data/claims/dwarf-fortress.yamlDwarf Fortress's fortress mode (the Dwarf Fortress Wiki on version 53.16; Bay 12's 2006 features page)
Game: Dwarf Fortress.
Bay 12's 2006 features page lists, for the fortress: commanding dwarves as they search for wealth in the mountain, crafting treasures and furniture from many materials and improving them with precious metals and jewels, defending against hostile civilizations, the wilderness and the depths, keeping the dwarves happy, and building floodgates to divert water for farming or to drown adversaries. dwarf-fortress/fortress-2006
fortress listCommand your dwarves as they search for wealth in the mountain. Craft treasures and furniture from many materials and improve these objects with precious metals, jewels and more. Defend yourself against attacks from hostile civilizations, the wilderness and the depths.Bay 12 Games: Dwarf Fortress features (2006) · fortress listKeep your dwarves happy and read their thoughts as they work and relax. Build floodgates to divert water for farming or to drown your adversaries.Checked by claude, 2026-10-26 — read the fortress list in the pinned 25 October 2006 captureCited by: Dwarf Fortress, Production chain
In version 53.16, as the Dwarf Fortress Wiki describes it, the Designations menu marks tiles for dwarves to work: mining, wood cutting, plant gathering, stone detailing and other jobs, by rectangle, by painting, or for some designations as a box across z-levels. Each designation takes a priority from 1 (highest) to 7, and can be placed in blueprint mode, which dwarves don't undertake, to plan work ahead. A Mine designation needs a dwarf with the Mining labor. dwarf-fortress/designations
About: Dwarf Fortress Destructible terrain
WikiDesignations menu - Dwarf Fortress Wiki ·opening paragraphprovides the means to mark tiles with various designations including mining, wood cutting, plant gathering, stone detailing as well as removing constructions, controlling traffic and other miscellaneous designations.Designations menu - Dwarf Fortress Wiki · opening paragraphYou can also choose to "paint" an area (B), which lets you specifically designate tiles one by one.Designations menu - Dwarf Fortress Wiki · opening paragraphDepending on the designation, this also works across z-levels, allowing 3-dimensional designations in the shape of a cuboid.Designations menu - Dwarf Fortress Wiki · opening paragraphAll designations can be prioritized, with 1 being the highest priority and 7 being the lowest.Designations menu - Dwarf Fortress Wiki · opening paragraphThey also can be assigned as "Blueprint only", which is similar to the job being suspended, as it marks tiles in a blue-colored square. This is useful for planning out designations and rooms without dwarves suddenly moving in to do anything yet.Designations menu - Dwarf Fortress Wiki · Blueprint modeDwarves will not actually undertake blueprint mode designations. This can be used to plan future projectsDesignations menu - Dwarf Fortress Wiki · Designations Menu, Mine (mm)Mark tiles to be mined out. Removing stone/soil walls and leaving stone/soil floors. May leave stone/ore/gems. (req. Mining labor)Checked by claude, 2026-10-26 — read the opening paragraph, the Mine entry, and the Blueprint mode section in the pinned captureThe wiki's page is marked as describing the current version (its banner names v53.16).
Cited by: Dwarf Fortress
The wiki, describing version 53.16, divides each layer of the three-dimensional map into a wall part and a floor part. Mining removes the wall and leaves the floor; channelling removes the floor too, opening the tile to the layer above, and turns a wall below into an upward ramp. dwarf-fortress/dig-layers
About: Dwarf Fortress Destructible terrain
WikiMining - Dwarf Fortress Wiki ·Understanding diggingEach layer in the three-dimensional Dwarf Fortress map consists of two parts: a wall-part, and a floor-part. Mining a tunnel removes the wall-part but leaves the floor-part in place. Channeling removes the floor-part as well, leaving open space above, and if a wall-part exists below, it becomes an upward ramp.Checked by claude, 2026-10-26 — read the "Understanding digging" section in the pinned captureCited by: Dwarf Fortress
In version 53.16, as the wiki describes it, anything produced is made at a workshop, a building, nearly always 3×3 tiles, where dwarves process materials into more valuable or useful items. The wiki counts 31 workshops: 14 in its first tier, 11 in the second and 6 in the third. Each needs dwarves with its labors, and more skilled dwarves tend to make better or faster work. dwarf-fortress/workshops
Value: 31 workshops
WikiWorkshop - Dwarf Fortress Wiki ·opening paragraphWorkshops are buildings where materials are processed by dwarves into more valuable or useful items. There are a total of 31 workshops: 14 first tier, 11 second tier and 6 third tier across the game's various industries.Workshop - Dwarf Fortress Wiki · DescriptionAnything that is created, refined, cooked, altered, decorated, or generally "produced" is processed at a workshop.Workshop - Dwarf Fortress Wiki · Descriptionthey have specific labors that are required by dwarves to build them or to work there, and dwarves with more of the appropriate skill tend to produce higher quality objects*, and/or produce them faster.Workshop - Dwarf Fortress Wiki · DescriptionAlmost all workshops measure 3 tiles square, 3×3, but a few are 5×5, or even a single tile.Checked by claude, 2026-10-26 — read the opening paragraph and Description in the pinned captureThe wiki's count, for the version its banner names (v53.16).
Cited by: Dwarf Fortress, Production chain
In version 53.16, as the wiki describes it, an order at a workshop becomes a job that waits for a dwarf with the right labor. That dwarf fetches the nearest suitable material, nearest to the dwarf and not the workshop, or only from linked stockpiles if any are set, carries each ingredient to the workshop, makes the item, and leaves it there. Taking it to a stockpile is a separate hauling job, queued later, and items piling up in a workshop slow its work. dwarf-fortress/workshop-jobs
OperationWhen there are items ordered at a workshop, the workshop will generate item creation jobs until it finds a suitable dwarf with appropriate laborsWorkshop - Dwarf Fortress Wiki · OperationThe dwarf finds the nearest, most suitable base raw material. This is nearest to their current location, not the workshop. If any stockpiles are set to give to the workshop, only linked stockpiles will be looked in.Workshop - Dwarf Fortress Wiki · OperationThe dwarf gets that material and hauls it to the workshop. The dwarf repeats that until all the necessary ingredients are in the workshop. The dwarf labors in the workshop for a while and creates the item. The dwarf leaves the finished item in the workshop.Workshop - Dwarf Fortress Wiki · OperationA new hauling job is (eventually) queued to take the finished item to the nearest suitable stockpile.Workshop - Dwarf Fortress Wiki · OperationIf you have no stockpiles to put finished objects in, workshops will become cluttered.Workshop - Dwarf Fortress Wiki · OperationThe more items there are, the longer tasks will take.Checked by claude, 2026-10-26 — read the Operation section in the pinned captureCited by: Dwarf Fortress, Production chain
The wiki, describing version 53.16, ranks workshops by how far they are from raw materials: a tier 1 workshop processes raw materials, tier 2 the output of tier 1, tier 3 the output of tier 2, each possibly with lower-tier inputs as well. In the metal chain a wood furnace (tier 1) burns wood into charcoal, a smelter (tier 2) turns ore, with charcoal or coke for fuel, into metal bars, and a metalsmith's forge (tier 3) turns bars, with fuel, into weapons, armor, furniture and more. dwarf-fortress/workshop-tiers
Tier systemA Tier-1 workshop processes raw materials directly; a Tier-2 workshop processes the output of a Tier-1 workshop (but may also include new raw materials); and a Tier-3 workshop processes the output of a Tier-2 workshop (but may also include inputs from lower levels)Workshop - Dwarf Fortress Wiki · Tier 1 workshops, Wood furnaceWood furnace b-o-u-f Uses Tier 0 Item: Wood Produces: Fuel (Charcoal), AshWorkshop - Dwarf Fortress Wiki · Tier 2 workshops, SmelterSmelter b-o-u-l Uses Tier 1 Items: Fuel (Charcoal, Coke) Uses Tier 0 Items: Coal, Ore, FluxWorkshop - Dwarf Fortress Wiki · Tier 2 workshops, SmelterProduces: Coke, Metal barsWorkshop - Dwarf Fortress Wiki · Tier 3 workshops, Metalsmith's forgeMetalsmith's forge b-o-i Uses Tier 1 Item: Fuel (Charcoal, Coke) Uses Tier 2 Item: Metal bars Produces: weapons, trap components, bolts, ballista arrowheads, armor, chains, crafts, coins, goblets, studding, anvils, blocks, furniture, animal traps and mechanisms.Industry - Dwarf Fortress Wiki · Primary industries, Metal industryMetal industry: Raw ore is refined into metal bars, which may be used for weapons, armor, furniture, and crafts.Checked by claude, 2026-10-26 — read the tier system and the smelter and forge entries in the pinned capture, and the metal industry entry on the Industry pageThe wiki lists a workshop that fits several tiers in the lowest that fits its main purpose.
Cited by: Dwarf Fortress, Production chain
The wiki, describing version 53.16, groups the fortress's work into industries, primary, secondary and tertiary, and notes that one industry's end products are often another's inputs. dwarf-fortress/industries
introductionNote that the end products of one industry are often the inputs to another, and some industries can fit into more than one category.Checked by claude, 2026-10-26 — read the introduction and the primary industries list in the pinned captureCited by: Dwarf Fortress
The wiki, describing version 53.16, says no process can be truly automated, and lists the game's partial tools: standing orders, which queue some single-use refining jobs whenever their inputs exist; jobs set to repeat; and, once a manager is appointed, work orders for an exact number of items, which the manager must approve and which re-queue until their inputs are in place. dwarf-fortress/no-automation
ManagementThough no process can be truly automated, there are a few tricks to keeping your workshops productive.Workshop - Dwarf Fortress Wiki · Management, Standing ordersThus, standing orders automate certain tasks, queuing them up whenever input materials are availableWorkshop - Dwarf Fortress Wiki · Management, ManagerAppointing a manager noble allows you to queue work orders using the job manager interface, though your manager will need time to approve work orders before production begins.Workshop - Dwarf Fortress Wiki · Management, ManagerFirstly, it allows you to produce an exact number of items as opposed to putting a workshop on repeat, and secondly, it allows easier management of complex tasksWorkshop - Dwarf Fortress Wiki · Management, Managerthe tasks will simply re-queue, to be fulfilled as soon as the prerequisites are in order.Checked by claude, 2026-10-26 — read the Management section (standing orders, repetition, manager, workflow) in the pinned captureThe page also names DFHack's "workflow" plug-in, a third-party tool, for fuller automation.
Cited by: Dwarf Fortress, Production chain
In version 53.16, as the wiki describes it, a stockpile is an area the player draws, and its settings choose the items it accepts by category, subcategory, and individual item. Dwarves with the hauling job carry items not already in an accepting stockpile to one, and the wiki advises placing stockpiles carefully to minimize the time spent carrying. A stockpile can be set to take from or give to particular workshops and other stockpiles; two can't feed each other, though a larger loop can. dwarf-fortress/stockpiles
opening paragraphDwarves with the corresponding "hauling" job will seek out items that are not already on a stockpile that accepts them and carry them to an appropriate stockpile, if available. It's important to place your stockpiles carefully to minimize the amount of time spent carrying items back-and-forth.Stockpile - Dwarf Fortress Wiki · Creating and Removing StockpilesTo create a stockpile, click the pStockpile button and left click to start drawing a rectangle with the mouseStockpile - Dwarf Fortress Wiki · Stockpile SettingsIn the Stockpile Settings, the first column are the major categories. In the second column there may or may not be subcategories. In the third you will see the individual items.Stockpile - Dwarf Fortress Wiki · Give and/or take from a stockpile/workshopAnother feature of stockpiles allows you to tell dwarves to transfer items from or to one stockpile and/or workshop to another.Stockpile - Dwarf Fortress Wiki · Give and/or take from a stockpile/workshopYou can't make two stockpiles feed into each other, although larger loops (e.g. three stockpiles that feed into each other in a circle) are allowed.Checked by claude, 2026-10-26 — read the opening, creation, give-and-take, and Stockpile Settings sections in the pinned captureCited by: Dwarf Fortress
In Dwarf Fortress's production chains (version 53.16, as its wiki describes it), where one industry's end products often feed another, fetching the materials and hauling the product away are dwarves' jobs, and the wiki says no process can be truly automated. In Factorio, the Factorio Wiki says, inserters move items between belts and into and out of machines, and an assembling machine set to a recipe "should craft the item" once all its requested ingredients are in its input slots. dwarf-fortress/vs-factorio
OperationThe dwarf gets that material and hauls it to the workshop.Workshop - Dwarf Fortress Wiki · OperationA new hauling job is (eventually) queued to take the finished item to the nearest suitable stockpile.Workshop - Dwarf Fortress Wiki · ManagementThough no process can be truly automatedInserters · opening paragraphBy doing this, they can move items from one transport belt to another, but also extract items from—and insert items into—machines or storage devices.Crafting · Automated craftingTo automatically craft items, place a Assembling machine, and select the recipe.Crafting · Automated craftingThen, place all requested ingredients into the input slots, and the assembling machine should craft the item.Industry - Dwarf Fortress Wiki · introductionNote that the end products of one industry are often the inputs to anotherChecked by claude, 2026-10-26 — read the Dwarf Fortress Wiki's Operation and Management sections and the Factorio Wiki's Inserters opening and Crafting's Automated crafting section in the pinned capturesA comparison, not a lineage: in 2014 kovarex listed Dwarf Fortress among the games people compare Factorio with that the team had never played (factorio-lineage/never-played). Factorio's machine values are in factorio-production (assembling-machines, inserter-speeds).
Cited by: Dwarf Fortress