Freezing

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“So cold!”

–Wilson

“The cold! It burns!”

–Willow

“Brrrrrrr! Is frosty!”

–Wolfgang

“I am chilled to the bone.”

–Wendy

“MECHANISMS ARE FREEZING”

–WX-78

“The ambient temperature is low.”

–Wickerbottom

“It's a bit chilly out here!”

–Woodie

“My heart grows cold.”

–Maxwell

“Brr... It must be below freezing.”

–Wagstaff

“Brrr! Where are my furs!”

–Wigfrid

“Brrr... spider hair isn't very warm.”

–Webber

“Way too cold!”

–Walani

“I'm... getting freezerburn...”

–Warly

“ArrrrrrBrrrrrrr!”

–Woodlegs

“'TIS TOO COLD”

–Wilba

“Brrr... Cold!”

–Wormwood

“Brr. It's colder out here than the upper atmosphere.”

–Wheeler

“Brr! Cold as frozen steel out here!”

–Winona

“It's finally frozen over!”

–Wortox

Wilson shivering from the cold.

Freezing is a game mechanic which makes surviving Winter more difficult. Freezing can also occur during the last night of Autumn or during heavy rainfall in Spring, in the Reign of Giants DLC. Whenever the player is away from a heat source for too long they will begin to freeze. 

Freezing occurs when body temperature drops below 0°. At 5° The edges of the screen will become encrusted with ice, as a warning to the player that they are about to freeze. If a source of heat cannot be found, a second layer of ice crust will form over the edges when body temperature drops below 0°, causing the player to take damage of 1.25 Health per second. Freezing stops when the body temperature goes above 0°.

In the absence of a heat source or insulated clothing, the player's body temperature will decrease at a rate of 1° per second. This rate can be slowed by carrying a charged Thermal Stone, wearing insulated Clothing or growing a Beard. Near a sufficiently warm heat source, the player's body temperature will increase at a maximum rate of 1° per second when body temperature is above 0°. If body temperature is below 0°, it will warm at a maximum rate of 5° per second.

Survival

Fire

The best way to have a reliable and steady source of fire is by having a Campfire, Fire Pit or a Dwarf Star.

In emergencies, objects and even creatures can also be set on fire for an immediate source of warmth. A single flammable item can be dropped on the ground by holding the CTRL key and clicking the LMB. Once on the ground, such items can be lit on fire with a Torch to provide a small, but limited, amount of heat. With enough fuel, small fires like this can provide enough warmth to get to a better source of heat. This might be dangerous (or advantageous) however as nearby flammable objects can catch fire as well.

Warm Clothing

One of the best options for traveling away from a fire during Winter is to wear clothing that provides insulation. These items reduce the rate at which body temperature decreases. Having several items equipped at the same time provides a cumulative bonus. Insulated clothing only delays Freezing, however, and sooner or later the player will be forced to return to a source of warmth. There are three tiers of clothing, each allowing the player to be away from a fire longer than the lower tiers.

Other options

• Thermal Stones can be used to store heat.
• Wilson's and Webber's Beards provide additional insulation, depending on their length. In Don't Starve Together only, Woodie's beard will also provide insulation.
• Werebeaver has additional insulation.
• Willow's Lighter produces a very small amount of heat, but can also be used to light surroundings on fire for emergency heat.
• When WX-78 is experiencing System Overload, they are immune to Freezing.
• Items can be set on fire in the inventory to warm oneself, but as your character is technically on fire, only Willow can benefit from this and one should avoid flammable objects to avoid setting them aflame.

Game Mechanics

Freezing mechanics are based on the temperature implementations in the game. A player character has a body temperature, which ranges from -20° to 40° (90° in Reign of Giants). Any time body temperature falls below 0°, the character will take 1.25 damage per second.

Rate of Temperature Change

Ambient temperature is a key factor influencing a character's body temperature. Body temperature will attempt to match the ambient temperature at one of two rates: the ambient delta which is determined by all heat and cold sources, or the insulated rate which depends on insulation values of clothing worn by the character. The rate is in degrees per second, and the game will choose whichever value is larger.

Ambient Delta

The ambient delta is a rate that takes into account the total effect of all heat sources affecting the player, including the weather, campfires and Thermal Stones. It is also a function of the player's current temperature.

The rate determined by the ambient delta is given by:

ambient_delta = min(warming_cap, sum(net_temp_eff(source) for all sources))

where the warming cap is a value equal to 1 or 5, and the net temperature effect (net_temp_eff) is the effect of a heat/cold source on the player's body temperature. The ambient delta is either the warming cap or the sum of the net temperature effects (whichever value is smaller).

The warming cap is the maximum rate of temperature increase, and depends on the player's body temperature. The rate will be +5° per second while the player's body temperature is below the freezing point of 0°, and +1° per second once the player's body temperature is warmer than the freezing point.

The net temperature effect of a heat/cold source depends on the difference between the heat source temperature (values listed in the Heat Sources table below) and the player's body temperature:

net_temp_eff(source) = max(source_temperature - body_temperature, 0) + min(source_temperature, 0)

For environmental heat sources (e.g. Fire Pit), the net temperature effect will decrease with distance and becomes 0 at 10 units away from the source.

Heat Sources

Heat Source	Temperature	Duration
Small character fire	50°	6 seconds
Medium character fire	65°	8 seconds
Large character fire	80°	10 seconds
Small burnable object	70°	3 - 30 seconds
Medium burnable object	120°	10 - 30 seconds
Large burnable object	180°	15 seconds
Burning Trees	220°	15 seconds; 45 seconds in
Campfire (level 1) Fire Pit (level 1) Obsidian Fire Pit (level 1) Chiminea (level 1)	70°	variable (affected by rain, except for Chiminea)
Campfire (level 2) Fire Pit (level 2) Obsidian Fire Pit (level 2) Chiminea (level 2)	85°	variable (affected by rain, except for Chiminea)
Campfire (level 3) Fire Pit (level 3) Obsidian Fire Pit (level 3) Chiminea (level 3)	100°	variable (affected by rain, except for Chiminea)
Campfire (level 4) Fire Pit (level 4) Obsidian Fire Pit (level 4) Chiminea (level 4)	115°	variable (affected by rain, except for Chiminea)
Scaled Furnace	115°	Infinite
Dwarf Star	100°	2 minutes 3.5 days in
Thermal Stone	same as its internal temperature	drops 1° every 5 seconds
Thermal Stone (stage 4)	40°	100 seconds
Thermal Stone (stage 5)	60°	variable (depends on initial internal temperature)
(Willow only)	20°	4-8 seconds
Magma	500°	Infinite
Hot Spring (Bath Bombed)	90°	Infinite
Hot Spring (Glassed)	45°	Infinite

See also: Fire for information on flammable items

In the absence of any heat source, the ambient delta will be -1, which means the player's body temperature will drop by 1 degree per second without insulation until it reaches the ambient temperature.

Insulated Rate

When the ambient delta is smaller than the insulated rate, the player's body temperature will decrease by:

insulated_rate = -30 / (30 + total_insulation)

where total_insulation is the sum of the insulation values by all worn equipment. Insulation only becomes a factor if the ambient delta is less than 0 (i.e. all ambient heat carried and in the environment is still colder than the player's body temperature). The warmest combination of equipment is a Puffy Vest, Beefalo Hat and fully grown beard (if playing as Wilson). This will add up to 615 points of insulation and gives a rate of -0.0465 degrees per second, which means the player's temperature will drop by 1 degree every 21.5 seconds.

Insulation Items

Item	Insulation	Slot
Willow	-30	Face
Rabbit Earmuffs	60	Head
Dapper Vest	60	Chest
Breezy Vest	60	Chest
Cat Cap	60	Head
Snakeskin Jacket	60	Chest
Winter Hat	120	Head
Tam o' Shanter	120	Head
Beefalo Hat	240	Head
Puffy Vest	240	Chest
Hibearnation Vest	240	Chest
Blubber Suit	240	Chest
Magnificent Beard (affected by length, Wilson only)	0 / 15 / 45 / 135	Face
Silky Smooth Beard (affected by length, Webber only)	0 / 11.25 / 33.75 / 67.5	Face
Woodie	45	Face
Werebeaver	Immune / 240 ()	Face
Wilba's Werepig form	Immune	Face
Rain Coat	60	Chest

Note: For the purpose of calculating a Thermal Stone's own temperature loss, a fixed insulation of 120 is used. This value is not added to the player's total insulation, nor does the player's insulation affect the Thermal Stone in any way. A Thermal Stone cools at the same rate on the ground as it does in the inventory.

Don't Starve Together

In Don't Starve Together, winter insulation will only take effect when the ambient temperature is below 35 degrees. Above 35 degrees, winter insulation has no effect and the player's body temperature will decrease at a max rate of 1 degree per second (when below 70 degrees) despite wearing items such as a beefalo hat near an endothermic fire pit. Additionally, the thaw rate of 5° per second when the player's body temperature is below 0° will also not take effect. This means that they will warm at a max rate of 1° per second, and that this rate can be slowed by summer insulation.

Thermal stones in Don't Starve Together behave differently than in Don't Starve. The stage of the thermal stone is based on its internal temperature relative to the ambient temperature rather than at fixed temperature values. Also, thermal stones emit a fixed temperature for each stage (40 degrees for stage 4, and 60 degrees for stage 5). This temperature is distinct from the stone's internal temperature, which still drops at the 120 insulation rate.

Willow will take damage from freezing at double the rate (2.5 health per second).

Tips

• Thermal Stones only work while their temperature is greater than the player's body temperature; once the Thermal Stone cools to below that level, it has no further effect on the player's body temperature.
• In DLCs, eating one of the following food items will temporarily warm the player up by 1°/second for various amounts of time. Eating even stale or spoiled food can also warm the player up. Note however, that hot food will cool off after being made as it spoils, and will do so quicker if placed in an Ice Box.
  • Kabobs: 15 seconds (only in )
  • Meaty Stew: 15 seconds (only in singleplayer)
  • Spicy Chili: 15 seconds
  • Dragonpie: 10 seconds
  • Honey Ham: 10 seconds
  • Turkey Dinner: 10 seconds
  • Stuffed Eggplant: 5 seconds
  • Tea

Trivia

• Hypothermia is a loss of body heat due exposure to cold or freezing water and can cause death.
• Frostbite (or frostburn) is a cold injury which commonly occurs at the soft tissues in the hands, feet, and nose due to severe freezing.
• While in-game, Wilson's beard provides insulation, realistically, a beard can cause problems in severe weather, as moisture from one's breath freezes on facial hair and can cause frostbite.
  • Wilson's in-game beard, however, may become sufficiently "Magnificent" that it effectively becomes a blanket. It is unknown why Woodie's beard isn't similarly useful in the base game, save that it remains shorter despite the fact that "a real lumberjack never shaves".

Bugs

• If the player's body temperature goes below the minimum freezing threshold (-120°) their temperature will be set to 95° instead and they will start overheating.