Status Effects & Negative Conditions

Timberborn features a comprehensive condition system that tracks the physical and environmental state of every beaver and bot in your colony. Status effects serve as warning indicators, alerting you to problems before they become fatal. Understanding what each condition means, what causes it, and how to resolve it is critical for keeping your colony alive and productive.

Overview of the Condition System

Conditions appear as icons on individual beaver portraits and are also summarized in the colony overview panel. Each condition has a severity level that can escalate if the underlying cause is not addressed. Some conditions are minor inconveniences that reduce well-being, while others are life-threatening emergencies. Conditions can be grouped into several categories: vital conditions related to basic survival needs, physical conditions from injuries or exertion, environmental conditions caused by the world around the beaver, and mechanical conditions that apply to bots.

Vital Conditions: Dehydrated and Starving

The two most dangerous conditions in Timberborn are Dehydrated and Starving, as both lead directly to death if left unresolved. A beaver becomes Thirsty when its water meter drops below a certain threshold, and this escalates to Dehydrated if no water source is accessible. Dehydrated beavers will die within a short time. Similarly, a beaver becomes Hungry when food runs low, escalating to Starving when no food is available at all. Starving beavers lose health continuously and will eventually perish. During droughts, dehydration is the primary killer, so maintaining adequate water storage is your top survival priority.

Physical Conditions: Exhausted, Injury, Wet Fur, Chipped Teeth, and Bee Sting

Physical conditions affect a beaver's ability to work and reduce their well-being. The Exhausted condition appears when a beaver has been working too many hours without adequate sleep, which can happen if you set an aggressive work schedule. Injury occurs from workplace accidents or certain environmental hazards, and injured beavers work at reduced efficiency until they heal. Wet Fur is a temporary condition that happens when beavers walk through water, causing a small well-being penalty. Chipped Teeth can occur from heavy wood-cutting work and require time to heal. Bee Stings happen when beavers work near beehives without proper precautions. Most physical conditions resolve on their own over time, but ensuring beavers have adequate rest and are not overworked will prevent the worst of them.

Environmental Conditions: Flooded, Stranded, and Contaminated

Environmental conditions are caused by the world state rather than the beaver's own actions. Flooded occurs when rising water levels submerge a beaver's path or workplace, forcing them to wade through deep water. Stranded is a critical condition that appears when a beaver is completely cut off from the rest of the colony, typically due to flooding or demolished pathways. Stranded beavers cannot access food, water, or shelter and will die quickly if not rescued by restoring a path. Contaminated is caused by exposure to badtide water, either by drinking it directly or consuming crops irrigated by polluted water. Contaminated beavers suffer significant well-being loss and health damage. The solution is to ensure all water supplies are clean and to use floodgates or water dumps to keep badtide water away from your colony.

Bot Conditions: Out of Energy and Out of Fuel

Bots (mechanical beaver units available to Iron Teeth) have their own set of conditions. Out of Energy occurs when a bot's battery is depleted and it cannot reach a charging station. The bot will stop functioning entirely until recharged. Out of Fuel is similar but applies to fuel-powered bots that require biofuel or other consumable energy sources. Both conditions are resolved by ensuring adequate charging infrastructure and fuel production. Unlike organic beavers, bots do not suffer from hunger, thirst, or well-being issues, but their energy management requires its own logistics chain.

Building Alerts: Lacks Power, Lacks Workers, Unconnected, and Unreachable

While not beaver conditions per se, building alerts function similarly and are displayed as status icons on structures. Lacks Power means a building requires mechanical power (from a water wheel, windmill, or engine) but is not connected to an active power source. Lacks Workers indicates that a building has job slots that are unfilled, reducing or halting its output. Unconnected means the building is not linked to your path network, so beavers cannot reach it. Unreachable is similar but usually indicates that a path exists on paper but is blocked by flooding or terrain changes. Resolving these alerts quickly is essential because a single broken link in your production chain can cascade into resource shortages across your colony.

Death Mechanics: Starvation, Dehydration, and Old Age

Beavers can die from three primary causes: starvation, dehydration, and old age. Starvation and dehydration occur when the Starving or Dehydrated conditions persist for too long without resolution. These deaths are preventable through proper resource management. Old age, on the other hand, is natural and unavoidable. Each beaver has a lifespan, and when they reach the end of it, they will pass away regardless of their health or well-being. Old age deaths are displayed with a distinct notification. While you cannot prevent aging, you can ensure a steady supply of new beavers through breeding to replace those lost to natural causes.

How to Prevent and Treat Each Condition

Prevention is always better than treatment in Timberborn. For vital conditions, maintain large reserves of food and water, especially before droughts. For physical conditions, avoid setting work hours above 16 per day and provide ample leisure and sleep time. For environmental conditions, design your water infrastructure with floodgates and levees to control water flow, and keep backup paths so beavers never become stranded. For bot conditions, build enough charging stations and keep fuel production running. For building alerts, regularly check your colony overview for any flagged structures and resolve issues immediately. The colony overview panel provides a quick summary of all active conditions and alerts, making it the best tool for staying on top of potential problems before they become crises.