40d:Barrel

Barrels are storage units that, like bins and bags, conserve stockpile space by containing 10 items of the same type (for exceptions, see the Mix Food and Storage Quirk sections). They can be made out of wood or metal. Making a barrel from wood requires one log, and making a barrel from metal requires three bars of the same type.

Specific Uses

• Stores the following materials:
  • Plants
  • Seeds
  • Alcohol
  • Extracts
  • Fish
  • Fat
  • Tallow
  • Prepared meals

• Used in the construction of a dyer's shop and the ashery.

Metal versus Wooden

Metal

• A very practical use for bars in overabundance.
• If you're short on wood (due to fortress placement on a tundra, for instance), you can use metal barrels and apply your wood elsewhere.
• Do not catch on fire. If fire is brought to your food stockpile, you can find yourself with a starvation pandemic.
• More effective at deterring vermin that can disgust your dwarves^[Verify].

Wooden

• Wood is often more prevalent and easier to obtain than metal.
• Metal barrels require 3 bars, while wooden barrels only need 1 log. This is the main factor as to why wood barrels are the much more popular choice.
• Caravans do not stock metal barrels.

Viewing Contents

To see the contents of a barrel (or bin), use the k key to open the look menu. Once over the target, use + & - to scroll up or down the tile's list until the barrel in question is highlighted. Press enter to see its contents. If you wish to view a specific item, the same process can be applied to that menu. You can forbid/dump a single item only if you are viewing that item's page. If you are still in the menu with the list of the barrel's contents, you will affect the container itself (and, by inheritance, everything inside it).

Mix Food

If the "Mix Food" toggle is on (from the orders menu - default is on), then dwarves will store similar food into the same barrel, resulting in "Plant Barrel", "Meat Barrel", etc. Turning off this toggle will force the dwarves to store food more explicitly ("Plump Helmet Barrel", etc.), demanding more barrels. Turning off "Mix Food" is primarily useful if you have stockpiles that specialize based on plant type; for instance, a pig tail stockpile near the weaver, a cave wheat stockpile near the mill, etc.

Storage Quirks

Each barrel normally has a capacity of 10 items. Exceptions are alcohol, where a barrel stores as much as can be squeezed in from a single plant stack, seeds, which can be stored in bags which in turn are stored in barrels, and milk and lye, which can hold up to 100 units. If you have a stack of more than 10 items (typically prepared meals), it will not be stored in a barrel.