- v50 information can now be added to pages in the main namespace. v0.47 information can still be found in the DF2014 namespace. See here for more details on the new versioning policy.
- Use this page to report any issues related to the migration.
Technical tricks
| This article was migrated from DF2014:Technical tricks 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. |
Dwarf Fortress has various settings that can affect the game experience. You can configure these in Settings accessed from the main menu or ESC menu. However, some settings can only be changed by directly editing the game configuration files, which include:
- announcements.txt - contains configuration for the various game announcements.
- arena.txt - contains layouts of object testing arena maps.
- colors.txt - contains the color scheme used to display various text.
- d_init.txt - contains settings that affect game features such as autosaving, interface, simulation, and population controls.
- embark_profiles.txt - contains embark presets saved from prepare carefully or copied from the embark profile repository.
- init.txt - contains settings pertaining video, audio, and input.
- interface.txt - contains keybinds.
- world_gen.txt - contains advanced world generation presets.
- macros - the folder where macro files are saved.
Locating configuration files
These configuration files might be found in two places in the install folder:
data\init\- files here contain the default values installed with the game and also may contain some explanations of the settings.prefs\- files here contain the current values saved by the game.
You can edit the configuration files with any plain text editing software, such as Notepad, Vim, or Emacs.
Most data in these files is in token form. Each token is defined by the text between an opening square bracket, [, and the next closing square bracket, ]. The token identifier and any values are separated by a colons, :.
If anything goes wrong, you can completely reset the game's saved settings by deleting the prefs\ folder while the game is not running, assuming the defaults have not been changed. This does not work with the files in data\init\, so you should make backups of them before modifying them.
init.txt
For settings that can be changed in game see: Settings.
- [SOUND:YES] - Change the argument from "YES" to "NO" to completely remove sound and music from the game. If this is "NO", it will not be possible to change the volume from the in game options menu.
- [WINDOWED:PROMPT] - Changes the window mode that Dwarf Fortress runs in. If this is "PROMPT" the game will ask you if you want to run in windowed or fullscreen mode. If this is "NO" the game will be fullscreen with no prompt, and if this is "YES" the game will be in windowed mode with no prompt.
- [FONT:curses_640x300.png] - The font file that Dwarf Fortress uses. This value can be any .bmp or .png image in the data/art folder.
- [FULLFONT:curses_800x600.png] - The font file that Dwarf Fortress uses. This value can be any .bmp or .png image in the data/art folder.
- [BASIC_FONT:curses_640x300.png] - This font is used during the initial load sequence and menus.
Settings - d_init.txt
For settings that can be changed in game see: Settings.
Game
- [IDLERS:TOP][Verify] - Where to display the number of idling dwarves. The value can be either "TOP", "BOTTOM", or "OFF".
- [INVADERS:YES][Verify] - Turns on or off fortress mode sieges. Turning this off for your first couple of games may make the game easier to start with.
- [ZERO_RENT:NO][Verify] - If this is "YES", when the dwarven economy kicks in all rooms will cost nothing, allowing even the poorest of haulers to have a room fit for a king. This has no effect, since the economy does not function in the current version.
- [WALKING_SPREADS_SPATTER_ADV:YES] - Still in the files but currently has no effect, of course. Turns on or off the spread of blood spatter and other contaminants between creatures and ground tiles in Adventurer mode.
- [VARIED_GROUND_TILES:YES][Verify] - If this is "YES" the ground will be varied randomly using the tiles ,.`'. If this is "NO", only the period will be used for ground tiles.
Adventure mode
Not currently in the files but may return.
- [MORE:YES]
- [DISPLAY_LENGTH:23]
- [ADVENTURER_TRAPS:NO] - If you set this to "YES" your adventurer will trigger the traps of your old fortresses.
- [ADVENTURER_ALWAYS_CENTER:YES]
- [ADVENTURER_Z_VIEWS:UNHIDDEN:9]
Resolution to grid ratios
Taken from [1]
| Geometry | Character Size | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resolution | Aspect | 8x8 | 12x12 | 16x16 |
| 800x600 | 4:3 | 100 x 75 | 66 x 50 | 50 x 37 |
| 1024x768 | 4:3 | 128 x 96 | 85 x 64 | 64 x 48 |
| 1152x864 | 4:3 | 144 x 108 | 96 x 72 | 72 x 54 |
| 1280x960 | 4:3 | 160 x 120 | 106 x 80 | 80 x 60 |
| 1600x1200 | 4:3 | 200 x 150 | 133 x 100 | 100 x 75 |
| 1280x1024 | 5:4 | 160 x 128 | 106 x 85 | 80 x 64 |
| 1440x900 | 16:10 | 180 x 75 | 135 x 56.25 | 90 x 37.5 |
| 1680x1050 | 16:10 | 210 x 131 | 140 x 87 | 105 x 65 |
| 1920x1080 | 16:9 | 240 x 135 | 160 x 90 | 120 x 67 |
| 1920x1200 | 16:10 | 240 x 150 | 160 x 100 | 120 x 75 |