Fire

"YES! BURN!"

- Willow Fire is a commonly-occurring game mechanic.

Fire is very important for multiple reasons. Primarily, it is used to provide light at Night, which prevents Charlie from attacking. Additionally, fire allows food to be cooked on a Campfire, Fire Pit or Star, increasing its Hunger and Health values. Fire also provides warmth in Winter, which counteracts freezing. Despite these benefits however, fire can also be dangerous, as being too close to one will drain Health.

Light
There are several sources of Fire which provide light. Most of these can be found in the Light Sources tab, represented by the Campfire icon. These sources include Campfires, Fire Pits, Torches and Stars. Additionally, anything actually on fire, such as plants or items, will give off light as long as it is burning. Light serves several purposes: mainly it is used to see at night, though it is also needed to prevent the Charlie from attacking. Additionally, light prevents the large Sanity loss that comes from total darkness (however, it does not prevent the gradual loss caused by Dusk/Night time). If Sanity does drop too low, Night Hands will begin to approach the fire and steal portions of it; eventually they may put it out completely. These hands can be scared off by stepping on them and running them towards the edge of the fire's light.

Cooking
Fire Pits, Campfires and Stars can be used to cook foods. Cooking has various positive effects. For most foods, the amount of Hunger they restore is increased, and well as a small Health boost. Eating raw Meats decreases Sanity, while cooked meats do not. Additionally, Monster Meat, eaten raw, will reduce Health and Sanity, but these effects are lessened with cooking.

Warmth
In Winter, characters will begin to freeze if they are away from fire for too long (warm clothing helps prevent this). As long as the character is within a certain radius of a fire they will stay warm. This includes any burning objects like tree. Fires can also warm Heat Stones which can be carried around in winter to slow freezing. Torches (when equipped) will give a small amount of warmth, although it will not prevent freezing in snow.

Dangers
Although beneficial, fire can also be dangerous. Burning plants or trees, items on fire, and even burning creatures can cause fire damage of 8-12 per second if too close (except for Willow, who is immune to fire damage). Such fires are also uncontrolled and can spread to any other nearby flammable object, especially mobs that are alight, which can run around and spread the fire even faster. In this way, huge chain reaction fires can begin, destroying vast amounts of resources depending on location. Campfires (but not Fire Pits) are also considered uncontrolled fires and will spread to nearby objects if they are built too close. Any flammable item that can be picked up will turn to Ash if set on fire, while burnt trees will yield Charcoal. Torches and Fire Staffs can be used to purposely set things on fire by clicking the item on the object or clicking the object with the item equipped, though the player has to be quick to get a distance away or risk Health loss. It is also possible to light things in the inventory on fire by dragging a Torch over and pressing RMB.

Red Hounds that die will combust, starting a large fire on the spot that can easily destroy nearby objects and hurt the player if the player is unprepared.

Fuel
Below is some of the best fuel sources, along with their pros and cons:
 * Turf is extremely abundant and is easily collected with a pitchfork, which has a very high durability. However, it only burns for 90 seconds and is not renewable, abundant as it is.
 * Charcoal Is more renewable, cheaper and faster to collect in larger amounts, especially in the dark. It burns like Logs but stacks up to 40 instead of 20 logs. You must make sure that your fires do not spread to places you do not want burned down. Efficient charcoal mass production can be done with little timing and planning by burning down non-fully grown trees.
 * Straw Rolls also burn for the longest time of 6 minutes and are also renewable, requiring 9 cut grass. Collecting from 9 grass tufts takes about as long as getting 4 logs, and might even be a little quicker. Cut grass can also be collected by hand, meaning there is no loss of flint and sticks through tools. Also note that Straw Rolls burn longer than the sum of its components, since 9 cut grass alone only burn for 270 seconds.
 * Boards seem just as good as Straw Rolls, burning for the longest time and also being renewable, but they do not burn longer than their components (4 logs burn the same length of time as one board), whereas straw rolls burn longer than 9 cut grass do on their own.
 * Grass Tufts and Saplings are very quick and easy to collect, plus they burn for the longest time like boards, however they are not renewable, so they should only be used if truly necessary.
 * Beefalo Wool is easy to obtain once you have a Beefalo hat and a razor and you gain 3 Beefalo Wool for every Beefalo that you shave. They burn for 90 seconds each, like logs, however they can stack to 40 whereas logs can only stack to 20.

In Rain, fuel burns faster (depending on precipitation rate):
 * Fire Pit up to 200% faster
 * Campfire up to 250% faster
 * Torch up to 150% faster

Reign of Giants icon.png of Giants
In the Reign of Giants DLC, the Summer heat can cause things to smolder and ignite. A way to prevent smoldering and massive forest fires is to build an Ice Flingomatic. Players can also put out smoldering objects using their hands at the cost of Health, or through some fertilizers, Ice or an Ice Staff.

Wetness causes fuel items to get waterlogged. Waterlogged fuel does not burn as long as dry fuel.

Additionally some new fuel items were added :

Burnable objects

 * Any of the fuel items listed above.
 * Any kind of plants.
 * Most mobs
 * Bee Hives and Killer Bee Hives.
 * Tallbird Nests.
 * Spider Dens.
 * Hay Walls and Wood Walls.
 * Spider Glands and Mosquito Sacks.
 * Meats and items when the mobs that drop them burn to death.
 * Structures that smolder in the Summer.