How To Find Iron in Dwarf Fortress

The reason iron is one of the most important items in most survival/crafting games is that it’s fairly plentiful and easily shaped into all kinds of items and purposes. It’s no exaggeration to say that a civilization simply cannot exist without access to iron, which is why you’re gonna want a lot of it if you’re playing Dwarf Fortress. Here’s how to find iron in Dwarf Fortress.

How To Find Iron in Dwarf Fortress

Iron is one of the most important materials in Dwarf Fortress, being a vital component in really kicking your burgeoning society into high gear. Iron can be used in the construction of weapons and equipment, which is obviously important, but you can also use it to make reinforced walls, heavy furniture, fireproof mechanisms, and smithing equipment like anvils.

Related: Dwarf Fortress – How to Dig Through Semi Molten Rock

Rather than deposits of straight iron, in Dwarf Fortress, you can extract iron from several different ores of varying commonality and quality:

• Hematite
• Magnetite
• Limonite

Finding Ore and Producing Iron

Any of the aforementioned ore types can be excavated in just about any layer of stone, though limonite in particular can only be found in the veins of the Sedimentary layer. Hematite can be found in the Sedimentary and Igneous Extrusive layers, and Magnetite can be found in the Metamorphic and Igneous layers. Whenever you uncover a deposit of compatible ore, you’ll be informed by the game that it can be turned into iron.

Once you’ve got some ore on your hands, the next step is smelting it. Dump the ore you found into either a standard or magma-powered smelter. Standard smelters will need a block of fuel to run, while magma smelters run indefinitely on internal magma power. Every chunk of ore you put into a smelter will yield four iron bars, which you can then use for crafting purposes.

Iron-yielding ores are fairly plentiful, forming in large veins and deposits that you can get many chunks from. Once you’ve got a lead on a good source of ore, make sure your miners can safely set up shop to keep the supply flowing.

For more fun with rocks in Dwarf Fortress, check out our guides on utilizing Cassiterite and Tetrahedrite. Visit our Facebook page as well for more news and guides.