RimWorld survival — food storage, temperature and injury recovery

Edition: PC Steam base game (app 294100), no DLC/mods. Examples use Crashlanded, Cassandra Classic, Community builder and temperate forest with a long growing season, without custom difficulty changes. Adjust for other scenarios, biomes and console editions

Verification scope: Normal 1.6 release branch. Official updates and June 8, 2026 Update 1.6.4850 checked on 2026-10-04. Running build untested: also inspect the title-screen number and Steam branch

Sources checked: 2026-10-04

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Separate hazards before stopping work

Ordinary base-game 1.6 without DLC/mods. Hunger, hypothermia, bleeding and low Mood differ; one facility cannot solve all. Every medical instruction here concerns game mechanics only.

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Separate hazards before stopping work: 6 entries
In-game symptom	Inspect first	Required work / equipment	Action and recovery check
Hunger	Food stock, permission and path to meals	Edible food, Cook and Haul	Restore access to existing food; otherwise safely gather ingredients and cook. Watch Food recover
Downed and bleeding	Health red drops, bleeding rate and enemies	A capable treater and medical sleeping place	Rescue safely and prioritize tending; check treated status and remaining bleeding
Illness awaiting tending	Health tending indicator and medical policy	Assigned Doctor, permitted medicine and patient bed	Rest and confirm tending; one treatment is not necessarily a cure
Cold / hot	Room temperature, clothing range and Health	Heating/cooling, suitable clothing and safe shelter	Return from hazardous outdoor work; improve location/equipment and check symptom progression
Dangerously low Mood	Needs negative thoughts and current/target bars	Meals, rest, recreation and environment	Restore actual deficits and watch the current bar, not only its target
Nobody fights a fire	Fire position, Home/allowed area and Firefight	Capable firefighters and safe approach	Check area/assignment; prioritize retreat when enemies or extreme heat make approach unsafe

Check rescuers' routes too. This table does not guarantee recovery from every illness/injury or survival for everyone.

Separate food acquisition, processing, storage and eating

Larger fields do not prevent hunger if harvesting, cooking, hauling or storage stops. Separate current food from future harvests.

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Separate food acquisition, processing, storage and eating: 6 entries
Food / work	Conditions	Example response	Settings / caution
First harvest	Fertile ground, season, light and grower	Start a small fast-growing rice patch; check food until harvest	Rice is not same-day food, needs frequent replanting and grows differently by climate
Poor soil	Farmable terrain and crop minimums	Inspect soil and compare potatoes	Lower fertility sensitivity does not mean growing on every terrain
Hunted animals	Unrotted corpse, butcher bill and Cook	Set butcher-creature bill and confirm meat production	Hunting living animals is dangerous; do not assume fixed meat yields
Cook meals	Ingredients, bill, station and fuel/power	Make one simple meal to check ingredient permissions/output	10 rice, potatoes or ordinary meat is one example; not every ingredient needs 10
Limit overproduction	Counted storage and target bill	Use Do until you have X; adjust meals to consumption and preservation	Do not assume scattered or differently filtered items match the intended count
Preserve ingredients	Actual temperature, food status, doors and roof	Haul perishables into freezing storage and inspect Frozen status	Roofed hauling alone does not stop rot

No fixed farm tiles per person guarantee indefinite supply. Population, animals, patient feeding, difficulty and growing period alter work and reserves.

Judge the freezer by food status, not its setpoint

Lowering the thermostat does not increase one cooler's cooling capacity. Diagnose a warm freezer in order.

Select food and read rot time and Frozen/Refrigerated state. Hover the room for actual temperature.
Check walls, doors and roof form a room; avoid held-open doors and consider reducing through-traffic.
Face the blue side inward and red heat exhaust outward. Do not block exhaust or trap its hot space.
Inspect power, operating state and target. To freeze food, set below 0°C and wait for actual temperature to fall.
If it cannot reach target, compare outside temperature, room volume, door use and power. Consider smaller space, less heat leakage and more cooling as needed.
Check food freezes and temperature holds. Recheck after heat waves/blackouts and separate rot from outdoor deterioration.

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Judge the freezer by food status, not its setpoint: 4 entries
Display / state	Meaning	Next action
Actual temperature at or below 0°C and food Frozen	Ordinary rot progression stops	Maintain temperature, roofing and storage
Above 0°C and below 10°C	Rot slows but does not stop	Check remaining storage time and cooling capacity
Roofed but warm	Protection from outdoor deterioration differs from cooling	Provide cooling and avoid excess perishable production
Cooling runs but temperature does not fall	Heat influx may exceed capacity	Inspect exhaust, roof, doors, room size and outside temperature

A freezer is a cooled room plus stockpile, not a special food-production bench. Freezing does not permanently protect every item's durability on the floor.

Diagnose food poisoning separately from rot

Freezing does not necessarily remove contamination introduced while cooking. Inspect the cook and kitchen as well as remaining meal count.

Open the notification and patient's Health; read cause and other injuries/illnesses.
Inspect kitchen dirt/cleanliness; order cleaning and check Home if needed.
Check bill worker/skill restrictions and the actual cook's Cooking. High skill is not an absolute no-poisoning guarantee.
Separate dirty butchering from meal preparation rather than crowding both into one small space. Check newly prepared meals after cleaning.
Give patients access to food and rest. Ordinary tending does not instantly remove poisoning; track other worsening conditions too.

Freezing stops rot under its conditions; it is not a process for making contaminated meals safe.

From rescue to ordinary work

A medical sleeping place can be designated before hospital beds unlock. Separate tending, rest and feeding and assign who performs them.

Pause; inspect a route away from enemies/fire and Health bleeding/tending status.
Designate a safe indoor bed or sleeping spot for medical use, then order a rescuer to carry the downed colonist there.
Choose a capable doctor; check Doctor assignment and their own Health. Right-click the patient to prioritize tending.
Check medical policy. No care differs from doctor care without medicine. Permit suitable medicine and avoid waiting on forbidden or inaccessible stock.
After tending, inspect remaining bleeding, untreated wounds and quality. Illness may require later tending/progression; do not return patients solely because one job finished.
Prioritize Bed rest, food and cleanliness. Doctor also handles patient feeding: check the cook can supply meals.
Return gradually according to Health capacities and Needs. Use a backup if the doctor is downed. Self-tend can be enabled under Health but is less effective than ordinary treatment by another.

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From rescue to ordinary work: 4 entries
Block	Inspect first	Action
No rescue destination	Medical designation, free bed and entrance	Ordinary sleeping places can be medical; choose one reachable by patient/rescuer
Medicine exists but treatment stalls	Patient permissions, forbidden medicine and doctor work	Fix ordinary-care policy and access separately from surgical ingredients
Tended but cannot move	Pain, consciousness, movement and illness	Treated differs from fit for work; inspect Health again
Emergency treatment outdoors	Enemy firing lines and capable treater	Drafted right-click tending may help; read whether it uses no medicine and prioritize safety

Drafted tending may handle medicine differently from ordinary policy. Read the displayed action; after first aid, move to a safe medical bed.

Prepare for seasons within workable limits

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Prepare for seasons within workable limits: 6 entries
Food / temperature / danger	Conditions	Example response	Settings difference
Winter food	Preserved reserves until growing resumes	Harvest before season ends; assign storage and cooking	Species, soil, skills and difficulty vary; avoid fixed-day harvest guarantees
Cold	Room temperature and worn clothing range	Heat bedrooms, make parkas if needed and shorten outdoor jobs	Material, quality and individual differences alter comfortable ranges
Heat	Exhaust, power and cool resting places	Do not face cooler exhaust into living rooms; return indoors before Health worsens	Heat waves, weather and room geometry change cooling needs
Toxic fallout	Roofed living space and access to meals/beds	Restrict to roofed areas, stop outdoor work and inspect Health	Base-game fallout and DLC pollution do not have identical protection rules
Raid	Capable armed colonists, cover and retreat	Draft to stop exposed work; position according to enemy direction and firing lines	Incapabilities, injuries, enemy weapons and entry methods change responses
After combat	Remaining enemies, fire, bleeding and draft state	Check rescue/tending before pursuit, then restore normal areas and jobs	One position does not guarantee protection against every raid

Allowed areas do not guarantee safe routes. Drafting overrides restrictions, so inspect paths when ordering retreat too.

Turn negative thoughts into short corrective tasks

Read Needs before forcing more research or building. A private bedroom alone does not fix hunger or pain.

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Turn negative thoughts into short corrective tasks: 5 entries
Needs item	Immediate correction	Improvement check
Hunger / eating conditions	Restore access to edible food and a dining place	Hunger thought clears and Food rises
Sleepiness / insufficient rest	Undraft and provide beds/rest time	Rest recovers and ordinary needs resume
Pain / illness	Inspect Health injuries and tending	Treatment/rest proceed; do not treat it solely as a mental issue
Recreation / surroundings	Check usable recreation, resting space and cleaners	Relevant needs/thoughts improve
Mood stays low after corrections	Compare target Mood and current bar	Watch the bar gradually catch up

Passionate work can help Mood, but merely doing low-skilled work does not always directly add unhappiness. Follow traits and displayed thoughts.

Frequently asked questions

Why does minimum cooler temperature not cool the room?

A lower setpoint does not increase capacity. Check actual temperature, power, direction, exhaust, roof and doors before reconsidering room size or cooler count.

Can frozen meals cause food poisoning?

Freezing stops rot separately from cooking contamination. Read the notification and inspect cook/cleanliness.

Can I tend without medicine?

Ordinary wounds can be tended without medicine; this differs from no medical care. Surgery has separate ingredient/medicine requirements.

Can a bandaged colonist return immediately?

Tended status alone does not establish recovery. Inspect bleeding, illness, pain, consciousness, movement, food and rest under Health/Needs.

Does a gentler storyteller remove hunger and cold?

Incident tendencies differ from facilities and reserves. Continue checking temperature, crops, food and medicine; difficulty is selected separately too.

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Based on site-wide views, captured July 6, 2026 (previous 28 days plus capture day).