Food & Water



Food & Water are categories of consumable items crafted from materials and caught creatures using the Fabricator. They are only available in Survival and Hardcore mode. Consuming Food & Water is required to maintain the player's Food & Water levels or else the player risks dying from thirst or malnutrition.

While some Food can be eaten raw, this action dehydrates the player and yields significantly less Food than when it is cooked. The player can also choose to cure fish instead of cooking them, so as to make them immune to decay. Cured fish has the same Food values as cooked fish, but dehydrates the player by -2 H2O.

To consume Food & Water items the player can left-click on the item in the PDA.

Rot and Decay
Cooked Food may raise the player's H2O levels, but it also prone to rotting and decomposing. Curing fish instead of cooking them solves this problem but decreases hydration. Still, this is a preferable alternative for dealing with hunger when far from base or when local fish are sparse, as cured fish are the only kind of Food with any sort of long-term storage.

Cooked Food slowly starts to lose its Food & Water value leading to Decomposition. The level will go as low as -25 H2O and -25 Food. During decomposition the Food amount lowers slowly; but when it reaches a certain level the Food becomes Ripe; Ripe Food eventually becomes rotten when it reaches -1 Food. It is recommended to eat the Food while you can during the early stages of decomposition as you will still gain some hunger.

Stages of decomposition (Cooked Fish): It is possible to store live fish in storage containers that will not rot until the player is ready to cook them. However, stored cooked fish will still rot regardless.
 * 1) Starts after: ~2-3 min.
 * 2) Decomposing: ~2-3 min.
 * 3) Ripe: ~13-18 min.
 * 4) Rotting: ~27-33 min.

Note that decomposition also applies to plant Foods as well, and it is not possible to cook or cure them. While this renders them useless as Food, they can still be used for planting, or in the case of Creepvine, fabrication.

Cooked


Cooking Food requires:
 * 1x Raw Food Item

Cooked Food can be obtained using a Fabricator or by killing the creature with a Thermoblade.

Cured


Crafting cured Food requires:
 * 1x Raw Food Item
 * 1x Salt Deposit