Dwarf Fortress – Minecarts Guide

Dwarf Fortress is a construction and survival simulation game developed by Bay 12 Games. The game allows players to live in a fantasy world to help dwarves build a fortress in a continent full of hydras, titans, or dragons. One of the fundamental mechanics in the game is transporting materials in the game with little effort to save time and energy. In this article, I will help you build a minecart route for your fortress.

Basic Minecarts Guide for Dwarf Fortress

Minecarts is a powerful tool that allows you to haul materials such as Stone or Magma from one place to another. Veteran players use this tool as a deadly weapon or to help stockpile goods in specific areas of the fortress. However, beginner players need to know the basics of using minecarts to use them effectively beyond their intended use.

In using minecarts, the first thing is to click the stockpile button in the bottom area of your screen. Then, you can click and drag your cursor to the place you prefer to put your stockpile. Stockpile is where your dwarves store various items in some regions of the map. So it’s crucial to place your stockpile carefully to minimize the time spent carrying the specific item. A good example is to create a Bars and Blocks Stockpile near your Stoneworker’s Workshop, as shown in the image above.

Once you’ve finished setting up your Stockpile, it’s time to create the route of your minecarts by pressing B and choosing the Track icon.

 Click the designated tiles where you want to put your minecart track. Tracks can extend as far as you want if you have enough materials to build. However, I advise beginner players to start off something simple to prevent collateral damage in the future.

After the dwarves finished constructing your minecart track, it’s time to add some Track Stop. It’s under the same Construction menu (B) just underneath the Track icon.

Track Stop serves as a checkpoint for your minecart and allows you to tweak the direction and speed of your cart. Remember, you need to be wary of how your track is set up to prevent accidents in the future. For example, if you plan to create a fast minecart, it can fly off and harm your dwarves.

Now it’s time to set up your Minecart Route by pressing H and clicking the ‘Add new route‘ option. Click the first icon and then connect your first Track Stop, as shown in the image above.

Press the Stockpile Button and click your designated stockpile.

RELATED: Dwarf Fortress: Using Water & Water Pressure Guide

Once you click your desired stockpile, there will be three options:

1. Load items in the minecart.
2. Unload items in the minecart and put them in the stockpile.
3. Load and Unload items in the minecart.

The third option is probably the most complicated setup, but we’ll stick to loading your Bars and Block for now.

You can choose which items to put in your minecart by clicking the minecart button.

After that, it’s time to set your conditions. You can push, kick, or even let your dwarf ride the minecart.