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Fabricator Menu Survival

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, which will immediately consume the item and provide the player with its respective stat changes.

The two gauges are marked out of 100 but work slightly differently: the Water gauge never exceeds 100 under any circumstances, but the Food gauge will "overflow" above 100 if a consumed item's Food value would take it beyond 100, and it is not already 100 or higher. The maximum value for Food is therefore 174 in Subnautica and 184 in Below Zero (eating a Nutrient Block or Spicy Fruit Salad at 99 Food, respectively).

Starvation and Dehydration[]

A player will starve fully in about 50 minutes (1 unit of food every 30 seconds) and so it is important to watch out, as not being cautious can mean death.

With dehydration, on the other hand, a player will die in about 33 minutes. (1 unit of thirst every 20 seconds)

In both cases, a player will be warned that they are close to starvation and/or dehydration when only 20 units of either food or water remain. Another warning will be heard when 10 units remain. The audio for the warnings can be heard here.

Rot and Decay[]

Cooked food only provides full nutritional value for about two to three minutes after being cooked. After that, the food will slowly start to lose its Food & Water values as it decays, eventually labeled "Old" with little diminishing food value, and finally marked "Rotten" when the Food value goes to -1. Both Food & Water values can drop to -25, making it harmful to the player to eat rotten food. It is recommended to eat Food during any stage prior to becoming rotten since it will still provide some nutrition.

The stages of cooked fish decomposing are as follows:

  • Full nutrition: ~2–3 minutes after cooking
  • Decomposition: ~2–3 minutes
  • Ripe: ~13–18 minutes
  • Rotten: ~27–33 minutes

There are various ways to get around food decay:

  • Storing live fish in storage containers will keep them alive indefinitely until the player decides to cook them. Once the fish is cooked, it will begin to rot, even inside storage containers. Live fish can (somehow) survive indefinitely in the player's inventory, or in any Storage, not necessarily an Aquarium or Alien Containment .
  • Curing fish, instead of cooking them, will prevent them from decomposing. This comes at the cost of decreasing the player's hydration level when eating cured fish, but this may be preferable when the player travels far from their base or when in areas with sparse local fish.
  • Cooking or curing rotten, old, or decaying fish will restore their freshness.
  • Nutrient blocks, snacks, and Gel Sacks can be stored indefinitely without decaying, but they can be rare or may not provide ideal nutrition. In Below Zero, Spicy Fruit Salads will not decay and can be created from cultivated plants, making it the best food item in the game.
  • In Below Zero, storing cooked food in a Fridge will prevent it from decaying. Fridges can only be built inside of Seabases.

List of items[]

Water[]

Fabricator Menu Water
Icon Item SN BZ Food H₂O Heat (BZ)
Coffee Coffee Americano 0 +4 N/A
Disinfected Water Disinfected Water 0 +30 (SN)
+35 (BZ)
0
Filtered Water Filtered Water 0 +20 (SN)
+25 (BZ)
0
Big Filtered Water Large Filtered Water 0 +50 0
Reclaimed Water Reclaimed Water -3 +20 0
1x1 default bg
Thermos Icon
Thermos 0 -2 +50

Cooked Food[]

Fabricator Menu Cooked Food

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

Icon Item SN BZ Food H2O Heat (BZ)
Cooked Arctic Peeper Cooked Arctic Peeper +32 +5 0
Cooked Isosceles Ray Cooked Arrow Ray +13 +5 0
Cooked Bladderfish Cooked Bladderfish +16 (SN)
+18 (BZ)
+4 0
Cooked Boomerang Cooked Boomerang +21 +3 0
1x1 default bg
Cooked Discus Fish Icon

Cooked Discus Fish

+18 +10 0
Cooked Eyeye Cooked Eyeye +18 +10 N/A
Cooked Feather Fish Cooked Feather Fish +23 +3 0
Cooked Feather Fish Red Cooked Feather Fish (Red) +23 +3 0
Cooked Garryfish Cooked Garryfish +18 +5 N/A
Cooked Holefish Cooked Holefish +21 +3 N/A
Cooked Hoopfish Cooked Hoopfish +23 +3 0
Cooked Hoverfish Cooked Hoverfish +23 +3 N/A
Cooked Lava Boomerang Cooked Magmarang +20 +3 N/A
Cooked Noot Fish Cooked Noot Fish +23 +3 0
Cooked Oculus Cooked Oculus +30 +2 N/A
Cooked Peeper Cooked Peeper +32 +5 N/A
Cooked Lava Eyeye Cooked Red Eyeye +18 +9 N/A
Cooked Reginald Cooked Reginald +44 +4 N/A
Cooked Spadefish Cooked Spadefish +23 +3 N/A
Cooked Spinefish Cooked Spinefish +23 +3 0
Cooked Spinner Fish Cooked Spinner Fish +23 +3 0
Cooked Symbiote Cooked Symbiote +23 +3 0
Cooked Triops Cooked Triops +13 +5 0
1x1 default bg
Spicy Fruit Salad Icon
Spicy Fruit Salad +85 +30 +100

Cured Food[]

Fabricator Menu Cured Food

Crafting cured food requires:

Icon Item SN BZ Food H2O
Cured Arctic Peeper Cured Arctic Peeper +32 -2
Cured Isosceles Ray Cured Arrow Ray +13 -2
Cured Bladderfish Cured Bladderfish +16 -2
Cured Boomerang Cured Boomerang +21 -2
1x1 default bg
Cured Discus Fish Icon
Cured Discus Fish +18 -2
Cured Eyeye Cured Eyeye +18 -2
Cured Feather Fish Cured Feather Fish +23 -2
Cured Feather Fish Red Cured Feather Fish (Red) +23 -2
Cured Garryfish Cured Garryfish +18 -2
Cured Holefish Cured Holefish +21 -2
Cured Hoopfish Cured Hoopfish +23 -2
Cured Hoverfish Cured Hoverfish +23 -2
Cured Magmarang Cured Magmarang +21 -2
Cured Noot Fish Cured Noot Fish +23 -2
Cured Oculus Cured Oculus +30 -2
Cured Peeper Cured Peeper +32 -2
Cured Red Eyeye Cured Red Eyeye +18 -2
Cured Reginald Cured Reginald +44 -2
Cured Spadefish Cured Spadefish +23 -2
Cured Spinefish Cured Spinefish +23 -2
Cured Spinner Fish Cured Spinner Fish +23 -2
Cured Symbiote Cured Symbiote +23 -2
Cured Triops Cured Triops +13 -2

Uncooked Food[]

Icon Item SN BZ Food H2O
Arctic Peeper Arctic Peeper +12 -7
Arrow Ray Arrow Ray +4 -3
Bladderfish Bladderfish +9 (SN)
+6 (BZ)
-4

Boomerang

Boomerang +12 (SN)
+8 (BZ)
-8 (SN)
-3 (BZ)
1x1 default bg
Discus Fish Icon
Discus Fish +10 0
Eyeye Eyeye +10 0
Feather Fish Feather Fish +4 -1
Feather Fish Red Feather Fish (Red) +4 -1

Garryfish

Garryfish +12 -12
Holefish Holefish +12 -5
Hoopfish Hoopfish +12 (SN)
+4 (BZ)
-6 (SN)
-1 (BZ)

Hoverfish

Hoverfish +13 -9
Lava Boomerang Magmarang +12 -3
Noot Fish Noot Fish +8 -6

Oculus

Oculus +12 -6

Peeper

Peeper +20 -15
Lava Eyeye Red Eyeye +10 0
Reginald Reginald +25 -10

Spadefish

Spadefish +13 -6

Spinefish

Spinefish +7 (SN)
+4 (BZ)
-1
Spinner Fish Spinner Fish +8 -6
Symbiote Symbiote +4 -1
Triops Triops +4 -3

Other[]

Icon Item SN BZ Food H2O Heat (BZ) Health (BZ)
1x2 aquatic plant bg
Antennae Fruit Icon
Antennae Plant Fruit +20 +5 0 +9
Bulb Bush Sample Bulb Bush Sample +3 +10 N/A N/A
Bulbo Tree Sample Bulbo Tree Sample +8 +10 N/A N/A
1x1 aquatic plant bg
Bullseye Shroom Chunk Icon
Bullseye Shroom Chunk +8 +3 0 0
Chinese Potato Chinese Potato +12 +3 0 0
Creepvine Sample Creepvine Sample +3 +1 0 0
Creepvine Seed Cluster Creepvine Seed Cluster +0 +10 0 0
Heat Fruit Fevered Pepper +15 +20 +50 0
1x1 default bg
Frost Anemone Heart Icon
Frost Anemone Heart +10 +20 0 0

Spore Sack

Gel Sack +5 +4 0 0
Lantern Fruit Lantern Fruit +10 (SN)
+15 (BZ)
+3 (SN)
0 (BZ)
+75 0
Marblemelon Marblemelon +12 (SN)
+11 (BZ)
+14 (SN)
+7 (BZ)
0 0
Nutrient Block Nutrient Block +75 0 0 0
1x1 land plant bg
Preston's Delight Icon
Preston's Delight +15 +5 0 0
2x2 land plant bg
Shrub Nut Icon
Shrub Nut +15 +5 0 +10

Snack1

Snacks

+3 -2 0 0

Trivia[]

  • Originally during early development, Blood Sugar was used instead of Food and Water. The reason for this change was likely to make it more streamlined with other survival games.
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