# Question - Number-crunching hunger/thirst

**URL:** <https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/question-number-crunching-hunger-thirst/7912>\
**Category:** The Bunker\
**Created:** [November 17, 2014, 1:53am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/question-number-crunching-hunger-thirst/7912 "2014-11-17T01:53:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Wally-kun](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/wally-kun/32/375_2.png) [@Wally-kun](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Wally-kun)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 1:53am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/question-number-crunching-hunger-thirst/7912/1 "2014-11-17T01:53:37Z")

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The amount of food my character can consume in a day is alarming. I’ll think i’ve got enough for a while, and it turns out they eat half of it the next morning in one sitting. The vagueness of the “hungry” and “very hungry” doesn’t help, either. I don’t really know what these mean by themselves, or how close I am to taking damage, and when I should start thinking about eating zombie corpses to keep myself alive.

Can I get a definition for how the hunger/thirst systems specifically work? I could plan out my rations for weeks at a time if I just had some actual numbers to work with. I’ve never starved before but I’m teetering in some vague region near it almost constantly and I am not okay with it.

I’ve got 600+ hours in Don’t Starve, I need to know how to work this thing!

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**Author:** ![Valpo](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/valpo/32/341_2.png) [@Valpo](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Valpo)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 1:58am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/question-number-crunching-hunger-thirst/7912/2 "2014-11-17T01:58:29Z")

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Well beeing very hungry isn t realy allarming in terms of close to death. Think of it as a feeling . I myself get hungry in like 4-5 hours w/o eating as well give a few hours more and i am very hungry but FAR from dieing. Its kinda the same ingame. You can go quite a few hours on very hungry before you ll start entering starving.  
Don t worry to much about your hunger all the time. Keep yourslef slaked though as thirst carries emediate penalties.

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**Author:** ![KA101](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/278dde/32.png) [@KA101](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/KA101)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 2:06am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/question-number-crunching-hunger-thirst/7912/3 "2014-11-17T02:06:21Z")

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It’s intentionally vague, but here’s some general guidance:

First two levels of hunger/thirst are fairly tame. You’ll take a minor speed-down from thirst as you approach Very Thirsty but that shouldn’t be too tough.

Famished and Dehydrated are problems you should look into fixing ASAP–dip into your nonperishables if you can spare any. Anything worse, you’re in serious trouble and should fix it NOW.

As for fatigue: we start penalizing you at Dead Tired, and you can microsleep (lose 30-60 seconds at random, hopefully not whilst driving or in combat) at Exhausted onward.

You’ll get plenty of notice if you’re in danger of dying/sleeping thanks to one of these running down, no worries.

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**Author:** ![Wally-kun](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/wally-kun/32/375_2.png) [@Wally-kun](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Wally-kun)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 3:18am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/question-number-crunching-hunger-thirst/7912/4 "2014-11-17T03:18:15Z")

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What I’m TRYING to do is figure out how many points of hunger/thirst I go through daily, so that I have an actual frame of reference when I start to think about long term - for instance, how much food I want laying around that could possibly spoil like meat, and how much non-perishable stuff I need before I can start to feel comfortable with my position. I’m always thrown off by the amount of stuff a human needs to eat, which is a bit more than I ever seem to expect. This, in turn, puts foraging up on the top of the list right when I was preparing to do something else.

Can anyone tell me the specifics here? I’m sure there’s something in the code, I don’t know how to find it however.

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**Author:** ![Valpo](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/valpo/32/341_2.png) [@Valpo](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Valpo)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 3:21am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/question-number-crunching-hunger-thirst/7912/5 "2014-11-17T03:21:08Z")

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I won t order you arround but take it as a suggestion. Don t look into gameplay mechanics to much. Go by gut feeling when its viable (which it is in this case). For me it is like i destroy my imersion and fun witz the game the more i associate it with code… numbers syntax…

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**Author:** ![Blaze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@Blaze](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Blaze)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 3:28am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/question-number-crunching-hunger-thirst/7912/6 "2014-11-17T03:28:41Z")

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Hunger Ratings:  
-60 and below= Engorged  
-59 - -20 = Sated  
-19-0 = Full  
1-39 = No Message  
40-99 = Hungry  
100-299 = Very Hungry  
300-1399 = Famished  
1400-2799 = Near Starving  
2800+ = Starving  
6000+ = Death

Thirst Ratings:  
-60 and Below = Turgid  
-59 - -20 = Hydrated  
-19 - 0 = Slaked  
1-39 = No Message  
40-79 = Thirsty  
80-239 = Very Thirsty  
240-519 = Dehydrated  
520+ = Parched  
1200+ = Death

Your hunger, thirst, and fatigue is checked every 5 minutes. Mutations, diseases, and bionics may alter these checks. Hunger and thirst checks come more slowly while sleeping. Being hot also increases thirst.

Activated mutations cannot be used above certain hunger/thirst/fatigue thresholds.  
Metabolic Interchange will not work if you’re Very Hungry.  
Your speed starts taking penalties at Very Hungry and Thirsty.

[spoiler=Ruinously Huge Spoilers]  
Hunger/thirst is calculated every 5 minutes.  
Hunger/thirst is checked every 10 minutes while sleeping.  
While hibernating, it’s checked every 7 minutes. You can only hibernate when your hunger is under -60 and thirst is under 80, otherwise you enter normal sleep.

Every 5 minutes, your hunger increases by 1.  
If you have light eater, you have a 33% chance of ignoring this increase.  
If you have the Recycler Unit bionic, ignore every 6th increase.  
If you have the Recycler Unit bionic, ignore this increase while sleeping.  
If you have the Fast Metabolism trait, you have a 50% chance of increasing hunger by an additional 1 per check.  
If you have the Rapid Metabolism trait, you have a 33% chance of increasing hunger by an additional 1 per check.  
If you have the Very Fast Metabolism trait, increase hunger by an additional 1 per check.  
If you have the Extreme Metabolism trait, increase hunger by an additional 2 per check.

Every 5 minutes, your thirst increases by 1.  
If you have the Recycler unit bionic, ignore every other increase.  
If you have the Phelloderm mutation, you have a 20% chance of ignoring this increase.  
If you have the High Thirst mutation, 50% chance of gaining an additional 1 thirst per check.  
If you have the Very Thirsty mutation, increase thirst by an additional 1 per check.  
If you have the Extremely Thirsty mutation, increase thirst by an additional 1 per check.

The Metabolic Interchange bionic increases your power by 25 every 30 seconds, at the cost of 2 hunger if your hunger is below 100.  
If your hunger is greater than 100, your speed is reduced by (Hunger-100)/10.  
If your thirst is greater than 40, your speed is reduced by (Thirst-40)/10

If your hunger is above 700, your thirst is above 260, or fatigue is above 575, you cannot use activated mutations.

Again, Mutations can alter hunger and thirst outside of these circumstances.[/spoiler]

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Closet\_Pankin](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/closet_pankin/32/376_2.png) [@Closet\_Pankin](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Closet_Pankin)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 3:45am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/question-number-crunching-hunger-thirst/7912/7 "2014-11-17T03:45:46Z")

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[quote=“Blaze, post:6, topic:7912”][spoiler=Basic Info]  
Hunger Ratings:  
-60 and below= Engorged  
-59 - -20 = Sated  
-19-0 = Full  
1-39 = No Message  
40-99 = Hungry  
100-299 = Very Hungry  
300-1399 = Famished  
1400-2799 = Near Starving  
2800+ = Starving  
6000+ = Death

Thirst Ratings:  
-60 and Below = Turgid  
-59 - -20 = Hydrated  
-19 - 0 = Slaked  
1-39 = No Message  
40-79 = Thirsty  
80-239 = Very Thirsty  
240-519 = Dehydrated  
520+ = Parched  
1200+ = Death

Your hunger, thirst, and fatigue is checked every 5 minutes. Mutations, diseases, and bionics may alter these checks. Hunger and thirst checks come more slowly while sleeping. Being hot also increases thirst.

Activated mutations cannot be used above certain hunger/thirst/fatigue thresholds.  
Metabolic Interchange will not work if you’re Very Hungry.  
Your speed starts taking penalties at Very Hungry and Thirsty.  
[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Ruinously Huge Spoilers]  
Hunger/thirst is calculated every 5 minutes.  
Hunger/thirst is checked every 10 minutes while sleeping.  
While hibernating, it’s checked every 7 minutes. You can only hibernate when your hunger is under -60 and thirst is under 80, otherwise you enter normal sleep.

Every 5 minutes, your hunger increases by 1.  
If you have light eater, you have a 33% chance of ignoring this increase.  
If you have the Recycler Unit bionic, ignore every 6th increase.  
If you have the Recycler Unit bionic, ignore this increase while sleeping.  
If you have the Fast Metabolism trait, you have a 50% chance of increasing hunger by an additional 1 per check.  
If you have the Rapid Metabolism trait, you have a 33% chance of increasing hunger by an additional 1 per check.  
If you have the Very Fast Metabolism trait, increase hunger by an additional 1 per check.  
If you have the Extreme Metabolism trait, increase hunger by an additional 2 per check.

Every 5 minutes, your thirst increases by 1.  
If you have the Recycler unit bionic, ignore every other increase.  
If you have the Phelloderm mutation, you have a 20% chance of ignoring this increase.  
If you have the High Thirst mutation, 50% chance of gaining an additional 1 thirst per check.  
If you have the Very Thirsty mutation, increase thirst by an additional 1 per check.  
If you have the Extremely Thirsty mutation, increase thirst by an additional 1 per check.

The Metabolic Interchange bionic increases your power by 25 every 30 seconds, at the cost of 2 hunger if your hunger is below 100.  
If your hunger is greater than 100, your speed is reduced by (Hunger-100)/10.  
If your thirst is greater than 40, your speed is reduced by (Thirst-40)/10

If your hunger is above 700, your thirst is above 260, or fatigue is above 575, you cannot use activated mutations.

Again, Mutations can alter hunger and thirst outside of these circumstances.[/spoiler][/quote]

Woah woah woah, engorged? Never knew that was a thing. How does that affect you?

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**Author:** ![Blaze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@Blaze](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Blaze)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 3:54am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/question-number-crunching-hunger-thirst/7912/8 "2014-11-17T03:54:17Z")

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Engorged is only achievable via Hibernation mutation and stuffing yourself AFAIK, it’s basically telling you that you can start hibernating.

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**Author:** ![Closet\_Pankin](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/closet_pankin/32/376_2.png) [@Closet\_Pankin](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Closet_Pankin)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 4:05am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/question-number-crunching-hunger-thirst/7912/9 "2014-11-17T04:05:12Z")

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> [@Blaze](#):
>
> Engorged is only achievable via Hibernation mutation and stuffing yourself AFAIK, it’s basically telling you that you can start hibernating.

Oooooh thanks

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**Author:** ![KA101](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/278dde/32.png) [@KA101](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/KA101)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 4:19am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/question-number-crunching-hunger-thirst/7912/10 "2014-11-17T04:19:43Z")

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> [@Blaze](#):
>
> Engorged is only achievable via Hibernation mutation and stuffing yourself AFAIK, it’s basically telling you that you can start hibernating.

Yep. FWIW I’ve never been able to get it to actually show up on the UI, so Blaze is obviously code-diving. Fortunately DDA is open source, so her code-diving is perfectly OK. 😉

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**Author:** ![Blaze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@Blaze](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Blaze)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 4:25am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/question-number-crunching-hunger-thirst/7912/11 "2014-11-17T04:25:25Z")

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I’ve had hibernation before, and most of that info was what Whales coughed up on the old cataclysm forum.

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**Author:** ![Force21](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@Force21](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Force21)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 4:26am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/question-number-crunching-hunger-thirst/7912/12 "2014-11-17T04:26:00Z")

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I’m confused about the message “You won’t be able to finish this, eat/drink it anyway?” Does it really mean anything? since the numbers go much lower than i thought they would, does the character eat all of whatever they’re trying to eat?

I just hate wasting anything 🙂 its the little ocd-ish thing that keeps me from eating things like burgers when i should because they spoil.

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**Author:** ![KA101](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/278dde/32.png) [@KA101](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/KA101)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 4:29am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/question-number-crunching-hunger-thirst/7912/13 "2014-11-17T04:29:23Z")

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Old forum got wiped, so that’s a convenient claim. And if you’ve seen Engorged in-game, I’d be curious what version you’re running, as I have not. (And I wrote it.)

[quote=“Force21, post:12, topic:7912”]I’m confused about the message “You won’t be able to finish this, eat/drink it anyway?” Does it really mean anything? since the numbers go much lower than i thought they would, does the character eat all of whatever they’re trying to eat?

I just hate wasting anything 🙂 its the little ocd-ish thing that keeps me from eating things like burgers when i should because they spoil.[/quote]

It indeed means something, as most characters are capped much earlier than Blaze’s infodump would lead you to believe. If we prompt you, you’re not getting full value from the food.

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**Author:** ![Blaze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@Blaze](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Blaze)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 4:38am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/question-number-crunching-hunger-thirst/7912/14 "2014-11-17T04:38:12Z")

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That’s odd, started a debug character and I can’t get hibernation to work anymore either. It used to be that it would let you eat above full, but you’d get sleepier on trying. Lemme pull up an older version and check.

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**Author:** ![KA101](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/278dde/32.png) [@KA101](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/KA101)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 4:39am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/question-number-crunching-hunger-thirst/7912/15 "2014-11-17T04:39:16Z")

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> [@Blaze](#):
>
> That’s odd, started a debug character and I can’t get hibernation to work anymore either. It used to be that it would let you eat above full, but you’d get sleepier on trying. Lemme pull up an older version and check.

You need to activate it now, IIRC.

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**Author:** ![Blaze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@Blaze](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Blaze)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 4:42am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/question-number-crunching-hunger-thirst/7912/16 "2014-11-17T04:42:39Z")

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That explains a lot, I haven’t had a character with hibernation in ages. And the oldest cataclysm version I haven’t deleted yet is September 7. I guess it’s gone for now.

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**Author:** ![Force21](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@Force21](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Force21)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 4:44am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/question-number-crunching-hunger-thirst/7912/17 "2014-11-17T04:44:22Z")

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Okay thanks, so looks like burgers are off the menu. With 90 to 120 food each, they won’t be eaten by me. Actually… since they do spoil I guess I might as well eat them. I guess ill rather get a little food from a burger than none at all 🙂

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**Author:** ![KA101](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/278dde/32.png) [@KA101](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/KA101)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 5:00am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/question-number-crunching-hunger-thirst/7912/18 "2014-11-17T05:00:17Z")

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> [@Blaze](#):
>
> That explains a lot, I haven’t had a character with hibernation in ages. And the oldest cataclysm version I haven’t deleted yet is September 7. I guess it’s gone for now.

Kevin and I spent QUITE a lot of time over the past few days tracking down and fixing that bug. Thanks for not insulting us like that in future.

KA101 takes his work Too Personally.

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**Author:** ![Valpo](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/valpo/32/341_2.png) [@Valpo](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Valpo)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 5:01am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/question-number-crunching-hunger-thirst/7912/19 "2014-11-17T05:01:05Z")

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Just wait till your hungry enough \>.\>

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Wally-kun](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/wally-kun/32/375_2.png) [@Wally-kun](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Wally-kun)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 7:53am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/question-number-crunching-hunger-thirst/7912/20 "2014-11-17T07:53:04Z")

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Well I saw an infodump back there but I think I actually am going to avoid it for the time being. Thank you for the code diving btw.

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