Game controls

The default game controls are listed below. These can be changed from the Controls menu in settings on the title screen. While in-game, they can be accessed by opening the inventory, selecting "Settings", and navigating to "Controls".

Inventory

 * To remove one item from a stack, right click on it. Hold down the right mouse button to increase the number of items to be removed from the stack.
 * To place objects directly from your inventory, left click to select the item, then left click to place it or right click to throw it.
 * To place objects directly from your inventory into the Trash Can, hold Ctrl down while clicking the item. This can be used to quickly free up space in your inventory.
 * This setting can be changed on the main menu under Settings > Controls > Left Shift Quick Trash. Enabling the option will have quick trash use Shift instead.
 * To quickly move objects from your inventory into an open container, or vice versa, hold Shift down while clicking the item.
 * To place objects directly from an open container into the Trash Can, hold Ctrl down while clicking an item.
 * If Left Shift Quick Trash is enabled, this feature will not work.
 * To favorite an item (making it unable to be quick stacked, quick trashed, thrown, or deposited), hold Alt down clicking the item. A border should appear letting you know that the item is favorited. Do note that placing favorited equipment onto your equipment slots and placing them back in your inventory will remove the favorite status on the equipment, in which case you are going to need to Alt + Left Click again.

NPC

 * To interact with an NPC, move close enough that a speech bubble appears when you move the mouse cursor over it (or, on, when a speech bubble simply appears). Then, use the control.
 * When buying items from an NPC, hold down the right mouse button/Right Trigger/Buy Button to increase the number of items purchased.

Equipment

 * Right-clicking on a piece of equipment, including one located in a Social slot, will swap it with its corresponding Armor or Accessory slot.

Miscellaneous

 * To read a sign, tombstone, or the name of a chest, hover your cursor over it.
 * When crafting, hold down the right mouse button to rapidly craft a number of items (the speed increases as long as you hold down the button).

Touch controls
The of the game utilizes the touch screen in handheld mode to make playing easier. Most of the controls are very similar to controls from the of the game, but some are entirely new. Some of these controls include: Unlike the mobile version, however, pinching the screen to zoom in and out uses the selected item.
 * The ability to double tap the hotbar to open the inventory.
 * The ability to double tap accessories in the inventory to toggle accessory visibility.
 * Tapping the minimap to access the full size map.

iOS, Android, and Amazon versions
As of Mobile 1.3, the user interface has been updated to more closely reflect that of the desktop version. However, as mobile users typically will be dealing with touch controls and/or smaller screens, there are a few small differences between the two to make gameplay flow smoothly.

The inventory is primarily split up into 5 sections: The Inventory and Housing Menu on the left, and Chat, Equipment Menu, and Crafting on the right. Like many other UI elements, they can be moved around and altered in the settings.

Inventory
Akin to the desktop version, The inventory consists of 50 slots. The player can set whether the 10 left most slots or the top row serves as the hotbar.

Some inventory functions have been moved to below the inventory for easy access. These include the tools, research, and a split function. The tools button opens a small window consisting of the various toggles, such as those given by the Paint Sprayer and the Torch God's Favor. Researching is also accessible here, separately from the Journey Mode tools accessible in the pause menu. The split button opens a small slider which splits a stack in two based on its position.

Housing Menu
It is identical to the housing menu on desktop, save for an aesthetic change where each NPC fills in a placeholder slot as they move in.

Chat
The player can type messages and view status messages in the Chat menu. This window also has a button which allows access to Emotes. It functions identically to the chat on the.

Equipment
Consists of all the equipment the player has equipped. Visibility can be toggled by tapping the show/hide button, but not by double tapping the accessory as seen in the.

Crafting
Consists of a list of craftable items with a Craft button below. The materials needed will be listed next to the button. The player can access all duplicated items here by pressing the duplication button in Journey mode. There are filters for Weapons, Blocks, Accessories, Materials, All (which disables the active filter), Armor, Misc, and Consumables, accessible even outside of Journey mode.

Inventory / Storage Tab

 * Tap and drag an item to move it, or switch its position with another.
 * Drag the inventory screen up or down to see more of the inventory.
 * Selecting an item and tapping the "Split Stack" button (the button with stacked coins) will take one item and place it in a new stack. If a new stack has been recently created, the item will be added to that one instead.
 * Selecting armor or an accessory and tapping the Equip button (labeled with a helmet and a player's head) will automatically equip it in an armor or accessory slot. If the respective armor slot is full, it will be equipped in the vanity slot. Dragging an item to the Equipment tab and releasing will equip it in the same manner.
 * Selecting an item the Storage tab Tapping the Take button will add it to your inventory. Dragging an item to the Inventory tab and releasing will take it in the same manner.
 * Holding an item over a tab for a while will switch to that tab.
 * Additionally, if you're on the main screen and want to throw an item, you can do so by selecting it in your hotbar and then holding it. You can then drag to throw. It can be useful if you want to throw a Guide Voodoo Doll and summon the WoF.

Equipment Tab

 * Any equipable item will automatically be equipped when crafted, bought, picked up, or when the Take button is pressed in the Storage tab.
 * Selecting an item and tapping the Unequip button (labeled with a helmet and a player's head) will unequip it and place it in the Inventory.

Crafting Tab

 * Tap a recipe and tap Craft to craft one of the item.
 * Tap and hold Craft to craft multiple items (the speed increases as the player holds the button).

NPC Shop Tab

 * Selecting an item and tapping Buy will buy the item if you have enough money.
 * Hitting Sell in the Inventory tab, or simply dragging an item to the Shop tab will sell it.
 * The Goblin Tinkerer has an additional region above the shop where items can be reforged. Dragging an item here and selecting Reforge will reforge it.

Quick Inventory
The touch screen features the players hotbar, housing menu, map, and other utilities. This is referred to by the game as the "Quick Inventory". The quick inventory shows the first ten slots in the players inventory, similarly to the mobile version of the game. The top left button under the hotbar allows the player to Quick Stack to Nearby Chests, which will be greyed out if the player is not near any chest. The middle button allows the player to drop an item they've tapped and held onto, greyed out if there is no item to drop. The top right button is the housing menu, which will be greyed out unless the player is in a house.

The bottom three buttons are the World Map, Building/Precision Mode, and the player's Inventory from left to right.
 * The World Map appears on the touch screen so the player can view the map as they move, and also has a magnifying glass in the corner which toggles a zoomed-in and out view.
 * Building Mode provides a zoomed in view of the player's screen and sorts tools on the left, and building materials on the right.
 * Building materials are sorted in the order they appear in the players inventory, but tools are sorted in accordance with the order Weapon → Pickaxe → Axe → Hammer → Wrenches/Wire Cutters → Fishing Tools, top to bottom.
 * Items on the left can be swapped by holding L for tools and R for building materials and a direction. Up / Down on the D-Pad or Circle Pad will change the item selected. Left and Right only work on the left row, when there are variants of a tool, such as a Terra Blade being able to switch to a Paladin's Hammer, as they are both categorized as weapons.
 * On the New Nintendo 3DS, Building Mode can also be toggled with.
 * The D-Pad can be used along with Building Mode for increased precision when placing blocks.

Inventory
The Inventory on the 3DS version is very similar to the inventory on the. Items appear on the bottom screen, while an item's statistics will appear on the top. The top ten slots of the inventory will be brightened, indicating items in these slots will appear in the Quick Inventory. Items can be thrown away with, and stacks of items can be split with. Below both the trash and split icon is a drop icon. Armor can be equipped with when selected, but even if that armor is a vanity item, it will be equipped in the armor slots and be swapped with any item currently filling the slot. Also similar to the, items can be dragged between slots opposed to just using button inputs. However, button inputs are still required when equipping or depositing items, as there is no way to drag items between tabs. On the top of the inventory screen are four/five buttons. The first, being a back arrow, causes the player to exit the inventory. The rest toggle the crafting menu, the inventory, the chest's inventory (if applicable), and the player's armor/accessory screen.

Chest Inventory
When a chest is opened, controls differ greatly from the regular inventory. To take an item out of a chest, is used, and  will loot all of the items from the chest. Items cannot be split or trashed from the chest directly. When the player's inventory is accessed when a chest is available, a quick stack button appears at the bottom left corner of the screen. A deposit button will also appear if an item is selected, but does not share the button shortcut of X with the take button. Thus, the player should be careful they don't trash an item they wish to put back into a chest.

Crafting Menu
The crafting menu splits up crafting recipes into multiple sections. These sections are: can be used to switch between categories, and or the button on the touch screen can be used to craft the selected item. Items can be selected with the D-Pad, Circle Pad, or touch screen. Items that can be crafted will be listed before items that cannot, and will have a blue background. Attempting to craft an uncraftable item show the reason it is uncraftable next to the craft button. Similar to items with long tooltips, an item with a long name as an ingredient will have it's name scroll back and forth.
 * 1) Furniture, Blocks, and Walls
 * 2) Tools
 * 3) Weapons
 * 4) Armor and Vanity (along with certain accessories)
 * 5) Buff Potions
 * 6) Miscellaneous items that don't fit in with the other categories, e.g. Boss Summons, some Accessories, Biome Keys

Player Inventory
The player's armor and accessories are on the last tab of the inventory. Pressing will remove that armor or accessory and place it in the player's inventory. The five eyes below the player image show and hide the player's accessories, so long as they aren't wings. can be pressed to view the player's current buffs and debuffs as well as their durations. Buffs can be canceled with when on the screen.

Shop Inventory
When interacting with a NPC that sells items, the NPC will appear in place of where a chest would appear. Items can be bought from an NPC with, so long as the player has sufficient funds. Items can also be from the player's inventory with. When an item is sold to an NPC, that item goes to the Re-Buy slots, a section of 5 slots where items sold recently can be rebought. Unlike shops in the, exiting the NPC's shop inventory will not erase items in the Re-Buy slots, instead, items in said slots will only be erased if the player saves and exits the game.