Timberborn beginner guide: paths, jobs, food and water

Edition: PC Steam base game (app 1062090), main branch without mods. Examples use Folktails, Plains' default starting location, Normal and a new survival game with droughts and badtides. Faction, map and difficulty differences are distinguished separately.

Verification scope: Official main-branch Update 1.1 released on 2026-09-03 was checked. Experimental fixes dated 2026-09-22 and 10-01 are not assumed applied to main. Internal build numbers and actual saves are untested. Building values were compared between current individual wiki entries and official update history.

Sources checked: 2026-10-04

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Pause and check entrances and controls

A new Folktails game on a beginner-marked map makes basic connections easier to practice. These examples use Plains' default start on Normal. Before queuing many buildings, locate the District Center, water, mature trees, berries, irrigated land and height changes.

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Pause and check entrances and controls: 6 entries
Goal	Onscreen action	Example default key	Result to verify
Pause while thinking	Time-control pause button	Space on standard QWERTY	Time stops so construction plans can be reviewed.
Change entrance orientation	Select a building and rotate its placement preview.	Default R; reverse with Shift+R	A path reaches the entrance. Do not confuse it with the water-side intake.
Connect a path	Use the path tool from the District Center to the entrance.	Check route continuity rather than memorizing a key.	The disconnected warning clears; platforms have paths too.
Pause only a facility	Selected building's pause button	Default P	Time continues while that workplace stops.
Fix staffing	Adjust desired staff and employment priority.	For unassigned shortcuts, check Key bindings in Settings.	Actual workers arrive, not merely a desired count.
Designate cutting or planting	Distinguish Cut trees, Plant crops, and Plant trees and bushes.	Select the relevant facility before painting an area.	Target plots fall within its working range.

Default keys vary with keyboard layout and remapping. Prioritize menu bindings and onscreen buttons. Pausing a selected building differs from pausing the whole simulation.

Establish Logs, drinking water and food together

Completion means materials or Water actually increase, not merely that a blueprint exists. This is one ordinary-settings example, not the fastest sequence for every map. Choose nearby resources and finish a few facilities at a time.

Keep builders at the District Center and place a Lumberjack Flag near mature trees. Connect its entrance and use Cut trees within range.
Queue a Water Pump on the riverbank. Face its entrance toward a land path and its intake toward water. After completion, check that one worker arrives and Water increases inside.
Connect a Gatherer Flag near berries. Check fruiting bushes in range and that a worker gathers and returns. Berries need no tree-cutting-style designation.
Place a Small Tank near the pump and assign Water. Select goods for food Warehouses and Log Piles too, checking acceptance and free capacity.
Place an Efficient Farmhouse on irrigated ground and designate carrots in range. Reserve workers and check that planted plots increase.
Advance at normal speed and verify goods move from workplaces to storage. After water and food jobs are staffed, prepare an Inventor, Lumber Mill and Forester.

Too many flags or pumps can empty building and farming jobs. Completing and staffing essential workplaces in sequence makes problems clearer than a long unfinished queue.

Checks for a facility that does not work

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Checks for a facility that does not work: 8 entries
Symptom	Connections, staff and stock to check	Action	Operation check
Lumberjacks do nothing.	Paths, actual workers, mature trees, cutting marks and reachable range	Designate harvestable mature trees with Cut trees; relocate if needed.	Logs enter the flag and move to construction or Piles.
The pump is full, but the tank is empty.	Is the tank set to Water, accepting it and in the same district?	Fix goods and paths. Improve hauling if output is waiting.	Tank stocks increase, not just pump contents.
The pump itself is empty too.	Staff, pause state, intake reach and contamination	Review the intake location. If water is reachable, prioritize the job.	Pumping work and increasing internal Water
Fields remain only designations.	Farm range, actual workers and irrigation	Limit plots to nearby in-range ground and reserve planting staff.	Crops are actually planted and start growing.
Ripe fields are ignored.	Is the farm only planting? Check output and storage space.	Temporarily prioritize harvest if needed and clear output blockages.	Ripe crops decrease and edible stocks rise.
The Lumber Mill waits for inputs.	Are Logs accessible in the same district?	Review distant Piles and broken paths.	Logs enter input and Planks appear.
Logs are already in the Lumber Mill.	Staff, power and Plank output space	Check shaft connections and supply. Prepare a destination for blocked Planks.	Power reaches it and processing advances.
Construction stops.	Missing materials, District Center builders and unfinished supports	Finish required stairs and lower structures; prioritize urgent construction.	Construction progresses after material delivery.

No available work differs from no worker. A correctly connected, staffed workplace may rest while trees or crops mature.

Separate edible stocks from ingredients awaiting processing

Carrots teach the cycle of growing food edible without processing. Bridge the wait with berries and avoid growing population before the first harvest.

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Separate edible stocks from ingredients awaiting processing: 6 entries
Needed good	Production and storage prerequisites	Responsible facility	Faction or setting differences
Berries	Fruiting bushes in range; select Berries for storage.	Gatherer Flag → Warehouse	Dead bushes or regrowth delays halt collection. A Forester plants new bushes.
Carrots	Designate with Plant crops on irrigated ground.	Efficient Farmhouse → Warehouse	For Folktails. Standard four-day growth and three carrots per plot apply after successful planting and growth.
Drinking water	Working pump intake and staff; tank set to Water	Water Pump→Tank	River water is not stored inventory. Consumption multipliers depend on difficulty.
Logs	Mark mature trees for cutting; use a Pile assigned to Logs.	Lumberjack Flag→Pile	Not stored in food Warehouses. Reserve forestry materials.
Planks	Logs, worker, power and Plank storage	Lumber Mill→Pile	Iron Teeth Industrial Lumber Mill costs and staffing differ.
Potatoes and wheat	Farms produce unprocessed ingredients.	Farm → appropriate cooking facility	Do not count them like raw edible carrots. More ingredients alone do not end hunger.

Large fields can outpace planting and harvesting at distant plots. Inspect neglected ripe crops, farm output and storage before adding staff or farms.

Set plots, work mode and crop priority in order

Select the farm and show its working range. Check green irrigated ground and walking access, not merely nearby water.
Choose carrots in Plant crops and designate nearby plots first. Do not block fields with planned paths or buildings.
For continuous cultivation at one farm, planting priority is the baseline. Switch temporarily to harvest priority for urgent ripe crops and check replanting afterward.
With multiple crops, choose crop priority too. Harvest/plant mode takes precedence, so harvest priority cannot also force urgent planting of one crop.
Check actual staff, neglected mature plots and storage transport. If changing modes does not help, revisit hauling and staff before expanding fields.

You can pause a farm and transfer workers while crops grow, but forgetting to resume delays harvest and replanting. A small permanently staffed field is easier for beginners.

Reach forestry before using the last trees

A Forester needs Planks as well as research. Planks require a Lumber Mill and power; spending the last Logs on homes or dams blocks the chain. The table connects representative Folktails facilities only.

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Reach forestry before using the last trees: 6 entries
Stage	What to prepare	Action	Check before continuing
Produce Science	Inventor: 12 Logs, one worker	Connect a path and assign staff.	Science increases; base rate is 1 SP per working hour.
Produce Planks	Lumber Mill: 15 Logs, one worker, 50 HP	Supply Logs and connect power.	Planks appear in output.
Choose initial power	Power Wheel: 20 Logs, one worker, base 50 HP	Connect directly or by shaft to the Lumber Mill's power connection.	The shortage clears. Movement-speed modifiers change output.
Unlock and build the Forester	30 SP, 10 Logs + 7 Planks, one worker	Unlock in Construction and connect a path.	The building completes and a worker arrives.
Designate planted trees	Irrigable land and chosen trees	Use Plant trees and bushes within range.	Saplings appear. Planting does not immediately add Logs.
Complete the cycle through logging	Trees awaiting maturity and a Lumberjack Flag in range	Mark construction trees for cutting.	After maturity: cut → collect Logs → replant.

These costs cover facility bodies only. Add shafts, platforms, stairs and separate storage as needed. A researched Forester remains unfinished without Planks. With a water wheel, consider backup power while flow stops.

Check spare capacity before adding homes and jobs

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Check spare capacity before adding homes and jobs: 5 entries
Item	If insufficient	If sufficient	Avoid
Builders	Restore District Center staffing and narrow urgent construction.	Complete a small area before the next.	Moving everyone to new production jobs
Water and food staff	Raise employment priority; pause research or excess processing.	Add jobs after production meets consumption steadily.	Adding housing with unchanged supply
Housing vacancies	Check Lodge occupancy and paths.	Allow for reproduction depending on vacancies and living conditions.	Treating vacant housing as guaranteed immediate adult workers
Rest and travel	Bring distant jobs, Water and food closer.	Try shorter routes before extending working hours.	Trying to fix travel and meal delays only through longer workdays
Population changes	Inspect 1.1 Population statistics, employment and housing.	Compare with increased consumption in Goods statistics.	Estimating dry-season reserves using consumption from days earlier

A Folktails Lodge costs 12 Logs and houses three. Adding Iron Teeth housing does not reproduce the same breeding process; Breeding Pods are separate.

Inspect completed preparations before the first dry season

Read the forecast and current settings. A short first drought does not establish the length of later ones.
Check actual stocks in Water-designated tanks. Empty tank capacity and river surface are not already drinkable inventory.
Check mature fields and edible stocks. If crops will dry, inspect harvest priority and staff.
If retaining river water, inspect completed dams, low side banks and downstream outlets. Blueprints do not yet retain water.
If water wheels power Plank production, lost flow stops processing. Produce essential dry-season materials first or provide manual backup.
Keep checking water levels and tank stocks during drought. If pumping drains irrigation water, consider pausing pumps after verifying sufficient drinking reserves.

The water guide explains levels and reserve calculations. Even on Normal, arrival and duration vary within ranges; there is no universally safe day-and-building schedule.

Frequently asked questions

Why will lumberjacks not cut nearby trees?

Check entrance paths, actual staff and mature trees within range. Cut trees designation is also required. It differs from planting designations and demolishing trees.

Why do fields not appear after connecting a farm?

A farm alone does not select crops. Use Plant crops to designate crop and plots; check range, irrigation and actual workers rather than desired count.

Why do Logs not enter a Small Warehouse?

Logs use Piles, not Warehouses. Connect a Pile and select Logs. Planks also use Piles. Each storage building is assigned one good.

Another guide lists the Forester at 60 SP

The current individual wiki entry records a reduction to 30 SP in Update 7. This guide uses 30 SP and 10 Logs + 7 Planks. Match main branch and mod status, and check the actual Construction display too.

Will more population immediately fix labor shortages?

Children do not immediately become adult workers, but consume Water and food first. Review job priorities and staffing, returning people to essential work. Folktails housing vacancies also affect population planning.

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