needs to be a staircase going up the side of the well to the surface. The shorter the distance they need to go, the better off they are. Keep in mind, of course, that if any wildlife is able to access your reservoir, and if any of them are able to leave the water, they may wander into your fortress through the escape route. If they're particularly malicious, they may even path their way in to attack your dwarves.

If you are filling the reservoir by aqueduct, consider the fill point. If you are using only gravity to fill the well, but the water needs to flow up to do so, you may experience problems when it comes time to refill your well. Specifically, water floods upwards into empty space very easily, but for some reason doesn't like to flood through still water. Thus, it may be more appropriate to have the reservoir fill from its top, though keep in mind that this is a very fast fill method and can flood a bit if you aren't watching and have a small reservoir. (As a side note on that, it is possible to fill a well by pouring water directly through the well opening itself)

Finally, you may find some circumstance where you'd wish to make changes to the well. For example, building a statue in its reservoir, or recovering a lost loved one who fell in and cracked his skull open. In these instances, you may wish to construct a manual drain. All it requires is a hatch or floodgate at the bottom of the well, connected to a lever, covering a tunnel leading to an appropriate dump site... Like your subterranean farming operation. Or your obsidian factory. Or a room full of captured <s>nobles</s> goblins. If you already have a drain for the aqueduct, you can easily connect the two.

== Filling the Well ==

If you've had to construct a well separate from a pre-existing water source, you need to move that water to the well itself. There's two main ways to go about this.

=== Bucket Filling a Well ===

If you designate your well as a pit/pond and have empty buckets, dwarves will fill the well manually. Keep in mind that this is slow, time-consuming and occupies dwarves who could be doing something else. Of course, for particularly small wells, it may be of no concern. If the walking distance is quite far, (Like STUPIDLY far- your fortress would need to be a truly tangled maze for this to happen) the water may evaporate faster than dwarves can fill the well.

=== Piping water to your reservoir ===

If the water is not where you want to build the well, you can dig a tunnel or channel and/or otherwise create an [[aqueduct]] to bring it to where you want it. You should consider adding a door or floodgate somewhere near the water source so that you can dry out your tunnels for future projects, repair, or recovery of lost items.

Channels are open to the sky, and if not done properly, (taking advantage of some weird quirks in game functionality) they are subject to evaporation and freezing. As a result, they aren't normally an optimal method of moving water. Of course, there's nothing stopping you from digging a moat, then filling your well from that. Keep in mind, however, that open water frequently becomes a random hazard, as dwarves can be quite careless at times. If you do have open water set up somewhere, make sure your dwarves have some way out of it. You never know when a random goblin will kick your elite stonecrafter into your moat.

Digging tunnels, then, is generally a better way of moving water from place to place. You need to be careful about how you dig such aqueducts. Water can move through diagonal openings, so be sure to avoid flooding nearby rooms from accidental corner intersections. Make sure that any unnecessary access points to your aqueduct are properly sealed before letting the water flow.

The generally accepted method for digging an aqueduct has five steps.

1. Dig out the reservoir where you want to store the water.

2. From the reservoir, dig a tunnel up to your water source, but leave one space of earth to prevent water from flooding in and killing your dwarf.

3. Build a door or floodgate in the aqueduct, either at the end of the tunnel or at the entrance to the reservoir. Or both if you're fancy. (Doors are better, because the dwarf can walk through it if he builds it from the wrong side)

4. Connect the door/floodgate to a lever, and make sure any dwarves stuck in the tunnel are safely evicted.

5. Channel out the final tile from above, pull the lever. Let the water fill the reservoir, then pull the lever again, sealing the water source.

Keep in mind, when you command the lever to be pulled to end filling, it may take some time for an available dwarf to actually do it. Even then, there is some lag time between the lever pull and the action it causes. Finally, if your plug is at some point in the aqueduct, but not at the entrance of the reservoir, any water in the aqueduct above the water level in the reservoir will continue to pour in.

If you want to empty the aqueduct, use a similar method to build a drain to some reasonable dumping location, like a cavern. Make sure you can control it with levers, however, or it will constantly drain instead of filling your well.

== Safety ==

A well is not an obstructing object. That is to say, it doesn't stop things from passing through its space. This is why wells can function through other wells, why water will flood out of them, and why a (very) few monsters may be able to climb out through them if you're tremendously unlucky.

=== Flooding ===

More fortresses have fallen at the hands of a flooding well than they have to megabeasts, sieges or demons. If you are going to be shifting water around in any form other than buckets, be prepared for the worst.

There are several solutions to the flooding problem.

1. Overflow Drainage. At the top of a reservoir, dig a tunnel to drain water out the side, and have it dump out into some appropriate sump, like a cavern full of armok-knows-what.

2. Emergency auto-plug. You can make pressure plates sense water. If you set up a pressure plate beside your well, and connect it to a hatch or door blocking your reservoir, it will automatically seal the reservoir off from its flow source, should the thing flood.

3. No Exits. The safest and easiest way to do it, is to dig out the reservoir, ''but not the opening for the well itself''. This way, you can fill the reservoir completely, and because there's nowhere for it to flood out to, it simply WON'T! Then you can seal off the reservoir at your leisure and dig the opening without concern! (Though not without caution. Make sure you turned the taps off first.)

=== Monsters ===

You don't need to worry too much about monsters crawling out of your well to gobble down your hairy friends these days, but that doesn't mean it's impossible. It all depends on what beasts may be lurking around- and how you build your well.

First off, if you're bucket-filling a well, you need to make sure that their initial water source is safe. Make sure it isn't full of crocodiles or carp. (Or other dangerous fishy things)

If you are draining water through an aqueduct, and you know there may be dangerous animals (Or even just unwanted regular animals) living in it, there is a way to stop them from wandering in. You can place [[Grate|wall grates]], [[Bars|upright bars]], or [[fortification]]s in the aqueduct to act as filters. These allow water to pass through, but animals cannot. It has been observed that in very rare occasions, animal may be pushed through. If you're that concerned about it (Or have HORDES of angry crocodiles in your river) putting two filters in a row pretty much eliminates any chance of this happening. If you plan to use filters in conjunction with [[floodgate]]s, remember to connect your floodgate to its trigger ''before'' placing the filters.

Even if monsters do get into your well, they're rarely a genuine threat, and at worst can give your dwarves an unhappy thought by scaring them. However, if your reservoir is filled right to the brim, carp and other fish CAN attack your dwarves, just as they would from a river. Also, any amphibious creatures may be able to use an escape passage to make their way into your fortress and make a mess. (Keep in mind, zombified fish are amphibious) And, of course, anyone who falls into a well full of predators is pretty much doomed.

To prevent amphibians from getting out of your well, should they somehow get there, simply put a lockable hatch over the escape route.

Finally, if you are drawing directly from a cavern lake, and have simply opened a hole in its ceiling for the well, any flying creatures in the cavern may be able to use the well as an access point to your fortress. You could potentially construct a wall surrounding the pathway of the bucket. This would prevent flying creatures from entering, unless they are also capable of swimming. Do not forget the perils of dwarves falling into a well, however, falling into a cavern lake full of cave crocodiles will cause lots of fun.

== Above Ground ==

The previous sections focused mostly on subterranean wells and gravity-filling reservoirs. Now we need to consider the special circumstances of wells built at ground level, above ground level, and simply outdoors.

The main problem is that anything above what was ground level at embark is considered "above ground" and has different behavior, even if enclosed to be indoors. In particular, it will freeze and evaporate according to the temperature. This includes everything on level 0 and -1, unless there is something about them preventing the temperature from removing them, like rivers flowing faster than the water can evaporate out of them.

Enclosing the water, so that it is "indoors" will decrease the rate of evaporation, but there isn't much you can do to prevent water from freezing above ground. (There is a way, but if you're new, you may not enjoy [[#Fighting the Ice|the prospects of actually constructing it]].)

=== Outdoor Wells ===

There are plenty of good reasons to build a well outdoors. First and foremost, to be decorative or thematic. The wells don't necessarily need to be functional if this is your intent. But another use would be as a functional source for an outdoor meeting hall... Or in other words, a vomitorium. Because dwarves will clean themselves in a well, having one in such a vomitorium would just make things more efficient!

Of course, as with any outdoor meeting place, you need to be certain that it is a safe place, where goblins and giant eagles are unlikely to descend upon your sickly party-goers.

=== On The Level ===

Now, about ground level, or specifically, the place where "above ground" and "below ground" meet. Z-levels 0 and -1 on flat maps. If you are on a very cold or very hot map, any water open to the sky on these levels will freeze or evaporate very quickly. As said before, you can minimize this by simply roofing in the water and making it "indoors".

Also keep in mind the floor type. Murky pools, even when roofed over, will behave as though they are open to the sky. This is because murky pools, rivers, oceans, etc. all have a special floor tile which modifies the behavior of any water above it. Simply putting floor tiles on the basin of a murky pool can minimize evaporation, but it will eliminate rain refill.

If you dig a channel down to z-2, the water in it will not evaporate very quickly at all, as it's "under ground".

=== In the Sky ===

And now for the final type of well, and this one is very uncommon, you may wish to build a well high above ground. A well tower may indeed be a cool, though completely non-functional idea. Be aware what the environmental conditions are before you do this, of course, as the only real way of dealing with ice involves pumping magma up the tower as well.

In all honesty, a sky well would be built and function pretty much the same as a subterranean well. The only difference is that it is very difficult to get the water up there. You need to build a pumpstack, lifting the water, level by level, pump by pump, up to your reservoir. And you need to lift the water to the top of your reservoir, as pumps will not pump upward naturally.

== Step by Step ==

A guide explaining the exact processes to go through when building the main well types and their infrastructure.

=== The Well Itself ===

So you're really new, you've read the well page, and you're still a little lost? Well, not to worry! We like our newbies! So we're gonna' show you exactly what needs to be done to just build a well from scratch. Keep in mind that a lot of this can be sped up by buying the materials at embark or from a caravan, rather than making them yourself. This is especially true with the restraint component.

Essentially, the components are: '''Rope | Bucket | Block | Mechanism'''

1. Start digging up stone. You need a dwarf with the miner skill enabled and a pickaxe. You need to dig through stone layers to get stone, as dirt yields nothing. The miner will leave rubble behind him. These are your primary building materials.

2. Start chopping down trees. You need a dwarf with the woodcutter skill enabled and a battle axe to do this. Each tree chopped down leaves a log. You'll need this for other components.

3. Set up an underground farm plot and cover it in water. It only needs a dusting of 1/7. Once it's been covered, drain it. It should now be muddy and will allow you to plant things on it. In order to plant seeds and make the farm plot, you'll need a dwarf with the grower skill enabled. Make sure you have pig tail seeds.

4. The pig tail seeds grow into pig tails, which can be processed into thread and turned into ropes for the well. Alternatively, if you run into metal ore, you can make a chain. But that process is even more complex, and there are plenty better uses for chains, so we'll stick with the rope.

5. Now you need a dwarf with the thresher skill enabled and a farmer's workshop set up. Set it to process plants. He will take any available pig tails and turn them into thread.

6. Next you need a weaver and a loom. The weaver will automatically turn thread into fabric at a loom. Yes, you need to make sheets of fabric into ropes, no it doesn't make much sense.

7. Now you need a dwarf with the clothier skill and a clothier's shop. Have the clothier make ropes. He'll use whatever fabric is available to him.

8. Have a mason make a stone block at the mason's workshop.

9. Have a carpenter make a bucket at the carpenter's workshop.

10. Have a mechanic make a mechanism at the mechanic's workshop.

11. Channel out a one-square hole in the ground. This is an example location, to show how a well is to be oriented to actually be built.

12. Build the well. It needs to be placed on the hole. Not in the hole, not above the hole, but directly on it. A well needs at least one adjacent floor tile, and must be built over empty space. Select your block, bucket, mechanism and rope. (Or chain if you went that route)

13. Once that's done, the well designation will just sit there. You need a dwarf with the architect skill to design it. Once he's done, the appropriate worker will drop in and finish building the thing.

It takes 10 skilled dwarves and 6 workshops to build the base materials for one well from scratch. Of course, all of its materials can simply be bought, speeding the process up a fair bit. However, keep in mind that all of its components have value, and all but one also have quality levels. A gem-encrusted masterpiece bucket with a gem encrusted masterpiece platinum chain, with a gem encrusted masterpiece mechanism, with legendary architectural skill and legendary construction, can be of very high value, and using [[artifact]]s made of valuable materials (such as [[adamantine]]) could result in a well being worth many times more than all of the the rest of your fortress combined. As a result, you can engineer them to artificially increase the value of your fortress very quickly, once you have the infrastructure to do so.

=== Murky Pools ===

A relatively large and deep murky that has not been contaminated will work. You will want to build a wall around the pool to prevent contamination and creatures using it to access your fortress. Next build a reservoir one level below the murky pool. Remember that part of your reservoir will have to be directly below the spot you want to build your well. Make the reservoir fairly small as murky pools do not hold much water. If you make the reservoir to large you will just end up with a muddy floor. Drain the water into the reservoir. Once it has filled, you can build your well on an available square directly above your reservoir.

=== Brooks ===

Brooks are nice. We'll show you why!

=== Rivers ===

Rivers are different from brooks, in that they have things living in them and are a little more dangerous to be around.

=== Oceans ===

This explains the salinity glitch with oceans again, and discusses how to safely draw water from an ocean.

=== Aquifers ===

This section explains why the only thing aquifers are good for, are wells.

=== Flooded Caverns ===

This will discuss different methods of utilizing water from flooded caverns, specifically for the construction of a well, safely.

=== Water Falls ===

If you have a waterfall on your map, you are truly lucky. You can do so many cool things with waterfalls, it's enough to make a dwarf consider crying, just this once, maybe, if nobody's looking. But, here, we'll show some step-by-step ideas for how to use waterfalls to make awesome wells.

=== Reservoirs ===

So, you've decided you need to store water elsewhere, eh? Well, I can't blame you. Here's some discussion about the traits a reservoir can have, how to build them without trapping your dwarves, safety concerns, escape routes, and a discussion on effective filling methods.

=== Bucket Filling ===

This talks about how to go about bucket filling a well, the benefits of doing so, and the problems therein.

=== Aqueducts ===

This talks about how to build several generic aqueducts, drawing from different types of sources. Specifically, gravity-draining above-ground sources and pumping upward from subterranean sources.

=== Drainage ===

This talks about what drains are used for, why you might want them, and then how to build several types of functional drain mechanisms.

== Style and Design ==

This section discusses purely aesthetic and functional decisions people have made in the past with their wells, as well as advanced designs.

=== Fighting the Ice ===

So you have a frozen well, and you want to know how to keep it liquid do ya? You're going to need to build a heated reservoir.

First, have magma on your map. If you don't, dig deeper and be prepared for [[Fun]].

Next, you need some [[magma-safe]] materials. You'll need this to build floodgates and pumps.

Now, you need to pipe and pump the magma with the magma-safe pumping equipment. Be sure to use mechanical power for these, as dwarves are too likely to kill themselves.

The magma needs to be piped under your reservoir. That is to say, there needs to be just one floor tile between the two, just enough to keep them from touching and turning into an accidental obsidian factory.

The magma needs to be piped around under your water, it needs to keep on moving or the water will freeze again. That means it needs an infinite, cyclical flow.

And even if you get all of this built and working, it will only melt one level. Which means the reservoir can only be 1 level deep.

That's a lot of work to have an above-ground well in a frozen environment. Probably easier to melt a pool and drain it.

=== Ultimate Party Machine ===

It is possible to pour water through the mouth of a well from above. This frequently causes water to spray out in a mist, which pleases dwarves. If you power it, you could have a pump stack draw water from beneath the well and pour it back in from above, turning your fancy meeting hall into a FANCIER meeting hall! Throw in some platinum statues while you're at it.

=== Well Stacking ===

Have you ever needed to have more than one well on multiple z-levels and disliked the work of setting up multiple reservoirs? Well fret no more!

Because a well can function through the opening of another well, it's possible to stack well openings through z-levels! So long as they're all in a perfectly straight line above each other, and there's at least 3/7 tiles of water somewhere directly below them, they will all be perfectly functional!

Of course, if you go too far, this may become something of a safety concern, as dwarves would plummet mile after mile, through dozens of well openings before finally hitting the bottom.

=== Multitasking Wells ===

Because wells aren't actually USED all that often, and are usually more valuable as decorations, there isn't really any reason to keep its reservoir completely full all the time. So, what can you do with a giant bucket of water in the middle of your fortress? Well, luckily, there are a few other reasons you could have for piping water around.

First, you need to "irrigate" stone floors before you can actually farm on them. Instead of making a separate, elaborate irrigation system for just one use, (mud doesn't dry naturally, though it could be smoothed/floored over and disappears when reclaiming a fortress) why not just drain it out of your well?

You could also use your well as a water reservoir for an obsidian factory. Fill a chamber with a single layer of magma, then pour your well's contents over it!

You could use your well to dispose of unwanted life forms, such as siegers, elves, goblins, nobles and other miscellaneous things that wandered into your cage traps. (This only works on non-amphibious creatures)

=== The Dwarven Toilet ===

I built this in an experiment. At the top of the reservoir is a platform with a pressure plate on it. When the pressure plate senses 5/7 water, it triggers, closing the fill pipe, and opening the drain. So, when you pull the lever to fill the thing, it fills up to the top, then drains. Just like a giant toilet. I have not found any functional use for this. In all honesty, it was a simple accident I made, connecting the pressure plate to the drain as well as the plug. But, hey, what the heck, I made a giant toilet. There ya' go. Perhaps you could use this to get rid of the crud that accumulates in a well as dwarves clean themselves in it?

This can be VERY useful when you have a larger reservoir that fills your well. This way every pull of the lever delivers a set amount of water into your well. Thus eliminating1 the risk of flooding due to the well becoming pressurized. 
1Beware dwarves that throw tantrums, they randomly pull levers.

{{Category|Guides}}
{{Category|Design}}

v0.34:Well guide

2013-01-01T20:47:44Z

Ahf: /* Multitasking Wells */ clarification (irrigation is not necessary in soil)

{{quality|Masterwork|22:15, 22 September 2012 (UTC)}}{{av}}
''This guide assumes you've read the main article on '''[[well]]s''' and are familiar with the basic information found in that article, of what a well does and what is required to build one.''

A well can be vital to any fortress, but deciding that you need one and building one are two different things. Draining water from the surface can flood your fortress if you aren't careful, and building a well only to see the water source dry up or freeze is beyond frustrating. This guide will walk you through a number of different situations, and explain solutions that have been found for these problems.
If you are looking for the step by step guide: [[#Step by Step|see below]].

== Why Build a Well? ==

Honestly, not every fortress NEEDS a well. But they all need some form of safe ''water source'' to bring water to patients and prisoners. If they do not have this and you find yourself in a siege with six injured dwarves, you're in for a little bit of [[Fun]]... But a hole full of water can be just as good for that as a well.

=== Why You Might Not ===

1. Wells are currently a little wonky, like everything else, but in a not-so-friendly way. There are plenty of opportunities to flood a fortress through a well, and even if you don't, dwarves and animals might still occasionally fall in.

2. They take a lot of time and effort to construct, especially when compared to alternatives.

3. Because of the way wells are, a single hole in a flat ceiling, it makes it more difficult for creatures to get out, should they find themselves in your water source.

4. Technically, a trench full of water can be designated as a water source just as easily as a well, and dwarves will sanely path around such a thing, as well as bathe in it more easily.

5. If you do make a shallow pool as a water source, and have a meeting hall designated therein, unoccupied dwarves will hang out in the water, gaining swimming skill.

=== Why You Might ===

1. While a trench full of water can be used as a water source, a well can draw water from a source that is 30+ levels below. Also, a trench water source can only be one level deep, dwarves will not draw water from any level deeper than that. A well will.

2. Wells can be made to have extraordinarily high value, due to the various skills and materials, each with their own quality levels, which go into its construction. Thus, as the center piece for a meeting room, even if they have no water, wells can be very handy in making dwarves very happy.

3. As far as the well itself goes, they take up very little space in your actual fortress. With a water-filled channel, the reservoir is equivalent to the floor space occupied.

4. This is a glitch, but wells are the easiest method for making salt water drinkable. Wells will ignore salinity and allow dwarves to drink salt water directly from its source without a glitch. So long as it isn't murky.

== Choosing a Location ==

Once you've decided it's time to construct a well, you need to consider where the well needs to be. It helps if you've been planning for this while building the rest of your fortress, and have made room for it.

You want a well central to your dwarves, so they'll all get good thoughts from seeing it, and near any [[hospital]] beds you have, but you want it off the main traffic routes. You can have more than one well, which solves that problem, but raises the one of engineering water to feed them all. If it's indoors (or behind walls), then there's little threat from [[carp]], [[goblin]]s, or [[animal]]s, and it can provide a safe source of drinking water during a [[siege]].

Depending on your start location, you may already have a pre-existing water source, such as a flooded cavern, which you can just build a well over. Or, as is usually the case, you may need to transport water from some other location to where you want your well to be. This is where things get complicated.

== Water sources ==

A well needs a water source of at least 3/7 depth, at least 1 [[z-level]] somewhere directly below its opening, with no obstructions between itself and said water. Pre-existing water is safe because it's the most predictable - what you see is what you've got, no surprises. You can instead use dwarven engineering to bring water from a distant source to beneath your well, with a safety factor based on your experience and the complexity of the project. (See [[flood]].)

The important part about the well is to make sure that you don't create a situation where the water will [[flood]] your fortress, due to [[Water_pressure|pressure]] from a source at a higher level. If the water is stable before you build the well above it, it will be safe (unless your dwarves change things), but if you are introducing a flow, make sure you understand how pressure works and will not fall victim to its surprises. (See [[Water_pressure|pressure]].)

=== Pre-existing sources ===

A [[brook]], [[river]], [[murky pool]], or [[cavern]] lakes can provide water under a well. If the water source is only one z-level deep and contains a pile of mud, the water produced will be [[Water#Water_laced_with_mud|muddy]]. The surface of a brook tile will have to be channeled out, but it otherwise works just fine. Murky pools are not optimal: they can dry up in warm seasons, and water directly from murky pools is [[Water#Stagnant_water|stagnant]], which is just as bad as being muddy. Murky pools can refill from [[rain]], but on hot maps, this may never happen.

=== [[Aquifer|Aquifers]] ===

If you have an aquifer, just channel a 1x1 square in any open stretch of floor above it and build the well. It will automatically fill and never flood. You'll have other construction projects to worry about.

=== [[Ocean|Oceans]] ===

Oceans and aquifers near oceans carry salty water. This is normally unpleasant to dwarves, but for some reason, drinking that water through a well is perfectly fine. This is a bug. But, if you really want to, it is possible to desalinate water by running it through a pump, (This is ''also'' a bug.) BUT, if that water touches any natural surfaces it will turn salty again. The floor, walls and ceiling of the aqueduct and reservoir all need to be constructed.

=== [[Reservoir|Reservoirs]] ===

If you need to move water to your well, you need to dig/build a reservoir. A reservoir is basically a big hole intended for the storage of large quantities of water.

When digging a reservoir, you need to consider your needs and the space you have available. Do you really need a 20x20x20 reservoir, holding 56,000 tiles of water, requiring 560,000 uses of the well to fully dry up? Frequently, in well-managed fortresses, wells are really only used for the care of sick or imprisoned dwarves and animals. As a result, it doesn't really need to be anything special, unless it's a meeting hall, in which case dwarves will drink from it at random.

Another consideration is safety. Specifically, dwarves fighting near wells can fall into them, whether as a result of sparring or due to overcrowding of animals. You may wish to place some sort of escape route from the well, should anyone do so. At the least, this just needs to be a staircase going up the side of the well to the surface. The shorter the distance they need to go, the better off they are. Keep in mind, of course, that if any wildlife is able to access your reservoir, and if any of them are able to leave the water, they may wander into your fortress through the escape route. If they're particularly malicious, they may even path their way in to attack your dwarves.

If you are filling the reservoir by aqueduct, consider the fill point. If you are using only gravity to fill the well, but the water needs to flow up to do so, you may experience problems when it comes time to refill your well. Specifically, water floods upwards into empty space very easily, but for some reason doesn't like to flood through still water. Thus, it may be more appropriate to have the reservoir fill from its top, though keep in mind that this is a very fast fill method and can flood a bit if you aren't watching and have a small reservoir. (As a side note on that, it is possible to fill a well by pouring water directly through the well opening itself)

Finally, you may find some circumstance where you'd wish to make changes to the well. For example, building a statue in its reservoir, or recovering a lost loved one who fell in and cracked his skull open. In these instances, you may wish to construct a manual drain. All it requires is a hatch or floodgate at the bottom of the well, connected to a lever, covering a tunnel leading to an appropriate dump site... Like your subterranean farming operation. Or your obsidian factory. Or a room full of captured <s>nobles</s> goblins. If you already have a drain for the aqueduct, you can easily connect the two.

== Filling the Well ==

If you've had to construct a well separate from a pre-existing water source, you need to move that water to the well itself. There's two main ways to go about this.

=== Bucket Filling a Well ===

If you designate your well as a pit/pond and have empty buckets, dwarves will fill the well manually. Keep in mind that this is slow, time-consuming and occupies dwarves who could be doing something else. Of course, for particularly small wells, it may be of no concern. If the walking distance is quite far, (Like STUPIDLY far- your fortress would need to be a truly tangled maze for this to happen) the water may evaporate faster than dwarves can fill the well.

=== Piping water to your reservoir ===

If the water is not where you want to build the well, you can dig a tunnel or channel and/or otherwise create an [[aqueduct]] to bring it to where you want it. You should consider adding a door or floodgate somewhere near the water source so that you can dry out your tunnels for future projects, repair, or recovery of lost items.

Channels are open to the sky, and if not done properly, (taking advantage of some weird quirks in game functionality) they are subject to evaporation and freezing. As a result, they aren't normally an optimal method of moving water. Of course, there's nothing stopping you from digging a moat, then filling your well from that. Keep in mind, however, that open water frequently becomes a random hazard, as dwarves can be quite careless at times. If you do have open water set up somewhere, make sure your dwarves have some way out of it. You never know when a random goblin will kick your elite stonecrafter into your moat.

Digging tunnels, then, is generally a better way of moving water from place to place. You need to be careful about how you dig such aqueducts. Water can move through diagonal openings, so be sure to avoid flooding nearby rooms from accidental corner intersections. Make sure that any unnecessary access points to your aqueduct are properly sealed before letting the water flow.

The generally accepted method for digging an aqueduct has five steps.

1. Dig out the reservoir where you want to store the water.

2. From the reservoir, dig a tunnel up to your water source, but leave one space of earth to prevent water from flooding in and killing your dwarf.

3. Build a door or floodgate in the aqueduct, either at the end of the tunnel or at the entrance to the reservoir. Or both if you're fancy. (Doors are better, because the dwarf can walk through it if he builds it from the wrong side)

4. Connect the door/floodgate to a lever, and make sure any dwarves stuck in the tunnel are safely evicted.

5. Channel out the final tile from above, pull the lever. Let the water fill the reservoir, then pull the lever again, sealing the water source.

Keep in mind, when you command the lever to be pulled to end filling, it may take some time for an available dwarf to actually do it. Even then, there is some lag time between the lever pull and the action it causes. Finally, if your plug is at some point in the aqueduct, but not at the entrance of the reservoir, any water in the aqueduct above the water level in the reservoir will continue to pour in.

If you want to empty the aqueduct, use a similar method to build a drain to some reasonable dumping location, like a cavern. Make sure you can control it with levers, however, or it will constantly drain instead of filling your well.

== Safety ==

A well is not an obstructing object. That is to say, it doesn't stop things from passing through its space. This is why wells can function through other wells, why water will flood out of them, and why a (very) few monsters may be able to climb out through them if you're tremendously unlucky.

=== Flooding ===

More fortresses have fallen at the hands of a flooding well than they have to megabeasts, sieges or demons. If you are going to be shifting water around in any form other than buckets, be prepared for the worst.

There are several solutions to the flooding problem.

1. Overflow Drainage. At the top of a reservoir, dig a tunnel to drain water out the side, and have it dump out into some appropriate sump, like a cavern full of armok-knows-what.

2. Emergency auto-plug. You can make pressure plates sense water. If you set up a pressure plate beside your well, and connect it to a hatch or door blocking your reservoir, it will automatically seal the reservoir off from its flow source, should the thing flood.

3. No Exits. The safest and easiest way to do it, is to dig out the reservoir, ''but not the opening for the well itself''. This way, you can fill the reservoir completely, and because there's nowhere for it to flood out to, it simply WON'T! Then you can seal off the reservoir at your leisure and dig the opening without concern! (Though not without caution. Make sure you turned the taps off first.)

=== Monsters ===

You don't need to worry too much about monsters crawling out of your well to gobble down your hairy friends these days, but that doesn't mean it's impossible. It all depends on what beasts may be lurking around- and how you build your well.

First off, if you're bucket-filling a well, you need to make sure that their initial water source is safe. Make sure it isn't full of crocodiles or carp. (Or other dangerous fishy things)

If you are draining water through an aqueduct, and you know there may be dangerous animals (Or even just unwanted regular animals) living in it, there is a way to stop them from wandering in. You can place [[Grate|wall grates]], [[Bars|upright bars]], or [[fortification]]s in the aqueduct to act as filters. These allow water to pass through, but animals cannot. It has been observed that in very rare occasions, animal may be pushed through. If you're that concerned about it (Or have HORDES of angry crocodiles in your river) putting two filters in a row pretty much eliminates any chance of this happening. If you plan to use filters in conjunction with [[floodgate]]s, remember to connect your floodgate to its trigger ''before'' placing the filters.

Even if monsters do get into your well, they're rarely a genuine threat, and at worst can give your dwarves an unhappy thought by scaring them. However, if your reservoir is filled right to the brim, carp and other fish CAN attack your dwarves, just as they would from a river. Also, any amphibious creatures may be able to use an escape passage to make their way into your fortress and make a mess. (Keep in mind, zombified fish are amphibious) And, of course, anyone who falls into a well full of predators is pretty much doomed.

To prevent amphibians from getting out of your well, should they somehow get there, simply put a lockable hatch over the escape route.

Finally, if you are drawing directly from a cavern lake, and have simply opened a hole in its ceiling for the well, any flying creatures in the cavern may be able to use the well as an access point to your fortress. You could potentially construct a wall surrounding the pathway of the bucket. This would prevent flying creatures from entering, unless they are also capable of swimming. Do not forget the perils of dwarves falling into a well, however, falling into a cavern lake full of cave crocodiles will cause lots of fun.

== Above Ground ==

The previous sections focused mostly on subterranean wells and gravity-filling reservoirs. Now we need to consider the special circumstances of wells built at ground level, above ground level, and simply outdoors.

The main problem is that anything above what was ground level at embark is considered "above ground" and has different behavior, even if enclosed to be indoors. In particular, it will freeze and evaporate according to the temperature. This includes everything on level 0 and -1, unless there is something about them preventing the temperature from removing them, like rivers flowing faster than the water can evaporate out of them.

Enclosing the water, so that it is "indoors" will decrease the rate of evaporation, but there isn't much you can do to prevent water from freezing above ground. (There is a way, but if you're new, you may not enjoy [[#Fighting the Ice|the prospects of actually constructing it]].)

=== Outdoor Wells ===

There are plenty of good reasons to build a well outdoors. First and foremost, to be decorative or thematic. The wells don't necessarily need to be functional if this is your intent. But another use would be as a functional source for an outdoor meeting hall... Or in other words, a vomitorium. Because dwarves will clean themselves in a well, having one in such a vomitorium would just make things more efficient!

Of course, as with any outdoor meeting place, you need to be certain that it is a safe place, where goblins and giant eagles are unlikely to descend upon your sickly party-goers.

=== On The Level ===

Now, about ground level, or specifically, the place where "above ground" and "below ground" meet. Z-levels 0 and -1 on flat maps. If you are on a very cold or very hot map, any water open to the sky on these levels will freeze or evaporate very quickly. As said before, you can minimize this by simply roofing in the water and making it "indoors".

Also keep in mind the floor type. Murky pools, even when roofed over, will behave as though they are open to the sky. This is because murky pools, rivers, oceans, etc. all have a special floor tile which modifies the behavior of any water above it. Simply putting floor tiles on the basin of a murky pool can minimize evaporation, but it will eliminate rain refill.

If you dig a channel down to z-2, the water in it will not evaporate very quickly at all, as it's "under ground".

=== In the Sky ===

And now for the final type of well, and this one is very uncommon, you may wish to build a well high above ground. A well tower may indeed be a cool, though completely non-functional idea. Be aware what the environmental conditions are before you do this, of course, as the only real way of dealing with ice involves pumping magma up the tower as well.

In all honesty, a sky well would be built and function pretty much the same as a subterranean well. The only difference is that it is very difficult to get the water up there. You need to build a pumpstack, lifting the water, level by level, pump by pump, up to your reservoir. And you need to lift the water to the top of your reservoir, as pumps will not pump upward naturally.

== Step by Step ==

A guide explaining the exact processes to go through when building the main well types and their infrastructure.

=== The Well Itself ===

So you're really new, you've read the well page, and you're still a little lost? Well, not to worry! We like our newbies! So we're gonna' show you exactly what needs to be done to just build a well from scratch. Keep in mind that a lot of this can be sped up by buying the materials at embark or from a caravan, rather than making them yourself. This is especially true with the restraint component.

Essentially, the components are: '''Rope | Bucket | Block | Mechanism'''

1. Start digging up stone. You need a dwarf with the miner skill enabled and a pickaxe. You need to dig through stone layers to get stone, as dirt yields nothing. The miner will leave rubble behind him. These are your primary building materials.

2. Start chopping down trees. You need a dwarf with the woodcutter skill enabled and a battle axe to do this. Each tree chopped down leaves a log. You'll need this for other components.

3. Set up an underground farm plot and cover it in water. It only needs a dusting of 1/7. Once it's been covered, drain it. It should now be muddy and will allow you to plant things on it. In order to plant seeds and make the farm plot, you'll need a dwarf with the grower skill enabled. Make sure you have pig tail seeds.

4. The pig tail seeds grow into pig tails, which can be processed into thread and turned into ropes for the well. Alternatively, if you run into metal ore, you can make a chain. But that process is even more complex, and there are plenty better uses for chains, so we'll stick with the rope.

5. Now you need a dwarf with the thresher skill enabled and a farmer's workshop set up. Set it to process plants. He will take any available pig tails and turn them into thread.

6. Next you need a weaver and a loom. The weaver will automatically turn thread into fabric at a loom. Yes, you need to make sheets of fabric into ropes, no it doesn't make much sense.

7. Now you need a dwarf with the clothier skill and a clothier's shop. Have the clothier make ropes. He'll use whatever fabric is available to him.

8. Have a mason make a stone block at the mason's workshop.

9. Have a carpenter make a bucket at the carpenter's workshop.

10. Have a mechanic make a mechanism at the mechanic's workshop.

11. Channel out a one-square hole in the ground. This is an example location, to show how a well is to be oriented to actually be built.

12. Build the well. It needs to be placed on the hole. Not in the hole, not above the hole, but directly on it. A well needs at least one adjacent floor tile, and must be built over empty space. Select your block, bucket, mechanism and rope. (Or chain if you went that route)

13. Once that's done, the well designation will just sit there. You need a dwarf with the architect skill to design it. Once he's done, the appropriate worker will drop in and finish building the thing.

It takes 10 skilled dwarves and 6 workshops to build the base materials for one well from scratch. Of course, all of its materials can simply be bought, speeding the process up a fair bit. However, keep in mind that all of its components have value, and all but one also have quality levels. A gem-encrusted masterpiece bucket with a gem encrusted masterpiece platinum chain, with a gem encrusted masterpiece mechanism, with legendary architectural skill and legendary construction, can be of very high value, and using [[artifact]]s made of valuable materials (such as [[adamantine]]) could result in a well being worth many times more than all of the the rest of your fortress combined. As a result, you can engineer them to artificially increase the value of your fortress very quickly, once you have the infrastructure to do so.

=== Murky Pools ===

A relatively large and deep murky that has not been contaminated will work. You will want to build a wall around the pool to prevent contamination and creatures using it to access your fortress. Next build a reservoir one level below the murky pool. Remember that part of your reservoir will have to be directly below the spot you want to build your well. Make the reservoir fairly small as murky pools do not hold much water. If you make the reservoir to large you will just end up with a muddy floor. Drain the water into the reservoir. Once it has filled, you can build your well on an available square directly above your reservoir.

=== Brooks ===

Brooks are nice. We'll show you why!

=== Rivers ===

Rivers are different from brooks, in that they have things living in them and are a little more dangerous to be around.

=== Oceans ===

This explains the salinity glitch with oceans again, and discusses how to safely draw water from an ocean.

=== Aquifers ===

This section explains why the only thing aquifers are good for, are wells.

=== Flooded Caverns ===

This will discuss different methods of utilizing water from flooded caverns, specifically for the construction of a well, safely.

=== Water Falls ===

If you have a waterfall on your map, you are truly lucky. You can do so many cool things with waterfalls, it's enough to make a dwarf consider crying, just this once, maybe, if nobody's looking. But, here, we'll show some step-by-step ideas for how to use waterfalls to make awesome wells.

=== Reservoirs ===

So, you've decided you need to store water elsewhere, eh? Well, I can't blame you. Here's some discussion about the traits a reservoir can have, how to build them without trapping your dwarves, safety concerns, escape routes, and a discussion on effective filling methods.

=== Bucket Filling ===

This talks about how to go about bucket filling a well, the benefits of doing so, and the problems therein.

=== Aqueducts ===

This talks about how to build several generic aqueducts, drawing from different types of sources. Specifically, gravity-draining above-ground sources and pumping upward from subterranean sources.

=== Drainage ===

This talks about what drains are used for, why you might want them, and then how to build several types of functional drain mechanisms.

== Style and Design ==

This section discusses purely aesthetic and functional decisions people have made in the past with their wells, as well as advanced designs.

=== Fighting the Ice ===

So you have a frozen well, and you want to know how to keep it liquid do ya? You're going to need to build a heated reservoir.

First, have magma on your map. If you don't, dig deeper and be prepared for [[Fun]].

Next, you need some [[magma-safe]] materials. You'll need this to build floodgates and pumps.

Now, you need to pipe and pump the magma with the magma-safe pumping equipment. Be sure to use mechanical power for these, as dwarves are too likely to kill themselves.

The magma needs to be piped under your reservoir. That is to say, there needs to be just one floor tile between the two, just enough to keep them from touching and turning into an accidental obsidian factory.

The magma needs to be piped around under your water, it needs to keep on moving or the water will freeze again. That means it needs an infinite, cyclical flow.

And even if you get all of this built and working, it will only melt one level. Which means the reservoir can only be 1 level deep.

That's a lot of work to have an above-ground well in a frozen environment. Probably easier to melt a pool and drain it.

=== Ultimate Party Machine ===

It is possible to pour water through the mouth of a well from above. This frequently causes water to spray out in a mist, which pleases dwarves. If you power it, you could have a pump stack draw water from beneath the well and pour it back in from above, turning your fancy meeting hall into a FANCIER meeting hall! Throw in some platinum statues while you're at it.

=== Well Stacking ===

Have you ever needed to have more than one well on multiple z-levels and disliked the work of setting up multiple reservoirs? Well fret no more!

Because a well can function through the opening of another well, it's possible to stack well openings through z-levels! So long as they're all in a perfectly straight line above each other, and there's at least 3/7 tiles of water somewhere directly below them, they will all be perfectly functional!

Of course, if you go too far, this may become something of a safety concern, as dwarves would plummet mile after mile, through dozens of well openings before finally hitting the bottom.

=== Multitasking Wells ===

Because wells aren't actually USED all that often, and are usually more valuable as decorations, there isn't really any reason to keep its reservoir completely full all the time. So, what can you do with a giant bucket of water in the middle of your fortress? Well, luckily, there are a few other reasons you could have for piping water around.

First, you need to "irrigate" stone floors before you can actually farm on them. Instead of making a separate, elaborate irrigation system for just one use, (mud doesn't dry naturally, though it could be smoothed/floored over and disappears when reclaiming a fortress) why not just drain it out of your well?

You could also use your well as a water reservoir for an obsidian factory. Fill a chamber with a single layer of magma, then pour your well's contents over it!

You could use your well to dispose of unwanted life forms, such as siegers, elves, goblins, nobles and other miscellaneous things that wandered into your cage traps. (This only works on non-amphibious creatures)

=== The Dwarven Toilet ===

I built this in an experiment. At the top of the reservoir is a platform with a pressure plate on it. When the pressure plate senses 5/7 water, it triggers, closing the fill pipe, and opening the drain. So, when you pull the lever to fill the thing, it fills up to the top, then drains. Just like a giant toilet. I have not found any functional use for this. In all honesty, it was a simple accident I made, connecting the pressure plate to the drain as well as the plug. But, hey, what the heck, I made a giant toilet. There ya' go. Perhaps you could use this to get rid of the crud that accumulates in a well as dwarves clean themselves in it?

This can be VERY useful when you have a larger reservoir that fills your well. This way every pull of the lever delivers a set amount of water into your well. Thus eliminating1 the risk of flooding due to the well becoming pressurized. 
1Beware dwarves that throw tantrums, they randomly pull levers.

{{Category|Guides}}
{{Category|Design}}

v0.34:Well guide

2013-01-01T20:42:21Z

Ahf: /* Pre-existing sources */ Rewrote the entire section (stagnant water mechanics were changed in 0.34.09, and muddy water was incorrectly identified as stagnant)

{{quality|Masterwork|22:15, 22 September 2012 (UTC)}}{{av}}
''This guide assumes you've read the main article on '''[[well]]s''' and are familiar with the basic information found in that article, of what a well does and what is required to build one.''

A well can be vital to any fortress, but deciding that you need one and building one are two different things. Draining water from the surface can flood your fortress if you aren't careful, and building a well only to see the water source dry up or freeze is beyond frustrating. This guide will walk you through a number of different situations, and explain solutions that have been found for these problems.
If you are looking for the step by step guide: [[#Step by Step|see below]].

== Why Build a Well? ==

Honestly, not every fortress NEEDS a well. But they all need some form of safe ''water source'' to bring water to patients and prisoners. If they do not have this and you find yourself in a siege with six injured dwarves, you're in for a little bit of [[Fun]]... But a hole full of water can be just as good for that as a well.

=== Why You Might Not ===

1. Wells are currently a little wonky, like everything else, but in a not-so-friendly way. There are plenty of opportunities to flood a fortress through a well, and even if you don't, dwarves and animals might still occasionally fall in.

2. They take a lot of time and effort to construct, especially when compared to alternatives.

3. Because of the way wells are, a single hole in a flat ceiling, it makes it more difficult for creatures to get out, should they find themselves in your water source.

4. Technically, a trench full of water can be designated as a water source just as easily as a well, and dwarves will sanely path around such a thing, as well as bathe in it more easily.

5. If you do make a shallow pool as a water source, and have a meeting hall designated therein, unoccupied dwarves will hang out in the water, gaining swimming skill.

=== Why You Might ===

1. While a trench full of water can be used as a water source, a well can draw water from a source that is 30+ levels below. Also, a trench water source can only be one level deep, dwarves will not draw water from any level deeper than that. A well will.

2. Wells can be made to have extraordinarily high value, due to the various skills and materials, each with their own quality levels, which go into its construction. Thus, as the center piece for a meeting room, even if they have no water, wells can be very handy in making dwarves very happy.

3. As far as the well itself goes, they take up very little space in your actual fortress. With a water-filled channel, the reservoir is equivalent to the floor space occupied.

4. This is a glitch, but wells are the easiest method for making salt water drinkable. Wells will ignore salinity and allow dwarves to drink salt water directly from its source without a glitch. So long as it isn't murky.

== Choosing a Location ==

Once you've decided it's time to construct a well, you need to consider where the well needs to be. It helps if you've been planning for this while building the rest of your fortress, and have made room for it.

You want a well central to your dwarves, so they'll all get good thoughts from seeing it, and near any [[hospital]] beds you have, but you want it off the main traffic routes. You can have more than one well, which solves that problem, but raises the one of engineering water to feed them all. If it's indoors (or behind walls), then there's little threat from [[carp]], [[goblin]]s, or [[animal]]s, and it can provide a safe source of drinking water during a [[siege]].

Depending on your start location, you may already have a pre-existing water source, such as a flooded cavern, which you can just build a well over. Or, as is usually the case, you may need to transport water from some other location to where you want your well to be. This is where things get complicated.

== Water sources ==

A well needs a water source of at least 3/7 depth, at least 1 [[z-level]] somewhere directly below its opening, with no obstructions between itself and said water. Pre-existing water is safe because it's the most predictable - what you see is what you've got, no surprises. You can instead use dwarven engineering to bring water from a distant source to beneath your well, with a safety factor based on your experience and the complexity of the project. (See [[flood]].)

The important part about the well is to make sure that you don't create a situation where the water will [[flood]] your fortress, due to [[Water_pressure|pressure]] from a source at a higher level. If the water is stable before you build the well above it, it will be safe (unless your dwarves change things), but if you are introducing a flow, make sure you understand how pressure works and will not fall victim to its surprises. (See [[Water_pressure|pressure]].)

=== Pre-existing sources ===

A [[brook]], [[river]], [[murky pool]], or [[cavern]] lakes can provide water under a well. If the water source is only one z-level deep and contains a pile of mud, the water produced will be [[Water#Water_laced_with_mud|muddy]]. The surface of a brook tile will have to be channeled out, but it otherwise works just fine. Murky pools are not optimal: they can dry up in warm seasons, and water directly from murky pools is [[Water#Stagnant_water|stagnant]], which is just as bad as being muddy. Murky pools can refill from [[rain]], but on hot maps, this may never happen.

=== [[Aquifer|Aquifers]] ===

If you have an aquifer, just channel a 1x1 square in any open stretch of floor above it and build the well. It will automatically fill and never flood. You'll have other construction projects to worry about.

=== [[Ocean|Oceans]] ===

Oceans and aquifers near oceans carry salty water. This is normally unpleasant to dwarves, but for some reason, drinking that water through a well is perfectly fine. This is a bug. But, if you really want to, it is possible to desalinate water by running it through a pump, (This is ''also'' a bug.) BUT, if that water touches any natural surfaces it will turn salty again. The floor, walls and ceiling of the aqueduct and reservoir all need to be constructed.

=== [[Reservoir|Reservoirs]] ===

If you need to move water to your well, you need to dig/build a reservoir. A reservoir is basically a big hole intended for the storage of large quantities of water.

When digging a reservoir, you need to consider your needs and the space you have available. Do you really need a 20x20x20 reservoir, holding 56,000 tiles of water, requiring 560,000 uses of the well to fully dry up? Frequently, in well-managed fortresses, wells are really only used for the care of sick or imprisoned dwarves and animals. As a result, it doesn't really need to be anything special, unless it's a meeting hall, in which case dwarves will drink from it at random.

Another consideration is safety. Specifically, dwarves fighting near wells can fall into them, whether as a result of sparring or due to overcrowding of animals. You may wish to place some sort of escape route from the well, should anyone do so. At the least, this just needs to be a staircase going up the side of the well to the surface. The shorter the distance they need to go, the better off they are. Keep in mind, of course, that if any wildlife is able to access your reservoir, and if any of them are able to leave the water, they may wander into your fortress through the escape route. If they're particularly malicious, they may even path their way in to attack your dwarves.

If you are filling the reservoir by aqueduct, consider the fill point. If you are using only gravity to fill the well, but the water needs to flow up to do so, you may experience problems when it comes time to refill your well. Specifically, water floods upwards into empty space very easily, but for some reason doesn't like to flood through still water. Thus, it may be more appropriate to have the reservoir fill from its top, though keep in mind that this is a very fast fill method and can flood a bit if you aren't watching and have a small reservoir. (As a side note on that, it is possible to fill a well by pouring water directly through the well opening itself)

Finally, you may find some circumstance where you'd wish to make changes to the well. For example, building a statue in its reservoir, or recovering a lost loved one who fell in and cracked his skull open. In these instances, you may wish to construct a manual drain. All it requires is a hatch or floodgate at the bottom of the well, connected to a lever, covering a tunnel leading to an appropriate dump site... Like your subterranean farming operation. Or your obsidian factory. Or a room full of captured <s>nobles</s> goblins. If you already have a drain for the aqueduct, you can easily connect the two.

== Filling the Well ==

If you've had to construct a well separate from a pre-existing water source, you need to move that water to the well itself. There's two main ways to go about this.

=== Bucket Filling a Well ===

If you designate your well as a pit/pond and have empty buckets, dwarves will fill the well manually. Keep in mind that this is slow, time-consuming and occupies dwarves who could be doing something else. Of course, for particularly small wells, it may be of no concern. If the walking distance is quite far, (Like STUPIDLY far- your fortress would need to be a truly tangled maze for this to happen) the water may evaporate faster than dwarves can fill the well.

=== Piping water to your reservoir ===

If the water is not where you want to build the well, you can dig a tunnel or channel and/or otherwise create an [[aqueduct]] to bring it to where you want it. You should consider adding a door or floodgate somewhere near the water source so that you can dry out your tunnels for future projects, repair, or recovery of lost items.

Channels are open to the sky, and if not done properly, (taking advantage of some weird quirks in game functionality) they are subject to evaporation and freezing. As a result, they aren't normally an optimal method of moving water. Of course, there's nothing stopping you from digging a moat, then filling your well from that. Keep in mind, however, that open water frequently becomes a random hazard, as dwarves can be quite careless at times. If you do have open water set up somewhere, make sure your dwarves have some way out of it. You never know when a random goblin will kick your elite stonecrafter into your moat.

Digging tunnels, then, is generally a better way of moving water from place to place. You need to be careful about how you dig such aqueducts. Water can move through diagonal openings, so be sure to avoid flooding nearby rooms from accidental corner intersections. Make sure that any unnecessary access points to your aqueduct are properly sealed before letting the water flow.

The generally accepted method for digging an aqueduct has five steps.

1. Dig out the reservoir where you want to store the water.

2. From the reservoir, dig a tunnel up to your water source, but leave one space of earth to prevent water from flooding in and killing your dwarf.

3. Build a door or floodgate in the aqueduct, either at the end of the tunnel or at the entrance to the reservoir. Or both if you're fancy. (Doors are better, because the dwarf can walk through it if he builds it from the wrong side)

4. Connect the door/floodgate to a lever, and make sure any dwarves stuck in the tunnel are safely evicted.

5. Channel out the final tile from above, pull the lever. Let the water fill the reservoir, then pull the lever again, sealing the water source.

Keep in mind, when you command the lever to be pulled to end filling, it may take some time for an available dwarf to actually do it. Even then, there is some lag time between the lever pull and the action it causes. Finally, if your plug is at some point in the aqueduct, but not at the entrance of the reservoir, any water in the aqueduct above the water level in the reservoir will continue to pour in.

If you want to empty the aqueduct, use a similar method to build a drain to some reasonable dumping location, like a cavern. Make sure you can control it with levers, however, or it will constantly drain instead of filling your well.

== Safety ==

A well is not an obstructing object. That is to say, it doesn't stop things from passing through its space. This is why wells can function through other wells, why water will flood out of them, and why a (very) few monsters may be able to climb out through them if you're tremendously unlucky.

=== Flooding ===

More fortresses have fallen at the hands of a flooding well than they have to megabeasts, sieges or demons. If you are going to be shifting water around in any form other than buckets, be prepared for the worst.

There are several solutions to the flooding problem.

1. Overflow Drainage. At the top of a reservoir, dig a tunnel to drain water out the side, and have it dump out into some appropriate sump, like a cavern full of armok-knows-what.

2. Emergency auto-plug. You can make pressure plates sense water. If you set up a pressure plate beside your well, and connect it to a hatch or door blocking your reservoir, it will automatically seal the reservoir off from its flow source, should the thing flood.

3. No Exits. The safest and easiest way to do it, is to dig out the reservoir, ''but not the opening for the well itself''. This way, you can fill the reservoir completely, and because there's nowhere for it to flood out to, it simply WON'T! Then you can seal off the reservoir at your leisure and dig the opening without concern! (Though not without caution. Make sure you turned the taps off first.)

=== Monsters ===

You don't need to worry too much about monsters crawling out of your well to gobble down your hairy friends these days, but that doesn't mean it's impossible. It all depends on what beasts may be lurking around- and how you build your well.

First off, if you're bucket-filling a well, you need to make sure that their initial water source is safe. Make sure it isn't full of crocodiles or carp. (Or other dangerous fishy things)

If you are draining water through an aqueduct, and you know there may be dangerous animals (Or even just unwanted regular animals) living in it, there is a way to stop them from wandering in. You can place [[Grate|wall grates]], [[Bars|upright bars]], or [[fortification]]s in the aqueduct to act as filters. These allow water to pass through, but animals cannot. It has been observed that in very rare occasions, animal may be pushed through. If you're that concerned about it (Or have HORDES of angry crocodiles in your river) putting two filters in a row pretty much eliminates any chance of this happening. If you plan to use filters in conjunction with [[floodgate]]s, remember to connect your floodgate to its trigger ''before'' placing the filters.

Even if monsters do get into your well, they're rarely a genuine threat, and at worst can give your dwarves an unhappy thought by scaring them. However, if your reservoir is filled right to the brim, carp and other fish CAN attack your dwarves, just as they would from a river. Also, any amphibious creatures may be able to use an escape passage to make their way into your fortress and make a mess. (Keep in mind, zombified fish are amphibious) And, of course, anyone who falls into a well full of predators is pretty much doomed.

To prevent amphibians from getting out of your well, should they somehow get there, simply put a lockable hatch over the escape route.

Finally, if you are drawing directly from a cavern lake, and have simply opened a hole in its ceiling for the well, any flying creatures in the cavern may be able to use the well as an access point to your fortress. You could potentially construct a wall surrounding the pathway of the bucket. This would prevent flying creatures from entering, unless they are also capable of swimming. Do not forget the perils of dwarves falling into a well, however, falling into a cavern lake full of cave crocodiles will cause lots of fun.

== Above Ground ==

The previous sections focused mostly on subterranean wells and gravity-filling reservoirs. Now we need to consider the special circumstances of wells built at ground level, above ground level, and simply outdoors.

The main problem is that anything above what was ground level at embark is considered "above ground" and has different behavior, even if enclosed to be indoors. In particular, it will freeze and evaporate according to the temperature. This includes everything on level 0 and -1, unless there is something about them preventing the temperature from removing them, like rivers flowing faster than the water can evaporate out of them.

Enclosing the water, so that it is "indoors" will decrease the rate of evaporation, but there isn't much you can do to prevent water from freezing above ground. (There is a way, but if you're new, you may not enjoy [[#Fighting the Ice|the prospects of actually constructing it]].)

=== Outdoor Wells ===

There are plenty of good reasons to build a well outdoors. First and foremost, to be decorative or thematic. The wells don't necessarily need to be functional if this is your intent. But another use would be as a functional source for an outdoor meeting hall... Or in other words, a vomitorium. Because dwarves will clean themselves in a well, having one in such a vomitorium would just make things more efficient!

Of course, as with any outdoor meeting place, you need to be certain that it is a safe place, where goblins and giant eagles are unlikely to descend upon your sickly party-goers.

=== On The Level ===

Now, about ground level, or specifically, the place where "above ground" and "below ground" meet. Z-levels 0 and -1 on flat maps. If you are on a very cold or very hot map, any water open to the sky on these levels will freeze or evaporate very quickly. As said before, you can minimize this by simply roofing in the water and making it "indoors".

Also keep in mind the floor type. Murky pools, even when roofed over, will behave as though they are open to the sky. This is because murky pools, rivers, oceans, etc. all have a special floor tile which modifies the behavior of any water above it. Simply putting floor tiles on the basin of a murky pool can minimize evaporation, but it will eliminate rain refill.

If you dig a channel down to z-2, the water in it will not evaporate very quickly at all, as it's "under ground".

=== In the Sky ===

And now for the final type of well, and this one is very uncommon, you may wish to build a well high above ground. A well tower may indeed be a cool, though completely non-functional idea. Be aware what the environmental conditions are before you do this, of course, as the only real way of dealing with ice involves pumping magma up the tower as well.

In all honesty, a sky well would be built and function pretty much the same as a subterranean well. The only difference is that it is very difficult to get the water up there. You need to build a pumpstack, lifting the water, level by level, pump by pump, up to your reservoir. And you need to lift the water to the top of your reservoir, as pumps will not pump upward naturally.

== Step by Step ==

A guide explaining the exact processes to go through when building the main well types and their infrastructure.

=== The Well Itself ===

So you're really new, you've read the well page, and you're still a little lost? Well, not to worry! We like our newbies! So we're gonna' show you exactly what needs to be done to just build a well from scratch. Keep in mind that a lot of this can be sped up by buying the materials at embark or from a caravan, rather than making them yourself. This is especially true with the restraint component.

Essentially, the components are: '''Rope | Bucket | Block | Mechanism'''

1. Start digging up stone. You need a dwarf with the miner skill enabled and a pickaxe. You need to dig through stone layers to get stone, as dirt yields nothing. The miner will leave rubble behind him. These are your primary building materials.

2. Start chopping down trees. You need a dwarf with the woodcutter skill enabled and a battle axe to do this. Each tree chopped down leaves a log. You'll need this for other components.

3. Set up an underground farm plot and cover it in water. It only needs a dusting of 1/7. Once it's been covered, drain it. It should now be muddy and will allow you to plant things on it. In order to plant seeds and make the farm plot, you'll need a dwarf with the grower skill enabled. Make sure you have pig tail seeds.

4. The pig tail seeds grow into pig tails, which can be processed into thread and turned into ropes for the well. Alternatively, if you run into metal ore, you can make a chain. But that process is even more complex, and there are plenty better uses for chains, so we'll stick with the rope.

5. Now you need a dwarf with the thresher skill enabled and a farmer's workshop set up. Set it to process plants. He will take any available pig tails and turn them into thread.

6. Next you need a weaver and a loom. The weaver will automatically turn thread into fabric at a loom. Yes, you need to make sheets of fabric into ropes, no it doesn't make much sense.

7. Now you need a dwarf with the clothier skill and a clothier's shop. Have the clothier make ropes. He'll use whatever fabric is available to him.

8. Have a mason make a stone block at the mason's workshop.

9. Have a carpenter make a bucket at the carpenter's workshop.

10. Have a mechanic make a mechanism at the mechanic's workshop.

11. Channel out a one-square hole in the ground. This is an example location, to show how a well is to be oriented to actually be built.

12. Build the well. It needs to be placed on the hole. Not in the hole, not above the hole, but directly on it. A well needs at least one adjacent floor tile, and must be built over empty space. Select your block, bucket, mechanism and rope. (Or chain if you went that route)

13. Once that's done, the well designation will just sit there. You need a dwarf with the architect skill to design it. Once he's done, the appropriate worker will drop in and finish building the thing.

It takes 10 skilled dwarves and 6 workshops to build the base materials for one well from scratch. Of course, all of its materials can simply be bought, speeding the process up a fair bit. However, keep in mind that all of its components have value, and all but one also have quality levels. A gem-encrusted masterpiece bucket with a gem encrusted masterpiece platinum chain, with a gem encrusted masterpiece mechanism, with legendary architectural skill and legendary construction, can be of very high value, and using [[artifact]]s made of valuable materials (such as [[adamantine]]) could result in a well being worth many times more than all of the the rest of your fortress combined. As a result, you can engineer them to artificially increase the value of your fortress very quickly, once you have the infrastructure to do so.

=== Murky Pools ===

A relatively large and deep murky that has not been contaminated will work. You will want to build a wall around the pool to prevent contamination and creatures using it to access your fortress. Next build a reservoir one level below the murky pool. Remember that part of your reservoir will have to be directly below the spot you want to build your well. Make the reservoir fairly small as murky pools do not hold much water. If you make the reservoir to large you will just end up with a muddy floor. Drain the water into the reservoir. Once it has filled, you can build your well on an available square directly above your reservoir.

=== Brooks ===

Brooks are nice. We'll show you why!

=== Rivers ===

Rivers are different from brooks, in that they have things living in them and are a little more dangerous to be around.

=== Oceans ===

This explains the salinity glitch with oceans again, and discusses how to safely draw water from an ocean.

=== Aquifers ===

This section explains why the only thing aquifers are good for, are wells.

=== Flooded Caverns ===

This will discuss different methods of utilizing water from flooded caverns, specifically for the construction of a well, safely.

=== Water Falls ===

If you have a waterfall on your map, you are truly lucky. You can do so many cool things with waterfalls, it's enough to make a dwarf consider crying, just this once, maybe, if nobody's looking. But, here, we'll show some step-by-step ideas for how to use waterfalls to make awesome wells.

=== Reservoirs ===

So, you've decided you need to store water elsewhere, eh? Well, I can't blame you. Here's some discussion about the traits a reservoir can have, how to build them without trapping your dwarves, safety concerns, escape routes, and a discussion on effective filling methods.

=== Bucket Filling ===

This talks about how to go about bucket filling a well, the benefits of doing so, and the problems therein.

=== Aqueducts ===

This talks about how to build several generic aqueducts, drawing from different types of sources. Specifically, gravity-draining above-ground sources and pumping upward from subterranean sources.

=== Drainage ===

This talks about what drains are used for, why you might want them, and then how to build several types of functional drain mechanisms.

== Style and Design ==

This section discusses purely aesthetic and functional decisions people have made in the past with their wells, as well as advanced designs.

=== Fighting the Ice ===

So you have a frozen well, and you want to know how to keep it liquid do ya? You're going to need to build a heated reservoir.

First, have magma on your map. If you don't, dig deeper and be prepared for [[Fun]].

Next, you need some [[magma-safe]] materials. You'll need this to build floodgates and pumps.

Now, you need to pipe and pump the magma with the magma-safe pumping equipment. Be sure to use mechanical power for these, as dwarves are too likely to kill themselves.

The magma needs to be piped under your reservoir. That is to say, there needs to be just one floor tile between the two, just enough to keep them from touching and turning into an accidental obsidian factory.

The magma needs to be piped around under your water, it needs to keep on moving or the water will freeze again. That means it needs an infinite, cyclical flow.

And even if you get all of this built and working, it will only melt one level. Which means the reservoir can only be 1 level deep.

That's a lot of work to have an above-ground well in a frozen environment. Probably easier to melt a pool and drain it.

=== Ultimate Party Machine ===

It is possible to pour water through the mouth of a well from above. This frequently causes water to spray out in a mist, which pleases dwarves. If you power it, you could have a pump stack draw water from beneath the well and pour it back in from above, turning your fancy meeting hall into a FANCIER meeting hall! Throw in some platinum statues while you're at it.

=== Well Stacking ===

Have you ever needed to have more than one well on multiple z-levels and disliked the work of setting up multiple reservoirs? Well fret no more!

Because a well can function through the opening of another well, it's possible to stack well openings through z-levels! So long as they're all in a perfectly straight line above each other, and there's at least 3/7 tiles of water somewhere directly below them, they will all be perfectly functional!

Of course, if you go too far, this may become something of a safety concern, as dwarves would plummet mile after mile, through dozens of well openings before finally hitting the bottom.

=== Multitasking Wells ===

Because wells aren't actually USED all that often, and are usually more valuable as decorations, there isn't really any reason to keep its reservoir completely full all the time. So, what can you do with a giant bucket of water in the middle of your fortress? Well, luckily, there are a few other reasons you could have for piping water around.

First, you need to "irrigate" underground floors before you can actually farm on them. Instead of making a separate, elaborate irrigation system for just one use, (mud doesn't dry naturally, though it could be smoothed/floored over and disappears when reclaiming a fortress) why not just drain it out of your well?

You could also use your well as a water reservoir for an obsidian factory. Fill a chamber with a single layer of magma, then pour your well's contents over it!

You could use your well to dispose of unwanted life forms, such as siegers, elves, goblins, nobles and other miscellaneous things that wandered into your cage traps. (This only works on non-amphibious creatures)

=== The Dwarven Toilet ===

I built this in an experiment. At the top of the reservoir is a platform with a pressure plate on it. When the pressure plate senses 5/7 water, it triggers, closing the fill pipe, and opening the drain. So, when you pull the lever to fill the thing, it fills up to the top, then drains. Just like a giant toilet. I have not found any functional use for this. In all honesty, it was a simple accident I made, connecting the pressure plate to the drain as well as the plug. But, hey, what the heck, I made a giant toilet. There ya' go. Perhaps you could use this to get rid of the crud that accumulates in a well as dwarves clean themselves in it?

This can be VERY useful when you have a larger reservoir that fills your well. This way every pull of the lever delivers a set amount of water into your well. Thus eliminating1 the risk of flooding due to the well becoming pressurized. 
1Beware dwarves that throw tantrums, they randomly pull levers.

{{Category|Guides}}
{{Category|Design}}

v0.34:Jug

2012-08-12T03:54:37Z

Ahf: Improved grammar

{{quality|Fine|03:21, 18 April 2011 (UTC)}}{{av}}

'''Jugs''' are a type of [[container]], made from [[ceramic]] at a [[kiln]], from [[metal]] at a [[forge]], from [[glass]] at a [[glass furnace]], from stone by a [[stone crafter]] at a [[craftsdwarf's workshop]], or [[v0.31_Talk:Jug#Wooden_Jugs.3F.3F|from wood]] at a [[craftsdwarf's workshop]]. They are used in [[Beekeeping industry|beekeeping]] to store royal jelly or at a [[screw press]] to store honey or rock nut oil. Jugs made from earthenware need to be [[glaze]]d before they can be used to hold liquids like honey. Jugs are stored in the [[tool|Tools]] section of the Finished Goods stockpile, and managed from the '''tools''' section of the Stocks screen. Jugs are stacked in bins.

Jugs can be used in adventurer mode to store water as a waterskin, storing 16 units of water.

{{Category|Items}}

v0.31:Cheese maker

2012-02-11T04:36:47Z

Ahf:

{{quality|Exceptional|23:21, 11 June 2010 (UTC)}}
{{Skill
| color = 6:0
| skill = Cheese Maker
| profession = [[Farmer]]
| job name = [[Cheese making]]
| workshop = [[Farmer's workshop]]
| tasks =
* Make cheese
| attributes =
* Strength
* Agility
* Endurance
* Analytical Ability
* Creativity
* Kinesthetic Sense
}}
{{av}}

'''Cheese maker''' is the skill associated with the '''cheese making''' [[labor]]. Cheese makers turn [[milk]] into [[cheese]] at the [[farmer's workshop]]. Since [[skill]] does not produce higher quality cheese, a highly skilled cheese maker is not particularly valuable.{{verify}}

When a cheese maker is not making cheese, here is a list of jobs he might be good as: [[Milker]], Decoy, and [[Trap|Trap Tester]].

[[File:DF_Cheese.jpg|208px|thumb|right|A dwarf eating cheese]]

{{Skills}}

v0.31:Trading

2012-02-11T04:19:59Z

Ahf: /* Elves */ The memory comment should go in a "D for Dwarf" section. Removed for now.

{{quality|Exceptional|07:56, 19 January 2011 (UTC)}}{{av}}
{{Buggy}}

'''Trading''' in Dwarf Fortress first occurs in the first [[Calendar|autumn]] after establishing your fortress, with the arrival of the [[dwarf|Dwarven]] [[Trading#Caravans|caravan]]. Trading is a good way to acquire resources that are not available or are rare in the local area. It also allows for more freedom in selecting starting gear or purchase of additional skills for the expedition party, because items can always be obtained through trade later.

'''Trader''' is the term used at your Trade Depot to refer to your fortress [[Broker]] when dealing with merchants in a visiting caravan ({{key|r}} - "''Trader requested at Depot"''). As a [[profession]], the term usually only applies to visiting merchants, or to a dwarf whose highest [[skill]] is [[Appraiser]].

== Trade Depot ==
Building a [[Trade depot]] is a requisite for trade with caravans that arrive at your fortress.

While it may be convenient to build a Trade Depot outside at first, it is usually a really good idea to move it inside or build walls, bridges and other fortifications around it to protect caravans and your goods from animals (guzzlers), [[thief|thieves]] and [[goblin]]s.

Everything that is on your map belongs to you, except:
* the items of non-fortress members (only if they are alive, when they are dead they belong to you if you claim the items),{{Verify}}
* the items that are on merchant animals{{Verify}}
* the items that are on the trade depot (they belong to the caravan until they are moved out of it)

See the [[Trade depot]] article for more information on how to interact with it.

==Trading Flowchart ==
{{:Trading/Flowchart}}
After entering the trade menu, select the items to offer from the right, and the desired items from the left. All caravans have a weight limit which cannot be exceeded, and the allowed additional weight is displayed in the lower right corner. If the acting broker has at least Novice or better [[Appraisal]] skill, the value of all items will be displayed. Once the proposal is ready, press {{K|t}} to propose the trade, but merchants will not agree unless they make adequate profit. Be sure to use '''trade''', not '''offer''' {{K|o}}, as this will make a gift of the selected items. The amount of acceptable profit is determined by the broker's [[Broker skills|skills]] and the merchant's mood, described below. Merchants may attempt to propose counteroffers if they do not accept the proposal, which can then be accepted, rejected, or further amended by the broker.

With more experienced brokers or pleased merchants, even marginally profitable trades can be successful, and counterproposals can be rejected safely, offering the same trade again. Note however that a low profit margin for the traders may not be desirable - it has been suggested that both export and profit numbers influence the size of next years caravan and, in the case of the dwarven caravan, immigration numbers.{{Verify}}

Goods brought by caravans do not have base quality higher than superior, but decorations on a good may be of any quality.{{Verify}}

== Trading cue colors ==

* '''Brown''' Items have been created (or modified) by your fortress. They can be traded away or offered as a gift.
* '''White''' Items were created by another source. They can be traded, but if one of these items has been selected, the entire selection cannot be offered as a gift.
* '''Purple''' Items are under a no-export mandate. If they are traded away it will result in disciplinary action (see [[justice]]) against the dwarf that brought the item to the depot.{{Verify}}
* '''Green''' Items have just been gifted to the caravan and they will not trade it back.
* '''Red''' Items have been seized from another caravan and cannot be traded as is; you will need to decorate them or turn them into other items for them to become "valid" trading items. However, a caravan from a different civilization ''may'' accept stolen goods without changing them first.{{verify}}

Note that containers (barrels, bins, etc) will be displayed according to the origin of the container, not the contents. So a foreign barrel holding locally-produced beer will display as foreign (white). Once you {{k|v}}iew the container, the locally-made contents are displayed as local (brown).

== Merchant mood ==
If your broker has Novice or better [[Judge of intent]] skill, there will be a line added below the merchant's dialogue describing the caravan's attitude. Their attitude rises with successful trades (especially if they get lots of profit) and falls when you propose deals they don't like.

* (trader) seems ecstatic with the trading
* (trader) seems very happy about the trading
* (trader) seems pleased with the trading
* (trader) seems willing to trade (Default, at least for humans)
* (trader) seems to be rapidly losing patience
* (trader) is not going to take much more of this
* (trader) is unwilling to trade

The happier you make a merchant, the less profit margin he will demand in a trade. If merchants reach the lowest level, no further trade will be possible, and they will immediately pack up and leave your depot. Since annoyed traders are more likely to reject deals, you should be generous in initial negotiations. Skilled negotiators seem less likely to offend traders with unsuccessful deals.

An easy way to capitalize on this mood system is to perform several partial trades. First trade for a few items, offering goods twice the value of the items you ask for (eg, offer 2000☼ for 1000☼ of his stuff). This will likely make the merchant ecstatic about trading with you. Exit the trade screen, unpause briefly, and then return to trading with a vengeance. With the merchant in such a good mood, he is more likely to counteroffer than reject a trade outright.

== Seizing items ==

Pressing {{K|s}} from the trade menu will seize the selected items of the merchant's. If you seize goods from a caravan, the merchant will respond "Take what you want. I can't stop you." and then leave immediately without the seized goods. Items cannot be seized from the dwarven caravan, and other races will not buy goods stolen from one of their caravans (then marked in red) unless they are tricked into asking for them via counteroffer, or the items are "laundered" by decoration or used to create other goods. Seizing goods will hurt diplomatic relations, but is not grounds for an automatic [[siege]].{{Verify}}

Pressing the seize button while no goods are selected will result in the merchant interpreting your seizure as a joke. This apparently does nothing to benefit or hinder your trading.{{Verify}}

As a side note, if you deconstruct your trade depot with a caravan in it, all the caravan's items will drop to the ground, to be readily hauled away by your Dwarves. This does not mark the items as stolen, and the caravan will leave. However, ''next'' year's caravan is partly based on the profits from the previous year - so if you are relying on that race's caravans for needed items, you're hurting yourself in the long run.{{Verify}}

Another way to steal without marking as stolen is to forbid the trade depot just before they leave, causing them to leave their goods at the depot.{{Verify}}

Note that the civilization attached to a particular caravan will keep track of the value of items the caravan was carrying when they set out to trade, and they will compare this value with the value of items they return home with. Regardless of what method you use to confiscate items from a caravan, even if you came to possess the goods through no fault of your own (an [[ambush]] killed the caravaners, for example) the parent civilization may decide that you stole from them and send a [[siege]] instead of a caravan the following year. It is prudent to take measures to protect caravans visiting your lands!{{Verify}}

==Offering items==

{{key|o}} You can also give away items, as gifts to the leaders of the [[civilization]] you are trading with. This presumably helps relations between yourself and the other faction, though there is not yet a clear correlation between the value of the offerings and the improvement to relations. The exact effects of offerings on trading are unknown but it is believed due to the offerings' net trade value being counted towards the traders' profit, possibly with a modifier (possibly a multiplier of more than 1 as a bonus or less than 1 to compensate for the improved relations){{Verify}}, which in turn increases the quantity and variety of trade goods brought by next year's caravan. Also the [[King]] requires offerings to be made before his arrival.(5,000 in 0.31.25) You cannot offer items that were not made at your fortress; the traders do not want your spare goblin harvest clothes.

'''''Note:''' There are currently no benefits to offering goods to your king; the game developers have stated that this is to be changed in future versions.'' ("''Req174, REASON FOR OFFERING, (Future): There's no point of offering goods to your own king right now.)"''

Unless you are looking for [[fun]], under no conditions should you offer or trade items which are wooden or used wood in their creation (glass, for example) to [[elves]], as this will insult the traders, and may cause them to leave or even damage relations enough to provoke a war between you and the elven civilization you traded with. They will be equally insulted by you trading back their wood-related items - their refusal to accept back their wooden items is probably a bug which will be removed in a later release, though this has not been verified. It is also worth noting that in-game the only way to acquire wood is by chopping down trees, so it is likely that the elves have developed a method of growing and acquiring wood without killing trees which will be included in later development (unless they are just cutting down trees that have already died naturally).

== Miscellaneous Trading Advice ==

* Several small trades, exiting the trade window each time, '''no longer''' increases the Broker's relevant skills during the early game. {{Verify}}
* Food inside the Trade Depot can go bad. Have a food stockpile nearby so you can quickly haul goods inside.
* Thieves and thieving critters tend to follow caravans. Expect assaults and intruders.
* Be careful about asking traders to bring lots of individual lightweight items (such as meat and fish) as it can result in traders taking a very long time to unload their goods. Unless the path to your depot is extremely long, though, this is unlikely to cause significant problems.{{Verify}}
* Create your trading depot inside your fort, preferably in the beginning. Place a 3-tile wide path (which must be free of obstructions such as stairways) to the entrance of the fort and line this with traps; this will help to protect the traders and keep the depot close to your supplies.
* All caravans will bring extra food (meat and edible plants) and wooden logs if the supplies of your fortress are low enough, independent of whether or not you requested them. This does not apply in the case that the weight limit is exceeded by (other) items you requested. The supply situation, as observed by traders, is based solely on the number of unforbidden items in your fortress, whether stockpiled or utilized in buildings (such as wooden axles, water wheels, windmills, or workshops); thus, it is possible to trick caravans into thinking your supplies are low by [[forbid]]ding all of your relevant stocks immediately prior to their arrival.  This also seems to apply to elven caravans bringing [[cloth]] (except that cloth that's turned into [[clothing]], [[bag]]s or [[rope]] isn't counted). So if you want elven caravans to ''stop'' bringing cloth, buy up all the cloth that the first few caravans bring and stash them somewhere.
* Define your trade depot as a burrow. When traders arrive, you can add your broker or another dwarf, perhaps one you want to train in trading, to the burrow. They will head to the depot immediately, and stay there until you remove them from the burrow.
* Elves will trade [[Tame]] exotic creatures; '''however,''' once purchased, these creatures will not show up on the Animal section of the [[Status]] screen if you do not have a [[Dungeon master]] (a noble position that is currently bugged).

== Caravans ==
Each friendly race will send a caravan per year, linked to one season, which is autumn for dwarves, summer for humans, spring for elves. In rare cases, goblins will show up in winter.{{verify}} However, in the first year only a dwarven caravan will arrive, although it will tend to arrive later than mid-autumn, unlike previous versions {{verify}}. Caravans will only show up if that race considers the fortress site accessible (as denoted on the embark screen), with the exception of dwarves, who always arrive unless they are extinct.{{verify}} Caravans appear to enter the map from a random direction which does not coincide with the relative direction of the originating [[civilization]], and they may appear from different directions or z-levels each year. Caravans may leave without trading if it takes too long to reach the trade depot. Caravans will embark on their journey back exactly one month after their arrival, whether they have succeeded in reaching the depot or not.{{Verify}}

Note that if traders or their animals are prevented from leaving, they will eventually go [[insane]].

Also worth mention is the pathing behavior of the entire caravan. If one member of the caravan reaches a block in their chosen path (ie. a raised drawbridge that was lowered when they entered the map) the entire caravan will re-path, instead of encountering the obstacle one by one.

== Liaisons ==
[[Liaison]]s may be sent with caravans to speak to important dwarves (and they ''will'' speak to those dwarves, even if they have to wait at their bedside in the hospital for months after the caravan has left). Liaisons allow you to choose the type of items that your fortress is interested in, and will focus on bringing more of that kind of item on the next caravan (however, those items will also be more expensive). In turn, they will present a list of the items they're willing to pay more for, which will be effective upon their next arrival.

Trade agreements can be viewed at a later time through the Civilization menu ({{k|c}}). These trade agreements are cleared when a liaison of the corresponding civilization enters the screen, so they are generally not accessible after the caravan has arrived.

If a liaison is prevented from leaving, they will eventually go [[insane]]. {{Verify}}

==== [[Dwarves]] ====
:''"Our fortunes rise and fall together"''

The dwarven caravan:
* arrives in [[Calendar|autumn]].
* carries metal bars, [[leather]], weapons and armor, food and booze, and more. Dwarves alone may bring [[steel]] and steel goods. They can still bring steel (and steel goods) and [[pig iron]] bars even if they do not have access to [[iron]], but will not bring iron products.
* is well guarded.
* sends a liaison who will speak with the [[Expedition leader]], [[Mayor]], [[Baron]], [[Count]], or [[Duke]] to negotiate an import-export agreement (unless the [[Monarch]] is present).
* influences the number of immigrants received (if the caravan leaves intact).{{verify}}
* will not cause sieges when repeatedly destroyed or lost.
* is the only caravan to arrive during a fortress' first year.
* always arrives regardless of embark location, as long as the dwarven civilization is not extinct.{{verify}}
* cannot have its goods seized from the trade menu.
* may not arrive if your civilization lacks any notable figures.

==== [[elf|Elves]] ====
[[Image:Evil_elves.png|thumb|400px|A typical elven caravan.]]

The elven caravan:
* arrives in the [[Calendar|spring]].
* carries [[cloth]], [[rope]]s, various above-ground seeds, [[plant]]s and their byproducts, [[log]]s, [[wood]]en goods & [[weapon]]s, clothing and [[armor]], and may carry tame exotic [[creature]]s.
* is unguarded.
* does not accept some items in trade:

Elven traders do not like to be offered any tree byproducts. Forbidden items include:

* [[Wood]]en items (including subterranean mushrooms such as [[tower-cap]]s)
* Items derived from wood - [[ash]] and [[charcoal]], as well as [[lye]], [[potash]], and [[pearlash]]
* Items made from clear and crystal [[glass]] (due to the [[pearlash]] used) - green glass appears to be perfectly acceptable
* Items [[decoration|decorated]] with any of the above materials
* [[Obsidian]] shortswords (since they have wooden handles)
* [[Soap]] (made with [[lye]])

Offering or trading forbidden items will cause the mood of the trader to drop rapidly, causing them to refuse to trade any more that season and leave immediately. Additionally you will be called uncouth, crude, and barbaric for not understanding their customs.

However, [[stone]] and [[metal]] items, even when [[charcoal]] is used in production, are acceptable. Items made from [[silk]] are acceptable, as are all non-wooden plant-derived products such as [[cloth]] and [[thread]]. Items made of bone (totems too), horn, shell or leather are acceptable, so are meat and fish. You can also transport your goods to the [[trade depot]] in a wooden [[bin]], as long as you do not try to sell the bin. Living animals are acceptable, as long as the [[cage]] or [[trap]] is not made of [[wood]].

Be especially careful with reselling decorated items from other caravans, as non-wood/glass items may have decorations of wood or clear/crystal glass. All such items that elven caravans sell are also unacceptable to sell back to elves, as the dwarves have no means of proving that they were made in an "elf kosher" way.

==== [[Human]]s ====
The human caravan:
* arrives in [[Calendar|summer]].
* carries metal bars, sand, [[leather]], cloth, wood, food and booze, ropes, waterskins, quivers, backpacks, metal weapons and clothing and armor, cages and a few domestic animals.
* is moderately guarded.

==== [[Goblin]]s{{Verify}} ====
A goblin caravan ''may'' arrive if your civilization is at peace with the goblins.

The goblin caravan:
*will arrive every season, four times per year{{verify}}
*unguarded
*brings mostly food and cloth
*does not send a liaison or a guild representative
*does not make import/export agreements

== Destruction ==
If caravans are destroyed (intentionally or unintentionally), the items may remain for use. Traders caught in a [[cave-in]] will flee as if they were attacked, but will leave all the items dropped by the caravan behind. Pack animals carrying items are affected just like a normal tamed [[mule]] and must be killed in the cave-in for them to drop items on the ground. It is however much more likely that the pack animals will only be stunned or rendered unconscious, and flee shortly after recovering from the hit.

While caravans can defend themselves, they don't like being ambushed. An encounter with unfriendly creatures resulting in the death of any merchant or pack animal will cause them to retreat and forget about trading with you for the season. Repeated caravan destruction (intentional or unintentional) will strain diplomatic relations and may result in a [[siege]].

== Caravan Delay ==
If a caravan has arrived at your trade depot and is unable to leave for about six months after they arrived, the merchants and animals will go insane. This can result in a bunch of merchants attacking your dwarves, or just standing around moping until they starve to death. It is not known for certain if this hurts diplomatic relations, but most likely it's the same as any case where the entire caravan fails to return home.{{Verify}}

If you have locked the caravan into your fortress to hold out against a siege, it's a good idea to station a squad of soldiers near the trade depot in case the merchants [[Insanity#Types|go berserk]]. You may also want to make the depot a restricted area to encourage civilians to go around it. Alternatively, you can design the trade depot using drawbridges, so that it can be sealed off from the rest of the fortress during a siege.

If you want the merchants to leave safely, you can build four or more tunnels to each corner of the map, connected to your fortress only by drawbridges. As long as there is no other way to enter and exit your fortress, invaders and merchants will both go towards any tunnel that you activate. You can lock the merchants into the trade depot, and then open a tunnel entrance on one side of the map to make the invaders head towards that tunnel. When they get close to it, you can close it, and then open the entrance on the other side of the map, and let the traders out of the depot. If your fortress and depot are in the middle of the map, this will give the traders quite a head-start to get away.{{Verify}}

Merchants can leave the map from any map edge-- including underground map edges. If an unobstructed path through your fortress reaches an edge, then blocking an overland path will cause the merchants to travel underground. This can be useful, if you're suffering a prolonged siege; it can also be dangerous, if your underground regions are less secure than your surface.

Caravan guards cannot be starved, dehydrated, or driven to insanity if prevented from leaving, their employers and animals will however.

== Bugs ==

*No one brings wagons, even if there is a clear path to your depot. {{bug|197}}
*Wild animals cannot be traded; when a dwarf attempts to move the caged animal to the Depot, the creature is set free.Only aggressive animals?
*If your [[hospital]] isn't already stocked with the specified amount of thread/cloth, your dwarves will carry off as much from the caravan as they need to fill it. {{Bug|66}}
*Caravans show up very late in the season. {{Bug|1756}}

== Loyalty cascade ==
*If you order your military to kill merchants from your own civilization, your soldiers will simultaneously become members ''and'' enemies of your civilization, resulting in a civil war within your fortress. When this happens, all current members of the fortress (excluding incoming migrants) will turn on each other yet they will still be seen as normal working dwarves in the status screens. This will only last for those who were alive ''during'' the attack, they will always be hostile to everyone including incoming migrants (yet they still do their jobs/ follow military orders and work as dwarves although they will interrupt other's work. They will not be shown as enemies in the Units screen).

== Exploits ==

*If you destroy the Depot while they are unloaded you will get the leaving message but they will leave before the building is completely destroyed, so they will not reclaim any of their stuff because it is not available until the building is fully deconstructed. However any animals they had caged will only become friendly, you won't actually own them.

If you wait some time (2-3 months{{verify}}), you can "claim" animals by linking a lever to the cage and opening it, the animals will be released in a tamed state. Check the 'u'nit screen before releasing them; if the creatures still show as Merchant creatures, they will wander off the map when released; if they show as Tame creatures, they will stay once released.

v0.31 Talk:List of mods

2012-02-03T02:08:13Z

Ahf: /* Category: Mods */ new section

"- I've started to make this page, so sorry for not logging in during my first update. I will keep it up once more major mods arrive." [[User:Deon|Deon]] 18:00, 16 April 2010 (UTC)

==Format==
I just reformatted the page to look a little cleaner. This is a temporary edit until some sort of format can be agreed upon for mod listings and information. --[[User:Kagus|Kagus]] 20:40, 16 April 2010 (UTC)

== Category: Mods ==

We've already got a Mods category, so why have a list of them also? Just give each mod its own page and put them in the category. [[User:Ahf|Ahf]] 02:08, 3 February 2012 (UTC)

v0.31 Talk:Noble

2012-01-22T17:15:06Z

Ahf: /* Nobles as Soldiers? */

How many nobles could I have in a dwarven fortress with 200 citizens? ie. how many nobles' bedrooms should I build, if none of the noble positions are occupied by the same person. --Anonymous

Should this page be moved to [[DF2010:Nobles]]? [[User:Immibis|Immibis]] 08:05, 28 March 2010 (UTC)
:I think so, so I'll do it. [[User:Mason11987|Mason]] ([[User talk:Mason11987|T]]-[[Special:Contributions/Mason11987|C]]) 08:59, 28 March 2010 (UTC)

== How to appoint Nobles? ==
How do you do that? In the page it says "Appointed nobles can be chosen by the player" BUT IT DOESNT EXPLAIN HOW TO APPOINT THEM! I need to appoint a Militia Commander, but there's no Militia Commander spot. It doesnt say "VACANT". IT JUST DOESNT APPEAR!
Help, anyone? [[Special:Contributions/200.115.243.176|200.115.243.176]] 14:47, 3 August 2011 (UTC)
Really, can't anyone answer my question? [[Special:Contributions/200.115.243.176|200.115.243.176]] 14:47, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

:You're better off asking this in the [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?board=7.0 DF Gameplay Questions] forum. These pages aren't monitored by nearly as many people. From the sounds of it, you have encountered some sort of bug. I don't have an answer for you, but perhaps someone on the forum will. --[[User:Jwest23|Jwest23]] 16:11, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

== Appointed vs. Immigrant Nobles ==
I think much of this article only applies to nobles that emigrate from the mountainhomes. My Count still mines and carries rocks. Also, it should be made clear that the economy is nonfunctional and, for instance, tax collectors will never appear. Finally, what are the implications of NOT accepting when the liaison offers you a barony? I assume a baron comes anyway. I have never gotten a noble imigrant of any sort, do you need to reject the offer to get, for example, a dungeon master? [[User:GhostDwemer|GhostDwemer]] 17:13, 16 November 2010 (UTC)
:I posted on the forum, and it seems that if you don't appoint someone, the liaison will simply leave and try again next year. Which raises the question: are there ANY immigrant nobles in 31? I have not seen a single one in over a dozen forts and over twenty years total game time. I don't think much of this applies to the current game. Nobles are not lazy. They will continue to work at their regular jobs. Econ exempt is meaningless, there is no econ. The hammerer doesn't show up, no arsenal dwarf, no dungeon master, no tax collector. I haven't gotten a monarch yet, can anyone who has comment on this? Does your leader get raised to king, or does the king actually immigrate? This whole page seems more geared towards the previous version. [[User:GhostDwemer|GhostDwemer]] 21:26, 19 November 2010 (UTC)
::The monarch '''does''' immigrate, though it seems to be quite common for said monarch to drop dead of old age immediately upon arriving at your fortress. --[[User:Quietust|Quietust]] 23:09, 19 November 2010 (UTC)
:::The monarch even immigrates with an immigrant wave that has ~5 Elite weapon users. They drop their armor (I don't remember now if they had any) and weapons as soon as they enter the map because they are not assigned to any squad by default and military/guard duties are nearly completely decoupled from civilian professions unlike in the .40d.--[[User:Another|Another]] 15:28, 20 November 2010 (UTC)
::::Thanks for the info. Can anyone confirm which nobles will and will not show up? I believe the Tax Collector will never show, as there is no economy. I, personally, have not seen a Dungeon Master on any .31.x generated world. Nor a Hammerer. Nor a Champion, but then I have not obtained any elite warriors yet. Can anyone confirm or deny the existence of the Dungeon Master, Champion, and Hammerer? I would love to take a stab at rewriting this page to make it more useful and less technical, but I don't want to spread misinformation based on just my experiences. [[User:GhostDwemer|GhostDwemer]] 20:47, 23 November 2010 (UTC)
:::::I was searching the forums and even left some requests* about reporting Baron/...-related nobles but only mentions I could find were about modding bookkeeper or manager to perform additional duties like [TAME_EXOTICS]. Given the caravan ark and world-wide economy are the immediate next development goals I suppose there will be major changes to fortress mode economy as well. And Toady will probably rather write new nobles code after that than fix existing one now. The comment part about hammer in the Hammerer raws obviously suggests that some parts of related code are plainly not implemented yet. Same goes for fortress mode caravans and wagons. <nowiki>*</nowiki> I also tried various tricks myself in unmodded DF for no effect.--[[User:Another|Another]] 10:18, 24 November 2010 (UTC)

== the raws ==

can someone put the raw files responsible for all the noble atributes on the wiki somewhere i cant find them Edit: nvm found it in entity_default.txt --[[User:Xainiax|Xainiax]] 23:45, 23 August 2010 (UTC)

== SOLDIER_COLOR ==

The [SOLDIER_COLOR] token in the raws was actually SOLDIER_COLOR] (no left bracket). Whether this was done intentionally to comment them out is unclear, but I have corrected the 'typo' in this article. --[[User:Eagle0600|Eagle0600]] 13:48, 5 April 2010 (UTC)

== Human Noble - High Goal ==

I was wandering around a human town and entered a temple when I found a peculiar sight. There was a human called a High Goal standing there. I have no idea what he was meant to be and a google search reveals nothing, nor could I find a 'high goal' in the raws. Anyone got any clue? [[User:KoboldInDisguise|KoboldInDisguise]] 02:56, 11 April 2010 (UTC)
:Religious positions get randomised. You can have to high-priests of different temples and they'll be called entirely different things. Check the legends. --[[User:Eagle0600|Eagle0600]] 06:55, 11 April 2010 (UTC)

== Monarch ==

Have the requirements for a king changed since 40d?

[POSITION:MONARCH] [NAME_MALE:king:kings] [NAME_FEMALE:queen:queens] [NUMBER:1] [SPOUSE_MALE:king consort:kings consort] [SPOUSE_FEMALE:queen consort:queens consort] [SUCCESSION:BY_HEIR] [RESPONSIBILITY:LAW_MAKING] [RESPONSIBILITY:RECEIVE_DIPLOMATS] [RESPONSIBILITY:MILITARY_GOALS] [PRECEDENCE:1] [RULES_FROM_LOCATION] [MENIAL_WORK_EXEMPTION] [MENIAL_WORK_EXEMPTION_SPOUSE] [SLEEP_PRETENSION] [PUNISHMENT_EXEMPTION] [FLASHES] [BRAG_ON_KILL] [CHAT_WORTHY] [DO_NOT_CULL] [KILL_QUEST] [EXPORTED_IN_LEGENDS] [DETERMINES_COIN_DESIGN] [COLOR:5:0:1] [ACCOUNT_EXEMPT] [DUTY_BOUND] [DEMAND_MAX:10] [MANDATE_MAX:5] [REQUIRED_BOXES:10] [REQUIRED_CABINETS:5] [REQUIRED_RACKS:5] [REQUIRED_STANDS:5] [REQUIRED_OFFICE:10000] [REQUIRED_BEDROOM:10000] [REQUIRED_DINING:10000] [REQUIRED_TOMB:10000]

This should answer your question [[User:Numeral|Numeral]] 09:07, 2 May 2010 (UTC)

==Individual Noble Articles==

Added articles for every noble, still need to go through the raws and add functions and arrival conditions, if anyone reads this you're more than welcome to help [[User:Numeral|Numeral]] 09:07, 2 May 2010 (UTC)

==Noble Death==

My Count was murdered by the green menace....several years ago. Does anybody know how one goes about getting a new count/Baron/something purple?
My fortress is sitting at 39 dorfs and 6mill wealth, I have adamantine roads and and Throne room designed for a king and I would like to fill it.
--Anonymous
:At a loose guess, you need to up the number of dwarfs in your fortress, either through immigration or breeding, and you need to export more wealth. Apparently, the King only sends a Duke if you've got 140 dwarves and have exported thirty thousand wealth (presumably just to the dwarven civilization). As to getting a replacement Count or Baron... did the old Count have any kids? They'd be his heirs... I think... --[[User:DeMatt|DeMatt]] 22:36, 14 August 2010 (UTC)

::Well, My first was single, no children. I've exported 30000 on the button, but I assume that counts all exports and is not exclusive to the dwarves. If that's the case, I am gonna give the dwarven caravan a massive amount of goods this autumn. I am not sure about the 140 dwarves thing. The liaison appointed a dwarf when I still had the population limit at 30 (I like to run smaller fortresses for organization purposes). I'll report in on any new findings. Oh, and I have struck several HFS columns and even breached the carnival once, though I revealed it through fortifications so the clowns couldn't reach my fortress. I don't think HFS prompts anything any more. --Anonymous

==Not Masterwork==
I've changed the quality of the article down to Exceptional. The [[Forced Administrator]] link needs to be created. [[Special:Contributions/99.251.48.18|99.251.48.18]] 04:31, 6 November 2010 (UTC)

== Furniture Requirements ==

Do the required bits of furniture have the be in a certain room? or just in any room that the noble owns?
:It is the total items of furniture in all rooms assigned to the noble. --[[User:MathFox|MathFox]] 19:41, 30 March 2011 (UTC)

== General / Lieutenant / Captain ==

Does anyone have information on these positions? Are they attainable? --[[User:Theothersteve7|Theothersteve7]] 19:46, 30 June 2011 (UTC)

== Nobles as Soldiers? ==

I've heard that nobles can still work as civilians even with all those mandates and demands and even if some are listed as NOBLE (which somehow means that they don't work?)

So, can nobles actually work as part/full time soldiers? The fact that they are actually fighting for the fortress that they have mandated so much upon would help.
--[[User:Tir|Tir]] 12:28, 11 July 2011 (UTC)

:Not sure, but my Count is an accomplished full-time fisherdwarf (I need to make him a yacht). I would guess that the answer is yes. --[[User:Theothersteve7|Theothersteve7]] 13:32, 11 July 2011 (UTC)

So it is true then that even if they have the title "NOBLE" in the UNITS screen, they are just like any ordinary dwarf (Here we go Noble Army!). Just that they are different by having their ''needs'' satisfied then. --[[User:Tir|Tir]] 11:46, 14 July 2011 (UTC)

"Lazy" nobles can perform most labors in the current version. There are some jobs, like building constructions, that they don't do even with the labor turned on. They can be soldiers also, but I think keeping them on duty without any downtime prevents them from accomplishing their regular duties (so don't make the noble who is supposed to meet with diplomats/liasons into a soldier). [[User:Ahf|Ahf]] 17:15, 22 January 2012 (UTC)

v0.31:Pasture

2012-01-16T18:56:30Z

Ahf: clarified previously-deleted livestock claim

{{quality|Fine|17:59, 25 February 2011 (UTC)}}
{{av}}

Pastures are a feature that was released with version 0.31.19 and are [[activity zone]]s that the player creates to hold tame animals, especially grazing animals. Herbivorous animals now require [[grass]], cave moss or floor fungus to graze upon, and larger herbivores require a greater amount of grass to feed themselves. Some [[Panda|animals]] require special dietary needs (bamboo etc) rather than grass to graze. Using pastures allows herbivorous animals to be restricted to areas that they will have access to graze.

A pasture is def{{K|i}}ned using {{K|i}}-{{K|n}} to draw a rectangle, and then animals are selected to graze. Having pressed {{K|i}} to define a zone, highlight the pasture and press {{K|N}} ({{K|Shift}}+{{K|n}}), select the animal(s) you wish to pasture using {{K|+}}/{{K|-}} and pressing {{K|Enter}}. Once all animals are selected, finish by pressing {{K|Esc}} and idle dwarves with [[animal hauling]] will lead the animals to pasture.

Any tame animal may be assigned to a pasture. You can also assign pastures inside and use them to put animals that do not need to eat in certain areas. If there is fungus or moss on your indoor floors the animals will consume that in place of grass.

==Grazing animals and pasture size==
Grazing animals use the [GRAZER:<value>] token to signify how much grass they need to eat. This is an inverse number - the value in grazer signifies how much hunger is reduced when eating a unit of grass. A creature with ten times the grazer value needs one tenth the amount of grass (and hence, pasture land) as a creature with a small grazer value. If you started your fortress in an undead biome you may need to assign more space for a pasture as much of the grass is dead. Animals will not eat dead grass and will only eat the still living patches.

Animals which graze are typically good livestock candidates, as many of them produce [[wool]] or [[milk]], and the only creatures which can produce both wool and milk are grazers. Creatures with larger sizes consume more grass, but also produce more meat when [[butcher|butchered]].

Each [[time]] unit adds one point to hunger. An animal takes an average of one turn per ten time units, and takes one time unit to eat grass. If there were an unlimited amount of grass on a tile, even animals with [GRAZER:1] would be able to feed themselves, however there are at most 4 bunches of grass. Therefore, a creature of standard speed and agility with [GRAZER:3] would not be able to survive, and creatures with [GRAZER:4] require a constant source of grass (in other words infinite sized pastures) to survive. In practice, anything with [GRAZER:20] or less is completely incapable of feeding itself. Because of this, the larger creatures like dralthas are virtually impossible to keep fed, and elephants are incapable of feeding themselves fast enough to stave off starvation.

If grazing animals consume all the grass on a tile, the tile will be reverted to the base layer material. This may be [[sand]], [[clay]] or [[soil]] In this way you receive a visual clue as to the size of the pasture required.

==Overcrowding==
It is possible to overcrowd a pasture. Animals may become enraged and start fights. This is similar to a dwarf throwing a [[tantrum]] and can be solved by enlarging your pasture or keeping fewer animals in it.

Another possibility is to split a large pasture which holds many animals into several smaller pastures, with the pasture size reflecting the amount of grazing the animal needs to survive. Animals will only fight each other if their pasture is sharing the same tiles as the creature they are fighting with{{Verify}}.

==Other Applications==
Pasture can serve as more advanced replacement for [[rope]] which allows you to "tie" multiple animals to same spot and even allows you to place pets and animals assigned to dwarves.

This can be used to safely get rid of immigrant pets or cat infestation (pasture them outside fortress to serve as early warning system and meatshield or pasture them inside a room that then gets accidentally filled with [[magma]]).

Note that while a pasture is a quick way of placing animals exactly in one defined area, it does not restrict the movement of an animal if they are threatened by an enemy - the animal will flee as normal, and will trigger an animal hauling task to re-pasture the animal once it leaves the border of the pasture. This is important as the announcement of an ambush may trigger a flood of animal haulers rushing to the pasture and into the face of the enemy.

==List of grazing animals==
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right"
|-
! Animal
! Grazer value
! Creature Size
! [[Milking|Milkable]]
! [[Shearing|Shearable]]
! Minimal Pasture Size per individual
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Elephant]]
| 12 || 5,000,000 || ||
|style="text-align:left"| Cannot Self Feed (Graze Value <= 20)
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Rhinoceros]]
| 20 || 3,000,000 || ||
|style="text-align:left"| Cannot Self Feed (Graze Value <= 20)
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Giant moose|Giant Bull Moose]]
| 23 || 4,257,750 || ||
|style="text-align:left"| 29 x 29
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Draltha]]
| 24
| 2,500,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 29 x 29
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Giant moose|Giant Moose Cow]]
| 38
| 2,554,650
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 28 x 28
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Water buffalo]]
| 60
| 1,000,000
| Yes
|
|style="text-align:left"| 18 x 18
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Giraffe]]
| 60
| 1,000,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 18 x 18
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Yak]]
| 85
| 700,000
| Yes
|
|style="text-align:left"| 16 x 16
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Gigantic panda]]
| 92
| 1,160,900
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| N/A (only eat bamboo, will starve without it)
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Cow]]
| 100
| 600,000
| Yes
|
|style="text-align:left"| 14 x 14
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Unicorn]]
| 100
| 600,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 14 x 14

|-
|style="text-align:left"| [[Moose|Bull Moose]]
| 114
| 525,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 14 x 14
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Horse]]
| 120
| 500,000
| Yes
|
|style="text-align:left"| 13 x 13
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Camel]] (both)
| 120
| 500,000
| Yes
|
|style="text-align:left"| 13 x 13
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Giant capybara]]
| 133
| 523,350
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 13 x 13
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Mule]]
| 150
| 400,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 12 x 12
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Moose|Cow Moose]]
| 190
| 315,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 11 x 11
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Donkey]]
| 200
| 300,000
| Yes
|
|style="text-align:left"| 10 x 10
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Elk]]
| 200
| 300,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 10 x 10
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Muskox]]
| 210
| 285,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 10 x 10
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Llama]]
| 333
| 180,000
| Yes
| Yes
|style="text-align:left"| 8 x 8
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Deer]]
| 428
| 140,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 7 x 7
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Reindeer]]
| 461
| 130,000
| Yes
|
|style="text-align:left"| 7 x 7
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Panda]]
| 462
| 130,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| N/A (only eat bamboo, will starve without it)
|-
|style="text-align:left"| [[Warthog]]
| 600
| 100,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 6 x 6
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Elk bird]]
| 600
| 100,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 6 x 6
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Alpaca]]
| 857
| 70,000
| Yes
| Yes
|style="text-align:left"| 5 x 5
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Pig]]
| 1,000
| 60,000
| Yes
|
|style="text-align:left"| 5 x 5
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Sheep]]
| 1,200
| 50,000
| Yes
| Yes
|style="text-align:left"| 4 x 4
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Goat]]
| 1,200
| 50,000
| Yes
|
|style="text-align:left"| 4 x 4
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Mountain goat]]
| 1,200
| 50,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 4 x 4
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Capybara]]
| 1,333
| 45,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 4 x 4
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Gazelle]]
| 3,000
| 20,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 3 x 3
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Hoary marmot]]
| 6,000
| 10,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 2 x 2
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Groundhog]]
| 20,000
| 3,000
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 1 x 1
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Cavy]]
| 75,000
| 800
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 1 x 1 (can feed up to 3 cavies)
|-

|style="text-align:left"| [[Rabbit]]
| 120,000
| 500
|
|
|style="text-align:left"| 1 x 1 (can feed up to 5 rabbits)
|}

v0.31:Hammerman

2012-01-12T19:37:08Z

Ahf: Redirecting to Combat Skill, as per the notes on that page.

#REDIRECT [[DF2010:Weapon skill]]

v0.31:Knife user

2012-01-12T19:36:11Z

Ahf: Redirecting to Combat Skill, as per the notes on that page.

#REDIRECT [[DF2010:Weapon skill]]

v0.31:Pikeman

2012-01-11T04:12:01Z

Ahf: Redirecting to Combat skill, as per the notes on that page.

#REDIRECT [[DF2010:Weapon skill]]

v0.31:Design strategies

2012-01-09T09:32:34Z

Ahf: /* Further Reading */ fixed typo

{{quality|Exceptional|02:53, 3 May 2011 (UTC)}}{{av}}

There are many factors to consider when designing your fort.
* '''Security:''' Every fort needs some basic security measures. Otherwise you won't survive the first [[elephant]] attack, much less a full-blown [[Siege|goblin siege]].
* '''Productivity:''' Proper placement of workshops and stockpiles can have a huge effect on productivity.
* '''Efficiency:''' Whether hauling rocks, making a booze run, or just checking the contents of a cabinet, dwarves do a lot of walking. A good fortress layout can significantly reduce the time your dwarves spend walking.
* '''Aesthetics:''' Hey - everybody wants a fortress that looks good.

In addition to the considerations above, it's also important to remember that long-term design strategies can easily be disrupted by the discovery of underground terrain features. Don't plan ''too'' far ahead, as you might need to adapt to unforeseen obstacles.

Also, there are several [[Main:Blueprint Library|design idioms]] of common usage like [[Pump stack]].

==Security==
Everyone will have their own preferences regarding fortress defense and how to deal with undead, wildlife, hostiles and goblin invaders. Regardless of specifics, it's important to have a plan for dealing with the several different types of inevitable attacks. A few security tips are given below.

===Lockdown===
Have a way to lock down your fortress. In the event of an attack by hostiles you can't handle, you need a way to lock them out. This can buy you some time while your dwarves prepare their defenses.

For small forts, this could be as simple as placing [[door]]s at all the entrances to your fort. Doors can be locked instantly in an emergency. Don't rely on doors alone for security, though, as you'll eventually encounter enemies that can break down doors and pick locks.

For more security, place [[Bridge|drawbridges]] at all the entrances. You don't need a moat, the bridge itself is sufficient since it functions as a wall when closed. Just be sure to connect it to a [[lever]] that your dwarves can access quickly ''and safely'' in an emergency. Unfortunately, even drawbridges can be rendered inoperable in rare circumstances...

Finally, don't forget about attackers from above and below! Flying attackers might use skylights to bypass your doors and drawbridges.

===Scouts===
Ambushes and thieves can sneak up on your fortress. A party of goblin archers might sneak past your main gate before being spotted, or a kobold could make off with your masterpiece crafts when nobody is looking. The way to avoid these unfortunate events is to use scouts / lookouts.

For small forts, effective scouting could be as simple as [[Restraint|tying]] a [[Dog|war dog]] (or even a donkey) up near the entrance of your fort. In the event of an ambush the animal will spot the attackers (shortly before dying). If your scouts are far enough from your main gate then you ought to have enough warning to lock down the fort, activate the militia, etc...

When designing your fort, just give some thought to the placement of scouts and be sure to leave room for them.

===Caravan security===
Is your trade depot going to be inside or outside your main line of defenses? This is another factor to consider when designing your fort. Although you don't have to protect the traders, their [[civilization]]s might hold your fortress responsible for any casualties.

===Traps===
[[Trap]]s are a great way to protect your fort from small groups of attackers. When designing your fort, think about where you want to place traps. Choke points at major entrances (including entrances to the [[caverns]]) make good trap locations. Also, be warned that some enemies are immune to traps...

===Staging area===
Many players like to design their forts with a militia staging area at the main entrance. Usually this includes placing [[fortification]]s (possibly in archer towers), ammunition stockpiles, and cover for your melee dwarves to protect them from approaching archers.

Some players also like to place a [[Barracks|training barracks]] near the entrance to the fort so that the militia can quickly respond to attackers.

==Productivity==

Proper placement of [[stockpile]]s is the key to productivity. Almost every workshop job needs raw materials. Is your [[still]] near some empty barrels and plants? Does your mason have easy access to stone? A smelter must have quick access to both ore and fuel.

As a general rule of thumb, each workshop should have at least a 3x3 stockpile area associated with it. Some workshops will need more if multiple raw ingredients are needed. An efficient arrangement is to place output stockpiles directly above or below your workshops and connect them with stairs. If you can spare the space, you can carve out a 5x5 room and place the 3x3 workshop in the center, leaving 16 surrounding tiles for input storage.

When utilizing a large storage stockpile, for food or wood for example, the optimal approach is to place a small stockpile next to the workshop and have the small stockpile "take" from the large stockpile.

==Efficiency==
There are a few things to consider for basic fortress efficiency:
* Major hallways should be at least two tiles wide, maybe even three tiles. Otherwise your dwarves will be constantly running into each other and productivity will be slowed.
* To reduce the amount of time that your dwarves spend walking, common areas should be placed near the center of your fort. Dwarves drink frequently. They also like to throw parties. It's a good idea to store your booze in a centralized location, and to designate a [[meeting hall]] in a similarly centralized place.
* An efficient fortress must make good use of all three dimensions. A dwarf climbs or descends one [[z-level]] in the same time it takes to move one step horizontally, so, for example, when you need to build more bedrooms, it can be a lot more efficient to dig down one level than to place the new rooms 20 tiles farther from the center of your fortress.
* Moving one step diagonally takes about 1.4 times longer than moving one step orthogonally. This matches the real world, where Pythagoras tells us that it should take about √2 (1.414) times longer. You can optimize floor plans for pathfinding by adopting more circular shapes into your design.
* With the new [[burrow]] functionality, it is possible to segregate some dwarves to being permanently in their area, so that they never try to take a task half-way across the map, or haul items a long distance through high-volume corridors. For example, your garbagedwarves can be told to use only service halls, defined by burrows that cover all but the main hallways, and they will then use those back halls to take trash to the dump. Make sure you understand burrows before attempting this - if there is no source of food or drink in the burrows a dwarf is restricted to, they will die!

==Aesthetics==
Aesthetics are completely subjective, of course, but it's still something you may want to consider when designing your fort.
* Use symmetry when possible.
* Conform to either mostly organic shapes or mostly inorganic shapes. A mixture probably won't look very good.
* Prefer digging in stone rather than [[soil]]. Although digging in stone is slower and messier, stone can eventually be smoothed and engraved. Soil, on the other hand, is ugly and much less dwarfy.
* Use stockpile settings to consistently build your furniture from a single type of stone. Bedrooms tend to look nicer when the furniture is uniform.
* ...unless you like lots of color and variety, in which case use the stockpile and workshop settings to make sure your dwarves use lots of different materials.

== Further Reading ==
For an in-depth examination of topics relating to fortress layout, these pages focus on specific aspects, mostly with an eye to improving survivability. Some of these are not directly related to architecture but are useful nonetheless.
* [[Defense guide]]
* [[Security design]]
* [[Trap design]]
* [[Military design]]
* [[Stockpile Design]]
* [[Workshop design]]
* [[Bedroom design]]

{{Category|Guides}}

v0.31:Design strategies

2012-01-09T09:30:11Z

Ahf: /* Further Reading */ Linked the rest of the "design" articles.

{{quality|Exceptional|02:53, 3 May 2011 (UTC)}}{{av}}

There are many factors to consider when designing your fort.
* '''Security:''' Every fort needs some basic security measures. Otherwise you won't survive the first [[elephant]] attack, much less a full-blown [[Siege|goblin siege]].
* '''Productivity:''' Proper placement of workshops and stockpiles can have a huge effect on productivity.
* '''Efficiency:''' Whether hauling rocks, making a booze run, or just checking the contents of a cabinet, dwarves do a lot of walking. A good fortress layout can significantly reduce the time your dwarves spend walking.
* '''Aesthetics:''' Hey - everybody wants a fortress that looks good.

In addition to the considerations above, it's also important to remember that long-term design strategies can easily be disrupted by the discovery of underground terrain features. Don't plan ''too'' far ahead, as you might need to adapt to unforeseen obstacles.

Also, there are several [[Main:Blueprint Library|design idioms]] of common usage like [[Pump stack]].

==Security==
Everyone will have their own preferences regarding fortress defense and how to deal with undead, wildlife, hostiles and goblin invaders. Regardless of specifics, it's important to have a plan for dealing with the several different types of inevitable attacks. A few security tips are given below.

===Lockdown===
Have a way to lock down your fortress. In the event of an attack by hostiles you can't handle, you need a way to lock them out. This can buy you some time while your dwarves prepare their defenses.

For small forts, this could be as simple as placing [[door]]s at all the entrances to your fort. Doors can be locked instantly in an emergency. Don't rely on doors alone for security, though, as you'll eventually encounter enemies that can break down doors and pick locks.

For more security, place [[Bridge|drawbridges]] at all the entrances. You don't need a moat, the bridge itself is sufficient since it functions as a wall when closed. Just be sure to connect it to a [[lever]] that your dwarves can access quickly ''and safely'' in an emergency. Unfortunately, even drawbridges can be rendered inoperable in rare circumstances...

Finally, don't forget about attackers from above and below! Flying attackers might use skylights to bypass your doors and drawbridges.

===Scouts===
Ambushes and thieves can sneak up on your fortress. A party of goblin archers might sneak past your main gate before being spotted, or a kobold could make off with your masterpiece crafts when nobody is looking. The way to avoid these unfortunate events is to use scouts / lookouts.

For small forts, effective scouting could be as simple as [[Restraint|tying]] a [[Dog|war dog]] (or even a donkey) up near the entrance of your fort. In the event of an ambush the animal will spot the attackers (shortly before dying). If your scouts are far enough from your main gate then you ought to have enough warning to lock down the fort, activate the militia, etc...

When designing your fort, just give some thought to the placement of scouts and be sure to leave room for them.

===Caravan security===
Is your trade depot going to be inside or outside your main line of defenses? This is another factor to consider when designing your fort. Although you don't have to protect the traders, their [[civilization]]s might hold your fortress responsible for any casualties.

===Traps===
[[Trap]]s are a great way to protect your fort from small groups of attackers. When designing your fort, think about where you want to place traps. Choke points at major entrances (including entrances to the [[caverns]]) make good trap locations. Also, be warned that some enemies are immune to traps...

===Staging area===
Many players like to design their forts with a militia staging area at the main entrance. Usually this includes placing [[fortification]]s (possibly in archer towers), ammunition stockpiles, and cover for your melee dwarves to protect them from approaching archers.

Some players also like to place a [[Barracks|training barracks]] near the entrance to the fort so that the militia can quickly respond to attackers.

==Productivity==

Proper placement of [[stockpile]]s is the key to productivity. Almost every workshop job needs raw materials. Is your [[still]] near some empty barrels and plants? Does your mason have easy access to stone? A smelter must have quick access to both ore and fuel.

As a general rule of thumb, each workshop should have at least a 3x3 stockpile area associated with it. Some workshops will need more if multiple raw ingredients are needed. An efficient arrangement is to place output stockpiles directly above or below your workshops and connect them with stairs. If you can spare the space, you can carve out a 5x5 room and place the 3x3 workshop in the center, leaving 16 surrounding tiles for input storage.

When utilizing a large storage stockpile, for food or wood for example, the optimal approach is to place a small stockpile next to the workshop and have the small stockpile "take" from the large stockpile.

==Efficiency==
There are a few things to consider for basic fortress efficiency:
* Major hallways should be at least two tiles wide, maybe even three tiles. Otherwise your dwarves will be constantly running into each other and productivity will be slowed.
* To reduce the amount of time that your dwarves spend walking, common areas should be placed near the center of your fort. Dwarves drink frequently. They also like to throw parties. It's a good idea to store your booze in a centralized location, and to designate a [[meeting hall]] in a similarly centralized place.
* An efficient fortress must make good use of all three dimensions. A dwarf climbs or descends one [[z-level]] in the same time it takes to move one step horizontally, so, for example, when you need to build more bedrooms, it can be a lot more efficient to dig down one level than to place the new rooms 20 tiles farther from the center of your fortress.
* Moving one step diagonally takes about 1.4 times longer than moving one step orthogonally. This matches the real world, where Pythagoras tells us that it should take about √2 (1.414) times longer. You can optimize floor plans for pathfinding by adopting more circular shapes into your design.
* With the new [[burrow]] functionality, it is possible to segregate some dwarves to being permanently in their area, so that they never try to take a task half-way across the map, or haul items a long distance through high-volume corridors. For example, your garbagedwarves can be told to use only service halls, defined by burrows that cover all but the main hallways, and they will then use those back halls to take trash to the dump. Make sure you understand burrows before attempting this - if there is no source of food or drink in the burrows a dwarf is restricted to, they will die!

==Aesthetics==
Aesthetics are completely subjective, of course, but it's still something you may want to consider when designing your fort.
* Use symmetry when possible.
* Conform to either mostly organic shapes or mostly inorganic shapes. A mixture probably won't look very good.
* Prefer digging in stone rather than [[soil]]. Although digging in stone is slower and messier, stone can eventually be smoothed and engraved. Soil, on the other hand, is ugly and much less dwarfy.
* Use stockpile settings to consistently build your furniture from a single type of stone. Bedrooms tend to look nicer when the furniture is uniform.
* ...unless you like lots of color and variety, in which case use the stockpile and workshop settings to make sure your dwarves use lots of different materials.

== Further Reading ==
For an in-depth examination of topics relating to fortress layout, these pages focus on specific aspects, mostly with an eye to improving survivability. Some of these are not directly related to architecture but are useful nonetheless.
* [[Defense guide]]
* [[Security design]]
* [[Trap design]]
* [[Military design]]
* [[Stockpile design]]
* [[Workshop design]]
* [[Bedroom design]]

{{Category|Guides}}

v0.31:Armor token

2012-01-05T10:13:07Z

Ahf: Removed inaccurate information on SOFT and HARD.

{{Quality|Exceptional|08:43, 9 June 2010 (UTC)}}{{av}}

The tokens for all types of [[armor]] on all slots, including [[shield]]s. Usage column gives information on what types of '''armor''' the token might be restricted to.

These tokens can only be placed within an ITEM_ARMOR, ITEM_GLOVES, ITEM_SHOES, ITEM_SHIELD, ITEM_HELM, or ITEM_PANTS object definition, most do not function in weapon objects.

==Tokens==
{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#999999"
! Token
! Arguments
! Usage
! Description

|-
| NAME
| singular:plural
| All
| What this item will be called ingame.

|-
| PREPLURAL
| <phrase> of
| ITEM_ARMOR ITEM_PANTS
| Changes the plural form of this item to "<phrase of> item". Primarily pertains to the stock screens. Example, "suits of" platemail, "pairs of" trousers, etc.

|-
| MATERIAL_PLACEHOLDER
| adjective
| ITEM_ARMOR ITEM_PANTS
| If the item has no material associated with it (e.g. stockpile menus and trade negotiations), this will be displayed in its place. Used for leather armor.

|-
| VALUE
| num
| ITEM_ARMOR ITEM_GLOVES ITEM_SHOES ITEM_SHIELD ITEM_HELM
| Unused. Defaults to -1.

|-
| ARMORLEVEL
|
0 - clothing 
1 - leather 
2 - chain 
3 - plate
| All
| What category this item falls under. Defaults to 1 for shields, 0 for everything else. Clothing-category armor is subject to [[wear]].

|-
| UPSTEP
| value, MAX
| ITEM_GLOVES ITEM_SHOES ITEM_SHIELD
| This token functions exactly like LBSTEP but in reverse. How many steps up this item protects. 'Up'is defined as "Connected through a series of one or more body parts with the [LIMB] token to an UPPERBODY part. Gloves and shoes can not protect upper or lower bodies. Example, chausses with an upstep of MAX, protect the the foot and the entire leg, but not the lower body. The same effect could be achieved (on a humanoid) with UPSTEP>=2. Since toes and fingers lack the [LIMB] token, gloves and boots do not protect them. This may be a bug.{{version|0.31.03}}

|-
| UBSTEP
| value, MAX
| ITEM_ARMOR
| How many steps away from upper body the armor protects. Only present on torso armor. When counting steps, ignore any steps through upper or lower body parts(UBSTEP:0 items protect the upper and lower bodies as a result of this). Currently bugged,{{version|0.31.03}} high values of UBSTEP will result in the item protecting facial features, fingers, and toes, while leaving those parts that it can not protect unprotected (but still counting them as steps). Torso armor can not protect hands, feet, or heads (parts with [GRASP],[STANCE], or [HEAD] tokens respectively) regardless of the UBSTEP value. UBSTEP can also not protect parts that can be protected by LBSTEP. Example, torso armor with [UBSTEP:1] will protect upper arms, wings, non-[STANCE] tails, the torso, and lower body. However, a torso armor with [UBSTEP:4] or higher will also cover lower arms, fingers, facial features, and toes.

|-
| LBSTEP
| value or MAX
| ITEM_ARMOR ITEM_PANTS
| How many steps down the armor protects. 'Down' is defined as "Connected through a series of one or more body parts with the [LIMB] token to a body part with the [STANCE] token. [LBSTEP] can not protect feet (parts with the [STANCE] token). When counting steps, ignore any steps through upper or lower body parts. Example, torso armor with a LBSTEP:1 will protect both the lower body and the upper legs in addition to the torso(the lower body step is not counted). Leg armor with LBSTEP:MAX will protect the lower body, the entire legs, but not the feet or toes.

|-
| METAL_ARMOR_LEVELS
|
| ITEM_ARMOR ITEM_GLOVES ITEM_SHOES ITEM_HELM ITEM_PANTS
| Metal versions of this item count as one ARMORLEVEL higher.

|-
| BLOCKCHANCE
| value
| ITEM_SHIELD
| Affects the block chance of the shield. Defaults to 10.

|-
| MATERIAL_SIZE
| value
| All
| How much material is needed to make the item. Most important with bars. The number of bars required to make the item is the value divided by three. Required.

|-
| SOFT
|
| All
| Randomly generated equipped armor will have an equal probability of being made of leather or cloth, when this token is present and [METAL] is absent. Further uses of this tag are unknown.

|-
| HARD
|
| All
| Unknown function. No tag defaults to [HARD].

|-
| METAL
|
| All
| Item can be made with metal. Randomly generated equipped armor will always be made out of metal whenever possible.

|-
| BARRED
|
| All
| Can be crafted out of bone. Randomly generated equipped armor will never be made out of bone.

|-
| SCALED
|
| All
| Can be crafted from shell. Randomly generated equipped armor will never be made of shell.

|-
| LEATHER
|
| All
| Item can be made from leather. Randomly generated equipped armor with [LEATHER] will not be made of cloth, unless [SOFT] is also present.

|-
| SHAPED
|
| All
| Only one shaped piece of clothing can be worn on a single body slot at a time.

|-
| CHAIN_METAL_TEXT
|
| All
| Metal versions of this item will have "chain" added between the material and item name.

|-
| STRUCTURAL_ELASTICITY_WOVEN_THREAD
|
| All
|

|-
| STRUCTURAL_ELASTICITY_CHAIN_METAL
|
| All
|

|-
| STRUCTURAL_ELASTICITY_CHAIN_ALL
|
| All
| Seems to make blunt attacks more damaging. Further testing is needed.

|-
| LAYER_SIZE
| value
| All
| What the size of this item in question is, when it is put on. See [[Armor]] for more on item sizes and layering. Defaults to 10.

|-
| LAYER_PERMIT
| value
| All
| The maximum number of items allowed on that body slot. If the body slot's layer value is over this, no more of this item can be put on. See [[Armor]] for more on item sizes and layering. Defaults to 10.

|-
| LAYER
| UNDER, OVER, ARMOR, COVER
| All
| How this item is layered. The [LAYER_PERMIT:#] of a [LAYER:ARMOR] item overrides the [LAYER_PERMIT:#] of other items on the same ITEM_<name1>, unless it is a [LAYER:COVER] items. Defaults to UNDER.

|-
| COVERAGE
| % value
| All
| Coverage determines how often attacks and contaminants get through clothes. Armor with a 5% coverage value, for example, will be near useless because 95% of attacks will bypass it completely. Temperature effects are also influenced by coverage. Defaults to 100.

|}

{{Category|Modding}}
{{Category|Tokens}}

v0.31 Talk:Armor token

2012-01-05T09:59:51Z

Ahf:

As far as I can tell, based on Arena testing, many of the old 40d tags are still pertinent and function similarly under the new system(notable exception is the way that [LAYER:ARMOR] relates to [LAYER_PERMIT:#]). There mostly appear to be some deprecated tags(such as [VALUE], [WEIGHT], [BLOCKPOWER] and [SECONDBLOCK]). The only new tags I have spotted so far are [STRUCTURAL_ELASTICITY_WOVEN_THREAD] and [STRUCTURAL_ELASTICITY_CHAIN_METAL]. So I am going to copy most of the old info from the 40d armor token page. --[[User:PencilinHand|PencilinHand]] 18:37, 20 April 2010 (UTC)

I can help clarify the UBSTEP, LBSTEP, and UPSTEP tags, I've done lots of testing on them. There's a bug with UBSTEP atm. http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/mantisbt/view.php?id=1821 --[[User:Derigo|Derigo]] 18:26, 11 May 2010 (UTC)

Maybe we modders should nerf the protection the Robe and Cloak give to the throat and head. Reducing UBSTEP. Making cloth yielf more to animal attacks. (V.31.12) --[[User:TomiTapio|TomiTapio]] 14:57, 24 August 2010 (UTC)

== Recheck ==

One of the fixes for 0.31.17 suggests that UPSTEP/UBSTEP/LBSTEP have been fixed. More research is in order. --[[User:Quietust|Quietust]] 14:54, 16 November 2010 (UTC)

== SOFT/HARD Tokens ==

SOFT and HARD do not control wear, as found in these discussions:

http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/mantisbt/view.php?id=3942

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=80240.msg2765675#msg2765675

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=93506

Additionally, the tokens do not oppose one another, as demonstrated by the fact that unmodded [[Mask|masks]] have both tags at once. [[User:Ahf|Ahf]] 09:59, 5 January 2012 (UTC)