Controls guide

!!UNKNOWN!! · xTATTEREDx · +FINE+ · *SUPERIOR* · ≡EXCEPTIONAL≡ · ☼MASTERWORK☼

v50.14 · v0.47.05

This article is about the current version of DF.
Note that some content may still need to be updated.

This is a beginner's guide to Fortress Mode interface controls. This page assumes the default key bindings.

As a beginner it is recommended that you familiarize yourself with the (View Unit - Preferences - Labor) submenu, the Query buildings menu, the Designate menu, and the Build menu.

Viewing menus

Shortcut keys for the top-level menus

The buttons on the bottom-left of the screen all have shortcut keys that allow you to access them.

Creatures, u

The Creatures command gives detailed information on creatures: a dwarf, an animal, a goblin, etc. This command has several different tabs:

Citizens
Pets/Livestock
Others
Dead/Missing

Tasks, t

Places, P

The Places command allows you to view various places, with tabs for:

Zones, such as refuse, pastures, clay gathering, rooms, and meeting halls.
- You can also assign a room to belong to a specific dwarf here.
Named locations such as hospitals, taverns, temples, and guild halls
Stockpiles where you can change what types of objects are stored there, how many barrels are used, etc.
Workshops where you can change what tasks are being worked on, set a particular task to repeat or be suspended, or change who is allowed to use the workshop.
Farm plot you can change what crops are being planted.

Labor, y

Here you can assign what dwarves do what type of labor.

Options & Orders, o

o Access the Standing orders

Nobles & Administrators, n

n Access the Nobles screen

Objects, O

Justice, j

Burrows, U

U Opens the burrows menu

Hauling, H

The Hauling command allows you to designate and configure minecart routes and stops.

Traffic, T

The Template:Hraffic command allows you to assign high and low traffic areas so your dwarves can try to avoid certain tiles.

Order your Dwarves

These commands affect what your dwarves do.

Build, b

Use this command to build rooms, place furniture, start farm plots, and such. In addition to a long list of items which can be scrolled through with the +/- keys, there are also a few sub-menus:

w Workshops
e Furnaces
C Construction
T Traps
M Machine components

Designate, d

d Designations menu

d Mine - Mark solid walls to mine
h Channel - Mark to solid walls or floors to channel downwards. This will create a ramp on the Z-level below the miner.
z Remove Upstairs/Ramps - Mark stairs and ramps to remove them.
u Upward Stairway - Mark to dig up stairs into solid wall.
j Downward Stairway - Mark to dig down stairs into either a solid wall or a floor.
i Up/Down Stairway - Mark to dig up/down stairs into a solid wall.
r Upward Ramp - Mark to dig a ramp into a solid wall
t Chop Down Trees - Mark trees to be cut
p Gather Plants - Mark plants to be gathered
s Smooth Stone - Mark walls or floor for an engraver to smooth. This must be done before you can engrave or carve fortifications.
e Engrave Stone - Mark smoothed walls or floors to engrave art into.
a Carve Fortifications - Mark smoothed walls to carve fortifications into.
V Toggle Engravings - Mark engraved tiles to toggles their display.
x Remove Designation - Removes any designation that was made with the d menu
n Remove Constructions - Marks constructions for removal.

b Set Building/Item Properties - Used to mass designate entire areas for the following:
- c Claim Items/Buildings
- f Forbid Items/Buildings
- m Melt
- M Remove Melt
- d Dump
- D Remove Dump
- h Hide Items/Buildings
- H Unhide Items/Buildings

o Set Traffic Areas - Set traffic areas.

Stockpile, p

p Used to create stockpiles.

a Animal
u Furniture Storage
y Corpses
s Stone
e Gem
h Cloth
z Ammo
g Finished Goods
p Weapons
f Food
w Wood
b Bar/Block
l Leather
n Coins
d Armor

Zones, i

i Mark an activity zone for drinking water, fishing, dump, pen/pasture, pit/pond, sand collection, clay collection, meeting hall, hospital, animal training. This interface is the reverse of designate and stockpile commands: you mark out the rectangular area first, and define what it does afterward.

Squads, s

s This command is used to control your military squads. The options are:

k Attack - Selected squad will attack the selected enemies.
m Move - Selected squad will station to a specific location you choose.
o Cancel orders - Cancels a station or kill order.
z Center on Squad - Zooms to the commander of the squad.
s View Schedule - Brings up the military scheduling screen.
t Sched - Toggles between all available schedules.
p Select Individuals - Lets you issue orders to individual soldiers instead of the entire squad.

Fortress Information

These commands take you away from the map, to an informational screen. Some of them also let you give orders.

Announcements, a

a This screen logs the announcements that appear at the bottom of the screen. Use it to see any you missed, or scroll up the early history of your fortress.

Civilizations, c

c A list of other civilizations that you have personally encountered (and thus within distance for trade or war). Civilizations are marked with a P if you are at peace with them, or with a W if you are at war. Pressing Tab lets you check total exports and imports, and standing trade agreements.

Unit List, u

u A list of every creature on the map. Dwarves are listed first, then tame animals, then hostile creatures, then wild animals. Even dead creatures are listed here, so you can track your fallen dwarves.

z Zoom to Creature This takes you to View Creature mode, with the cursor centered on the selected creature.
v View Profile
b Zoom to Building Takes you to the building associated with the dwarf's current task. For hauling tasks, this is the destination stockpile.
m Manager Takes you to the job manager screen.

Military, m

m Access the military screen

p Positions Create and remove squads and assign dwarves to them.
a Alerts Create configure alerts. Used in conjunction with burrows to define a CIV Alert, a safe place that dwarves will be forced to go when turned on. Can also be used to change the active alert schedule for your squads.
e Equip Assign armor and weapons to military squads.
n Uniforms Create or modify uniform templates which can be assigned using the Equip screen.
u Supplies Controls if a squad carries food and drink.
f Ammunition Assigns ammunition to squads.
s Schedule Used to modify the orders for an alert.

Room List, R

R Lists all Rooms, Buildings, Stockpiles, and even Activity zones in the fortress. For rooms, it includes the room's quality and the owner's name. It includes quick access to each room's q and t menus.

Locations and Occupations, l

l A list of the locations designated in your fortress (libraries, temples, & taverns). In this screen you can control the supplies desired for your locations, as well as designate a worker/workers for the location as appropriate.

Fortress Overview, z

No longer existent in v50 z This screen is filled with useful information, like your fortress's net worth, and how much food and drink you have left.

Animals A list of all tame animals in your fort.
Kitchen From here you can specify what foods can be cooked or brewed.
Stone Controls the use of ores and economic stones
Stocks This is an in-depth listing of every item, down to every rotting rat corpse. The accuracy of the your item count depends on your bookkeeper.
Justice Shows the details of the dwarven justice system, once you have a Sheriff.
Health Shows an overview of the health status of the fortress, once you have a Chief medical dwarf.

See Status for more details.

Miscellaneous

Redefining hotkeys

Keybindings settings (Esc -> Settings -> Keybindings tab)

Hotkeys can be redefined in the Settings menu, under the keybindings tab.