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40d:Color scheme

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Dwarf Fortress uses color schemes to determine how the game will be presented during play, whether a ranger will appear bright Spring green or dark forest green, or whether microcline will be "eye blasting blue" or something more calm. The default scheme is quite bold - other schemes are easily possible, even to better accommodate those of us with problems seeing standard color mixes, or just can't take "eye blasting blue".

A scheme is broken down into 16 color labels:

BLACK, DGRAY, LGRAY, WHITE, BROWN,
LMAGENTA, MAGENTA, LRED, RED, YELLOW,
LGREEN, GREEN, LBLUE, BLUE, LCYAN, & CYAN.

The color scheme data is located at the bottom of the init.txt file, found in Dwarf Fortress/data/init folder.

What colors show up where

The easiest place to see all the colors next to each other is in the units list, where the different professional categories all have their identifying colors. In that order (and with the default color values), they are...


BLACK
 

background

LCYAN
 

current job listing*

LGRAY
 

Miners

YELLOW
 

Woodworkers

WHITE
 

Stoneworkers

GREEN
 

Rangers

DGRAY
 

Metalsmiths

LGREEN
 

Jewelers

LBLUE
 

Craftsdwarfs

BLUE
 

Fishery Worker

BROWN
 

Farmers

LRED
 

Engineers

MAGENTA
 

Administrators

LCYAN
 

Peasants

RED
 

Children

LMAGENTA
 

deceased

(* "On Break" is displayed in CYAN.)

Default Scheme

The default Dwarf Fortress color scheme is based off the 16 standard HTML colors, as discussed here. (Some have been renamed in DF, but the tones themselves are the same.)

If you lose the default scheme and neglected to make a backup (didn't we warn you to use "care and caution" when modding?), you can find the standard scheme here, without having to download DF again.

BLACK BLUE
GREEN CYAN
RED MAGENTA
BROWN LGRAY
DGRAY LBLUE
LGREEN LCYAN
LRED LMAGENTA
YELLOW WHITE 
[BLACK_R:0]
[BLACK_G:0]
[BLACK_B:0]
[BLUE_R:0]
[BLUE_G:0]
[BLUE_B:128]
[GREEN_R:0]
[GREEN_G:128]
[GREEN_B:0]
[CYAN_R:0]
[CYAN_G:128]
[CYAN_B:128]
[RED_R:128]
[RED_G:0]
[RED_B:0]
[MAGENTA_R:128]
[MAGENTA_G:0]
[MAGENTA_B:128]
[BROWN_R:128]
[BROWN_G:128]
[BROWN_B:0]
[LGRAY_R:192]
[LGRAY_G:192]
[LGRAY_B:192]
[DGRAY_R:128]
[DGRAY_G:128]
[DGRAY_B:128]
[LBLUE_R:0]
[LBLUE_G:0]
[LBLUE_B:255]
[LGREEN_R:0]
[LGREEN_G:255]
[LGREEN_B:0]
[LCYAN_R:0]
[LCYAN_G:255]
[LCYAN_B:255]
[LRED_R:255]
[LRED_G:0]
[LRED_B:0]
[LMAGENTA_R:255]
[LMAGENTA_G:0]
[LMAGENTA_B:255]
[YELLOW_R:255]
[YELLOW_G:255]
[YELLOW_B:0]
[WHITE_R:255]
[WHITE_G:255]
[WHITE_B:255]

Custom color schemes

Players who are not satisfied with the default color scheme can alter things to suit their aesthetic tastes. The 16 colors are not fixed, except by their definitions in init.txt. If you wanted to change YELLOW to something slightly brighter or darker, or more orange, or into deep purple, you can by changing the values listed under the label "YELLOW". Note that the color names are case sensitive - the color is "YELLOW", not "yellow".

When designing a custom color, 3 "lights" of color are used: Red, Green, and Blue, on a scale of 0-255. The more light (the higher the value), the brighter the color; the less light (the lower the value), the darker. Using "light" is not the same as using "pigment" (the standard "paint mixing" formulae we learned in school, where Red, Yellow and Blue are the 3 basic ingredients). Since we're using Red, Green and Blue light, some form of those three are relatively easy to achieve - but look at the other standard colors that you know to start to understand how they mix together and how to "shade" or "tint", or brighten or darken a color - or you can simply find a color below that you like and go from that. Always use caution to avoid colors that are "too similar".

To change to a new color scheme, copy/paste a color list (or part of one or more) found below (or make your own up) over the existing scheme - don't worry, if you don't like it, the original, default scheme is listed above.

In order for any scheme changes to take effect, the init.txt file must be Saved, and the game must be Quit and re-Started.

(Note also that when posting screenshots to this wiki (and the forum boards), custom color schemes (or tilesets) can cause confusion with players who do not use those specific mixes. This wiki requests you use one of the default set-ups that come with the game to post screenshots here.)


"Natural" scheme

This mix softens the garish colors of the original to earthtones.

BLACK BLUE
GREEN CYAN
RED MAGENTA
BROWN LGRAY
DGRAY LBLUE
LGREEN LCYAN
LRED LMAGENTA
YELLOW WHITE 
[BLACK_R:0]
[BLACK_G:0]
[BLACK_B:0]
[BLUE_R:13]
[BLUE_G:103]
[BLUE_B:196]
[GREEN_R:68]
[GREEN_G:158]
[GREEN_B:53]
[CYAN_R:86]
[CYAN_G:163]
[CYAN_B:205]
[RED_R:151]
[RED_G:26]
[RED_B:26]
[MAGENTA_R:255]
[MAGENTA_G:110]
[MAGENTA_B:187]
[BROWN_R:120]
[BROWN_G:94]
[BROWN_B:47]
[LGRAY_R:185]
[LGRAY_G:192]
[LGRAY_B:162]
[DGRAY_R:88]
[DGRAY_G:83]
[DGRAY_B:86]
[LBLUE_R:145]
[LBLUE_G:202]
[LBLUE_B:255]
[LGREEN_R:131]
[LGREEN_G:212]
[LGREEN_B:82]
[LCYAN_R:176]
[LCYAN_G:223]
[LCYAN_B:215]
[LRED_R:255]
[LRED_G:34]
[LRED_B:34]
[LMAGENTA_R:255]
[LMAGENTA_G:167]
[LMAGENTA_B:246]
[YELLOW_R:255]
[YELLOW_G:218]
[YELLOW_B:90]
[WHITE_R:255]
[WHITE_G:255]
[WHITE_B:255]


Another scheme

BLACK BLUE
GREEN CYAN
RED MAGENTA
BROWN LGRAY
DGRAY LBLUE
LGREEN LCYAN
LRED LMAGENTA
YELLOW WHITE 
[BLACK_R:0]
[BLACK_G:0]
[BLACK_B:0]
[BLUE_R:73]
[BLUE_G:95]
[BLUE_B:157]
[GREEN_R:89]
[GREEN_G:117]
[GREEN_B:55]
[CYAN_R:101]
[CYAN_G:144]
[CYAN_B:158]
[RED_R:146]
[RED_G:0]
[RED_B:0]
[MAGENTA_R:165]
[MAGENTA_G:54]
[MAGENTA_B:101]
[BROWN_R:138]
[BROWN_G:105]
[BROWN_B:59]
[LGRAY_R:128]
[LGRAY_G:128]
[LGRAY_B:128]
[DGRAY_R:80]
[DGRAY_G:80]
[DGRAY_B:80]
[LBLUE_R:111]
[LBLUE_G:138]
[LBLUE_B:165]
[LGREEN_R:160]
[LGREEN_G:200]
[LGREEN_B:82]
[LCYAN_R:159]
[LCYAN_G:196]
[LCYAN_B:210]
[LRED_R:206]
[LRED_G:73]
[LRED_B:1]
[LMAGENTA_R:239]
[LMAGENTA_G:150]
[LMAGENTA_B:207]
[YELLOW_R:255]
[YELLOW_G:198]
[YELLOW_B:0]
[WHITE_R:255]
[WHITE_G:255]
[WHITE_B:255]


True CGA Scheme

This scheme uses the genuine CGA palette, in case you're an old-school purist.

(Note that the CGA "brown" can be difficult to distinguish from "red" unless it is immediately nearby. For a slightly more readable version, you can "cheat" and replace the [BROWN_G:85] with [BROWN_G:170]. )


BLACK BLUE
GREEN CYAN
RED MAGENTA
BROWN LGRAY
DGRAY LBLUE
LGREEN LCYAN
LRED LMAGENTA
YELLOW WHITE 
[BLACK_R:0]
[BLACK_G:0]
[BLACK_B:0]
[BLUE_R:0]
[BLUE_G:0]
[BLUE_B:170]
[GREEN_R:0]
[GREEN_G:170]
[GREEN_B:0]
[CYAN_R:0]
[CYAN_G:170]
[CYAN_B:170]
[RED_R:170]
[RED_G:0]
[RED_B:0]
[MAGENTA_R:170]
[MAGENTA_G:0]
[MAGENTA_B:170]
[BROWN_R:170]
[BROWN_G:85]
[BROWN_B:0]
[LGRAY_R:170]
[LGRAY_G:170]
[LGRAY_B:170]
[DGRAY_R:85]
[DGRAY_G:85]
[DGRAY_B:85]
[LBLUE_R:85]
[LBLUE_G:85]
[LBLUE_B:255]
[LGREEN_R:85]
[LGREEN_G:255]
[LGREEN_B:85]
[LCYAN_R:85]
[LCYAN_G:255]
[LCYAN_B:255]
[LRED_R:255]
[LRED_G:85]
[LRED_B:85]
[LMAGENTA_R:255]
[LMAGENTA_G:85]
[LMAGENTA_B:255]
[YELLOW_R:255]
[YELLOW_G:255]
[YELLOW_B:85]
[WHITE_R:255]
[WHITE_G:255]
[WHITE_B:255]

(Yet) Another scheme

BLACK BLUE
GREEN CYAN
RED MAGENTA
BROWN LGRAY
DGRAY LBLUE
LGREEN LCYAN
LRED LMAGENTA
YELLOW WHITE 
[BLACK_R:0]
[BLACK_G:0]
[BLACK_B:0]
[BLUE_R:32]
[BLUE_G:48]
[BLUE_B:144]
[GREEN_R:48]
[GREEN_G:144]
[GREEN_B:32]
[CYAN_R:32]
[CYAN_G:128]
[CYAN_B:144]
[RED_R:151]
[RED_G:26]
[RED_B:26]
[MAGENTA_R:112]
[MAGENTA_G:32]
[MAGENTA_B:144]
[BROWN_R:144]
[BROWN_G:112]
[BROWN_B:48]
[LGRAY_R:176]
[LGRAY_G:176]
[LGRAY_B:176]
[DGRAY_R:112]
[DGRAY_G:112]
[DGRAY_B:112]
[LBLUE_R:40]
[LBLUE_G:56]
[LBLUE_B:255]
[LGREEN_R:48]
[LGREEN_G:240]
[LGREEN_B:32]
[LCYAN_R:56]
[LCYAN_G:208]
[LCYAN_B:255]
[LRED_R:255]
[LRED_G:48]
[LRED_B:32]
[LMAGENTA_R:208]
[LMAGENTA_G:56]
[LMAGENTA_B:255]
[YELLOW_R:255]
[YELLOW_G:224]
[YELLOW_B:32]
[WHITE_R:255]
[WHITE_G:255]
[WHITE_B:255]


For the Chromatically Challenged

Colour blindness can result in colours being too similar, such as red and brown, so this scheme sacrifices true colour accuracy for a greater difference in hues. If you have normal colour vision, then this probably looks really weird.


BLACK BLUE
GREEN CYAN
RED MAGENTA
BROWN LGRAY
DGRAY LBLUE
LGREEN LCYAN
LRED LMAGENTA
YELLOW WHITE 
[BLACK_R:0]
[BLACK_G:0]
[BLACK_B:0]
[BLUE_R:0]
[BLUE_G:0]
[BLUE_B:192]
[GREEN_R:0]
[GREEN_G:128]
[GREEN_B:0]
[CYAN_R:0]
[CYAN_G:112]
[CYAN_B:144]
[RED_R:192]
[RED_G:0]
[RED_B:0]
[MAGENTA_R:160]
[MAGENTA_G:0]
[MAGENTA_B:128]
[BROWN_R:96]
[BROWN_G:96]
[BROWN_B:0]
[LGRAY_R:192]
[LGRAY_G:192]
[LGRAY_B:192]
[DGRAY_R:128]
[DGRAY_G:128]
[DGRAY_B:128]
[LBLUE_R:48]
[LBLUE_G:48]
[LBLUE_B:255]
[LGREEN_R:0]
[LGREEN_G:224]
[LGREEN_B:0]
[LCYAN_R:64]
[LCYAN_G:224]
[LCYAN_B:255]
[LRED_R:255]
[LRED_G:48]
[LRED_B:48]
[LMAGENTA_R:255]
[LMAGENTA_G:64]
[LMAGENTA_B:224]
[YELLOW_R:255]
[YELLOW_G:255]
[YELLOW_B:64]
[WHITE_R:255]
[WHITE_G:255]
[WHITE_B:255]
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