Guide:Bases

A base is one of the most essential things a player should build in a world. Bases are enclosed structures which usually contain houses which NPCs can live in, a crafting area, and a storage area. They are also used to defend the player from enemies. Most bases are built around a player's original spawn point (which is almost always located within a Forest biome, where the fewest enemies spawn). This is useful for players who do not have Beds, as they will spawn inside their base without having to walk to it. This is also useful in multiplayer worlds because each player will spawn inside the base upon joining the world for the first time. NPC houses can be built from all obtainable blocks, as long as there are not more than 250 Corruption or Crimson blocks nearby.

NPC Houses


An NPC house is an enclosed structure which NPCs will move into if it is considered valid housing. As multiple houses can have sharing walls, floors, ceilings and doors, multiple NPC houses usually become rooms within a larger building.

As NPCs can not defend against enemies very well, players will need to make sure that enemies cannot access NPC houses. Building NPC houses at least 7 tiles above the ground is the easiest way to defend NPCs from Wraiths at night during Hardmode. Once the player has gained access to the Jungle Temple, traps are another viable option for defending NPCs. For Pre-Hardmode, you can simply place a block on both sides of your door(s) to keep enemies from breaking in during a Blood Moon.

NPCs have weapons that inflict 10 damage to enemies who get too close. However, once the world is in Hardmode, they will die to most enemies, so players should still take the same precautions mentioned above, though extra protection may be needed depending on where your base is located.

Bedroom
A base should also include a bedroom containing a Bed in which the player will spawn in upon death or when using a Recall Potion, Magic Mirror, Ice Mirror, or Cell Phone.

On the PC and console versions, it is useful to assign a Nurse to a bedroom via the housing menu, as this will allow the player to quickly restore their health and remove debuffs during boss fights, provided the player has at least 4 Silver Coins during the fight and their bed is not too far away from the boss, as this will cause most bosses to despawn. Assigning the Nurse to a bedroom also allows the player to quickly restore their health after dying, as players respawn with ¼ of their health after dying (with the exception of PvP deaths).

On the mobile versions, there is no housing menu, but the player can force a Nurse into a bedroom by making the house she is currently living in and all other unoccupied houses in the world, with the exception of bedrooms, invalid. The fastest method of doing this is usually by removing any light sources from the house.

It is also important for the player to be able to quickly exit a bedroom, as staying in the bedroom for too long during a boss fight will allow most bosses to move to your location and kill the Nurse or any other NPCs located in or near a bedroom, which is rather unhelpful.

Crafting Area
A base should also include a crafting area in which the player will craft items. This area should contain the most-used crafting stations like the Workbench, Furnace, Anvil, Placed Bottle and Tinkerer's Workshop.

On the PC and console versions, it is useful to assign the Guide to the crafting area, as this will allow the player to look up recipes for items.

A comprehensive list of all crafting stations can be found here. Crafting Stations

Please note that putting all crafting stations together has the downside of forcing the player to scroll through every potential crafting option to find the one that they need. Arranging the stations in a logical manner around your home will likely end up being more convenient depending on your crafting needs.


 * Clicking on the icon that looks like a hammer with dots under it next to the crafting list will open the Crafting Window which lets you see all crafting options available. Clicking on the desired item to craft will select that item on the crafting list.

Storage
Storage is achieved through the use of Storage items like the Chest and Barrel. Storage is necessary given the amount of items that can be collected during a playthrough. Using a variety of different containers can make a storage area more navigable, as can using decorative items, statues, signs, or renaming the containers. Usually players put similar types of items into the same chest(s). Some players may even wish to integrate their crafting area to provide a sort of structure.

Players may wish to organize their storage items the same way between all worlds so that they don't have to remember a new pattern for each one.

Putting all one's chests near each other allows the player to use the "Quick Stack to Nearby Chests" feature to quickly dump all items in the player's inventory into the chests they belong.

Renaming chests allows the player to see the name when hovering the mouse cursor over the chests, allowing for quick searching.

It may be useful to keep associated items in outposts near their biomes, e.g. make a base close to the Jungle, and store things you would get in the jungle in it. These outposts might include useful teleportation rooms, to quickly gain access to the biome from home and to that storage area.

Garden

 * See also: Guide:Gardening.

A dedicated garden can keep the player supplied with a steady variety of Herbs for Potion brewing. Mushrooms and herbs can both be systematically produced and gathered, providing a considerable power boost to the prepared player. Having a few potion-related crafting stations like an Extractinator can be handy for items such as Amber.

Roof Access
Often a minor consideration, but a player who spends a fair amount of time in a large base has a good chance that Fallen Stars will accumulate on the roof overnight. The player may consider adding access to the flat roof along its length to grab these. If there is only one tile between select items and the player, the player may jump and hit the ceiling and the item will go through the wall and into the players inventory. If you want to go outside but don't want to go out through the bottom it is advisable to put Actuators on the roof and hook it up to a Lever, Switch, or maybe a Pressure Plate.

Teleporter Room
A Teleporter Room may be useful for late-game players who need to get to far-away outposts quickly. Setting one up, however, will take a long time and will be very expensive to build, considering the current price of Wire and the distances that need to be covered with wire to reach places like the Dungeon and The Underworld. Hoiks make it possible to build a teleporter room where the player can enter a code and it will automatically teleport them there, without need to run along a long line of teleporters. (How to build.)

Outposts
Most bases have some outposts. These are small mini-bases for the purpose of easy access and farming. A complete article can be found here.

Base Defense

 * See also Guide:Base Defense, and Guide:Defending against events.

Player-made structures do not come with guarantees against enemies. With this in mind, it is a good idea to prepare defenses against a variety of possible scenarios. How much effort to invest depends entirely on the player; for example, having monsters wandering around plant farms may be no big deal but many would prefer their NPC areas to be protected. If you already built a base on the ground, and don't want to move, move your chest room within your town of NPCs, this will prevent monster spawns. Also, place Peace Candles around your house if it is large to minimize spawns.

Skybridge
Skybridges can be used for farming Fallen Stars. As of update 1.3.1, when Conveyor Belts were added, it is now possible to make an AFK Fallen Star farm, where Fallen Stars are automatically carried to the player. Hoiks can also be utilized for this purpose.

Floating Base
Structures do not need to rest on surfaces when built from materials that do not fall (e.g. not sand). Once built, the terrain surrounding the base can be dug out to create a moat around it, preventing easy access of most monsters. The Guide: Base Defense article provides more detail.

Actuator Door
By using actuators and grey, brown, blue, and Lihzahrd Pressure Plates, you can create a player only door that doesn't require you to use your mouse. Set up the door as you would an active stone/actuator door and because grey, brown, blue and Lihzahrd Pressure Plates can only be triggered by the player, mobs are unable to enter (or escape). You can provide defense using super dart traps and spiky ball traps. As of update 1.3.1, where Sensors were added, it is now possible to link the sensor (Player above) to an actuated door, allowing the player to pass by a door without having to step on a pressure plate.