How to Set up a Barracks in Dwarf Fortress

In Dwarf Fortress, you’ll be facing some serious threats. Be them ferocious beasts, war, or attacks, your dwarves will need to be prepared for anything. Assigning and using squads are a big part of that. But with your squads, you’ll need a good barracks. There, they can train and rest ready themselves for combat. Here is how to set up a barracks in Dwarf Fortress.

How to build a barracks in Dwarf Fortress

Establishing the barracks

In order to set the barracks up, you’ll need a squad, or a few, to be housed there and you’ll need the zone itself.

Firstly, dig out or construct an area for your barracks. You don’t need this are to be huge, it’ll merely consist of beds and some storage space.

With the area cleared, go into the zones menu and select the barracks. Click it and assign the whole room as the barracks.

With your barracks up and running, you can click onto to it to bring up its menu. Click on the button with plus sign behind the blue banner. This menu will allow you to select which squads will use the barracks and for which functions.

Squads can interact with a barracks in four ways:

• To sleep
• To train
• To store their personal equipment and weapons
• To store squad-level equipment and ammo

Select which functions you intend the barracks to be used for. Now all that’s left is to furnish it and make it a functional barracks.

Related: How to stage a world war in Dwarf Fortress

Furnishing the barracks

If you want your squads to sleep in the barracks, you’ll need beds. You will also need chests if you want squad-level equipment and ammo to be stored and you’ll need a cabinet for personal storage.

You don’t need anything for your squads to train, just order them to train and they’ll go their assigned barracks.

If you want all four activities to be performed, then make sure that each bed has a cabinet and that there are a few chests at the ready. Make it a little spacious.

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