Settings

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Settings for Dwarf Fortress can be accessed with a button on the main menu, which can be accessed in game with Esc. They are divided into five groups; Video, Audio, Game, Keybindings, and Difficulty. They are stored in several different files, including init.txt, d_init.txt, and interface.txt, with current values in the prefs\ folder and default values in the data\init\ folder, both in the game folder. The default files in data\init\ include explanations of each setting, including possible values.

Video

These settings change how the game looks and are all stored in prefs\init.txt and defaults in data\init\init_default.txt.

• Windowed or Fullscreen - the highlighted button is the active one and they correspond with [WINDOWED:YES] or [WINDOWED:NO] in the files. [WINDOWED:PROMPT] can be set in the files to make the game ask when starting up, in which case neither button will be highlighted.

• Resolution - the screen mode the game uses when in fullscreen mode, 'Detect' corresponds with [FULLSCREENX:0] and [FULLSCREENY:0] in the files.

• Scale interface - whether to scale the font used to draw interface elements such as the menus and minimap to a specific number of character cells, [INTERFACE_SCALING_TO_DESIRED_GRID:YES] in the files.

• Desired grid width and height - how much to scale the interface, in how many character cells wide and tall the interface should be. [INTERFACE_SCALING_DESIRED_GRID_WIDTH:170] and [INTERFACE_SCALING_DESIRED_GRID_HEIGHT:64] in the files. No effect if [INTERFACE_SCALING_TO_DESIRED_GRID:NO] is used.

• Interface scale percentage - percentage to scale the interface up when not scaling to a specific cell grid size, [INTERFACE_SCALING_PERCENTAGE:100] in the files. No effect if [INTERFACE_SCALING_TO_DESIRED_GRID:YES] is used.

• Initial window size - when not fullscreen, [WINDOWEDX:1200] and [WINDOWEDY:800] in the files.

• Window resizable - when not fullscreen, [RESIZABLE:YES] in the files.

• Maximum interface width - what percentage of the display the overlay interface elements can occupy, useful for extra wide displays to make notifications more visible. [MAXIMUM_INTERFACE_PERCENTAGE:100] in the files. The game will still use the entire window/screen and the minimap and elevation bar will stay at the edge.

• Graphical FPS cap - how many frames to cap the graphical display rate at. [G_FPS_CAP:50] in the files.

• Classic ASCII - [USE_CLASSIC_ASCII:NO] in the files.

• Scaling mode - NEAREST, nearest-neighbor; LANCZOS, fuzzier but better at certain zooms; AUTO, the default, will try to select whichever one is more appropriate depending on the zoom level. [TEXTURE_PARAM:AUTO] in the files.

As the interface gets narrower, some elements will be removed from the status bar when there's not enough room for all of them; some menus may also display elements under other elements or outside their window.

There are a few other file settings that can affect the display, see technical tricks.

Audio

These settings change how the game plays sounds and are all stored in prefs\init.txt with defaults in data\init\init_default.txt.

• Master volume - [MASTER_VOLUME:255] in the files. All volumes can be from 0 to 255 in the game files.

• Music volume - [MUSIC_VOLUME:255] in the files.

• Ambience volume - [AMBIENCE_VOLUME:230] in the files.

• Sound effects volume - [SFX_VOLUME:204] in the files.

• Seconds between songs - [AVERAGE_TIME_BETWEEN_SONGS:240] in the files. The default of 240 gives a range of 180 to 300 seconds, which is 3 to 5 minutes. Can be anywhere from 10 to 600.

The classic version of the game available on the website only includes the original songs, so most of these will have no effect without the premium version or mods.

All sound can be disabled completely with [SOUND:NO] in the files. If so, the rest of these settings will be replaced by text explaining that sound is disabled and how to enable it.

Game

These settings change how the game plays and most are stored in prefs\d_init.txt with defaults in data\init\d_init_default.txt, but some are in prefs\init.txt with defaults in data\init\init_default.txt.

Autosaves

• Autosave frequency - when to autosave, [AUTOSAVE:SEMIANNUAL] in d_init.txt, NONE, SEASONAL, SEMIANNUALLY, or YEARLY.

• Autosave at embark - [INITIAL_SAVE:NO] in d_init.txt, YES or NO.

Pausing

• Pause after autosave - [AUTOSAVE_PAUSE:NO] in d_init.txt, YES or NO.

• Pause after loading - [PAUSE_ON_LOAD:YES] in d_init.txt, YES or NO.

Embark

• Always confirm embark - asks for confirmation of the embark location even if there are no warnings such as for aquifers, dangerous surroundings, etc, [EMBARK_WARNING_ALWAYS:NO] in d_init.txt, YES or NO.

• Confirm preparations - [POST_PREPARE_EMBARK_CONFIRMATION:IF_POINTS_REMAIN] in d_init.txt, ALWAYS, IF_POINTS_REMAIN, or NO.

• Show tunnels when embarking - for dwarven tunnels, shown as a black dashed line or grey double line with classic ASCII, [SHOW_EMBARK_TUNNEL:FINDER] in d_init.txt, FINDER, ALWAYS, or NO.^[Verify] More restrictive world generation settings will override these.

• Default embark width and height - also determines what is considered a normal embark size and will only warn when the actual embark is larger than this, [EMBARK_RECTANGLE:4:4] in d_init.txt, 2 to 16. See Maximum embark dimension below. (This option is actually listed after the feature toggles on the tab in game.)

• Maximum embark dimension - maximum width or height for an embark, larger sizes need much more memory, [MAXIMUM_EMBARK_DIM:6] in d_init.txt, 6 to 16. (This option is actually the last one listed on the tab in game.)

Feature toggles

• Enable temperature - If temperature calculations are off, only a few direct temperature changes will take place. For example, magma will set tiles and creatures to high temperatures, but those tiles will never cool and those creatures will not catch fire. Effects that rely on temperature calculations, such as water freezing, melting, or evaporating, or creatures and items taking temperature-related damage, will not occur. May affect FPS in unusual circumstances, [TEMPERATURE:YES] in d_init.txt, YES or NO.

• Enable weather - toggles rain and snow, rarely affects FPS, [WEATHER:YES] in d_init.txt, YES or NO.^[Verify]

• Enable caveins - toggles cave-ins, [CAVEINS:YES] in d_init.txt, YES or NO.

• Enable artifact moods - toggles strange moods and the resulting artifacts, [ARTIFACTS:YES] in d_init.txt, YES or NO.^[Verify]

• Enable testing arena - [TESTING_ARENA:YES] in d_init.txt, YES or NO.

• Walking spreads spatter - toggle the spread of blood spatter and other contaminants by creatures on ground tiles. As spatter can infinitely spread, it is recommended to leave this as "NO" for now. [WALKING_SPREADS_SPATTER_DWF:NO] in d_init.txt, YES or NO.

• Enable keyboard cursor - allows for using the keyboard controls for some designations, [KEYBOARD_CURSOR:NO] in d_init.txt, YES or NO.

• Log world rejects - logs the reason worlds were rejected in map_rejection_log.txt, useful in advanced world generation and modding, [LOG_MAP_REJECTS:NO] in d_init.txt, YES or NO.

• Multithreading - experimental multithreading, [MULTITHREADING:NO] in d_init.txt.

Pathing costs

• Path costs - extreme changes to these may cause more lag, [PATH_COST:1:2:5:25] in d_init.txt, 1 to 1000.

• Storage path cost decreases - controls how aggressively dwarves place objects in a container with like items (rather than an empty container). The default options are very aggressive. [STORE_DIST_ITEM_DECREASE:20], [STORE_DIST_SEED_COMBINE:1000], [STORE_DIST_BUCKET_COMBINE:1000], [STORE_DIST_BARREL_COMBINE:1000], and [STORE_DIST_BIN_COMBINE:1000] in d_init.txt, 2 to 1000.

Population and seed capacities

• Population caps - can be changed at will to limit migration, strict also prevents births, [POPULATION_CAP:200] and [STRICT_POPULATION_CAP:220] in d_init.txt, 0 to 5000. Certain game features are trigger by population number, see difficulty section below. Some of those may also cause the actual population to slightly go over these.

• Children limits - how many and what percentage of total there can be at a time, [BABY_CHILD_CAP:100:1000] in d_init.txt, 0 to 1000. Only prevents further pregnancies, so migrant children, multiple births and existing pregnancies from old saves can still push you over the cap. Setting either number to zero will disallow new pregnancies in the fortress.

• Visitor cap - This does not include merchants, diplomats, animals or invaders, but only those dropping by for a temporary visit to a tavern, library or temple, or those seeking permanent employment. Once you accept a petition from a visitor to stay at your fort, they no longer count against the cap, even if they never become a full citizen. [VISITOR_CAP:100] in d_init.txt, 0 to 5000.

• Dead units cull - During a season changeover, the game checks if there's a certain number of units in play. If it is above this amount, it removes all the unimportant dead units who died at least two years ago. [CULL_DEAD_UNITS_AT:1000] in d_init.txt, 100 to 5000.

• Seed caps - per type and total, when over the total cap, seeds will be periodically removed, starting with the oldest and most worthless. [SPECIFIC_SEED_CAP:200] 0 to 10000 and [FORTRESS_SEED_CAP:3000] 0 to 30000 in d_init.txt.

Information display

• Engraving display - [ENGRAVINGS_START_OBSCURED:NO] in d_init.txt, YES or NO.

• Improvement quality display - [SHOW_IMP_QUALITY:YES] in d_init.txt, YES or NO.

• Numeric liquid levels - can be toggled in game either with a button next to the minimap or a keybind, [SHOW_FLOW_AMOUNTS:NO] in d_init.txt, YES or NO.

• Ramp arrows - can be toggled in game either with a button next to the minimap or a keybind, [SHOW_RAMP_ARROWS:NO] in d_init.txt, YES or NO.

• Elevation layers display - [NUMBER_OF_LOWER_ELEVATIONS_SHOWN:8] in d_init.txt, 0 to 8.

• Engraving historical events - [SHOW_ALL_HISTORY_IN_DWARF_MODE:YES] in d_init.txt, YES or NO.

• Nickname display - [NICKNAME_DWARF:REPLACE_FIRST], [NICKNAME_ADVENTURE:REPLACE_FIRST], [NICKNAME_LEGENDS:REPLACE_FIRST] in d_init.txt, REPLACE_FIRST, CENTRALIZE (between first and last), or REPLACE_ALL.

Grazing coefficient

• Grazing coefficient - how much grazers get from grazing, larger numbers mean less food is needed. [GRAZE_COEFFICIENT:100] in d_init.txt, 1 to 1000000.

FPS

• Show FPS - first number is simulation rate, the number in parentheses is graphical FPS, [FPS:NO] in init.txt, YES or NO.

• Game FPS cap - limits how quickly the game runs the simulation, [FPS_CAP:100] in init.txt, 5 to 1000.

Input timings

• Key hold time - [KEY_HOLD_MS:250] in init.txt, 100 to 20000.

• Key repeat time - [KEY_REPEAT_MS:150] in init.txt, 100 to 20000.

• Key repeat acceleration - [KEY_REPEAT_ACCEL_START:10] 1 to 1000 and [KEY_REPEAT_ACCEL_LIMIT:8] 2 to 100 in init.txt.

• Interface shutdown time - how long after a view recenter to ignore input, [RECENTER_INTERFACE_SHUTDOWN_MS:0] in init.txt, 0 to 2000.

• Macro timing - [MACRO_MS:15] in init.txt, 1 to 2000.

Compressed saves

• Compressed saves - saves drive space but some worry it may increase save corruption, [COMPRESSED_SAVES:YES] in init.txt, YES or NO.

Keybindings

These settings change the controls and are all stored in interface.txt.

Announcements

Used to control how different announcements are displayed in Dwarf Fortress. This can be useful to add alerts for critical combat events, stopping the recentering on birth events, or reducing the constant chatter of announcements like 'quota filled' or 'someone is visiting'. See Announcements and announcements.txt for some formerly compiled explanation of these options.

Difficulty

This tab is only available when in a fortress game, and these settings are initially set when starting a fortress game. Since they are specific to each save they are stored as part of the save and are not editable outside the game. They are divided into two groups: enemies and economy; enemies can be disabled, both groups have normal and hard presets, and all of the individual settings can be adjusted in Custom settings. The values used in each preset can be seen by selecting the preset and then viewing them in Custom settings.

Enemies

Individual enemy toggles

These are all enabled for both normal and hard presets, and off for the Off preset.

• Civilizations - Goblin sieges, maybe goaded civilizations such as tree-hugging hippies if you cut down too many trees, or others if you attack first.^[Verify]

• Megabeasts - megabeasts, maybe semi-megabeasts.^[Verify]

• Werebeasts - Werebeasts, might still be able to come as visitor?^[Verify]

• Wild creatures - Agitated wild animals from the surrounding surface or caverns.

Enemy civilization triggers

These determine when enemies civilizations will begin attacking; usually only goblins and only at population trigger 3, though other already hostile civilizations may also start attacking, and mods might use other triggers. A setting of 0 disables the trigger, and all are set to 0 with the off preset.

• Population - the fort population needed to trigger each level. Normal: 20, 50, 80, 110, 140, Hard: 15, 30, 40 , 55, 70. See [PROGRESS_TRIGGER_POP_SIEGE].

• Production - the created wealth needed to trigger each level. Normal: 5000, 25000, 100000, 200000, 300000, Hard: 2500, 12500, 50000, 100000, 150000. See [PROGRESS_TRIGGER_PROD_SIEGE].

• Trade - the wealth exported by trade needed to trigger each level. Normal: 500, 2500, 10000, 20000, 30000, Hard: 250, 1250, 5000, 10000, 15000. See [PROGRESS_TRIGGER_TRADE_SIEGE]

Megabeasts

• Attack period - how often megabeasts can attack, 4 seasons is 1 year. Normal: 10, Hard:8.^[Verify]

Forgotten beasts

• Sensitivity - the same for all presets, 10000.

• Irritation minimum - Normal: 5000, Hard: 2000.

• Wealth divisor - the same for all presets, 40.

Wilderness irritation

• Sensitivity - the same for all presets, 10000.

• Irritation minimum - Normal: 2000, Hard: 0.

• Irritation decay - Normal: 2000, Hard: 0.

Werebeasts

• Attack period - how often werebeasts can attack, 4 seasons is 1 year. Normal: 10, Hard:8.^[Verify]

Vampires

• Migrant fraction - how unlikely a migrant is to be a vampire. Off: 0, Normal: 100, Hard: 75.

Invasion caps

How many invaders can be in the first, second, and later attacks per source. All 0 with Off preset.

• Regulars - for attacks from civilizations. 1st, Normal: 10, Hard: 20; 2nd, Normal: 40, Hard:60; 3rd+, Normal & Hard: 120.

• Monsters - for attacks from necromancers?, wilderness?^[Verify] 1st, Normal: 0?, Hard: 1; 2nd, Normal: 5, Hard: 10; 3rd+, Normal & Hard: 40.

Raids

All 0 with Off preset.

• Minimum before siege - Normal & Hard: 2.

• Minimum between sieges - Normal: 3, Hard: 1.

• Siege instead of raid chance - only after minimums have been met. Normal: 25, Hard: 50.

Cavern dwellers

• Scale - Normal: 10, Hard: 20.

• Attacker cap - Normal: 50, Hard: 75.

Tree quota

• Count - Off & Normal: 25, Hard: 10.

• Count (untamed wilds) - Off & Normal: 5, Hard: 1.

Economy

Fortress rank

Needed to upgrade from outpost to hamlet, etc. See fortress nomenclature.

• Population triggers - Normal & Hard: 20, 50, 80, 110, 140.

• Production triggers - Normal: 5000, 25000, 100000, 200000, 300000, Hard: 25000, 125000, 500000, 1000000, 1500000.

• Trade triggers - Normal: 500, 2500, 10000, 20000, 30000, Hard: 2500, 12500, 50000, 100000, 150000.

Land holder

Needed to upgrade nobility. See noble triggers. Only the first three triggers of each type are used in vanilla.

• Population triggers - Normal & Hard: 20 for all triggers.

• Production triggers - Normal: every 100000, Hard: every 500000.

• Trade triggers - Normal: every 10000, Hard: every 50000.

Temples

• Value - value required to satisfy a temple petition. Normal: 2000, Hard: 6000.

• Value of complex - value required to satisfy a temple complex petition. Normal: 10000, Hard: 30000.

• Priest count - how many members a religion needs to petition for a temple. Normal & Hard: 10.

• High priest count - how many members a religion needs to petition for a temple complex. Normal & Hard: 25.

Guilds

• Value - value required to satisfy a guildhall petition. Normal: 2000, Hard: 6000.

• Value of grand - value required to satisfy a grand guildhall petition. Normal: 10000, Hard: 30000.

• Unit count - how many members a guild needs to petition for a guildhall. Normal & Hard: 10.

• Grand unit count - how many members a guild needs to petition for a grand guildhall. Normal & Hard: 25.

Mandates

• Mandate period - (minimum? average?)^[Verify] time between mandates. Normal:1000, Hard: 500.

• Demand period - (minimum? average?)^[Verify] time between demands. Normal:500, Hard: 250.