A Cave Light is an area where surface light penetrates the caves. They can be as small as a tile or two, or 10 tiles across. Cave Lights are the largest and longest-lasting sources of free light in the caves. Within a cave light, the player's day timer dial shows a clock-hand pointing to the current day segment, just like on the surface. Cave lights do not appear on the map directly, but are associated with many set pieces that do.
Cave lights can be found centered on every
- Stairway (these are the biggest)
- Rabbit City, Town, or Hermit
- Sunken Forest
Randomly sized and shaped cave lights can also be found scattered about the Slimy Biome, Underground Marsh, and Lunar Grotto. Sometimes several smaller lights overlap, making differently shaped illuminated areas. Sometimes cave lights that spawn in one biome may spill over into a biome that never has cave lights of its own.
Gardening[]
Farm Plants can be grown in cave light areas the same as on the surface. A Dwarf Star or Lux Aeterna can be used to grow crops anywhere, but a cave light is free and never needs to be replenished. The area with enough illumination for farm plants may not exactly correspond to the area where the day dial shows up, so garden in the center, or experiment to find the edges.
Gardening in the caves avoids wildfires and overheating in the summer. Plus, cave ponds don't freeze in winter. Unfortunately, the player's sanity drains all day the way it does at dusk on the surface.
Bee Keeping[]
Bees will fly during the day in any kind of light, but Flowers need about the same amount of natural light as Farm Plants. Place Bee Boxes and their flowers near the center of large Cave Lights.
Tips[]
The Ruins tend to be the most visited cave location (for crafting at an Ancient Pseudoscience Station). Any place on the shortest route between there and the nearest Sinkholes/stairways is a good place to cache resources or make a base. One of the two Rabbit Hermits is typically the closest cave light to the ruins and sometimes falls conveniently on this route.
Other sources of light in caves include Light Flowers, Mysterious Plants, Nightmare Lights, and standing right next to an Ancient Pseudoscience Station.