This release is compatible with all distributions of Dwarf Fortress: Steam, Itch, and Classic.

• Install DFHack from Steam
• Manual install
• Quickstart guide (for players)
• Modding guide (for modders)

Please report any issues (or feature requests) on the DFHack GitHub issue tracker. When reporting issues, please upload a zip file of your savegame and a zip file of your mods directory to the cloud and add links to the GitHub issue. Make sure your files are downloadable by "everyone with the link". We need your savegame to reproduce the problem and test the fix, and we need your active mods so we can load your savegame. Issues with savegames and mods attached get fixed first!

Highlights

New toolbar icons for popular tools

By popular demand, gui/sitemap now has an icon on the main toolbar at the bottom of the screen. Click this button to quickly find and zoom to (or follow) units, locations (like your guildhalls and hospital), or artifacts. You can search by either native names or translated names for units and artifacts. If you prefer hotkeys, the Ctrl-g hotkey for gui/sitemap still works as it always has.
Similarly gui/mass-remove now has a toolbar button that shows when you click the vanilla "eraser" toolbar icon. The new button shows up next to the other "remove" icons. gui/mass-remove allows you to area select to remove any combination of constructions, buildings, stockpiles, and zones. For buildings and constructions, you also have the option to only remove those that are fully built, those that are planned but not yet built, or both.

Announcements

PSAs

As always, remember that, just like the vanilla DF game, DFHack tools can also have bugs. It is a good idea to save often and keep backups of the forts that you care about. Some DFHack tools that worked in previous (pre-Steam) versions of DF have not been updated yet and are marked with the "unavailable" tag in their docs. If you try to run them, they will show a warning and exit immediately. You can run the command again to override the warning (though of course the tools may not work). We make no guarantees of reliability for the tools that are marked as "unavailable". The in-game interface for running DFHack commands (gui/launcher) will not show "unavailable" tools by default. You can still run them if you know their names, or you can turn on dev mode by hitting Ctrl-D while in gui/launcher and they will be added to the autocomplete list. Some tools listed as "unavailable" in the docs do not compile yet and are not accessible at all, even when in dev mode. If you see a tool complaining about the lack of a cursor, know that it's referring to the keyboard cursor (which used to be the only real option in Dwarf Fortress). You can enable the keyboard cursor by entering mining mode or selecting the dump/forbid tool and hitting Alt-K (the DFHack keybinding for toggle-kbd-cursor). We're working on making DFHack tools more mouse-aware and accessible so this step isn't necessary in the future.

Changelog

New Features

• gui/journal: Ctrl-j hotkey to launch gui/journal now works in adventure mode!
• gui/mass-remove: add a button to the bottom toolbar when eraser mode is active for launching gui/mass-remove
• gui/sitemap: add a button to the toolbar at the bottom left corner of the screen for launching gui/sitemap
• idle-crafting: default to only considering happy and ecstatic units for the highest need threshold

Fixes

• Fix processing error in the overlay that displays unit preferences in the baron selection list
• gui/journal: prevent pause/unpause events from leaking through the UI when keys are mashed
• idle-crafting: check that units still have crafting needs before creating a job for them

API

• Filesystem module: rewritten to use C++ standard library components, for better portability

[ 2025-04-02 17:15:20 CET ] [ Original post ]

DFHack is an add-on for Dwarf Fortress that enables mods and tools to significantly extend the game. The default DFHack distribution contains a wide variety of these tools, including bugfixes, interface improvements, automation agents, design blueprints, modding building blocks, and more. Third-party tools (e.g. mods downloaded from Steam Workshop or the forums) can also seamlessly integrate with the DFHack framework and extend the game far beyond what can be done by just modding the raws.

DFHack’s mission is to provide tools and interfaces for players and modders to:

• expand the bounds of what is possible in Dwarf Fortress
  
• reduce the impact of game bugs
  
• give the player more agency and control over the game
  
• provide alternatives to toilsome or frustrating aspects of gameplay
  
• make the game more fun

Our online Quickstart Guide will help you get up to speed with how to use DFHack. It's also available in-game via the quickstart-guide command.

The best way to make feature requests or report problems is to open an Issue at our GitHub page.

When reporting problems, links to your zipped, uploaded savegame and mods are immensely helpful, and issues with attached savegames and mods get fixed faster. We need a zip of your mods because we can't load your savegame without them.

DFHack installs directly into your Dwarf Fortress directory, so be sure to install it to the same Steam library and drive as Dwarf Fortress.

It is not a problem if you already have DFHack manually installed. You can subscribe to the Steam version and it will absorb the installed files. Your data in dfhack-config/ is safe. No additional steps are necessary.