A base is a system of numbers
Don’t Starve base building is less about aesthetics and more about placing the right recipe next to the right resource, then surviving the waves the cached dontstarve-mobs.json says will come. Hounds (150 health, 20 damage) arrive in escalating waves, so your camp needs both a wall of numbers (defensive damage) and a pantry of numbers (spoil times). The cached dontstarve-items.json gives exact recipes and stats for all of it.
This guide quotes only cached numbers. The crafting guide has more recipes and the combat guide the fight math.
Structure recipes you can build
| Structure / Item | Ingredients | Tab |
|---|---|---|
| Beard Hair Rug | 1 Beard Hair, 1 Cut Grass | Structures |
| Carpeted Flooring | 1 Boards, 1 Beefalo Wool | Structures |
| Brick Flooring | 1 Cut Stone, 2 Flint | — |
| Ancient Flooring | 2 Rocks, 1 Nightmare Fuel | — |
| Bug B’Gone | 6 Tuber, 1 Flytrap Stalk | Survival (tier 1) |
| Boat Repair Kit | 2 Boards, 2 Stinger, 2 Rope | Nautical (tier 1) |
| Bird Whistle | 1 Hippopotamoose Antler, 3 Platapine Quill, 1 Flint | Survival (tier 1) |
Flooring and rugs are cheap pathing and sanity décor; the Bug B’Gone (6 Tuber, 1 Flytrap Stalk) actively repels insects, a real defensive value in the cache.
Defensive damage that holds the line
When waves hit, raw damage matters. The cached item stats:
- Coconade — 250 damage in a single thrown burst.
- Boat Cannon — 100 damage, built from 5 Log, 4 Gunpowder, 6 Coconut at the Nautical tab (tier 1).
- Boat Repair Kit — 2 Boards, 2 Stinger, 2 Rope, keeps your water defenses alive.
- Pan Flute — 10 uses, puts nearby mobs to sleep (see the items guide).
“Defense is damage you deal before the enemy reaches your food,” the cached notes imply, which is why a Coconade (250 damage) clears a Hound pack faster than any spear.
Storage and spoilage
A camp is only as good as its pantry. The cached data favors:
- Honey — 40-day spoil, the bulk stock to build around.
- Trail Mix — 15-day spoil, 30 health healing on top.
- Insulated Pack — +8 slots, 50% slower stored-food spoilage.
- Sea Sack — +8 slots, slows stored-food spoilage.
Layer these with the winter guide storage plan and your base stops starving between seasons. The food guide ranks every spoil time.
Layout principles from the data
Place your light source (Boat Torch: 2 Twigs, 1 Torch) at the center, your preservation packs near it, and your defenses (Coconade, Boat Cannon) on the perimeter facing wave spawn directions. Keep a Battle Spear (42.5 damage, 200 uses) at the door. The mobs guide tells you which creatures to expect by biome so you can wall the right side.
Defensive math and extra structures
A camp’s safety is the sum of its defensive damage and its stored food. Beyond the Coconade and Boat Cannon already covered, the cached item data lists more buildable defense and the exact recipes that support a walled camp. The Boat Cannon at 100 damage from 5 Log, 4 Gunpowder and 6 Coconut is the heaviest fixed emplacement; the Boat Repair Kit (2 Boards, 2 Stinger, 2 Rope) keeps any water-side defense operational through repeated waves.
More structure recipes from the cache:
| Structure | Ingredients | Tab |
|---|---|---|
| Carpeted Flooring | 1 Boards, 1 Beefalo Wool | Structures |
| Brick Flooring | 1 Cut Stone, 2 Flint | — |
| Ancient Flooring | 2 Rocks, 1 Nightmare Fuel | — |
| Ancient Tilework | 2 Rocks, 1 Nightmare Fuel | — |
| Beard Hair Rug | 1 Beard Hair, 1 Cut Grass | Structures |
| Brain of Thought | 1 Brainy Matter, 1 Jellyfish, 2 Rope | Dress (tier 2) |
| Ball Pein Hammer | 2 Iron Ore, 1 Twigs | Treasure Hunting (tier 1) |
The defensive logic from the numbers is simple: a Coconade (250 damage) clears a Hound pack (150 health each) in one throw per dog, while a Boat Cannon (100 damage) needs two shots but fires from safety. Flooring like Brick (1 Cut Stone, 2 Flint) is cheap pathing that also slows mob pathing visually and pairs with the Bug B’Gone (6 Tuber, 1 Flytrap Stalk) repellent to keep your camp quiet. The combat guide explains how 42.5-damage spear swings complement these static defenses during a siege.
Siting your base on the numbers
The cached recipe data tells you exactly what a base must sit near. The Battle Spear needs 2 Twigs, 2 Flint and 2 Gold Nugget, so a starting camp wants grass, twigs, flint nodes and a gold vein within a short walk. The Brick Flooring (1 Cut Stone, 2 Flint) and Carpeted Flooring (1 Boards, 1 Beefalo Wool) show you also want stone and a beefalo herd for wool. A base far from these forces constant, dangerous resupply trips that the exploration guide warns against.
Defense sits on the same logic. The Coconade (250 damage) and Boat Cannon (100 damage) win sieges only if placed where waves approach, and the Bug B’Gone (6 Tuber, 1 Flytrap Stalk) only helps if your camp actually has insects. Build your walls around the spawn paths of Hounds (150 health, 20 damage) and Varg (600 health, 50 damage) from the mobs guide, and the numbers do the rest.
Related reading
Defend against the boss guide giants with the right prep, and explore from a safe hub using the exploration guide. The items database lists every cached item.