40d:Stairs

Stairs allow dwarves and other creatures to travel from one square to the square directly below or above. They are distinct from ramps, which allow movement from one square to a horizontally adjacent square that is one level below or above.

Creating Stairs

Stairs can be created in two different ways:

• You can use the designations menu (d) to carve them out of a wall of unmined material.
• You can use the build menu (b -> C) to construct them in an open tile using material you have already gathered.

In order for stairs to be usable, you must construct stairs on both of the levels that you wish to connect (An up stair connecting to a down stair). However, a Down or Up stair will give you sufficient access to the adjacent level to build connecting stairs. This means you can dig directly downwards or even directly upwards using stairs without needing any other forms of access to the area.

Using an Up/Down stair (Which goes both up and down on the same tile) you can dig a straight vertical shaft.

Destroying Stairs

Depending on the method used to create the stairs, they can be removed using one of two different ways:

• If the stairs were created using the designations menu, the following information applies:

Only up stairs can currently be removed through the designation menu but a new floor can be built over a downstairs to effectively remove them. To destroy up stairs, use the "Remove Up Stairs/Ramps" command in the designations menu: d -> z. To remove down stairs, use the "Site a Building" menu and build a floor over them (b-C-f).

• If the stairs were constructed using the build menu, the following information applies:

Stairs, as well as any type of construction built using b -> C can be removed using the "remove construction" designation d -> n.