Shelf

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Acquisition

Shelves can be constructed once the complex furniture research project has been completed. Each requires 20 Stuff (Metallic/Woody/Stony) and 500 ticks (8.33 secs) of work modified by the construction speed of the builder and the work to build factor and offset of the material.

Summary

A shelf acts like a stockpile zone that can hold 3 items a tile, or 6 items per shelf. They cannot hold chunks, minified buildings, plants, toxic wastepacks or corpses with a body size greater than 0.75. For a list of corpses that fit in a shelf when fully grown, see here. It also protects items from deterioration and removes their beauty penalty. Instead, the beauty of the area covered by the shelf is only the combined beauty of the shelf itself and the underlying floor or terrain.

Shelves slow passage, but do not block movement. This trait makes it possible for pawns to pick up/place items without actually stepping on its tile. They can be reinstalled as needed.

A shelf is functionally identical to a small shelf that takes up two tiles rather than one. There are a few minor differences as a building.

Storage settings

Linking small shelves and blueprints.

The default storage settings is to contain general items at the "Preferred" priority level, but this can be changed at will, even while the shelf is still in an unfinished blueprint form.

Shelves can also be "linked" together in groups. Linked shelves will share the same storage settings. In order to link shelves, select the shelves you want to link (shift-click to select multiple items), then select the "Link settings" gizmo. You can link shelves, even if they are uncompleted. The link will keep the storage settings of the first shelf selected in a link.

Analysis

The "shelf trick". Shelves next to a worker's seat increase efficiency.

A shelf's main use is to store items. Each shelf gives thrice the storage space. They can store and "mask" many ugly items in your workstation, allow more meat into your freezer, protect weapons and mortar shells from deterioration, etc. The removal of beauty penalty and their slight beauty boost make shelves convenient anywhere you want quick access to items, like medicine in a hospital.

Shelves can also make workers more efficient. Unlike actual storage zones, shelves allow a pawn to place or remove an item without walking on top of them. Working pawns can pick items off an adjacent shelf without needing to leave their seat, which significantly improves crafting time. This technique is best combined with "drop on floor when finished" and having other pawns restock the shelves. Even outside of workstations, not having to stand on top of the tile saves a very small amount of hauling time.

Eventually, any item that can be put on a shelf should be stored on a shelf - this saves space, which saves walking time, reduces the number of coolers and firefoam poppers required, decreases the walls required, etc.

Material analysis

You should make the shelves as cheap as possible - the quality and material of a shelf are largely irrelevant. Quality only impacts beauty and wealth. Material impacts beauty, HP, and flammability. Of these stats:

The beauty and wealth increases are minimal, unless impractical materials like gold are used. If colonists spend only a short time near the shelf, such as in warehouse storage areas, then both stats don't matter at all.
HP is redundant, as shelves should be very rarely under attack. In any case, shelves of cheap materials are cheap to replace.
Flammability rarely matters, as a nonflammable shelf doesn't protect any items on it. If flammability is a concern, then stone is cheap, durable, and nonflammable.

Because wealth increases raid strength, high quality shelves can actually be undesirable. However, even a masterwork stone shelf is only worth 75. And, for the purposes of raid points, wealth from buildings is halved. Therefore the impact of shelf quality on raids is practically nonexistent, unless you're playing on a 500% threat scale difficulty, or if you're using shelves made of gold.

Compared to 2 small shelves, the regular shelf takes 83% the work, but is a bigger loss if destroyed from a targeted tantrum. Either way, the differences are small - place mini shelves where they would fit, and regular shelves elsewhere.

Stats table

Feature	Toggle
Quality

Shelf		Beauty	Work to Build	HP	Flammability	Market Value
Quality	Material	Beauty	Work to Build	HP	Flammability	Market Value
Awful	Bioferrite	0	001,250 ticks (20.83 secs)	200	75%	9.75
Awful	Gold	-2	000,450 ticks (7.5 secs)	60	40%	1,000
Awful	Granite blocks	0	003,140 ticks (52.33 secs)	170	0%	15
Awful	Limestone blocks	0	003,140 ticks (52.33 secs)	155	0%	15
Awful	Marble blocks	0	002,890 ticks (48.17 secs)	120	0%	14
Awful	Plasteel	0	001,100 ticks (18.33 secs)	280	0%	92
Awful	Sandstone blocks	0	002,640 ticks (44 secs)	140	0%	14
Awful	Silver	-1	000,500 ticks (8.33 secs)	70	40%	101
Awful	Slate blocks	0	003,140 ticks (52.33 secs)	130	0%	15
Awful	Steel	0	000,500 ticks (8.33 secs)	100	40%	20
Awful	Jade	-1	002,500 ticks (41.67 secs)	50	0%	55
Awful	Uranium	0	000,950 ticks (15.83 secs)	250	0%	62
Awful	Wood	0	000,350 ticks (5.83 secs)	65	100%	13
Poor	Bioferrite	0	001,250 ticks (20.83 secs)	200	75%	15
Poor	Gold	11	000,450 ticks (7.5 secs)	60	40%	1,500
Poor	Granite blocks	0	003,140 ticks (52.33 secs)	170	0%	22
Poor	Limestone blocks	0	003,140 ticks (52.33 secs)	155	0%	22
Poor	Marble blocks	1	002,890 ticks (48.17 secs)	120	0%	21
Poor	Plasteel	0	001,100 ticks (18.33 secs)	280	0%	138
Poor	Sandstone blocks	0	002,640 ticks (44 secs)	140	0%	21
Poor	Silver	3	000,500 ticks (8.33 secs)	70	40%	151
Poor	Slate blocks	0	003,140 ticks (52.33 secs)	130	0%	22
Poor	Steel	0	000,500 ticks (8.33 secs)	100	40%	30
Poor	Jade	6	002,500 ticks (41.67 secs)	50	0%	82
Poor	Uranium	0	000,950 ticks (15.83 secs)	250	0%	93
Poor	Wood	0	000,350 ticks (5.83 secs)	65	100%	19
Normal	Bioferrite	0	001,250 ticks (20.83 secs)	200	75%	20
Normal	Gold	22	000,450 ticks (7.5 secs)	60	40%	2,000
Normal	Granite blocks	0	003,140 ticks (52.33 secs)	170	0%	29
Normal	Limestone blocks	0	003,140 ticks (52.33 secs)	155	0%	29
Normal	Marble blocks	2	002,890 ticks (48.17 secs)	120	0%	28
Normal	Plasteel	0	001,100 ticks (18.33 secs)	280	0%	184
Normal	Sandstone blocks	1	002,640 ticks (44 secs)	140	0%	28
Normal	Silver	7	000,500 ticks (8.33 secs)	70	40%	200
Normal	Slate blocks	1	003,140 ticks (52.33 secs)	130	0%	29
Normal	Steel	0	000,500 ticks (8.33 secs)	100	40%	40
Normal	Jade	11	002,500 ticks (41.67 secs)	50	0%	109
Normal	Uranium	0	000,950 ticks (15.83 secs)	250	0%	123
Normal	Wood	0	000,350 ticks (5.83 secs)	65	100%	25
Good	Bioferrite	0	001,250 ticks (20.83 secs)	200	75%	24
Good	Gold	44	000,450 ticks (7.5 secs)	60	40%	2,500
Good	Granite blocks	1	003,140 ticks (52.33 secs)	170	0%	37
Good	Limestone blocks	1	003,140 ticks (52.33 secs)	155	0%	37
Good	Marble blocks	3	002,890 ticks (48.17 secs)	120	0%	36
Good	Plasteel	1	001,100 ticks (18.33 secs)	280	0%	230
Good	Sandstone blocks	1	002,640 ticks (44 secs)	140	0%	34
Good	Silver	14	000,500 ticks (8.33 secs)	70	40%	250
Good	Slate blocks	1	003,140 ticks (52.33 secs)	130	0%	37
Good	Steel	1	000,500 ticks (8.33 secs)	100	40%	50
Good	Jade	22	002,500 ticks (41.67 secs)	50	0%	136
Good	Uranium	0	000,950 ticks (15.83 secs)	250	0%	154
Good	Wood	1	000,350 ticks (5.83 secs)	65	100%	32
Excellent	Bioferrite	0	001,250 ticks (20.83 secs)	200	75%	29
Excellent	Gold	66	000,450 ticks (7.5 secs)	60	40%	3,000
Excellent	Granite blocks	1	003,140 ticks (52.33 secs)	170	0%	44
Excellent	Limestone blocks	1	003,140 ticks (52.33 secs)	155	0%	44
Excellent	Marble blocks	5	002,890 ticks (48.17 secs)	120	0%	43
Excellent	Plasteel	1	001,100 ticks (18.33 secs)	280	0%	275
Excellent	Sandstone blocks	2	002,640 ticks (44 secs)	140	0%	41
Excellent	Silver	21	000,500 ticks (8.33 secs)	70	40%	305
Excellent	Slate blocks	2	003,140 ticks (52.33 secs)	130	0%	44
Excellent	Steel	1	000,500 ticks (8.33 secs)	100	40%	60
Excellent	Jade	34	002,500 ticks (41.67 secs)	50	0%	164
Excellent	Uranium	1	000,950 ticks (15.83 secs)	250	0%	185
Excellent	Wood	1	000,350 ticks (5.83 secs)	65	100%	38
Masterwork	Bioferrite	1	001,250 ticks (20.83 secs)	200	75%	49
Masterwork	Gold	110	000,450 ticks (7.5 secs)	60	40%	4,000
Masterwork	Granite blocks	2	003,140 ticks (52.33 secs)	170	0%	73
Masterwork	Limestone blocks	2	003,140 ticks (52.33 secs)	155	0%	73
Masterwork	Marble blocks	8	002,890 ticks (48.17 secs)	120	0%	71
Masterwork	Plasteel	2	001,100 ticks (18.33 secs)	280	0%	460
Masterwork	Sandstone blocks	3	002,640 ticks (44 secs)	140	0%	69
Masterwork	Silver	35	000,500 ticks (8.33 secs)	70	40%	505
Masterwork	Slate blocks	3	003,140 ticks (52.33 secs)	130	0%	73
Masterwork	Steel	2	000,500 ticks (8.33 secs)	100	40%	100
Masterwork	Jade	56	002,500 ticks (41.67 secs)	50	0%	270
Masterwork	Uranium	1	000,950 ticks (15.83 secs)	250	0%	310
Masterwork	Wood	2	000,350 ticks (5.83 secs)	65	100%	63
Legendary	Bioferrite	1	001,250 ticks (20.83 secs)	200	75%	98
Legendary	Gold	176	000,450 ticks (7.5 secs)	60	40%	5,000
Legendary	Granite blocks	4	003,140 ticks (52.33 secs)	170	0%	147
Legendary	Limestone blocks	4	003,140 ticks (52.33 secs)	155	0%	147
Legendary	Marble blocks	13	002,890 ticks (48.17 secs)	120	0%	142
Legendary	Plasteel	4	001,100 ticks (18.33 secs)	280	0%	920
Legendary	Sandstone blocks	4	002,640 ticks (44 secs)	140	0%	138
Legendary	Silver	56	000,500 ticks (8.33 secs)	70	40%	1,010
Legendary	Slate blocks	4	003,140 ticks (52.33 secs)	130	0%	147
Legendary	Steel	4	000,500 ticks (8.33 secs)	100	40%	199
Legendary	Jade	90	002,500 ticks (41.67 secs)	50	0%	545
Legendary	Uranium	2	000,950 ticks (15.83 secs)	250	0%	615
Legendary	Wood	4	000,350 ticks (5.83 secs)	65	100%	127

Styles

Ideoligions allow the selection of styles which then change the texture of the certain items and buildings when constructed by the colony. These style variants can be crafted if the colony has the selected style, or can be looted from raiders from factions with the requisite style.

Base Variant
Techist Variant

Gallery

Facing south
Facing north
Facing east

Version history

Alpha 16, it was known as the Equipment rack and could only store apparel, mortar shells, or weapons.
0.17.1546 - Renamed from Equipment rack to Shelf, can now store anything instead of only apparel, mortar shells, and weapons
1.1.0 - Shelves were given a path cost. This made them slower to move on top of, but also enabled the behavior of placing items on them without walking on top of them. Prior to this, players would use the "stool trick" for crafting stations, where several stools were placed around a crafting station that had high-priority stockpiles on top of them. Stools had a path cost (but allowed stockpile zones), achieving a similar effect. Description now states that they hide beauty of things inside of them.
1.3.3287 - Fix: Shelves, chairs and stools don't have style dominance.
1.4.3523 - Shelves can now hold 3 items stacks per tile, or 6 items total, making them much more efficient for space. Removed ability to store chunks, corpses, minified buildings, and other large items. Resource amount lowered from 30 to 20, work to make lowered from 600 to 500. Shelves can be linked into groups for easier management. Small shelf variant added.
1.4.3525 - Fix: Shelves cause non-haulable things in the same cell to not affect beauty.

Equipment rack

Architect

Furniture: Animal bed • Animal sleeping box • Animal sleeping spot • Bedroll (Double) • Plant pot • Sculptures (Small, Large, Grand, Terror ) • Sleeping spot (Double, Baby ) • Stool • Table (1x2, 2x2, 2x4, 3x3) • Torch lamp • Urn • Animus stone • Darktorch • Fungus darktorch • Crib
Complex Furniture: Armchair • Bed (Double) • Dining chair • Dresser • End table • Royal bed • Shelf (Small) • Brazier (Darklight ) • Drape • Grand meditation throne • Meditation throne • Slab bed (Double) • Baby decoration • Blackboard • School desk • Toy box
(research): Hospital bed • Standing lamp • Sun lamp • Bonsai pot