Preferences

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v50.12 · v0.47.05 This article is about the current version of DF. Note that some content may still need to be updated. More Info · V

The preferences of a diagnostician.

Preferences are materials, creatures, or objects described as being liked (and sometimes, detested) by someone in their "preferences" tab, accessible by clicking on a dwarf or other individuals in or near your fortress.

Possible objects of Affection or Revulsion

A given dwarf may display many, a few, or (theoretically) even none of these preferences.

Each unit's preferences consist of the following:

• Various materials:
  • a random type of stone
  • a random type of metal
  • a random type of gem
  • 1/5 chance of a random type of wood
  • 1/7 chance of a random type of glass - green, clear, or crystal
  • 1/3 chance of a random type of leather
  • 1/7 chance of a random type of horn
  • 1/7 chance of a random type of pearl (though this never actually occurs — see article for details)
  • 1/7 chance of a random type of ivory
  • 1/15 chance of a random decorative material - coral or amber
  • 1/7 chance of a random type of bone
  • 1/14 chance of a random type of shell
  • 1/14 chance of a random type of silk
  • 1/14 chance of a random type of yarn
  • 1/7 chance of a random type of plant cloth
  • 1/7 chance of a random type of paper or parchment
• 1/2 chance of a random color
• 1/5 chance of a random shape
• Various types of items:
  • 1/3 chance of a random weapon (4/5) or ammo (1/5) (1% exotic)
  • 1/3 chance of a random piece of armor (1% exotic)
  • 1/7 chance of a random piece of clothing (including backpacks or quivers) (1% exotic)
  • 1/3 chance of a random type of furniture - doors, floodgates, beds, chairs, windows, cages, barrels, tables, coffins, statues, boxes, armor stands, weapon racks, cabinets, bins, hatch covers, grates, querns, millstones, traction benches, or slabs
  • 1/3 chance of a random craft - figurines, amulets, scepters, crowns, rings, earrings, bracelets, or large gems
  • 1/3 chance of a random miscellaneous item - catapult parts, ballista parts, a type of siege ammo (1% exotic), a trap component (1% exotic), coins, anvils, totems (20% chance), chains, flasks, goblets, buckets, animal traps, an instrument (1% exotic), a toy (1% exotic), splints, crutches, or a tool (1% exotic)
• Various types of food:
  • 1/2 chance of a random type of meat
  • 1/3 chance of a random type of fish
  • 1/10 chance of a random type of cheese
  • 1/7 chance of a random type of edible plant
  • a random type of alcohol
  • 1/7 chance of a random cookable plant/creature extract
  • 1/5 chance of a random cookable mill powder
  • 1/7 chance of a random cookable plant seed
  • 1/7 chance of a random cookable plant leaf
• Various creatures:
  • 1/2 chance of a random domestic animal
  • 1/2 chance of a random non-domestic creature with a [PREFSTRING] (excluding one's own race, wagons, werebeasts, forgotten beasts, titans, angels, experiments and unique demons)
• detesting a random type of hateable vermin (which isn't already explicitly liked)
• 1/50 chance of a random type of tree
• 1/10 chance of a random type of plant
• 1/2 chance of a random poetic form
• 1/2 chance of a random musical form
• 1/2 chance of a random dance form

Food/Work/Benefits to productivity

Every dwarf will like at least one type of booze, and may like none to several food ingredients. Dwarves get happy thoughts from eating food and drinking booze they like; the meal's value can improve only those thoughts. There are 76 types of booze and hundreds, if not thousands, of types of food preferences. The difficulty in obtaining all types of booze or food means that it is practically impossible to satisfy the need to eat a good meal. ^Bug:10262 Note that it is possible to obtain all types of booze, especially if modding is used.

A dwarf's preferences (and disliked vermin) tend to feature in any artwork the dwarf makes, more often than subjects not listed in their profile. For example, a mason that likes cows for their haunting moos and absolutely detests bats, will make statues of both, presumably out of love for cows and horrified fascination for bats.

A dwarf working with a material they like - or creating items they like out of that material - will produce higher-quality goods. For example, a mechanic that likes olivine generally makes better olivine than granite mechanisms. This is most important during embark, when individual personality profiles and skills can be best matched up according to your specifications. For example, make the dwarf that likes beds your carpenter and the dwarf that likes gold your blacksmith. Urist McLikesbreastplates would be a good candidate for Armorsmith. This works less well later on with immigrants, as it is usually more advantageous to train up the great armorsmith than the novice armorsmith who likes steel.

The game is perfectly happy with giving a creature a bad thought from not eating a favored food, even when said creature doesn't actually like anything.

Value Considerations

It has been noted that preferences have an effect on how dwarves perceive the value of a room and its furniture, though the exact details are not yet known.

E.G: A mason who likes horses will often make statues of one or two horses, or even statues of themselves admiring horses. This can be great if the mason is chronically depressed: surround their bed with images they like, and they will be happier.

If your monarch absolutely detests large roaches, a ☼platinum statue of a large roach☼ in their bedroom will not count fully towards the noble's room value requirement (although they'll still admire it without complaining about the subject matter).^[1] This problem can be avoided by carefully selecting the statue that is going to be built by expanding the material selection menu.

Since images will feature both objects the worker likes and dislikes, engravings and other images featuring various vermin can only be avoided entirely by manually specifying images, but they're generally not frequent enough to cause notable problems.

Nobles

Nobles only give mandates and demands that accord with their preferences. For this reason, a good way to ameliorate the annoying effects of nobles is to nominate a baron who has no preferences for anything craftable. This baron won't issue any mandates or demands!