# How to get NPCs to stay put while doing activities?

**URL:** <https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/how-to-get-npcs-to-stay-put-while-doing-activities/25171>\
**Category:** The Garage\
**Created:** [November 5, 2020, 10:21pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/how-to-get-npcs-to-stay-put-while-doing-activities/25171 "2020-11-05T22:21:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Pyrite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pyrite](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Pyrite)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2020, 10:21pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/how-to-get-npcs-to-stay-put-while-doing-activities/25171/1 "2020-11-05T22:21:58Z")

</div>

I’m talking here about the ‘acitivities’ menu you get from pressing ‘h’ on the ‘I want you to do something’ option when talking to allied NPCs.

Specifically, ‘please study from a book’ does not mean ‘follow me as soon as I’m ten spaces away’.

Is there any way to get my NPCs to remain at base studying while I’m off scavenging or clearing zombies?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![GiggleGrassGatherer](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/gigglegrassgatherer/32/7743_2.png) [@GiggleGrassGatherer](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/GiggleGrassGatherer)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2020, 2:06am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/how-to-get-npcs-to-stay-put-while-doing-activities/25171/2 "2020-11-06T02:06:17Z")

</div>

a wild guess: the NPC is in a basement or at one of the top floors?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Pyrite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pyrite](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Pyrite)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2020, 3:35am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/how-to-get-npcs-to-stay-put-while-doing-activities/25171/3 "2020-11-06T03:35:49Z")

</div>

Yeah, I set them to reading in the second floor Foodplace hideout, and they abandon reading when I go down a Z level. Would they stay put if I left them on the first floor?

If so, then I guess I’ll have to work out how to protect them doing that.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![GiggleGrassGatherer](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/gigglegrassgatherer/32/7743_2.png) [@GiggleGrassGatherer](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/GiggleGrassGatherer)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2020, 3:41am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/how-to-get-npcs-to-stay-put-while-doing-activities/25171/4 "2020-11-06T03:41:58Z")

</div>

Yes, it’s a [bug](https://github.com/CleverRaven/Cataclysm-DDA/issues/43982), they were working fine for a while but something broke somewhere on the road to 0.F.