System requirements

2025-03-27T00:53:19Z

Eragon: /* Reports */

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:''If you're looking for information on improving the performance of Dwarf Fortress on your computer, see [[Maximizing framerate|Maximizing Framerate]]. For installation instructions, see [[Installation]].''

''Dwarf Fortress'' is a very complex game, but in ways that differ from most other complex games. This leads to the game having a somewhat unusual set of requirements.

Note that while the [http://bay12games.com/dwarves/ front page] displays only the current builds, there also exist previous versions [http://bay12games.com/dwarves/older_versions.html under the "All Versions" link].

==Premium version official requirements==
From the [https://store.steampowered.com/app/975370/Dwarf_Fortress/ Steam page]

'''Windows'''
* Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
* OS: minimum Windows 7 or later
* Processor: minimum Dual Core CPU - 2.4GHz+, recommended Dual Core CPU - 4GHz+
* Memory: 4 GB RAM
* Graphics: 1GB of VRAM: Intel HD 3000 GPU / AMD HD 5450 / Nvidia 9400 GT
* Storage: 500 MB available space

'''SteamOS + Linux'''
* None listed on the Steam page yet, but it should work on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS or later and other up to date Linux distributions.

== OS ==

* '''64-bit Windows''' can run the Premium and Classic releases natively. 32-bit and ARM versions of Windows will not be able to run DF. If you are unsure if you are using 64-bit Windows, check using the instructions [https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/32-bit-and-64-bit-windows-frequently-asked-questions-c6ca9541-8dce-4d48-0415-94a3faa2e13d here].
** Windows Vista/7/8/8.1 are unsupported by Microsoft and may have issues -- be warned!
* '''Linux on x86-64''' (including '''SteamOS''') can run the Premium version of Dwarf Fortress on Steam natively, though there may be issues that may or may not be fixed by using Proton.
* '''Linux on x86-64''' and '''MacOS on Intel''' may be able to run Dwarf Fortress via Wine, previous versions are [https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=application&iId=5608 rated Platinum on Wine's AppDB]. Some find this to be more stable than the native Steam Linux version.
* '''MacOS on Apple Silicon''' ([https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT211814 listed here]) has worked for some people by running Dwarf Fortress via Wine in Rosetta 2's x86-64 emulation. Add your experiences below under Reports if you try! See the [[Installation#MacOS|installation page]] for details.
* '''Linux ARM64'' native builds, as of v50.13, are not yet published. The MacOS native build for v50+ has been cancelled for the time being (See the [https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/975370/view/4237410439220288178?l=english Kitfox FAQ]).

==GPU==

''Dwarf Fortress'' is not particularly graphically intensive, even when using high-res [[tilesets]] and [[graphics set]]s. ''Dwarf Fortress'' also doesn't use technologies like [[wikipedia:OpenCL|OpenCL]] to make use of graphics cards anyway, so a top-of-the-line graphics card will generally not improve performance.

==CPU==

''Dwarf Fortress'' mostly operates on a single thread, so if you want to optimize for DF, you should probably optimize for single-core performance. This is especially true if you want to do more laggy things, such as [[mist]] generators. However, laggy circumstances are generally the exception, not the rule, and in those other circumstances, you generally don't need a ''particularly'' powerful CPU.

=== Cache size ===

As ''Dwarf Fortress''' bottlenecks are mostly due to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPU_cache#Cache_miss cache misses], it has been [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=151121.msg6270374#msg6270374 speculated on the DF forums] that "a CPU with a positively giant L3/L4 cache (and I mean > 256 mb or GTFO)" would improve DF performance, as would using faster RAM with smaller [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAS_latency transfer times]—see the next section.

== RAM ==

During [[Fortress mode|regular]] [[Adventurer mode|gameplay]], ''Dwarf Fortress'' usually doesn't consume too much memory - 512MB is probably a bit tight, but 1GB is absolutely sufficient, though if you're short on RAM, you may want to quit other running processes. What's particularly important during regular gameplay is RAM ''latency''—since the game uses the RAM ''every single frame'', it's important that your RAM be fast, lest you experience FPS death.

However, [[world generation]] is known to eat up a lot more RAM than normal gameplay, especially if you generate worlds that are particularly large or have long histories - multiple gigabytes may be consumed. To be safe, you should shut down any background processes when generating a world, and if you're particularly tight on RAM, consider reducing the size or history of the worlds you generate—the game is rich enough with content that you'll still have plenty of things to do, and you can always tweak the other, less RAM-hungry [[advanced world generation]] parameters. (RAM latency is less of a problem here, since you'll only need to do this once every so often.)

== Experimental reports ==
=== Report format ===
Please read [[System_requirements/Report_Template|the report template]] page before contributing any reports.

=== Reports ===

Configuration type: RAM-upgraded MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2011)
;Game info
:Game version: v50.12-beta8
:World size: Small
:Embark size: 4x4
:Age of fort: 8 years
:Number of dwarves: 193
:Average fps: 32 (18 graphical)
:Default/nondefault raws: default
:Tileset in use: Steam
:Amount of stone dug: ~3000
:Amount of water and state: inactive magma pump stack, no water
:Approximate amount of z-levels: 30
:RAM usage of game: 1622 MB
:Draw mode in init.txt: Auto

;PC info
:CPU: Intel Core i7-2640M @ 2.8 GHz
:RAM: 16 GB DDR3 @ 1333 MHz
:GPU: Intel HD Graphics 3000
:OS: Windows 10 under Boot Camp

----

Configuration type: Self-build pc from 2024
;Game info
:Game version: v51.08
:World size: Medium
:Embark size: 4x4
:Age of fort: 27 years
:Number of dwarves: 204
:Average fps: 47(47 graphical) with temperatures, 68 (49 graphic) without temperatures.
:Default/nondefault raws: DFHack
:Tileset in use: Steam
:Amount of stone dug: ~10000
:Amount of water and state: Non flowing ocean (75% of surface) + 2 flooded cavern layers (nearly entire cavern flooded). Light aquifer powered mist generator spanning ~100 Z levels.
:Approximate amount of z-levels: ~130
:RAM usage of game: 2978 MB
:Draw mode in init.txt: Auto

;PC info
:CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7700X
:RAM: 32GB DDR5 @ 6000 MHz
:GPU: RTX 3060 (slight overclock)
:OS: Windows 10 Pro
{{Translation| dwarven = idith inem | elvish = eritha enotho | goblin = obsår eted | human = histek tikes}}

{{Category|Game}}
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System requirements