Shelf

Acquisition

Shelves can be constructed once the Complex furniture research project has been completed. Each requires 20 Stuff (Metallic/Woody/Stony, 200 for SMVs) and 500 ticks (8.33 secs) of work.

Summary

A shelf acts like a stockpile zone that can hold 3 items a tile, or 6 items per shelf. They cannot hold chunks, minified buildings, plants, or corpses with a body size greater than 0.75. For a list of corpses that fit in a shelf when fully grown, see here. It also protects items from deterioration and removes their beauty penalty. Instead, the beauty of the area covered by the shelf is only the combined beauty of the shelf itself and the underlying floor or terrain.

Shelves slow passage, but do not block movement. This trait makes it possible for pawns to pick up/place items without actually stepping on its tile. They can be reinstalled as needed.

A shelf is functionally identical to a small shelf that takes up two tiles rather than one. There are a few minor differences as a building.

Storage settings

Linking small shelves and blueprints.

The default storage settings is to contain general items at the "Preferred" priority level, but this can be changed at will, even while the shelf is still in an unfinished blueprint form.

Shelves can also be "linked" together in groups. Linked shelves will share the same storage settings. In order to link shelves, select the shelves you want to link (shift-click to select multiple items), then select the "Link settings" gizmo. You can link shelves, even if they are uncompleted. The link will keep the storage settings of the first shelf selected in a link.

Analysis

The "shelf trick". Shelves next to a worker's seat increase efficiency.

A shelf's main use is to store items. Each shelf gives thrice the storage space. They can store and "mask" many ugly items in your workstation, allow more meat into your freezer, protect weapons and mortar shells from deterioration, etc. The removal of beauty penalty and their slight beauty boost make shelves convenient anywhere you want quick access to items, like medicine in a hospital.

Shelves can also make workers more efficient. Unlike actual storage zones, shelves allow a pawn to place or remove an item without walking on top of them. Working pawns can pick items off an adjacent shelf without needing to leave their seat, which significantly improves crafting time. This technique is best combined with "drop on floor when finished" and having other pawns restock the shelves. Even outside of workstations, not having to stand on top of the tile saves a very small amount of hauling time.

Eventually, any item that can be put on a shelf should be stored on a shelf - this saves space, which saves walking time, reduces the number of coolers and firefoam poppers required, decreases the walls required, etc.

Material analysis

You should make the shelves as cheap as possible - the quality and material of a shelf are largely irrelevant. Quality only impacts beauty and wealth. Material impacts beauty, HP, and flammability. Of these stats:

The beauty and wealth increases are minimal, unless impractical materials like gold are used. If colonists spend only a short time near the shelf, such as in warehouse storage areas, then both stats don't matter at all.
HP is redundant, as shelves should be very rarely under attack. In any case, shelves of cheap materials are cheap to replace.
Flammability rarely matters, as a nonflammable shelf doesn't protect any items on it. If flammability is a concern, then stone is cheap, durable, and nonflammable.

Because wealth increases raid strength, high quality shelves can actually be undesirable. However, even a masterwork stone shelf is only worth 75. And, for the purposes of raid points, wealth from buildings is halved. Therefore the impact of shelf quality on raids is almost nonexistent, unless you are playing on a custom, 500% threat scale difficulty, or if you're using shelves made of gold.

Compared to 2 small shelves, the regular shelf takes 83% the work, but is a bigger loss if destroyed from a targeted tantrum. Either way, the differences are small - place mini shelves where they would fit, and regular shelves elsewhere.

Stats table

Shelf	Beauty	Work to Build	HP	Flammability	Market Value
Material	Beauty	Work to Build	HP	Flammability	Market Value
Bioferrite	0	001,250 ticks (20.83 secs)	200	75%	20
Gold	22	000,450 ticks (7.5 secs)	60	40%	2,000
Granite blocks	0	003,140 ticks (52.33 secs)	170	0%	29
Limestone blocks	0	003,140 ticks (52.33 secs)	155	0%	29
Marble blocks	2	002,890 ticks (48.17 secs)	120	0%	28
Plasteel	0	001,100 ticks (18.33 secs)	280	0%	184
Sandstone blocks	1	002,640 ticks (44 secs)	140	0%	28
Silver	7	000,500 ticks (8.33 secs)	70	40%	200
Slate blocks	1	003,140 ticks (52.33 secs)	130	0%	29
Steel	0	000,500 ticks (8.33 secs)	100	40%	40
Jade	11	002,500 ticks (41.67 secs)	50	0%	109
Uranium	0	000,950 ticks (15.83 secs)	250	0%	123
Wood	0	000,350 ticks (5.83 secs)	65	100%	25

Styles

Ideoligions allow the selection of styles which then change the texture of the certain items and buildings when constructed by the colony. These style variants can be crafted if the colony has the selected style, or can be looted from raiders from factions with the requisite style.

Base Variant
Techist Variant

Gallery

Facing south
Facing north
Facing east

Version history

Alpha 16, it was known as the Equipment rack and could only store apparel, mortar shells, or weapons.
0.17.1546 - renamed from Equipment rack to Shelf, can now store anything instead of only apparel, mortar shells, and weapons
1.1.0 - Shelves were given a path cost. This made them slower to move on top of, but also enabled the behavior of placing items on them without walking on top of them. Prior to this, players would use the "stool trick" for crafting stations, where several stools were placed around a crafting station that had high-priority stockpiles on top of them. Stools had a path cost (but allowed stockpile zones), achieving a similar effect. Description now states that they hide beauty of things inside of them.
1.3.3287 - Fix: Shelves, chairs and stools don't have style dominance.
1.4.3523 - Shelves can now hold 3 items stacks per tile, or 6 items total, making them much more efficient for space. Removed ability to store chunks, corpses, minified buildings, and other large items. Resource amount lowered from 30 to 20, work to make lowered from 600 to 500. Shelves can be linked into groups for easier management. Small shelf variant added.

Equipment rack

Architect

Furniture: Animal bed • Animal sleeping box • Animal sleeping spot • Bedroll (Double) • Plant pot • Sculptures (Small, Large, Grand, Terror ) • Sleeping spot (Double, Baby ) • Stool • Table (1x2, 2x2, 2x4, 3x3) • Torch lamp • Wall torch lamp • Wall lamp • Animus stone • Darktorch • Fungus darktorch • Crib
Complex Furniture: Armchair • Bed (Double) • Bookcase (Small) • Couch • Dining chair • Dresser • End table • Royal bed • Shelf (Small) • Brazier (Darklight ) • Drape • Grand meditation throne • Meditation throne • Slab bed (Double) • Baby decoration • Blackboard • School desk • Toy box
(research): Flood light • Hospital bed • Standing lamp • Sun lamp • Bonsai pot
(uncraftable): Urn • Blood torch