Editing Zones

{{Quality|Masterwork}}

For select zone types, you can change from Paint to Multi mode, in which you can draw a rectangle over multiple rooms, and each room valid for that zone type will be a separate zone. The number shown is the number of zones created in the last rectangle drawn, and the undo button will only undo the last rectangle created.

In some cases (pen/pasture, pit/pond) additional orders can then be set from the same menu. The location of a zone is only visible while in the Zones menu, and any object lying on the ground will hide the presence of a zone tile. The size of a zone is unlimited.

[[File:meeting_icon_preview.png|right]]'''Meeting area zones''' are zones in which idle dwarves and animals will congregate. After a meeting area is designated, it can be left as is, or it can be made into a [[tavern]], [[temple]], [[library]], [[guildhall]] or [[hospital]]. Additionally, [[immigration|immigrants]] will collect at a meeting area until their "migrant" status wears off. Note that the [[wagon (embark)|wagon]] you [[embark|arrive with]] constitutes a meeting area until you designate the first meeting area of your own. If you start in hostile surroundings, it is important to do so, so as to get your dwarves and animals out of danger quickly. It is a good idea to have at least one meeting area of one form or another: It allows you to make off-duty dwarves and animals gather in an area where they are not vulnerable within the fortress. A meeting area filled with dwarves increases the [[social skill]]s of idlers. It makes idle dwarves a little less idle. Because almost every dwarf visits a meeting area at least occasionally, it's an ideal place to site valuable objects and buildings.  A meeting area exposed to sunlight will additionally prevent dwarves from becoming [[cave adaptation|cave-adapted]]. Note that having dwarves socialize will often result in them forming [[relationship]]s.

[[File:office_medium_icon.png|right]]An office is a zone required by some [[Noble|nobles]], and requires a [[chair]]. [[Manager|Managers]] will use the chair to validate and check [[work orders]]. A [[bookkeeper]] will use the office to update the [[stock]]records and increase the precision of the records. A dwarf with an office assigned will sometimes [[eat]] in their own office if there is no communal [[dining hall]] designated in the fortress, but this does not provide any happy [[thought]], no matter how [[Room value|luxuriously decorated]] the office may be, and may even generate a bad thought if the chair doesn't have a [[table]] adjacent to it.

[[File:bedroom_medium_icon.png|right]]A bedroom is a zone where a single dwarf (and possibly their spouse and children) will sleep and store their belongings in. Requires a [[bed]]. A cabinet can be built for the dwarf to store their [[Wear|old]] clothing; and a chest for dwarves to store their belongings like [[coins]], [[Finished Goods|rings, scepters]] etc. A dwarf with no cabinet or with low orderliness [[personality trait]] will scatter their old clothing everywhere.

[[File:bedroom_medium_icon.png|right]]A dormitory is a zone containing multiple [[Bed|beds]] where all dwarves that do not have a Bedroom assigned to them will sleep. However, sleeping in dormitory will generate a negative thought(embarrassed after sleeping without a proper room).

[[File:dining_medium_icon.png|right]]A Dining Hall is a zone where dwarves go to eat. Requires one or more [[Table|tables]].

[[File:barracks_medium_icon.png|right]]A barracks zone is a zone where a [[military]] will go to sleep, train, or store their equipment.

[[File:pasture_medium_icon.png|right]]A pen or a pasture is used to contain tame animals. Once one is created, animals must be assigned to it individually from the zone information menu. Dwarves will drag the assigned animals to the pen or pasture automatically. Domestic animals tend to aggregate at [[meeting area]]s instead, as will herbivorous ones, which will lead to probably starvation unless your meeting area is overgrown with [[grass]] or fungi for some reason. Any tame creature with the "grazer" token in the raws should be assigned to a pasture.  This includes mules, cows, goats, horses, yaks, unicorns etc.  Animals will not typically wander out of their assigned pasture even if it is not walled in, however animals will abandon their posts and will have to be dragged back to them if they are threatened by enemies, and an exposed pasture may lead to premature slaughter at the hands of invaders. Since pets can be assigned to pen/pastures and a zone can be created under a [[dwarven atom smasher]], this is one of the easiest ways to prevent [[catsplosion]]s.

[[File:pit_medium_icon.png|right]]A Pit/Pond requires a [[ramp]] or hole with adjacent flooring on which a dwarf can stand.  Designate the zone from the top of the ramp or hole, such that the zone designation is floating in the open space above the floor of the pit/pond.  By default, the zone will be a pit.  To toggle between pit and pond, press corresponding icon in zone information menu.

[[File:trash_medium_icon.png|right]]Garbage dump zones are areas in which dwarves will throw items marked for dumping - either by manual setting of dump status from item information menu, or {{k|i}} - {{k|p}} (bulk dumping; note that this designates ''all'' items on the tiles for dumping, even built [[furniture]] and items inside [[container]]s). Garbage dumps are ''not'' the same as [[Refuse#Refuse|refuse]] stockpiles, which can be designated to accept specific type(s) of refuse, such as animal [[corpse]]s or [[bones]], and then are automatically filled by haulers whenever the items appear on the map. Despite the name, garbage dump zones are useful for many things beyond [[garbage disposal]]; they can create [[quantum stockpile]]s, transport materials to a job site, send items to the [[trade depot]] when no caravan is present, [[trap design#Falling_debris_trap|drop rocks]] on enemies below, and numerous other uses.

[[File:water_medium_icon.png|right]]Dwarves will use these zones to draw water, to satisfy booze-less [[thirst]], to tend to another thirsty dwarf (with the Give Water job), or to fill a [[#Pit/Pond|Pond zone]]. Only tiles ''adjacent'' to water qualify as usable water sources - thus, if you want to place a single-tile zone, place the zone onto a ground tile next to the water, not over the water itself. This zone should ''not'' be used with [[well]]s - this is redundant, as they are already considered their own water source.

[[File:animaltraining_medium_icon.png|right]]An animal training zone allows [[Animal trainer|animal training]]. Animals cannot be trained unless they are in a training zone or [[pasture]] or on a [[restraint]].  

[[File:fishing_medium_icon.png|right]]Dwarves will preferably use these zones when [[fishing]], using them up until their supply is exhausted before moving on to the next water source. As with water sources, only tiles ''adjacent'' to water qualify as usable tiles. Far-flung fisherdwarves fishing in a distant [[river]] or [[pool]] are a serious defensive liability in case of an attack, so designating a safer fishing zone and, optionally, restricting non-zone fishing in the [[standing orders]] menu will help keep your fisherdwarves safe. Dwarves can fish through a [[grate]] or even a [[well]], provided there is water in the tile 1 z-level below the activity zone.

[[File:gather_medium_icon.png|right]]This will automate plant-gathering jobs in this area, necessary if you want your dwarves to collect fruit from the floor or trees. If there are fruit-bearing trees in the designated area, a dwarf will fetch a [[stepladder]] to climb into the tree. The ladder-using dwarf will drop harvested fruit to the ground for others to collect and haul. The details can be set in a sub-menu.

[[File:sandpit_medium_icon.png|right]]A '''sand collection''' zone allows dwarves with the [[item hauling]] labor active to fill an unused [[bag]] with [[sand]] for use in the [[glass industry]]. The 'collect sand' task is created at a [[glass furnace]].

[[File:claypit_medium_icon.png|right]]A '''clay collection''' zone allows dwarves with the [[item hauling]] labor active to create [[clay]] for use in the [[ceramic industry]]. The 'collect clay' task is created at a [[kiln]].

:The value given to an item, floor, wall etc due to the material it is made from. ''Common material types:'' Natural spaces like sky, water, or magma are 1, wood is 1, rocks are 1–3, ores/metals are 2–40, gems are 2–60

Engraving with walls is slightly complex. In order for an engraved wall to add its engraving to the room value, the room must contain both the wall itself and the location the engraver was standing when it was engraved. This means that an engraved wall shared between two zones will only add its value to one of those zones.

When room designations such that they share floor tiles, the label of some zones in that same area will be renamed to "Overlapping (Zone)" in red text. When selecting an overlapped area, the player is able to select the zone layers with clickable arrows on either side of the zone name. Zones in this state receive a massive overlap penalty, said penalty used to be 75%{{cite forum|124938.msg4169769#msg4169769}}, but it appears to have been changed to something more like 99%. There is no difference in value between a piece of furniture shared by two rooms, or by forty.

If you are limited on your high value materials (or have lots of rooms you wish to improve) and don't want to abuse wall sharing or other glitches, here's how best to use those high value mats:

# Use your high value materials on floor tiles, not furniture. A decently engraved floor has a value of 37–57 × material value; the only thing that gets close to that is the mechanisms in levers.

So you don’t care about using glitches and non–contiguous rooms. Here’s the way you break room value with minimal effort and resources:

# Make a line of wall with a 1 tile gap on either side (if your engravers are really good this might only need to be 2–3 long).

# For optimal results hide this to the south east of your area, otherwise the zone icons can get rather confusing.

 

You can also assign arbitrary stretches of space on the same z level, such as sky, magma, or water, as part of the zone to increase value. Because the standard 4×4 embark contains 192×192=36864 tiles, each with a value of one, designating one entire z level of sky would instantly create a royal quality zone.