Sand, unlike normal soil, is always depicted using the ≈ and ~ symbols and cannot be furrowed, thus causing unpaved sand roads to be covered in grass and vegetation much more quickly. In the case of mountains, however, the same type of soil can also be revealed on the surface by clearing away the initial layer of grass (which will not regrow once removed). Although certain biomes lack soil layers altogether (such as mountains and glaciers), their geology data still contains at least one soil type which may be a type of sand.

When an underground tree grows on a muddy stone floor tile (after discovering a cavern) and is either trampled or cut down, the floor tile turns into a soil type appropriate to the biome. Sandy clay, sandy clay loam, sandy loam, and loamy sand are not considered sand by the game and thus cannot be used for glassmaking. Sand typically appears in deserts and along ocean beaches, but is often found in other biomes as well. There are five different colors of sand – yellow sand, white sand, black sand, red sand, and tan sand – but their only difference is their appearance on the ground, as there is no difference between them for purposes of glassmaking. Sand can also be used to make glass (see below). As all sand types are soils, above ground farm plots can be built on them without need for irrigation. It may be useful to construct several glass furnaces so that you can have several 'collect sand' jobs queued on them at the same time, which helps ensure that you have enough filled sand bags on hand to keep your glassmaker(s) supplied.Sand is one of the many specific types of soil that can be found in Dwarf Fortress. To have sand bags stored near your glass furnace, create a furniture stockpile with only 'sand bags' enabled (this is selected via the Template:K key in the furniture/siege ammo submenu of the stockpile settings menu) but with all materials still permitted. To get bags to fill with sand for your fortress, create a leather bag at a leather works or a cloth bag at a clothes maker's shop. Collected sand is listed in its own section on the stocks menu. Sand bags are stored in furniture stockpiles with 'sand bags' enabled. Sand will generally be collected from a random point along the edge of the cave river - for this reason, you may wish to use locked doors to keep your dwarves from wandering too far from the safety of your defenses.įilled bags of sand are considered furniture, and as such require the 'Furniture Hauling' labor to move. Sand collection requires the 'Item Hauling' labor. Each Dwarf collecting sand will require a bag, only one dwarf will collect sand per furnace, and no other tasks can be performed at the furnace while sand is being collected. To collect sand, simply issue the task 'Collect Sand' at a glass furnace. Sand is used in the production of green and clear glass items at a glass furnace ( crystal glass items require rock crystal in its place). Sand is a special material found lining the banks of rivers, as well as making up the entirety of sand deserts.

Dwarf fortress sand stockpile