40d Talk:Container

Changes from the old version of the Wiki

1.This new page seems to be about two different things, 'containers' as they refer to bins and barrels (in the casual usage), and 'container' as the game uses (chests and so on.) Note that the old wiki devoted this page exclusively to the latter, to help people understand what was meant when a noble requested a container or when they saw containers on their stocks menu. That hasn't changed, has it? Maybe barrels, bins, etc should be excluded from this page. --Aquillion 16:17, 3 November 2007 (EDT)

2.Is there still the bug where decorated barrels and bags are unusable? Please confirm.

3.Does anybody know if goblins will still stuff dwarven children into bags? That was always hilarious. Especially watching the bag-children grow up into bag-adults. --DDouble 15:30, 9 November 2007 (EST)

4.What is a "stationary container" mentioned under Bags? --DDouble 18:05, 18 November 2007 (EST)

in reply to 3.Yer the gobbos will stuff dwarf kids into bags, tho I think the kids get outta the bags when the gobbo goes down ;). "he/she is depressed at being confined." --Frostedfire 06:33, 6 February 2008 (EST)

In reply to 2, I have several decorated barrels and bags in use. Gem-encrusted masterwork bags being used to hold wild strawberry seed... go figure. -Fuzzy 12:05, 5 September 2008 (EDT)

Compulsive seed storage in bags

How do you reserve bags for sand-hauling? If any empty bags sit in the glass furnaces for even a brief time a food hauler comes by and puts a seed into it, making it unusable for sand collection. I guess I could have no food haulers, but then food spoils quite quickly in the kitchens. Julius

Keep a set of bags away from dwarves who are hauling seeds. Dwarves will use bags to carry (and hold) seeds, but only if the bags are along the route they're taking to store the seeds. Although it might seem like it at first, they aren't actually combing your fortress looking for bags to put one seed in. I put a bag-only stockpile along the little circuit between my sand and my glass furnaces (which is far away from any source of seeds), and have no problems.--Hobbes 11:31, 19 January 2008 (EST)

Tell that to the dwarves who, immediately after I followed your suggestion, ran up four flights of stairs PAST my seed stockpile to steal the empty bag next to the glass furnace. Zaranthan 20:10, 20 January 2008 (EST)

A failed Goblin ambush preceded an incredible procession of EVERYONE in my fort carrying plump helmet spawn up to the surface to store it on a Goblin corpse who was unfortunate enough to die with a leather bag in its inventory. Even people for whom everything was turned off but their related job (e.g., miners). They only forgot about the bag when I both forbade it and set it for dumping. Now I can't do anything with it. FJH 19:19, 17 February 2009 (EST)

I think this is fixed/greatly improved. Or maybe im doing smth right i did wrong before, but in 40d all my bag/seed storage problems have gone. --Birthright 12:26, 13 July 2009 (UTC)

seeds in chests?

Will dwarves store seeds in bags built as chests in other dwarves' rooms? Rather, if you build a bag as a chest in a dwarf's room, will other dwarves store seeds in it? If its owner stores seeds in it, will other dwarves eat them? --Tachyon 14:44, 9 August 2008 (EDT)

No. --Birthright 12:26, 13 July 2009 (UTC)

leather bags

i think there's a problem with using these for some tasks, like gathering sand, cos i had a bunch sitting in the workshop (no they werent tasked to be hauled)... anyone else confirm/deny this? Twiggie 20:43, 17 April 2008 (EDT)

• you have a valid i-zone marked for sand collecting? (one that is placed over a tile that reads "X Sand" (not a wall) and has something other than a zero at 'sand collection (X)'?
• you have a dwarf with glassmaking enabled?
• you queued the task at a glass furnace?
• possibly bags sitting in the/a workshop might be ignored; they have to be on a furniture pile --Koltom 09:54, 23 April 2008 (EDT)

chest vs coffer

how much difference in value is there between getting a mason to make a coffer out of a gold nugget and a metalsmith to make a chest from gold metal?

Any time I'm letting a mason near native aluminium or native platinum he's usually quite skilled - so far my metalsmiths are outstripping supply of metal bars very quickly so they are still only as skilled as they were when they migrated.GarrieIrons 06:22, 8 July 2008 (EDT)

Check the page for value. It looks like ore has the same value as the metal. --Strangething 02:08, 10 July 2008 (EDT)

Store your bloody items!

My nobles and legendary whatever keep claiming random items and leave them where they lay. Supposedly it might be a problem my dwarves have the same cabinets and coffers since they might have the same room. Anything else I need to know to make my dwarves take care of their bloody belongings? Makes it difficult to place and build things. --Seaneat 13:15, 4 August 2008 (EDT)

Indeed, my Tax Collector has about a dozen stone earrings on the floor of her room, but won't put any of them in the two gabbro coffers in her room. Am I missing something? HeWhoIsPale 16:32, 27 August 2008 (EDT)

On that note, do cabinets and coffers have a capacity, or are they wardrobes of holding? HeWhoIsPale 10:13, 28 August 2008 (EDT)

I believe they hold 12 items each(one screen worth)--Shoez 03:20, 24 April 2009 (UTC)

I have the same problem. My Duke has a fondness for idols & has them strewn all over his bedroom, office, dining room and burial chamber even though he has 5 coffers spread between the first 3 rooms. Not one of the coffers has a single item in it but he does manage to put his clothes in his cabinets. All other nobles including the mayor do the same but it's most apparent with the Duke and all the shell idols he keeps claiming. Looks like a bug in 40d to me. --Malibu Stacey 16:00, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

Check your Duke's personality. See if it says anything about him being disorganized. --Quietust 20:07, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

Duke has 23 in Organization which is "very disorganized" which would go some way to explaining him but he seems to manage to put his clothes in the cabinets. Hammerer is 69 in Organized, Dungeon Master, Tax Collector & Mayor don't have organized in their traits so I'm assuming it's 50 for them yet they all have coffers with nothing in them and items strewn around their rooms and also seem to be able to use their cabinets without a problem. The same goes for the rest of my dwarven populace. I have given them all a cabinet & a coffer each in their bedrooms & they'll happily dump their worn clothes in the cabinet but other items are left all over the place & every coffer in my fort is empty. --Malibu Stacey 23:51, 27 October 2009 (UTC)

One thing I noticed in my current fortress was that my nobles completely ignored all of their chests and cabinets when the economy activated, leaving their items on the floor, but once I deconstructed and reconstructed all of them (replacing them with ones of higher quality and giving the lower quality ones to my citizens), they immediately started putting their stuff away. It's possible that containers don't get recognized as usable for storage unless they're built post-economy. --Quietust 00:29, 28 October 2009 (UTC)

Emptying bags

Is there any way to essentially say "move the contents onto the floor or into another container"? As mentioned in an answer above, I have some containers which got decorated and would be worth a great deal in trade, but are currently holding food supplies. I suppose I could just sell the containers with their contents, but that seems somewhat inelegant. -Fuzzy 12:07, 5 September 2008 (EDT)

Have you tried marking the contents for dumping? I think I've used that to empty things out before. --Bilkinson 14:18, 5 September 2008 (EDT)

Degrading bags

I am not sure if this should be mentioned here or under wear but I have noticed that bags of leaves, seeds, dye, etc. stored in barrels, inside,
in designated stockpiles are subject to wear, though the contents of the bags and the barrels holding the bags are immune to wear.
I am not sure if this is caused by foot traffic(though I suspect it is) or simply time as I made most of my bags in the first 5 years of my fort
and I am just noticing this after year 20. I suggest a comment be added here and in the wear article as a warning, pending further investigation.
--PencilinHand 19:43, 25 January 2009 (EST)

Would make sense especially for seed bags. If you dwarves are continually taking stuff out & putting stuff in them they should eventually wear out due to repeated usage. --Malibu Stacey 16:05, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

It's not clear that "use" causes wear. However, walking on (some types of*) items does. It's probably the haulers walking over the bags sitting in stockpiles. (* Wood seems more resistant to wear, so barrels and bins may also wear, but just don't show it as fast - possibly not in the life of an average fortress.)--Albedo 19:05, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

Container Contents

I re-added the information about using the k-key to view container contents since the t-key method only works if the container isn't in a stockpile. --Mithra 18:37, 12 April 2009 (UTC)

Something missing?

We've got what stockpiles they fill when full. What stockpile is normal for them empty? --Nightwind 19:03, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

They're furniture. Fixed.--Albedo 21:49, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

Forbidding drinks

The problem: you have a bunch of dwarven wine. Dwarves seem to like drinking from the fullest barrels. So you have an ever-increasing need for more barrels - and an ever-increasing supply of dwarven wine [5]..[1] that isn't getting used.

How do I

• avoid throwing the wine on the ground
• forbid the barrels with the most wine in them

I have noticed that when I get it wrong I end up with a puddle of dwarven wine [25.Garrie 07:13, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

Dwarfs like to drink from newly filled barrels first, which tend to be the fullest. Use the z - stocks - menu; In the detailed view of 'drinks' they are sorted by content and you can forbid single barrels. Spilling of wine should not happen then but now you mention it, I think i saw odd emptying of waterskins in this version, too. Probably comes from forbidding the barrel instead of its contents? --Höhlenschreck 10:53, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

I read what you have said as forbid the barrel and the dwarves will leave the contents alone. I think I've done this before but I know I've tried both "forbid the barrel" and "forbid the content". I'll go with the barrel. Garrie 11:01, 17 July 2009 (UTC)