Density

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Density is a material property that, along with the volume of the object, 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 much significantly densities than this, meaning that you can usually ignore it for deciding which weapons are stronger. Apparently, density in Dwarf Fortress is in kg/m³*. Density also affects fall damage. DF simulates falling by shooting the ground at you, so denser floors do more damage.

(* 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

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 10,000 cm³ and a log of wood 5,000 cm³, while a bar of metal (or a block of stone or wood) have a size of only 600 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 dry, good biomes
Papaya	Wood	130	Second least dense wood, found only in dry, tropical biomes
Candlenut	Wood	140	Third least dense wood, found only in dry, 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 dry, tropical biomes
Willow	Wood	390	Fifth least dense wood, found in "wet" biomes, 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.
Mangrove	Wood	830	Densest wood found in wet, tropical biomes
Persimmon	Wood	835	Densest wood found in dry, temperate biomes
Olive	Wood	990	Densest "normal" wood, found only in dry, 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 dry, 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