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Density

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This article is about the current version of DF.
Note that some content may still need to be updated.

Density is a material property that, along with volume, affects the weight/mass of an object made from the material.

Density influences weight, which influences how easily dwarves can carry things. Density affects the momentum of weapon attacks, but only so much; 600 density has 80% the momentum of something of infinite density, and all normal metals have significantly greater densities than this, meaning that you can usually ignore it for deciding which weapons are stronger. Density also affects fall damage. DF simulates falling by shooting the ground at you, so denser floors do more damage. Density in Dwarf Fortress is in units of kg/m3*.

(* For example, in the real world, the density of pure gold is 19.32 grams/cm3, which works out to be 19,320 kg/m3, the same numeric value as the density of DF gold (see table below).)

Density of some materials[edit]

Note that not all forms of items are the same size, and so are not comparable when considering actual weight for practical applications, such as a door prize. A stone (including raw ore) has a size of 100,000 cm3 and a log of wood 50,000 cm3, while a bar of metal (or a block of stone or wood) have a size of only 6,000 cm3, a difference of ~16.67:1 for stone vs. metals, or ~8.33:1 for wood vs. metals.


Name Type Density Notes
Feather tree Wood 100 Least dense wood, found only in good biomes
Papaya Wood 130 Second least dense wood, found only in tropical biomes
Candlenut Wood 140 Third least dense wood, found only in tropical biomes
Adamantine Metal 200 Least dense metal, light enough that it has much lower momentum in weapon attacks than others (about 57% for a normal dwarf)
Raw adamantine Stone 200 Least dense stone
Kapok Wood 260 Fourth least dense wood, found only in tropical biomes
Willow Wood 390 Fifth least dense wood, found near water, most widespread of "light" wood
Bone Organics 500
Leather Organics 500
Silk Organics 500
Yarn Organics 500
Tunnel tube Wood 500 Least dense underground wood, found only in caverns
"typical" wood Wood 600 There are nearly about twenty varieties of wood at 600+/-20, about twenty (unlisted here) that weigh less,
and about twenty (unlisted here) that weigh more. See Wood for a full list and discussion.
Persimmon Wood 835 Densest wood found in temperate biomes
Olive Wood 990 Densest "normal" wood, found only in tropical biomes
Divine metal Metal 1000 Second least dense metal, about 86.6% momentum on attacks
Glumprong Wood 1200 Densest above-ground wood (by far), found only in evil biomes
Blood thorn Wood 1250 Densest wood, underground, found only in caverns
Lignite Stone 1250
Jet Stone 1320 Least dense non-economic stone
Earthenware Ceramic 1360
Plant cloth Organics 1520
Stoneware Ceramic 2000
Saltpeter Stone 2105
Petrified wood Stone 2200 Least dense "magma-safe" stone
Gypsum relatives Stone 2300
Gypsum Stone 2320
Porcelain Ceramic 2403
Glass Gem 2600
(General) stone Stone 2670
Ordinary gem Gem 2670
Aluminum Metal 2700 Least dense "normal" metal
Limestone Stone 2710
Marble Stone 2780
Calcite Stone 2930
Diamond (any) Gem 3520
Cobaltite Stone 6295
Zinc Metal 7135
Tin Metal 7280
Lay pewter Metal 7280
Galena Stone 7500 Ore of lead
Pitchblende Stone 7600 Most dense "magma-safe" stone
Iron Metal 7850 98.125% max momentum
Steel Metal 7850 98.125% max momentum
Cinnabar Stone 8100 Densest non-economic stone
Bronze Metal 8250 98.2% max momentum
Nickel Metal 8800
Copper Metal 8930 98.35% max momentum
Silver Metal 10490 98.59% max momentum
Lead Metal 11340
Gold Metal 19320
Platinum Metal 21400 Densest metal, 99.3% max momentum
Native platinum Stone 21400 Densest economic stone (and ore)
Slade Stone 200,000 Densest stone, difficult to mine, brutally slow to carry if you do

See also[edit]