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Unknown material

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Revision as of 22:25, 22 June 2025 by DPhKraken (talk | contribs) (Pre-merge expansion)
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This article is about the current version of DF.
Note that some content may still need to be updated.

Not to be confused with the unknown substance.
Metal door sprite.png

Unknown materials can appear as a placeholder as the result of bugs - specifically, missing material tokens. They have minimal material properties, typically appearing as a light gray solid unaffected by temperature.

Generic

Properties
Fire-safe Magma-safe

"Unknown material", as it is listed building descriptions, normally has no name. It has an internal ID of -1 or [NONE], the same as used in tasks that require items of any or unspecified material.

Doors and hatch covers in dark pitsBug:6776 and dead civilizationsBug:3478 have been known to generate as unknown material.

Since the material ID of -1 is used as a placeholder value for any material, items made of the unknown material cannot be specifically requested as an ingredient, even in modded reactions.

Organic substances

[CREATURE_MAT] and [PLANT_MAT] fall back to "unknown creature/plant substance" if they do not have a proper subtype. If solid, they will additionally be listed as "frozen".

Other forms

Other material categories have fallbacks in addition to their subtypes. Unlike unknown materials, they are functional when obtained.

Inorganic materials without a subtype become magma ([INORGANIC:NONE]), or generic "rock" if solid.

The generic form of charcoal and coke ([COAL:NONE]) is known as refined coal, which cannot be legitimately obtained.

See also

[hide]
More: GemsMetalsStones
Creature
BloodBoneCartilageCheeseChitinEggFatFeatherHair (WoolYarn) • HoofHornIchorLeatherMilkMeatNailNervous tissueOrgansParchmentPearlScaleShellSilkSkinSpitSweatTallowTearsTeethWax
Plant
Fiber (PaperSlurry) • FlowerFruitLeafOil • Plant powders (DyeFlourSugar) • Seed (Press cake) • Wood
Creature/Plant
Inorganic
Hardcoded
AmberAshCoralFilthFuelGlassGrimeIceLyeMagmaMudPearlashPotashSaltUnknown substanceVomitWater
Glitch
See also: Material science
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Rating Unknown material