Don't Starve Together: Survival Guide

A survival guide for Don't Starve Together: the first days, seasons, the tech tree, base building, food and Crock Pot recipes, character picks, bosses, and the endgame.

Researched September 2026 — current as of the September 11, 2026 hotfix following Cursed Confrontation Part 1 (June 11, 2026). Klei updates DST regularly; check the linked sources if something differs.

Quick Start

Day 1 loop: Pick up grass, twigs, flint, berries, and carrots. Craft an Axe and a Pickaxe, and gather logs and rocks.
Never stand in the dark. Darkness kills you almost instantly (Charlie). Always have a Torch or Campfire ready before dusk.
Build a Science Machine early. It unlocks most basic crafts. The Alchemy Engine comes after.
Plan for your first winter. By default, Autumn lasts 20 days and Winter arrives after it. You need warmth items, food stockpiles, and a base with fire.
Hound attacks come periodically. You hear growling first. Fight near pigs, beefalo, or Tooth Traps, or near other players.
Watch three meters: Hunger, Health, and Sanity. Low Sanity spawns shadow creatures.
Use the Crock Pot. Cooked dishes restore much more than raw food.
Pick a beginner-friendly character: Wilson, Wigfrid, or Wolfgang.
In multiplayer, set up one shared base. Share chores: one player gathers, one cooks, one fights.

Seasons (default world settings)

Season	Default length	Main threats	Prep
Autumn	20 days	Bearger (late autumn)	Stockpile food, build a base, get a Crock Pot
Winter	15 days	Freezing, Deerclops, fewer plants	Winter Hat or Beefalo Hat, Puffy Vest, Thermal Stone, fire, Ice Box
Spring	20 days	Rain (wetness drains sanity), lightning, frogs, Moose/Goose	Umbrella or Eyebrella, Lightning Rod
Summer	15 days	Overheating, wildfires, Antlion sinkholes	Endothermic Fire, Ice Flingomatic, Thermal Stone chilled, Umbrella, Summer Frest

Season lengths are server settings, so check your world's settings.

Tech Tree

Station	Unlocks
Science Machine	Basic tools, structures, clothes
Alchemy Engine	Advanced gear, Thermal Stone, Lightning Rod, Ice Box, and more
Prestihatitator	Early magic items
Shadow Manipulator	Advanced magic (Night Armor, Dark Sword, Telelocator)
Ancient Pseudoscience Station	Ruins tech (in the Caves)
Celestial / Lunar stations	Moon tech (from the Lunar Island and later content)

Once you prototype a recipe at a station, you can craft it anywhere afterward without standing near that station.

Food and Crock Pot

Food matters more than anything else in DST. Key sources:

Berry Bushes and Carrots: Transplant bushes near your base and fertilize them.
Farms: The farming system includes seeds, soil tending, and nutrients. Plants grow best when you care for them properly.
Meat: Hunt rabbits, beefalo, and spiders (Monster Meat), or use traps.
Drying Racks: Turn meat into jerky, which keeps longer.
Ice Box: Slows spoilage.

Reliable Crock Pot recipes

Dish	Ingredients (simple version)	Why
Meatballs	1 meat + 3 fillers (berries, ice, etc.)	Cheap and filling. The go-to early game dish.
Honey Ham	Several meat items + honey	Big hunger and health restore
Dragonpie	Dragon Fruit + fillers	Strong all-round restore
Pierogi	Meat + egg + vegetable + filler	Great for healing
Fishsticks	Fish + twig + fillers	Good health restore
Bacon and Eggs	Meat + eggs	Very filling late-game dish

Avoid putting twigs into meat dishes unless the recipe needs them, and don't use more than one Monster Meat unless you want Monster Lasagna.

Base Building

Build near:

Grass, Saplings, Berry Bushes (or transplant them)
Beefalo herds (for protection against hounds, and Beefalo Wool)
A Pig Village (for protection and Pig Skin)
Boulders (for rocks, flint, and gold)

Essential base structures:

Fire Pit (reusable, safer than a campfire)
Science Machine, then Alchemy Engine
Crock Pots (two or more)
Ice Box and Drying Racks
Chests
Lightning Rod (spring)
Ice Flingomatic (summer, to stop wildfires)
Walls and Tooth Traps against hounds

Characters

Every character has perks, drawbacks, and a skill tree. Klei keeps adding skill trees to characters. The most recent was WX-78's Skill Spotlight (April 16, 2026), which expanded its circuit system and added new circuits.

Character	Perk	Good for
Wilson	Balanced and grows a beard for warmth	Learning the game
Wigfrid	Gains health and sanity from fighting, only eats meat	Combat and boss fights
Wolfgang	Mightiness meter: gets stronger by working out (Dumbbells, Gym) and fighting; weak and scared when it drops	Fighting and heavy lifting
Willow	Fire immune, has Bernie	Early game safety
Wickerbottom	Crafts powerful books, starts with extra tech	Support, farming
Webber	Friendly with spiders	Silk farming, spider armies
Wendy	Has Abigail, a ghost companion	Solo early game
Warly	Chef with a portable crock pot and spices	Food-focused players
WX-78	Robot with circuits	Advanced players
Wormwood	Plant-based, strong at farming	Farming

Bosses

Boss	Season / trigger	Tip
Deerclops	Winter	Kite it away from your base. It smashes structures.
Bearger	Late autumn	Destroys stuff and eats food. Fight it in open ground.
Moose/Goose	Spring, from nests	Kill the Mosslings first or they swarm you
Antlion	Summer (sinkholes)	Feed it to stop sinkholes, or fight it in its arena
Dragonfly	Desert, any time	Needs strong armor and fire protection. Kill the larvae.
Klaus	Winter, from Loot Stash	Great loot. Kill Klaus without killing both of his deer, or he enrages.
Bee Queen	Giant beehive	Strong in a group
Toadstool	Caves	Slow, high health. Fight in groups.
Ancient Guardian	Ruins	Leads into endgame ruins tech
Crab King	Sea	Requires boats and preparation
Ancient Fuelweaver	Atrium (Caves)	Major late-game boss
Celestial Champion	Lunar content	Final boss of the Return of Them storyline

Cursed Confrontation Part 1 (June 2026) added a new Sanctum area, including a final-room boss encounter that gives the Keystone. It also added a Sanctum Smithy, the Heat Gland (dropped by Geothermites), Thermic Tools, Coals as a new trap, a new thermal healing salve, and the Waymark Compass. The September 11, 2026 hotfix stopped Life Steal (Batbat, Bat Hat, Shadow Mauler) from working on plant-like creatures, Spider Dens and Bee Hives, and fixed several bugs. Cursed Confrontation Part 2 entered beta on September 3, 2026 with new creatures (Hound Batilisk, Rock Master); it isn't on the live branch yet.

Caves and Ruins

Cave entrances are Plugged Sinkholes. Mine them open with a pickaxe.
Bring Miner Hats or Lanterns and plenty of light sources.
Ruins are deep inside the caves and contain Thulecite and endgame gear. They also have Nightmare Cycles, which spawn stronger shadow creatures.
Caves are useful in summer because they're cooler.

Sanity

Loses sanity	Restores sanity
Darkness, monsters nearby, eating certain foods (e.g. Monster Meat, some raw items)	Sleeping (Tent, Straw Roll), certain cooked dishes, picking flowers, Garland, Top Hat
Wetness (rain, water)	Drying off, sanity-restoring clothing and items
Nearby player ghosts	Reviving dead teammates

Low sanity spawns shadow creatures. A small amount of low sanity is how you farm Nightmare Fuel, which you need for magic items.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Getting caught in the dark without a torch.
Building your base in the middle of nowhere instead of near beefalo or pigs.
Not preparing for winter until it starts.
Fighting hounds in the open alone.
Wasting food by eating it raw when the Crock Pot is nearby.
Letting fires spread in summer. Use Ice Flingomatics.
Ignoring wetness in spring. Wetness drains sanity and makes you drop tools.
Killing both of Klaus's deer, which enrages him.

Advanced Tips

Farm Beefalo for wool, manure, and protection.
Set up a Birdcage to get seeds and eggs.
Use Walking Canes to move faster.
Stack Tooth Traps at your base entrance for hounds.
Tame a Beefalo to ride it. It's a powerful late-game combat partner.
Check each character's skill tree after updates. Most characters now have one, and it changes how they play.
Coordinate roles in multiplayer: a dedicated fighter (Wigfrid or Wolfgang), a crafter (Wickerbottom), and a farmer (Wormwood).

FAQ

What's the best beginner character? Wilson, Wigfrid, or Wolfgang. Wilson is the most balanced.

How do I survive my first winter? Stockpile food, get a Winter Hat or Beefalo Hat, a Puffy Vest, and a Thermal Stone, and keep a fire going.

What's the easiest Crock Pot recipe? Meatballs: 1 meat plus 3 fillers.

How do I get Nightmare Fuel? Kill shadow creatures, which appear when your Sanity is low.

What's the newest content? Cursed Confrontation Part 1 (June 11, 2026) added the Sanctum's final room and the Keystone, Thermic Tools, Coals, and the Waymark Compass. The latest hotfix is from September 11, 2026.

Can I play solo? Yes. Host a private world or play offline.