Water Candle

The Water Candle is a furniture item that can be placed or held to increase enemy and critter spawn rates in the area, and emits a low amount of light. When placed, it gives nearby players the Water Candle debuff. Several Water Candles are found commonly on the shelves of the Dungeon. In Hardmode, they can also be crafted. Holding a Water Candle does not cause the debuff icon to display, but still causes an identical effect.

Being in proximity of a placed Water Candle (48 tiles/96 feet in each direction), or holding it, increases all enemy and critter spawn rates by 33%, and increases the maximum number of simultaneous on-screen enemies by 50%. In order to be considered "holding" the candle, it must be in the player's hotbar and currently selected; merely being in a player's inventory will not suffice. Multiple Candles will not stack with each other, even if one is placed and the other held.

The Water Candle can only be placed on platforms and flat furniture items like Work Benches and tables. W̶a̶t̶e̶r̶ ̶C̶a̶n̶d̶l̶e̶s̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶s̶w̶i̶t̶c̶h̶e̶d̶ ̶o̶f̶f̶,̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶w̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶o̶p̶e̶r̶a̶t̶e̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶m̶e̶c̶h̶a̶n̶i̶s̶m̶s̶.̶ As of the release of 1.4 Journey's End update, placed Water Candles can now be right-clicked to shut them off (further testing is required whether or not mechanism interactions/connections may occur).

The Water Candle's effect is the opposite of the, which decreases enemy spawn rates. If a Peace Candle and a Water Candle are active at the same time, neither have any effect on spawn rates.

Tips

 * It may help to collect all Water Candles found in the Dungeon, as that will lower enemy spawn rates in the area.
 * If the player enjoys fishing, it can often be useful to place Water Candles around their town, as it increases the spawn rate of critters like Fireflies and Worms. The NPC presence still prevents the spawn of hostile enemies.
 * Water Candles can be useful for farming enemies for rare items, since the increased spawn rate provides more enemies from which to acquire drops.

Trivia

 * If the Water Candle is in the player's first hotbar slot, their character preview in the character selection screen will be posed as if they were holding a Water Candle with their arm outstretched, however the Water Candle will not appear in their hands.

History
Bougie d'eau 水蜡烛