How to Bury Your Dead in Dwarf Fortress

In Dwarf Fortress, your Mountainhome will be build off the backs of hardy dwarves and constant labour and toil. But no dwarf lasts forever. At some point, they will fall, striking the earth for the last time. You will need to be prepared for that day, by setting up a proper burial site, unless you want your dead dwarf on display for everyone to see. Here is how to bury your dwarf in Dwarf Fortress.

How to Bury Your Dead in Dwarf Fortress

What You’ll Need

In order to bury your dead, a few things need to be in place. They won’t bury their dead in the cold, rotting ground, no. They’ll be buried in coffins and lay side by side.

Firstly, you’ll want to make a coffin, casket, or sarcophagus, through the Stoneworker’s Workshop, Carpenter’s Workshop, or Metalsmith’s Forge (respectively) with a material of your choice. Rock or metal would be advised due to their general ability to ward of pests.

Once that is made, you’ll need to assign a Tomb zone in a location of your choice. Keep the Tomb accessible but distant enough from the main bustle of activity. Assign the zone and then build the chosen coffin type of your choice in the zone (building tab -> Furniture -> Burial).

You will now have the beginning of a graveyard.

Note that each Tomb can only have one burial box, and only one burial box can be in each Tomb. These are individualized such as bedrooms.

Related: How to fish in Dwarf Fortress

Laying Them to Rest

Both pets and Dwarves can be kept in burial boxes, and some nobles will need a Burial site as a perk from office.

To assign people to a burial box, you will need to assign the zone it is in. Click on the zone and then click on the button with a dwarf’s head with the plus sign. Assign a Dwarf of your choosing.

Only do this for nobles, as having to do this for every single dwarf will become very time-consuming. For everyone else, simply leave a bunch of tombs unassigned, upon death they will be given a tomb at random.

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