Miasma is a spreading condition in Dwarf Fortress that can plunge even your most chipper dwarves into depression and madness.
Luckily, avoiding Miasma in the Dwarf Fortress Steam Version is a fairly simple task as long as you take care of your dead. Miasma occurs when things start to rot and creates a purple cloud that can put citizens in a negative state. Luckily, there are ways you can prevent and remove Miasma in your Fortress as long as you build the right zones and set the right orders.
In real life, Miasma was a belief common among medical professionals until the mid-19th century that the foul smell from vegetation or carcasses could cause disease.
Contents:
- How to Stop Miasma in Dwarf Fortress
- Setting Standing Orders and Dumping Corpses Manually
- Why are My Dwarves Not Collecting Corpses?
How to Stop Miasma in Dwarf Fortress
Miasma will spread when there are rotting corpses or items within your Fortress. To stop Miasma from spreading, construct a Garbage Dump Zone, then set a Standing Order to Dump corpses and body parts. You must also build a Graveyard with Caskets or Coffins so that your citizens have a burial place.
The condition won’t affect areas above ground and can be contained with doors and walls if your Dumping Zone is below ground. Corpses can include animals or attacking goblins or enemies. Dwarves that are a part of your population cap will instead be brought to the graveyard, if you have one built.
Another trick you can use is setting a Stockpile to Corpses, then setting your Garbage Dump Zone next to it, so your workers haul the corpses to a specific zone.
Setting Standing Orders and Dumping Corpses Manually
The last thing to consider is setting a Standing Order under Refuse and dumping so that Workers dump corpses automatically. Access these orders from the Labor (y) menu, click Standing orders, and select Refuse and dumping. Make sure that Workers dump corpses is enabled.
If all else fails, players can manually order Dwarves to dump certain items by clicking the item, then selecting the trashbin icon at the top of the window.
Why are My Dwarves Not Dumping Corpses?
The main reason that your dwarves aren’t collecting corpses is that you have no active Haulers or Orderlies, or your Garbage Dump Zone is too far away from the corpses you need to dump.
To check your Haulers and Orderlies, click the Labor menu (y), then click Haulers and Orderlies on the left side. It’s suggested you switch these to Everybody does this so that inactive Dwarves will automatically partake in hauling corpses and body parts. As an added bonus, your Orderlies will clean up the blood and vomit that might occur during a battle in your Fortress.
If all goes as planned, your Dwarves will automatically dump corpses, preventing rot and Miasma from spreading in your Fortress. Let us know how it went in your playthrough of Dwarf Fortress in the comments section below.
More Dwarf Fortress Guides:
Dwarf Fortress: How to Rent Rooms in Taverns and Inns | How to Build a Graveyard in Dwarf Fortress | How to Use Justice in Dwarf Fortress | Dwarf Fortress: How to Heal and Create Hospitals | How to Raid in Dwarf Fortress | How to Butcher Animals in Dwarf Fortress
