Programmable Villager

Neutral mood (0)

Happy mood (1)

Angry mood (2)

Basic Information

The Programmable Villager is a wireable block that can be placed down to spawn a customizable human NPC with a random appearance. They can be used for purely decorative purposes with custom appearance and dialogue, or they can be given a "job", in which case, they will periodically give the player loot upon interaction if the conditions for the selected job are met. New jobs have to be unlocked by finding the corresponding Villager Upgrade Chip, by either finding a wild Villager with the job and completing their event, or by finding the upgrade chip in a Treasure Chest.

No Villager will actually make any modifications to your world - a Logger will not chop down any trees, and a Miner will not make ore nodes disappear, they will simply occasionally give you loot.

Obtaining

The main way of obtaining Programmable Villagers is finding naturally-spawning Villagers and completing their events. Each completed event will give 1-3 Programmable Villagers as a reward.

Alternatively, Programmable Villagers can be purchased as a part of a building kit for a Blueprint or gotten out of Creator Mode. They can also be given through Custom quests as rewards if the World Owner creates them.

Programmable Villagers cannot be crafted.

Usage

Programmable Villagers can be placed into the game world by putting (a stack of) them into your quickbar, selecting the according quickslot and clicking the right mouse button while pointing at a spot in the game world with your cursor. Placing a Programmable Villager will place a flat base block, which will then spawn the Villager on top of it.

The base of the Programmable Villager can be rotated into all directions by pressing and holding R and then pointing the mouse cursor at the block and moving the mouse while holding the left mouse button. However, this will not rotate the spawned NPC. This can be used to hide the NPC base from plain view.

Like most other placeable blocks, the base of Programmable Villagers can be painted. They can also be put into displays, where they will be shown at a reduced size - only the base will be displayed, no NPC will spawn inside the display.

You won't need any Power Cells (Mining Cell) to pick up Programmable Villagers that have been placed into the game world. Of course you won't be able to pick up such objects on game worlds, on player claims where your Permission rank is not sufficient (mainly when you are merely a visitor), which can only be changed by the owner of the game world, claim owner.

How to customize/wire

To customize the appearance, behavior or job of your Programmable Villager, you need to equip a Wiring Tool, aim at the base of the Programmable Villager (not the villager itself), and press 'N'. This will open up the wiring UI with several fields and buttons:

• Name: this field allows you to give your Programmable Villager a name. This name will be shown both when the Villager is aimed at, and as a prefix before any phrase the Villager says.
• Customize: clicking this button will open up the character customization UI, similar to the one for customizing the appearance for you own character. You can customize the appearance, colors and costumes for your Villagers here. Only costumes you own can be selected.
• Mood: the value of this input determines the facial expression and body language of the Villager. Current valid values are 0 - neutral, 1 - happy, 2 - angry. 
  • A Mode is selectable for the "Mood" input, either an Event Mode, where the value comes from some other device (like a Number Pad or other activation device), or a Value Mode, where you can enter a specific number, if you simply want your villager to always have a specific mood.
• Wander Percent: the value of this input determines how much the Villager walks around. Valid values are 0-100, where 0 means the Villager will not walk around, and 100 means they will be constantly moving unless a player enters their detection range.
  • A Mode is selectable for the "Wander Percent" input, either an Event Mode, where the value comes from some other device (like a Number Pad or other activation device), or a Value Mode, where you can enter a specific number, if you simply want your villager to always have a specific chance of wandering around. It is highly likely you will want to use this in value mode.
• Dialogue style: this allows you to select between interact-style and broadcast-style dialogue. Interact-style dialogue means a player will have to aim at the Villager and press 'F' to make them say something, while broadcast-style dialogue means a player will see a message as soon as they come into the range of the Villager, although they can still interact with the Villager for additional dialogue. Neither option will do anything if there are no phrases configured.
  • Broadcast-style dialogue will not work if the player is in Creator Mode.
  • Broadcast-style dialogue will not work if the player teleports too close to the Villager (inside the Villager's detection area) - in this case, going a small distance away and returning will make the dialogue also start working.
• Message: the value of this input will decide which of the configured phrases the Villager will say. The Villager will say a random phrase whose index value matches with the value of this input. If no such configured phrase exists, the Villager will say nothing. If this field is left empty, the Villager will say a random phrase form any of its configured phrases.
  • A Mode is selectable for the "Message" input, either an Event Mode, where the value comes from some other device (like a Number Pad or other activation device), or a Value Mode, where you can enter a specific number, if you simply want your villager to always say a specific phrase. You will most likely want to use this input in Event Mode, since if you simply want to always say a single message, you can simply configure only one message.
• Archetype: this allows you to select the job of the Villager. At first, the only possible value will be "None". To unlock additional values, you have to find the corresponding Villager Upgrade Chips, either from Treasure Chests or by completing the corresponding Villager event. When you select a job from the list, a description of the area requirements for the Villager to give loot is given under the drop-down. If the requirements are met, the Villager will give you loot approximately once every in-game day. See the next section for more details about the different archetypes.
• Add phrase: this button allows you to add dialogue to your Villager. Clicking the button will open a new UI with a small and a large input field. The phrase you want the Villager to say goes into the large field, and a numeric index for your phrase goes into the small field. If you do not plan to use the "Message" input, the value in the small field does not matter. If you do use the "Message" input, the value of the "Message" input will have to match the value of the index for this phrase to be used. You can have more than one phrase with the same index, in which case, a random one is used.
  • You can use {PlayerName} in your phrase to show the player's name in the phrase.
  • You can have up to 18 phrases for one Villager.

Archetypes

If a Villager has an archetype selected, they will give you loot approximately once every 15 (real time) minutes (default) if the necessary conditions are met. There are currently six different archetypes: Logger, Miner, Chef, Researcher, Apothecary and Treasure Hunter. Each of these needs to be unlocked by obtaining the corresponding upgrade chip, either from completing Villager events or from Treasure Chests. If you approach a Villager who is ready to give loot, they will wave at you.

Since the R2.75.19 update on Dec 18th 2020, a Programmable Villager will no longer give loot immediately upon placement, but only after 15 minutes have passed. Instead, interacting with the villager will tell you whether they are happy with their surroundings or not.

Since The Definitive Edition update on Dec 6th 2022 The World Owner now has the ability to adjust the amount of time it takes for the player to receive loot from the Programmable Villagers. The World Owner could make the time longer or shorter depending what they want for their world.

World Owners also have the ability to disable Villagers spawning in the world by toggling "Disable NPCs/Villagers Spawning" in the World Settings.

By default NPC spawning will be disabled on claims, but players of the world has the ability to enable NPC spawns in their own claims, by pressing "M" (default) key to open their map, click on their claim, click on setting > Advanced Settings and Enable NPC Spawning

For all archetypes, if two Villagers with the same archetype are too close (same or neighboring chunks*), neither will give loot, so take care not to place them close together.

*A chunk is a 16 by 16 block grid square locked to world coordinates. For reference, player claims are 64 by 64 blocks, and a horizontal slice of the claim contains 16 chunks. "Neighboring" refers to the 8 chunks around the one the villager is in.

Known issue: if you teleport too close to a Villager, you may need to go some distance away and return for them to actually give you loot.

Logger

The Logger archetype can be unlocked by finding a Logger Villager in Taigas and completing their event, or by finding the Villager Upgrade: Logger chip in a Stone Treasure Chest or Obsidian Treasure Chest (around 3% chance).

A Logger will give loot if there are any surface wood blocks nearby (in the current or any neighboring chunk). Having at least 128 of the same wood gives a chance for more loot. If there is more than one sort of wood nearby, which loot you will get is random.

As loot, a Logger will give Wood, Leaves and Flowers corresponding to the wood type nearby, and may also give Beeswax and Queen Bees.

Miner

The Miner archetype can be unlocked by finding a Miner Villager in Stalactite layer caves near Mineral Water and completing their event, or by finding the Villager Upgrade: Miner chip in a Stone Treasure Chest or Obsidian Treasure Chest (around 3% chance).

A Miner will give loot if there are any ore nodes (except Coal) nearby (in the current or any neighboring chunk). Having at least 9 of the same ore in the area will double the amount of loot. Unlike the Logger, if there are more than one sort of ore nodes in the area, the highest ore tier takes precedence, so if there are both obsidian and iron nodes in range, you will only get iron as loot. Note that due to the large range of the Miner, it is likely that you will get iron loot from a miner on the surface, and can get lumite loot from the lower parts of the Stalactite layer.

The different loots you can get from a Miner are:

• Coal, Obsidian Ore, Fossils and Magnetite from near Obsidian Nodes
• Iron Ore, Tourmaline, Mold and Sandstone from near Iron Nodes
• Diamond Ore and Tourmaline from near Diamond Nodes
• Lumite Ore from near Lumite Nodes

Chef

The Chef archetype can be unlocked by finding a Chef Villager in Dunes near oases (or sandy Shore near shorewood trees) and completing their event, or by finding the Villager Upgrade: Chef chip in a Iron Treasure Chest or Diamond Treasure Chest (around 0.8% chance).

A Chef will give loot if there are the following blocks nearby (in the same or neighboring chunk):

• at least 1 Cooking Station or Better Home Range
• at least 1 light source
• at least 8 Chairs of any sort
• at least 4 Tables of any sort
• at least 4 Placemats
• at least 1 Rambeau will have more loot

Having no Dirt, Mud, Sand, Tallgrass nor any related blocks or variation (including processed versions like slopes, stairs, slabs, and also the Retro versions) in the same chunk will double the amount of loot.

As loot, a Chef will give 6-24 of any Food that can be cooked at a Cooking Station, and can also give Questionable Jerky.

Researcher

The Researcher archetype can only be unlocked by finding the Villager Upgrade: Researcher chip in a Iron Treasure Chest or Diamond Treasure Chest (around 1.9% chance).

A Researcher will give loot if there are the following blocks nearby (in the same or neighboring chunk):

• at least 16 Stone Wall Shelves or Wood Book Shelves or Holiday Mantles
• at least 1 light source
• at least 8 Chairs of any sort
• at least 8 Tables of any sort

Having no other Programmable Villagers nearby will increase the amount and variety of loot.

As loot, a Researcher will give Notes and Data Chips.

Apothecary/PotionMaker

The Apothecary/PotionMaker archetype can only be unlocked by finding the Villager Upgrade: Apothecary chip in a Stone Treasure Chest, Obsidian Treasure Chest, Iron Treasure Chest or Diamond Treasure Chest (around 2-6% chance, best are obsidian and iron).

An Apothecary will give loot during the day if there are the following blocks nearby (in the same or neighboring chunk):

• at least 8 liquids of any sort
• at least 8 Mushrooms of any sort (only natural ones seem to count, not ones grown from Spores)
• at least 8 Flowers (Red Flower, Blue Flower, Yellow Flower, Wildwood Flower, Wildwood Flower (Dark), Weepwood Flower, Autumnwood Flower, Cactus Flower, Wildflower, Tundra Flower, Grumm's Temple Garden, Canvas Flower, Poinsettia, Beautacular Bouquet, Fab Flower)

As loot, the Apothecary will give the following 4-16 of the following potions:

• Basic Health Potion
• Freeze Resistance Potion
• Health Regeneration Potion
• Ocean Potion
• Advanced Health Potion
• Fire Resistance Potion
• Quick™
• Speed Potion
• Poison Resistance Potion
• Corruption Resistance Potion

If you have at least 16 of each the required blocks above, and 16 blocks of Bog Water as well, you will also get loot during the night: 4-32 of any of the potions mentioned above, or 1-8 of any Perfume. Note that it is likely that what matters is the time of day during which the loot is generated, not when it is picked up, so if you wander into the Apothecary's range during the day, you will probably get daytime loot even if you actually pick it up at night.

Treasure Hunter

The Treasure Hunter archetype can only be unlocked by finding the Villager Upgrade: Treasure Hunter chip in a Stone Treasure Chest, Obsidian Treasure Chest, Iron Treasure Chest or Diamond Treasure Chest (around 2-6% chance, best are obsidian and iron).

A Treasure Hunter will give placeable Treasure Chests as loot depending on its surroundings. It requires darkness to give any loot. The Treasure Hunter will always give the best loot that matches it's surroundings, meaning if you match the conditions for both diamond and stone treasure chests, you will always get diamond treasure chests. The possible loot conditions are:

• at least 128 Corrupted Blocks will result in a Lumite Treasure Chest
• at least 128 Lava layer blocks (Hardened Lava, Igneous Rock, Lava, Tourmaline, Sulfur, Diamond Node) will result in a Diamond Treasure Chest
• at least 128 Stalactite layer blocks (Siltstone, Stalactite, Iron Node, Mineral Water, Saltrock, Mold) will result in an Iron Treasure Chest
• at least 128 Fossil layer blocks (Bedrock, Limestone, Fossils, Obsidian, Coal, Tar) will result in an Obsidian Treasure Chest
• at least 128 Dirt, Stone or Peakstone will result in a Stone Treasure Chest
• at least 128 of any surface blocks will result in a Wood Treasure Chest

Known issues: Having a (pet) Thing near the Treasure Hunter is supposed to make it give 2 treasure chests instead of 1, but that does not currently seem to be working. If you have 2-3 (pet)Thing it will work but 1 Thing still work just not 100℅

Repairer

The Repairer archetype can only be unlocked by finding the Villager Upgrade: Repairer chip in a Iron Treasure Chest or Diamond Treasure Chest (around 0.7% chance from diamond).

A Repairer will allow repairing one Armor piece, Weapon, Power Cell and Rocket Pack to full durability around every 15 minutes if there are the following blocks nearby (same or neighboring chunk):

• at least 1 Forge
• at least 1 Processor
• at least 8 Lava

If the Repairer is ready to repair an item, interacting with it will open a window that shows all equipment that is either equipped or in the inventory of the player. To repair an item, either drag it to the item slot on the right, or right-click on the item you wish to repair.

Machinist

The Machinist archetype can only be unlocked by finding the Villager Upgrade: Machinist chip in a Iron Treasure Chest or Diamond Treasure Chest (around 2% chance from diamond).

A Machinist will give loot if there are the following blocks nearby (in the same or neighboring chunk):

• at least 32 arctek-related blocks (Healing Beacon, Grand Arctek Table, Arctek Chest, Grand Arctek Chest, Adventure Gate, Arc Sign, Red Beacon, Blue Beacon, Yellow Beacon, White Beacon, Arctek Torch, Grand Arctek Torch, Arctek Lantern, Grand Arctek Lantern, Arctek Table, Advanced Arctek Table, Fan, Teleporter, Checkpoint, Switch, Block Phaser, Pressure Plate, Logic Gate, Number Pad, Delay Gate, Inverter Gate, Number Comparison Gate, Math Gate, LED, Flip-flop Gate, Mob Spawner, Loot Spawner, Sensor, Arc Picture Frame, Number Comparison Gate, Arc Vault, Counter, Memory Gate, Random Number Generator, Arc Beacon, Inventory Sensor, Automated Chest, Arc Portal)
• at least 16 of any type of LED (LED, Industrial LED, Galactic LED)

Since ordinary LEDs count as both arctek-related blocks and LEDs, the easiest way to meet these conditions is to have at least 32 ordinary LED blocks nearby. Having one of each sort of Keepa nearby gives a chance for double loot.

As loot, a Machinist will give different wireable items like Switches, Fans, Logic Gates etc.

Gardener

The Gardener archetype can only be unlocked by finding the Villager Upgrade: Gardener chip in a Stone Treasure Chest, Obsidian Treasure Chest or Iron Treasure Chest (best chance is obsidian treasure chests with a chance of around 5.5%).

A gardener will give loot if there is at least one Crop nearby (Wheat, Crisphead Lettuce, Turnip, Horned Melon, Bamboo, Prickly Pal Cactus, Big Pokey Cactus, Desert Succulent, Brown Mushroom, Red Mushroom, Glowing Mushroom). The growth stage of the crop does not matter, having seeds or spores nearby is enough, even if they are fallow. Having at least 9 of a specific crop will give double loot for that type of crop. If there is more than one crop nearby, which will be used for calculating loot is random. As loot, the Gardener gives the type of seeds and crops that grow nearby.

Unlike most other NPC archetypes, there can be up to 4 Gardeners in the same area before they stop giving loot.

Rancher

The Rancher archetype can only be unlocked by finding the Villager Upgrade: Rancher chip in a Stone Treasure Chest, Obsidian Treasure Chest or Iron Treasure Chest (best chance is obsidian treasure chests with a chance of around 5.5%).

The Rancher will give loot if there are 1-3 of the same type of Creatures nearby, whether as pets or natural mobs. As loot, they will give the same type of loot as a tamed creature of the same type. When there are up to 2 of the same type of creatures nearby, the amount of loot will be 8 times what you would get from a tamed creature, and when there are 3 creatures of the same type nearby, the amount of loot will be 16 times what you would get from a tamed creature.

Explosives Expert

The Explosives Expert archetype can only be unlocked by finding an Explosives Expert Villager in the Canyons and completing its event. It can not currently be found in any treasure chests.

The Explosives Expert will give loot if there are the following blocks nearby (in the same or neighboring chunk):

• at least 1 Processor
• at least 1 Mold
• at least 1 Coal

For 5 times as much loot, you must meet the higher tier conditions:

• at least 1 Processor
• at least 8 Mold
• at least 3 Coal
• at least 8 Limestone

Note that you may still occasionally get the lower tier loot amount even if you meet the higher tier conditions.

As loot, Explosives Experts will give 1-3 (1-15 if meeting high tier conditions) Explosive Bombs, TNT or Stun Bombs.

Toolmaker

The Toolmaker archetype can only be unlocked by finding a Toolmaker Villager in the Mountains and completing its event. It can not currently be found in any treasure chests.

The Toolmaker will give Mining Cells as loot depending on its surroundings. It will give loot if there are the following blocks nearby (in the same or neighboring chunk):

• at least 1 Processor
• at least 2 chairs or tables of the material of the mining cell you wish to get as loot (e.g. having 2 Stone Chairs nearby would result in a Stone Mining Cell, while a Lumite Chair and a Lumite Table will result in a Lumite Mining Cell)

If you meet the conditions of more than one level of mining cells, which one you get will be random.

Known issues: it seems that for Iron Mining Cells, you need at least 8 Iron Chairs or Iron Tables, instead of the 2 required for every other type of mining cell.

Blacksmith

The Blacksmith archetype can only be unlocked by finding a Blacksmith Villager in the Caves and completing its event. It can not currently be found in any treasure chests.

The Blacksmith will give different swords as loot based on its surroundings. It will give loot if there are the following blocks nearby (in the same or neighboring chunk):

• no Outfitter Programmable Villagers (in addition to the usual no other Blacksmiths)
• at least 8 blocks of Lava
• at least 2 Arctek Chests or Grand Arctek Chests
• at least 2 (5 for lumite level) chairs or tables of the material of the sword you wish to get as loot (e.g. having 2 Stone Chairs nearby would result in a Stone Sword, while 4 Lumite Chairs and a Lumite Table will result in a Lumite Sword)

If you meet the conditions of more than one type of sword, which one you get will be random.

Outfitter

The Outfitter archetype can only be unlocked by finding a Outfitter Villager in the Caves and completing its event. It can not currently be found in any treasure chests.

The Outfitter will give 1-2 pieces of Armor as loot based on its surroundings. For leather armor, you will need the following blocks nearby (in the same or neighboring chunk):

• no Blacksmith Programmable Villagers (in addition to the usual no other Outfitters)
• at least 8 blocks of Lava
• at least 1 Arctek Table, Advanced Arctek Table or Grand Arctek Table

For all other types of armor, you will need the following blocks nearby (in the same or neighboring chunk):

• no Blacksmith Programmable Villagers (in addition to the usual no other Outfitters)
• at least 8 blocks of Lava
• at least 2 Arctek Chests or Grand Arctek Chests
• at least 2 (5 for obsidian level) chairs or tables of the material of the armor you wish to get as loot (e.g. having 5 Obsidian Chairs nearby would result in a Obsidian Leggings, Obsidian Pauldrons, Obsidian Breastplates or Obsidian Armguards, while a Lumite Chair and a Lumite Table will result in lumite level armor instead)

If you meet the conditions of multiple types of armor, which type you will get is random.