How To Make and Use Barracks in Dwarf Fortress

Being able to sustain life in a Fort is one thing; it’s an entirely different process in order to protect the things you have worked so hard to build. Here’s how you can build Barracks and use it to train your dwarves to protect your Dwarf Fortress Fort from hostile creatures.

How to Make a Barrack in Dwarf Fortress

Fortress defense is nothing without a Barrack, a place where you can house and train a standing dwarven army. Fortunately, making a Barrack is not really a hard task in Dwarf Fortress.

First up, like making any other space, you need to dig out a location and smoothen the walls and floor. How big the space is depends on how many dwarves you want/need to turn into soldiers; even a small 7×7 tile Barrack is sufficient for the early game. Then, you need to furnish it with the following:

• Bed.
• Cabinet, beside each bed as personal storage.
• Chest, to store Squad equipment.
• Optional: Weapon Rack and Armor Stand.

Then press the Zone key (Z), click on the Barracks menu, and paint the area you just created to designate it as Barracks.

The placement of your Barracks should be given priority because this is the place where your dwarves will be sleeping and training their fighting capabilities. It should be placed in entrances or key strategic locations where they can quickly respond to outside threats like goblins and other monsters invading your Fort.

How to Use a Barrack in Dwarf Fortress

After you have designated a Barrack in Dwarf Fortress, you can check the list of Squads in the information pane. Simply press the Q key, select the Barracks, use the +/- keys to highlight different squads, and press the T key.

Then to set up which dwarf can use the Barracks, press the Z key, select the Barracks area, pick the Add Squad button, then select the activity you want:

• Sleep: Assigned squads will be housed in the Barrack as long as it has enough Beds.
• Training: Assigned squads will train melee capabilities.
  • You will need to order some Wooden Training Swords, Spears, or Axes from Carpenter’s Workshop first.
  • To train ranged skills, your dwarves will need an Archery Range.
  • If a Squad is scheduled to train but lacks an assigned Barracks, then the dwarf’s job will be marked as “Soldier (no activity).”

You can also press the I key to assign individual Chest, Cabinet, or Armor Stand for each dwarf. Or press the Q key again to assign furniture for the entire Squad to store their equipment. To resize your Barracks, press the R key, then press the +/- keys.

Civilian dwarfs will not sleep in open beds inside a Barrack, even if no dwarf is assigned to it. You can instead designate it as part of Dormitory: press the Q key, highlight a Bed, press the R key, then use the -/+ keys to set the size, then press the D key. Also, don’t forget to check which bed is used by which dwarf by pressing Q, highlighting a Bed, then pressing P, if you see a dwarf that sleeps on the floor.

If you still need more help, YouTuber Ic0n Gaming has made a pretty good tutorial on how to build and use Barracks in Dwarf Fortress. So check out their video below.