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Soil
| This article was migrated from DF2014:Soil and may be inaccurate for the current version of DF (v50.14). See this page for more information. |
v50.14 · v0.47.05 This article is about the current version of DF.Note that some content may still need to be updated. |
Soil is the name for the various kinds of ground that can be planted on (both above and below ground) without irrigation using water. In Dwarf Fortress, the category of "Soil" includes all types of sand, clay, ooze and any "non-stone" layer equally, even if you or I generally don't associate that substance with "growing plants".
"Soil" in other Languages 
|
| Topsoil | Tile |
|---|---|
| Loam | ░. ≈ |
| Loamy sand | ▒. ≈ |
| Peat | ░. ≈ |
| Sandy clay loam | ░. ≈ |
| Sandy loam | ░. ≈ |
| Silt | ▓. ≈ |
| Silty clay loam | ░. ≈ |
| Silt loam | ▒. ≈ |
| Ocean Floor | Tile |
| Pelagic clay | ░. ≈ |
| Siliceous ooze | ▒. ≈ |
| Calcareous ooze | ▒. ≈ |
| Sand | Tile |
| Sand (tan) | ░≈ ≈ |
| Black sand | ▓≈ ≈ |
| Red sand | ░≈ ≈ |
| White sand | ▓≈ ≈ |
| Yellow sand | ▓≈ ≈ |
| Clay | Tile |
| Clay | ▓. |
| Clay loam | ▒. |
| Sandy clay | ▒. |
| Silty clay | ▓. |
| Fire clay | ▓. |
Notes:
- The "topsoil" types listed in the upper part of the table do not count as sand for glassmaking, even if their names include the word "sand" - only those in the "Sand" section are usable for this purpose.
- The 3 "ocean floor" layers are only found under deep ocean tiles, usually far out from any embarkable site. Thus, they can rarely, if ever be encountered, in either fortress mode or adventurer mode.
- Soil layers marked with ≈ are capable of supporting an aquifer.
- The clay types listed at the bottom can be used for making ceramic items. Fire clay produces stoneware, while the other types produce earthenware.
In previous versions, types and quantities of available soils were listed at the bottom right of the fortress location selection screen; in the current version, however, it will only indicate the presence of soil and whether it can be used as clay.
Digging into soil does not generate any byproduct materials, unlike digging in rock, and also is a much faster process which makes it much easier to create storerooms and other large areas of empty space, and to train miners.
Soil cannot be smoothed, which makes it more difficult to make high-value rooms or pierce aquifers, and impossible to carve fortifications, tracks, or engravings.
Building a farm plot or road or removing a construction on top of soil will cause it to become "furrowed", making it appear with the ≈ and ~ tiles. Furrowed soil — including furrowed subterranean soil — will gradually smooth itself out, at which point grass and other vegetation will begin to grow. Sand always appears as ≈ and ~ and cannot become furrowed - as such, sand roads do not last as long as those made on ordinary soil.
Trees and Shrubs
Once you discover the caverns, subterranean trees, shrubs and mosses will begin to grow on any subterranean soil. Any kind of vegetation implicitly has some soil under it, even if it grew on muddy stone; clearing the growth (such as by building a road) will thus create a soil floor, even in a stone layer. It will typically correspond to the lowest soil layer in the local biome; if that happens to be useful clay or sand, an enterprising player can use irrigation and some patience to move their sand/clay collection zones closer to the magma.
| More: Gems • Metals • Stones | |
| Creature | |
| Plant | |
| Creature/Plant |
Alcohol • Cloth/Thread • Extract (Golden salve • Gnomeblight • Honey • Royal jelly • Syrup • Venom) • Glob • Liquids • Soap |
| Inorganic |
Metal • Milk of lime • Soil (Clay • Sand) • Stone (Ash glaze • Earthenware • Gem • Gypsum plaster • Porcelain • Quicklime • Stoneware • Tin glaze) |
| Hardcoded | |
| See also: Material science | |
| Topsoil | |
|---|---|
| Ocean floor | |
| Sand | |
| Clay | |