Food, water, and healing: the basics

Hunger, thirst, and bleeding kill more new players than wolves.

Food: cooked beats raw

When your food bar hits zero, your HP ticks down.

The best early food is cooked meat :

1. Kill an animal with a hatchet . Boars and chickens are easiest.
2. Loot for raw meat .
3. Drop into a campfire . Light the fire with wood .
4. Take out cooked meat .

Around the map:

• Berries — wild bushes around the world. Common variants are red, blue, yellow, white, and pink. Safe to eat raw; each gives a small food/water boost and a few seeds.
• Mushrooms — grow wild in forest and snow biomes around trees. Safe to eat raw; restore food and a little health.
• Pumpkins and corn — grow wild on river banks and lake shores. Pick and eat for serious calorie + water restore. You can also farm them from seeds in planter boxes later.

Water: drink fresh, never salt

Drink from rivers, lakes, ponds — fresh water sources.

Never drink ocean water. Salt water actually raises your thirst instead of lowering it, so you end up thirstier than before.

Look at water and press the use key.

Storage:

• Water bottles — Carry water.
• Small water catcher — Collects rainwater at your base.
• Large water catcher — More storage.

Healing: bandages, syringes, meds

• Bandage — 4 cloth to craft. Stops bleeding instantly and heals 5 HP. Cheap, fast, always carry a stack.
• Medical syringe — heals about 15 HP instantly plus 20 over time. Does NOT stop bleeding — if you're bleeding, bandage first, then syringe .
• Large medkit — the strongest heal in the game. Stops bleeding, instantly restores about 10 HP, and gives another 100 HP over time. Save for emergencies.

Bleeding is the silent killer. After a fight, check for a red drip icon. Bandage immediately.

Sleep: where you log out matters

When you log out, your character stays in the world. Anyone can loot you.

• Log out inside your base. Behind locked doors. Always.
• Don't log out at a monument.
• Don't log out in the woods .

Sleeping bags and beds let you respawn at your base.

Quick recap

• Cook meat on a campfire . Pumpkins , corn , berries , mushrooms are free food.
• Drink from rivers. Never drink ocean.
• Water catchers collect rain.
• Bandages stop bleeding. Med syringes and kits for bigger heals.
• Always log out inside a locked base. Place a sleeping bag .

Next: Clothing and cold: dressing for the biome Want more detail? Survival Mechanics