Coffin

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Coffin

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Construction
Materials		Workshops		Labors
Wood Stone Metal Glass		Carpenter's workshop Mason's workshop Metalsmith's forge Glass furnace		Carpentry Masonry Blacksmithing Glassmaking
Rooms
Tomb

Every respectable dwarven fortress has a developed (and occupied) catacombs system.

Burial receptacles are containers for deceased dwarves and their pets, that are used to store their corpses, and other remains. Somewhat confusingly, they have different names depending on the materials used to craft them, but, thankfully, they all function identically, and all are placed with the Burial Receptacle (n) option via the build menu. This article uses the term "coffin" to describe any burial receptacle, for reasons of brevity.

Name	Materials used
Coffin	Stone, Glass
Casket	Wood
Sarcophagus	Metal

Usage

After a coffin is created by the appropriate crafter, it must be built (as furniture) to be used. This is done with the b-n keys. Once this is done, the player can access the coffin's building menu (q) to enable automatic burial (it defaults to No), configure it for citizens and/or pets (the default for the latter can be changed in d_init.txt), or make a tomb (room). A coffin has been assigned when the message, "This is the resting place of __________", is displayed; viewing the contents of the coffin using t will show if the assignee has been successfully interred.

Enabling the "Use for Burial" option will cause the coffin to be automatically assigned to the next creature/pet in the burial queue. Creatures are added to the burial queue when the game notifies you that the creature is dead. (An announcement that they are missing is not sufficient. If the body is in an out-of-the-way place, station a squad in your military next to the corpse and wait for the announcement that the body has been found before expecting the corpse to be buried.) The burial queue is the only way to bury pets, caravan guards, and other visitors.

To bury a specific citizen in a particular coffin, the easiest option is to define the chosen coffin as a tomb and assign it to the citizen in question. Tombs can be retroactively assigned to dead citizens and residents, allowing the assignee to skip the auto-burial queue. Unfortunately, non-residents cannot be assigned tombs. To get a non-resident into a particular coffin, make sure that no other coffins are available for burial and that the selected creature is next in line for burial. If said creature has already been buried, simply deconstruct the old coffin and that creature will be first in line for a new one. (Deconstructing a coffin will not destroy the remains inside.)

Coffins do not prevent reanimation, though permanent burial may still be possible if the deceased was thoughtful enough to provide one or more non-reanimatable body parts (e.g. teeth).

Rest in peace.

Advantages

It is not required to bury the dead; the player may instead engrave slabs and build memorials. One can even simply haul dwarven remains to a corpse stockpile, throw them into magma, or leave them to rot where they fell, though these things have several serious consequences. A dwarf viewing the unburied body of any sentient species will receive a horrified thought. Friends and relatives of the deceased will receive unhappy thoughts if their loved ones remain unburied, especially if they decay (or burn) away, and miasma will be generated if corpses rot inside the fortress. Particularly troubled souls may decide to come back for revenge.

Bugs

• Dwarves insist on assigning a coffin, even when there are no remains left to bury. This can prevent you from burying the recently deceased until all the long lost caravanners have empty coffins of their own.

• Dwarves fail to bury remains of werecreatures^Bug:5431 and reanimated corpses.^Bug:10396

This article or section has been rated D for Dwarf. It may include witty humour, not-so-witty humour, bad humour, in-jokes, pop culture references, and references to the Bay12 forums. Don't believe everything you read, and if you miss some of the references, don't worry. It was inevitable.

It is said among dwarves that the only two constants in life are death and taxes. However, taxes were removed, giving some dwarves hope for an escape from the other.

V · T · E Buildings
Workshops • Furnaces
Furniture	Animal trap • Anvil • Armor stand • Bed • Blocks • Box (chest • coffer) • Bucket • Cabinet • Cage (aquarium • terrarium) • Coffin (casket • sarcophagus) • Restraint • Slab • Statue • Table • Throne (chair) • Weapon rack
Tools	Altar • Bookcase • Display (display case • pedestal) • Hive • Nest box
Access	Bars • Bridge • Door (portal) • Floodgate • Grate • Hatch • Road • Window
Constructions	Floor • Fortification • Ramp • Stairs • Wall
Machine and trap parts	Axle • Gear assembly • Lever • Mechanism • Millstone • Pipe section • Pressure plate • Roller • Screw pump • Support • Trap • Water wheel • Windmill
Other buildings	Archery target • Vermin catcher's shop • Siege engine • Trade depot • Wagon • Well
Related articles	Design strategies • Bedroom design • Furniture industry