📖 DST Solo Survival: Tricks the Game Doesn’t Tell You
Quick answer:
Yes, you can absolutely play Don't Starve Together by yourself. Just create a game and set the server to Friends-Only or Local so no strangers join. You'll get all the multiplayer content, updates, and characters – just without other players. Many solo players even prefer DST over the original game now!
Quick-Start: Setting Up a Solo World in DST
New to DST? Here's exactly how to get a single-player game going, step by step. Don't worry – it's easy:
- Launch Don't Starve Together and click Host Game. This opens the World creation menu.
- New World or Load: Choose New World (or you can New Game on an existing world slot).
- Game Mode: Select Survival or Endless (explained below – Endless is recommended for solo beginners). You can leave PvP off (default).
- Players: Set the player count to 1 and Server Type to Friends Only or Local. This ensures no one else can join your world.
- Server Name/Password: Give your world a name. Setting a password is optional since it's friends-only; if Local, no one can see it anyway.
- World Generation Settings (optional): Click World and Resources tabs if you want to tweak things (e.g. more daylight, fewer enemies). For your first run, you can stick with default.
- Mods (optional): If you installed any mods, you can enable them on the Mods tab before starting.
- Start the World: Hit Generate World. The game will create your world and take you to character selection.
- Character Select: Pick your character. For solo play, Wilson is a solid default (simple perks, free resurrection via Meat Effigy).
- Begin! You'll spawn from the Florid Postern (portal) into the world. Collect twigs, grass, flint, and get your camp started.
How to Pause in Solo:
By default, it's unbound – you must bind a key in Controls to the Pause function (look for "Pause Server"). Once set, hitting that key will freeze the world if you're alone on the server. Use it as needed for breaks or to issue commands.
Offline Mode:
If you have no internet or want to play completely solo offline, set the server to Local (Offline) when hosting. Keep in mind an offline world is locked to offline – you can't invite friends to it later unless you start a new world.
DST vs. Don't Starve: Which is Better for Solo Play?
"Don't Starve Together is basically the sequel to Don't Starve." That's how one Klei developer described it. DST contains all the content from the base Don't Starve and its first expansion (Reign of Giants), and has continued to get new updates, whereas the original single-player game stopped receiving major content after the Hamlet DLC.
| Aspect | Don't Starve (Single Player) | Don't Starve Together (Solo) |
|---|---|---|
| Game Updates | Completed – Final DLC (Hamlet) in 2019. No new content since, aside from some bugfixes/QoL. | Ongoing – Regular updates with new bosses, biomes, events and character reworks (e.g. skill trees). DST is treated as Don't Starve 2. |
| Content Included | Base game + Reign of Giants. Optional DLCs: Shipwrecked (tropical islands) and Hamlet (jungle cities) – these are NOT in DST. | Base game + Reign of Giants integrated, plus many DST-exclusive additions (Caves built-in, ocean sailing, new bosses like Bee Queen, Klaus, celestial events, etc.). |
| Characters | 17 characters (including ones from DLCs). Some abilities differ from DST versions. | All 17 original characters + 5 DST-exclusives (Winona, Wortox, Wanda, Wurt, Walter). Many characters have been reworked with skill trees. |
| Multiplayer | ❌ No – strictly single-player (unless using third-party mods). | ✓ Yes – up to 6 players (default) or more. Solo play is optional. |
| Pause Function | Yes – Opening menu fully pauses gameplay. You can pause anytime to strategize. | Not by default – The world runs in real-time. However, if you're the host and alone, you can now bind a Pause key. |
| Difficulty Scaling | Balanced for one player. Bosses have "reasonable" HP (e.g. Deerclops 2000 HP). | Some enemies have higher HP to accommodate multiple players (Deerclops 4000 HP). No automatic scaling for solo play. |
| Unique Mechanics | Has working in darkness glitch, cave depth limit, and different world generation. | QoL additions: smarter crafting, recipe tabs, disease on crops, farming revamp, and the Florid Postern spawn point. |
Community consensus: "Buy Don't Starve Together. It's the sequel and has much more content than the old solo Don't Starve... The only reason you'd buy the old Don't Starve is for Shipwrecked/Hamlet. Otherwise, stick to Together."
In short:
If you're starting fresh and want to play alone, DST is a great choice. You get an actively updated game that you can still enjoy 100% solo. And if one day you feel like teaming up, you already have the multiplayer capability on standby.
Gameplay Changes in DST (What's Different Solo)
Is DST harder when playing solo? Some aspects can feel more challenging, mainly due to HP scaling and the absence of automatic pause. Here are key differences to be aware of:
No "Working in the Dark"
In single-player DS, you could sometimes interact with objects in complete darkness before Charlie hit you. In DST, this ability was removed – if it's totally dark, you cannot perform actions. Always have a light source ready at night.
Boss Health
Giants and bosses generally have much higher health in DST. For example, Deerclops has 4000 HP in DST compared to 2000 HP in DS. They don't scale down if you're alone – DST doesn't adjust enemy stats dynamically by player count.
No Free Pause
Time never stops in DST by default, which adds pressure. In DS you could pause to calmly think, or even when checking the map/inventory. In DST, opening menus does not pause the game. You need to find safety or use the pause hotkey (which you must bind in settings).
Sleeping (Skip Time)
In DS, sleeping would fast-forward time. In DST, your character lies down but time passes at normal speed. Sleeping does NOT pause the world – hounds could still attack while you're sleeping, making it risky without protection.
Lag and Performance
DST's engine is optimized for multiplayer, which means even solo you might experience tiny lags. If playing solo offline, you can turn Lag Compensation to None in settings for more responsive controls.
Saving & Exiting
The world saves at regular intervals, not exactly when you quit. If you disconnect, the server will save and shut down at the end of the current segment. In solo DST, you can use the Console to save (c_save()) if needed.
New Crafting Tabs & Tech
DST has unique content like Moon Altars, Ancient Pseudoscience stations, and Archive crafting. These provide new items and gear that can assist solo survival, like the Celestial Crown which provides an aura that lights areas and wards off insanity creatures.
The bottom line:
Don't Starve Together may feel a bit more demanding at first if you're used to pausing and shorter boss fights. But it also offers so much more once you get the hang of it. The added features compensate for the increased difficulty.
If you find DST too hard alone, consider these tweaks:
- Play in Endless mode (so death isn't the end)
- Use world settings to reduce difficulty (longer days, fewer hound attacks, etc.)
- Try a forgiving character like Wendy or Wigfrid
- Leverage followers (befriend pigs/bunnymen) to simulate a "team"
- Install the Single Player Health mod to make bosses less of a time sink
Character Options and New Abilities for Solo Play
One of the joys of DST (solo or not) is the expanded character roster and the Character Refresh updates. Picking the right character can make solo play much smoother, especially when you don't have teammates to cover weaknesses.
Winona
Solo Strength: Engineer who can craft defensive structures
Her catapults automatically attack enemies (great for base defense) and spotlights provide light. Her generators require resources, but her defenses can even help defeat bosses while you focus on dodging.
Wortox
Solo Strength: Collects souls for healing and teleportation
Fantastic for solo healing (each soul heals 20 HP). He can also teleport (soul hop) at the cost of sanity, making mapping and kiting bosses easier. His hunger drains faster and souls spoil, but a great solo kit overall.
Wormwood
Solo Strength: Plant specialist with self-sufficiency
Can plant seeds without farms and gains sanity near plants. He can't be healed by food (only manure, healing items), but his DST skill tree gave him even more self-sufficiency with crop yields and companions.
Wurt
Solo Strength: Can build a merm kingdom
She creates her own "team" by recruiting merms. Building a King Merm makes your followers stronger. She's vegetarian (no meat meals), but farms and veggies are abundant. Essentially, you build your own army.
Wanda
Solo Strength: Time manipulation for mobility and combat
A time-traveler who can craft teleportation and healing watches. Extremely powerful solo: she can teleport around the map and output massive damage with age manipulation. Complex but perhaps the strongest boss-killer once mastered.
Choosing Your Solo Main:
- Beginner-friendly: Wilson or Wendy
- Combat-focused: Wigfrid or Wolfgang
- Farming/Building: Wormwood or Wickerbottom
- Complex gameplay: Wanda or Maxwell
Ultimately, play who interests you – DST is about adapting, and you can make almost any character work solo nowadays. You can also switch characters later using the Celestial Portal in late-game.
Survival Modes: Survival vs Endless vs Wilderness
When hosting your solo world, you'll notice three Game Mode options. This choice has a big impact on how death is handled and the overall experience:
Survival Mode (Default)
The "standard" DST experience with permadeath.
Pros:
- Keeps the high-stakes survival feel
- Forces you to learn resurrection items
- Traditional Don't Starve experience
Cons:
- One mistake can wipe out a long-running world
- Can be very disheartening alone
Endless Mode
A more forgiving mode for casual play or learning.
Pros:
- World never resets from death
- Revive at Florid Postern (with health penalty)
- Great for learning the game
Cons:
- Lower stakes can reduce adrenaline
- Might develop sloppy habits
Wilderness Mode
Respawn as new character at random location upon death.
Pros:
- World state persists after death
- Interesting roguelike experience
- Challenge of finding your old base
Cons:
- Disorienting if you die far from base
- Not ideal for long-term solo play
Florid Postern – Your Solo Lifeline:
When you spawn into a DST world, you appear at the Florid Postern (a swirling portal). In Endless mode, this serves as a free respawn point with a health penalty. It also has a small area around it that regrows basic resources if they're depleted, serving as a modest "refuge" where basics regenerate.
Recommendation:
Start with Endless mode to get comfortable (bosses, seasons, etc.), then if you crave that hardcore experience, start a Survival world. There's no shame in using Endless – Klei added it to make the game more accessible for different play styles.
Early-Game Priorities for Solo Players
So you've spawned into the world alone – what now? The early days of Don't Starve Together solo play should look similar to single-player Don't Starve, with a few adjustments because you can't rely on anyone else:
Day 1
- Grab the essentials – twigs, flint, grass
- Craft an Axe, pick berries and carrots for food
- Build a Science Machine if possible (need 1 Gold)
- Craft a torch before nightfall
Days 2-3: Exploration
- Map out wormholes (mark where they lead)
- Find important biome landmarks (Pig King, MacTusk camps)
- Look for set pieces and resources
- Begin identifying potential base locations
Days 3-4: Base Setup
- Choose a base spot near useful resources
- Set up a Fire Pit and your Science Machine there
- Craft a Backpack, Spear, Log Armor
- Establish basic resource gathering routes
Days 4-6: Technology Rush
- Build a Crock Pot (better food efficiency)
- Create an Alchemy Engine (tier 2 crafting)
- Craft a Lantern for caves and night work
- Make Football Helmet for head protection
Days 7-10: First Hound Attack
- Prepare Log Suit and Spear
- Plan a fighting area away from flammable structures
- Consider leading hounds to beefalo or pigs
- Collect hound teeth for future tooth traps
Days 10+: Winter Preparation
- Hunt Koalefants or MacTusk for winter gear
- Craft at least one thermal stone
- Stock up on food that won't spoil quickly
- Prepare for Deerclops (mid-winter boss)
Solo Base Location Tips:
Since you have no teammates, it's wise to base near things that passively help:
- Pig Village – pigs can help fight hounds or monsters if kited toward them
- Beefalo herd – great for defense and manure (just avoid basing too close)
- Rabbit fields – easy food source as you can check traps daily
- Wormhole pair – fast travel to distant biomes when you need resources
Solo Efficiency Tip:
Because no one is back at base cooking for you while you gather, stock up on food then spend a day cooking in bulk. Harvest a bunch of ingredients, cook several meatballs and jerky at once so you have a stockpile while you go on longer trips.
Lastly, set goals for yourself. Without teammates, you are responsible for your own motivation. Maybe aim to survive 1 year, or defeat Deerclops solo, or sail to the Lunar Island. Goals keep you focused in early-game and give structure to your solo adventure.
Combat and Boss Fights – Solo Tactics
Combat in DST can be daunting alone because enemies don't scale down their HP. But with the right tactics, you can defeat every boss by yourself.
Kiting is Key
Master the art of hit-and-run. Most DST enemies have a pattern – e.g., spiders jump, pause, then attack; you can hit them once or twice then move. Hounds: kite one away from the pack, hit, back off when it bites, repeat. Practice kiting small mobs first.
Use Armor & Helmets
Always wear protection when fighting solo – there's no one to revive you on the spot. The combo of Log Suit + Football Helmet gives 80% damage reduction. Carry a Log Suit on body and Football Hat on head, swapping to a Tam o'Shanter when not fighting to regain sanity.
Healing Items
Keep quick heals in your inventory. Honey poultices or Healing Salves are great. If none, even cooked foods like Pierogi (40 HP) or Trail Mix (30 HP) can save you mid-fight. Butterfly wings are an easy 8 HP (capture butterflies around base).
Followers = Meat Shields
Befriend Pigs by feeding them meat, or hire Mercenary Pigs with gold. Even one pig man can distract a boss. Rock Lobsters from caves are exceptionally tanky allies – they eat rocks and can even tank Deerclops indefinitely in sufficient numbers.
Special Items
Pan Flute puts most mobs to sleep in an area – invaluable for solo crowd control. Weather Pain creates a tornado that can shred grouped enemies like bee swarms. Having one or two special items can turn a fight in your favor.
Solo Boss Strategies
Deerclops (Winter Boss)
Solo, an easy method is to kite: He does a double-pound attack. You can hit him 4 times after he swings, then back off before the next. Alternatively:
- Use pig allies - 3-4 pigs will die but deal some damage
- Place gunpowder (4 can take a huge chunk of his 4000 HP)
- Create a tooth trap field for passive damage
- Use a flingomatic to put out fires if fighting near base
Deerclops is slow; you can also lead him away from your base if not ready to fight.
Practice Makes Perfect:
If you're nervous about bosses, consider doing a test world in Creative mode (or use console commands) to practice kiting patterns. Remember, you don't have to fight bosses solo the first time they appear. DST is flexible - most bosses can be avoided until you're better prepared.
Ghosts, Death, and Resurrection
Death in DST, as in any Don't Starve, is usually permanent – but DST gives some unique ways to come back to life. When you're solo, handling death is a bit different since there's no one to revive you with a heart on the spot.
If you die in Survival mode (solo):
You become a ghost. A timer (default 2 minutes) starts before the world regenerates since "all players are dead". You have that window to revive yourself using one of these methods:
Touch Stone
Find these stone circles before you die! If you die and there's an unused Touch Stone, haunt it as a ghost to revive. It will break after one use.
Meat Effigy
If you crafted one (Wilson can craft without health penalty), it will revive you automatically. In DST, you haunt your skeleton to revive from effigy. Must be placed in the world prior to death.
Life Giving Amulet
If you were wearing one or had one in inventory, you can haunt it to resurrect. It revives you with a small health amount and then breaks.
If none of these are available and the timer runs out, the world will regenerate into a new random map. You effectively lose everything (unless you rollback via host commands).
If you die in Endless mode:
There's no auto-regeneration - you can stay as a ghost indefinitely. Simply float back to your Florid Postern and haunt the portal. You will revive with a health penalty (max health reduced by 25%, cumulative up to 75% reduction).
While a ghost:
Time still passes! Your crops might wither, hounds can still spawn, and seasonal bosses could smash your base. Don't stay dead too long if you care about your world's state.
Health Penalty and Booster Shots:
Each time you revive via Florid Postern or Telltale Heart, your maximum health drops by 25% (cumulative). For example, Wilson's max 150 HP goes to ~113, then ~85, then ~64 HP with multiple deaths.
Booster Shot:
Removes the death penalty and restores 25% max health lost. Made from 8 rot + 2 nitre + 1 stinger. If you never died via postern/heart (e.g., used a touch stone), you don't get a penalty at all.
Ghost Mechanics & Tips:
- While a ghost, you can haunt objects with random effects
- Haunting a Campfire refuels it slightly
- You can use ghost form to scout dangerous areas safely
- Prepare a spare kit at base for when you revive without items
- As a ghost, lure mobs away from your body before reviving
Preventing Death:
The best "revival" is not needing one. Prioritize armor and sanity (to avoid shadow creatures). Manage temperature with Thermal Stones and appropriate fires. Environmental deaths can sneak up on solo players busy multitasking.
World Customization for Solo Play
One of DST's strengths is the plethora of World Settings you can tweak when creating a world. As a solo player, you might want to fine-tune the world to better suit having no comrades.
Day & Season Length
Longer days give you more time to get things done alone. You can set day to "long" (which makes dusk/night shorter). Similarly, if winter is too challenging solo, you can make seasons shorter or temperate.
Resources
Bump carrot, berry bush, flint, twig, and grass spawn rates to "more" so gathering is easier. Since you don't have helping hands, don't over-penalize yourself unless you want a hardcore experience.
Enemies
If there's a particular creature you hate dealing with alone, you can reduce or remove it. Many players turn off wildfires in summer so their base doesn't randomly burn when they're away.
Bosses
You can toggle giants on/off or adjust their frequency. If you want a more peaceful world to mainly farm and build, you might turn off the Seasonal Giants or set hounds to come less often.
Caves and Ruins
If you don't plan to go underground, you can disable Caves when creating the world (saves resources). But you'll miss out on things like light bulbs, gems, etc.
Disease
Plant disease is On by default (grass, berry bushes can wither). As a solo player maintaining large farms, disease adds tedium. Many disable it for a more relaxed experience.
Popular Solo Beginner Tweaks:
- Long Autumn, Short Winter
- Frog Rain turned off (so spring doesn't make you cry with 100 frogs chasing you)
- Wildfires off (so your base doesn't spontaneously combust in summer)
- Hound waves slightly less frequent
- Starting with Wilson (for Meat Effigy crafting)
Is it cheating to change settings?
Absolutely not. Klei provided these options for a reason. Think of DST as a customizable sandbox – you can dial the survival up or down to your liking. Playing alone is already a handicap in some ways, so there's no shame in giving yourself a slightly gentler world.
Top Mods for Solo Players
Mods are a solo player's best friend. Since you don't have the quality-of-life of friends helping or giving info, mods can fill that gap. Installing mods in DST is easy via the Steam Workshop – just subscribe and enable them in the Mods menu.
Geometric Placement
Gives you a grid snap when placing structures, so your base can be organized. As a solo builder, this saves a ton of time (no friend needed to eyeball alignments).
Combined Status
Consolidates the Hunger/Health/Sanity meters into one HUD element and shows exact numbers, plus season clock, moon phase, etc. Having all info at a glance is super helpful solo.
Insight (Show Me)
Hover over an item or creature to display details: weapon damage, food values, mob HP, etc. As a lone player, you don't have someone telling you "eat that, it gives 30 HP" – this mod does it.
Minimap HUD
Moves your mini-map to a corner of the screen so you can see it while moving. Helps prevent silly deaths by walking into danger while checking map, since you can keep an eye on surroundings.
Single Player Health
Reduces DST enemy health to DS levels. Deerclops goes from 4000 down to 2000 HP, etc. If you feel combat is too drawn out alone, this mod makes fights take a reasonable amount of time.
Don't Starve Alone
This mod pauses the cave world when you're on the surface and vice versa. The effect: no cave lag and reduced CPU usage. Perfect for solo play with caves enabled.
ActionQueue
Allows you to queue up actions like chopping multiple trees in a row by dragging the mouse. In solo play, this can reduce repetitive strain and automate tedious tasks.
Boss Indicators
Gives you a warning icon on screen when a boss spawns. If you sometimes miss audio cues or want extra heads up, this mod can be helpful, especially if you play with low volume.
How to Install Mods:
- In Steam, find the mod in the Workshop and click Subscribe
- In DST main menu, click Mods and enable the mod
- The game will auto-download the mod
- Some mods require key bindings or have options - check descriptions
Tip:
Don't overload on mods initially. Each mod can slightly affect performance or cause conflict. Add one or two that address your immediate pain points and see how it goes. Soon you'll have your perfect solo setup.
In-Game Console Commands (Cheats & Debug)
DST, like DS, has a developer console where you can type commands to manipulate the game. When you're solo, you effectively have full admin powers on your world. The console can be used for:
Fixing Glitches
Sometimes your boat might glitch or an item falls under ground. Fix with:
TheInput:GetWorldEntityUnderMouse():Remove() -- delete bugged object
Practice/Simulation
Want to test fighting Dragonfly without risking your actual world?
c_godmode() -- make yourself invincible for testing
Giving Yourself a Mulligan
If you die stupidly and don't want that to be the end:
c_rollback(1) -- rollback to 1 day ago
Creative Building
For a purely building-focused run:
c_give("item", count) -- gives item directly to inventory
c_speedmult(2) -- doubles your speed (for faster exploration)
Accessing the Console:
By default, press ~ (tilde) to open it. If that doesn't work, you might need to edit client.ini to enable console (usually it's enabled by default on PC). On PS4/Xbox, console commands aren't available unless using an external tool.
Important:
Using console commands is essentially "cheating," and will disable the ability to get certain accomplishments. It's recommended to not abuse console in your main world if you want the survival experience. But it's your world - if you're on day 100 and a bug kills you or you drop connection and die, no one would fault you for using a console resurrect rather than losing your world to a glitch.
Fun Commands:
c_light()- Creates a temporary light at your positionc_announce("Your message")- Displays a server announcement messagec_spawn("ancient_robot", 1)- Spawn the Ancient Hulk from the archives
Closing Note on Console:
"It's your solo world, there are no rules except the ones you make." If spawning a Krampus sack after 100 days of no luck makes the game more fun for you, do it. Just be aware you might reduce the challenge and sense of progression. A common compromise: use console to recover from bugs or truly unfair deaths, but not for routine gameplay advantages.
Conclusion: Thriving Alone in The Constant
By now, it should be clear that yes, you can play Don't Starve Together all by yourself, and not only is it possible – it can be incredibly rewarding. You'll experience that unique mix of lonely tranquility (those quiet autumn evenings farming by your base) and heart-pounding terror (the growl of hounds in the dark when you have only a torch and a half-broken spear).
Klei's developers have explicitly stated that DST is intended to succeed the single-player game as a standalone experience. Over the years, they've tweaked DST to be more solo-friendly – from adding Endless mode for easy revives, to introducing powerful items/skills that a lone player can leverage to overcome group-sized threats.
Picture this: It's day 57. You're Wigfrid, standing triumphantly over the Deerclops you just soloed. Your base is modest but functional – drying racks full of meat, a farms plot growing hardy crops. The winter snow gently falls as you add Deerclops' eyeball to your stash (Eyebrella coming up!). There's nobody online to congratulate you – but you don't need that. The sense of achievement is palpable. You recall when you started, worried about surviving the first hound wave – now here you are, felling giants on your own.
Playing DST solo often becomes a personal journey of growth:
- Year 1 might be tough – learning curves, maybe a death or two in winter.
- Year 2, you've got it down – seasons don't faze you much, you have a beefalo pet, maybe took out a secondary boss.
- Year 3+, you're deep into "mega-base" or "boss rush" territory, tackling raid bosses or building a summer oasis resort.
And if at any point you feel like spicing it up with co-op, you can simply send a friend your server ID. The beauty of DST is that solo and multiplayer are not mutually exclusive. You can flow between them.
Action Steps Recap:
- Host a Solo World: Use Friends-Only or Local mode, set Players = 1, choose Endless for a forgiving start.
- Pick a Character You Like: Wilson for balance, Wendy for easy mob control, Wigfrid for combat, etc.
- Secure Early Game Needs: Establish a base near useful biomes, rush a Crock Pot & Alchemy Engine.
- Use World Settings & Mods: Don't hesitate to adjust frustration points or add quality-of-life mods.
- Learn Enemy Patterns: Practice kiting common mobs and take on easier bosses before harder ones.
- Have a Revival Plan: Always keep a Life Giving Amulet or know where Touch Stones are located.
- Take Breaks and Enjoy: Use the pause feature when needed and set your own pace for exploration.
In the end, whether you survive 100+ days and build a mansion with an army of befriended pigs, or die hilariously to a Treeguard on day 7 and laugh it off – DST solo is your story to write. And with each attempt, you'll get better.
The Constant doesn't care if you're one person or six – it will test you regardless. But now you're equipped with the knowledge to not just survive alone, but truly conquer the wilderness on your own terms.
So go ahead: launch Don't Starve Together, start that lone adventure, and remember the survivor's creed – "Whatever the world throws at me, I can handle it… or I'll die trying!" Good luck, and have fun not starving, together (with yourself)! 😜