Placement

To Place an item in Terraria means to permanently add it to the world, such that it requires a Tool in order to free and pick up again.

The mechanics of placement can be divided in two categories: A foreground object is something that collides with the character. From a 3D-perspective it represents something that surrounds the character - such as the Dirt Block "walls" of a tunnel - or blocks the character's path, such as a pile of stabled Dirt Blocks. Blocks almost entirely comprise the game's foreground objects, the rest being the Boulder. Foreground objects can be turned into background ones (and back again) with Actuators. A background object is something that oppositely doesn't collide with the character. From a 3D-perspective it represents something the character can walk past, such as trees, vines, walls, or furniture. This also means it doesn't affect character movement. Many background objects are for visual appeal only though several, such as crafting stations, also have functions.
 * Foreground
 * Background

Some objects possess qualities of both. Doors are foreground objects when closed and background ones when open. Objects like Bars, Platforms, and Tables are mainly background objects, but can still affect character movement as it's possible to stand on them (pressing the 'Down'-button causes the character to "jump down" by falling through). The Active/Inactive Stone Block has the ability to shift between foreground and background state. Liquids, though not exactly objects, will also affect movement when the character is swimming.

How to place
There are two ways to place items:


 * If Autopause is off, then while your Inventory is open you can pick the item you wish to place out your inventory.
 * Whether or not autopause is on, if an item is in your Inventory's Hotbar, then while your inventory is closed you can select it as you would a Weapon or Tool, and then hitting the attack/fire button.

In either case, this must be done while the mouse cursor is in an appropriate spot for Placement of the particular item, and while your character is within a few tiles of the placement location.

For example, most Furniture items, like the Work Bench, must be Placed on a flat surface of at least 3 Blocks in length. With the Work Bench item selected in your Hotbar and the Inventory screen closed, move the mouse cursor to just above a relatively long, flat surface, clear of any other items (grass included), and click the attack button (left mouse button by default). The Work Bench item will fall with a "thump" sound effect, and you'll be able to move your character over it without picking it up again. Congratulations -- You have now placed your Work Bench!

In order to free an item from the background and pick it up again, you must use a Pickaxe.

For items with left/right orientation such as beds and chairs, the direction the character is facing at the time of placement determines which way the item is placed. For example, if you place a bed next to a wall while facing the wall, it will place the foot of the bed against the wall. If you wanted the head of the bed against the wall, free the item with your pickaxe, face your character away from the wall, and place it again.

Requirements for placement
While not all items are placeable, many are. In fact, the most abundant items -- Blocks -- are placeable, and you may have already placed them without realizing it. When you stack blocks on top of or beside other blocks, you are indeed placing them. Blocks are therefore placeable, which is the first requirement for placing any item: the item must be placeable. Whether or not an item is placeable is indicated on its wiki page via the 'Placeable' label in its upper-right information box, or within the game via its tooltip; items that say 'Can be placed' when you hover you mouse cursor over them are placeable.

While Blocks can be placed in any empty space adjacent to any other Blocks, Furniture items generally have more stringent placement requirements. While most require a simple solid flat surface of nearly any type, many have different, more versatile, or more strict placement requirements.

The Torch, for example, is a highly versatile Furniture item, as it can be placed not only on any single Block of clear surface space, but also just next to any single block of clear space, which causes it to become mounted horizontally (or rather, diagonally, in terms of their graphical representation). As of v1.2 it can also be placed on several types of backwall.

Many smaller placeable Furniture items can only be placed on top of other Placed wooden Furniture items. One example is the Candle, which can only be placed on top of a flat wooden item, like the Table.

The Door foreground item has strict placement requirements, needing a 3-block tall empty vertical area with 1 placed Block on both the top and bottom.

Function of placed furniture items

 * See also: Guide:Getting started.


 * Placed Crafting stations, like the Work Bench and Anvil, expand the player's crafting menu options when your character stands near them; They allow you to create more items. See the current crafting options by hitting the ESC key (default) and looking at the bottom-left corner of your screen. Scroll through the craftable items with your mouse wheel, and notice that more options appear while standing near a placed Work Bench. Different crafting options will appear depending on which crafting station your character is near at the time.
 * Placed Storage items allow you to store and retrieve items by right-clicking on them. Right-click on a placed Chest, for instance, to see its contents.
 * Placed background Walls will allow NPCs to move into your structure, and in many cases, will prevent Enemies from spawning in a structure. See NPC and House for more details on this.