NPCs

NPCs are friendly automated non-playable characters that provide services to players.In video game development lingo, the term NPC technically includes any character not controlled by a player, including enemies. However, Terraria, along with its developers and fan community, generally use the term NPC to refer only to friendly automated characters that provide a service to players. This page is therefore only about those friendly NPCs.
Standing near an NPC and pressing will open a dialogue window with one or more options for the player to select. Most NPCs are vendors, displaying a shop inventory when the "" option is selected. They sell items to players in exchange for coins, and can be sold items by a player to obtain coins. Some NPCs also have other options that perform other functions.
Most NPCs are town NPCs, appearing after various milestones are achieved in game advancement. They move into structures the player must provide, known as houses, which are generally required for town NPCs to remain available. Each NPC will need their own house, with the exception that a pet and non-pet NPC may share a house. NPCs will not move in if time freeze is on while playing .
NPCs can reduce enemy spawn rates in the area, an effect that increases the more of them are present. With 3 or more town NPCs nearby, enemies generally stop spawning on or near the visible screen altogether (unless in or ). Players tend to utilize this effect by building large structures (towns or bases) with several integrated houses, to serve as their safe area. These reductions are usually overridden by events like Blood Moons or Goblin Invasions, during which spawn rates return to normal or are elevated, and enemies will once again attack players and NPCs in the area.
Town NPCs generally walk around during the day. They remain still in their assigned houses at night and during events. NPCs have limited health and can take damage, and ultimately die from enemies, traps, lava, or by drowning in water; however, they cannot be attacked directly by players (outside of special Voodoo Doll accessories, Rotten Eggs, or the ). They do not suffer from fall damage and their health regenerates over time. The Nurse can furthermore heal herself and other nearby NPCs. Additionally:
* Town NPCs will attack nearby enemies, each NPC having their own unique form of attack. They will not actively pursue combat, however, but rather attack in an act of self-defense.
* Town NPCs gain defense and damage boosts based on which bosses have been defeated in the current world.
* Occasionally, NPCs sit in chairs and randomly "talk" to other NPCs or the player (shown as mouth movement and speech bubbles).
NPCs will only move in during daytime. If an NPC is killed, they will respawn after a delay, as long as a suitable vacant house is still available. All requirements needed for the initial NPC spawn (e.g. the requirement for the Merchant) need to be met again for the respawn. However, a rescued NPC will remain rescued, and respawn without needing to be found again.
There are currently 26 / 23 / 21 / 19 Town NPCs, 8 / 7 / 6 of whom normally appear in Hardmode. An additional 3 / 2 / 1 NPC(s) can be encountered who do not move into houses. 
== Housing ==
Each town NPC requires a suitable, vacant house. A house is a room of a certain size enclosed by a frame of blocks, with player-placed background walls, along with a valid light source, flat surface item, and comfort item. Two town NPCs cannot live in the same house at the same time. Houses must not be located near Corruption or Crimson, and if those biomes spread too close to an occupied house, the NPC living there may move out from that house.
Town NPC home assignments can be rearranged using NPC flags from the housing menu, where players can also check whether a room is a suitable house.
Town NPCs will teleport home during night / Blood Moon, Rain, Solar Eclipse , or if the NPC and their home are off-screen.
If a house occupied by an NPC is damaged in a way that makes them invalid, the NPC will move out and walk around the area until a suitable house is restored. If there are vacant houses available in the world, the NPC may move into one of them. If the NPC gets killed and does not have a home, they will not respawn until a new house becomes available.
The Guide and Old Man are unique in that they always spawn upon creating a world. The Old Man is not a town NPC and will not move into a house, but rather remain near his spawn point, near the Dungeon's entrance, and respawn there the following day if killed (while Skeletron has not yet been defeated).
== Buying and selling ==
Selecting the "" option from the dialogue window, opened by pressing next to a vendor NPC, will display a shop inventory similar to the player's own inventory. Items can be bought by moving them from the shop inventory into the player's inventory; the cost in coins will be subtracted from the player's storage as soon as the item is picked up from the shop inventory. An item can only be bought if their coin cost is available in the player's inventory ( or in the combined player's savings). Press and hold on stackable items allows the player to buy the item in bulk; the buy speed increases the longer is held.
Some NPCs sell biome-specific items when they are spoken to in certain biomes. They can be transported there by housing them there and waiting for the night (they will be teleported to their house at night once off-screen) or by using a King or Queen Statue. Note that the NPC does not need to live in the biome; talking to them while the player is in the biome is sufficient.
All NPC vendors can also be used to sell unwanted or surplus items to gain coins. The unwanted item(s) must be in the player's inventory. Hovering over the item while the NPC's inventory screen is open will display its sell value. Items are always sold to vendors at 1/5 of their purchase price. Not all items have a sell value (very common items such as Dirt or Wood have no value). Placing the item in the NPC's shop inventory will sell it, granting the player the sell value into their inventory. Sales to ( and purchases from) NPCs can be cancelled while the NPC's inventory screen is still open: Sold items can be taken back in exchange for the amount they were sold for (and on , purchased items can be sold back in exchange for the amount they were purchased for).
All NPC vendors have the same base buying and selling price. Item prices can be decreased by equipping a Discount Card, which is a rare drop from Pirate Invasions. On , prices can also be higher or lower based on the NPC's happiness level.
All NPC vendors will sell when their happiness level is above a certain threshold. 
== Town NPCs ==
The NPCs are listed in the order in which they are generally likely to be acquired. See Living preferences below for biome and neighbor preferences. The term "other town NPCs" always includes the Old Man, Traveling Merchant, and , but not the .
=== Pre-Hardmode ===
NPC	NPC 	Description 	Spawn requirement 	Defending weapon	Drops upon death
 	Provides tips and a general guide on how to acquire other NPCsand provides recipes that include an item that is shown to him.	Always already present when starting a new world. 	Wooden Bow 	 	
 	Sells basic tools and supplies. 	All players combined have more than in their inventories.Replaces the Guide as the starting NPC when starting a new world. 	Throwing Knife 	 	
 	Heals players and cancels debuffs in exchange for coins. 	A player has more than 100 health and the Merchant is present. 	Syringes 	 	
 	Sells . 	A player has an explosive in their inventory and the Merchant is present.Replaces the Guide as the starting NPC when starting a new world. 	Grenades 	 	
 	Sells the Dye Vat crafting station. Provides rare dyes in exchange for Strange Plants. 	A player has a dye item or any item used to craft dye in their inventory, in addition to certain other conditions. 	Exotic Scimitar 	 	
 	Gives fishing quests and rewards players for completing them. 	Found and spoken to in an Ocean biome. 	Frost Daggerfish 	 	
 	Sells vanity, mount, pet, and critter-themed items. 	At least 10% of the Bestiary () has been filled. 	Claws 	 	
 	Sells nature/Corruption/Crimson items, and can report the percentage of Corruption/Crimson and Hallow in the world. 	The Eye of Cthulhu, Eater of Worlds/Brain of Cthulhu, or Skeletron has been defeated. 	Dryad's Blessing 	 	
 	Sells paint, painting tools, and paintings. 	8 / 4 other town NPCs are in the world. 	Paintball Gun 	 	
 	Sells Golf Clubs, Balls, and other golfing items. 	Found and spoken to in the Underground Desert. 	Golf Balls 	 	
 	Sells guns, bullets, and other ammunition. 	A player has bullets or a gun that shoots bullets in their inventory. 	Flintlock Pistol /	 	
 	Sells items that summon and help with fighting the Old One's Army, most of them only in exchange for Defender Medals. 	Found and spoken to after the Eater of Worlds or Brain of Cthulhu has been defeated. 	Ale 	 	
 	Can change the player's hairstyle and sells Hair Dyes. 	Found and spoken to in a Spider Nest. 	Stylish Scissors 	 	
 	Sells items such as the Tinkerer's Workshop, and can reforge items. 	Found and spoken to in the Cavern layer, after a Goblin Invasion has been defeated. Typically in the Dungeon. 	Spiky Balls 	 	
 	Sells the Blowgun, the Imbuing Station, summoner equipment, Fountains, and Leaf Wings. 	The Queen Bee has been defeated. 	Blowgun 	 	
 	Sells some vanity items, including the Familiar set. 	Skeletron has been defeated. 	Book of Skulls 	 	
 	Sells the Wrench, Wire, and other mechanism-related items. 	Found and spoken to in the Dungeon. 	Wrench 	 	
 	Sells novelty items that create colorful visual effects. 	1/40 chance of spawning after 14 / 2 other town NPCs are in the world.Replaces the Guide as the starting NPC when starting a new .Spawns as a starting NPC when starting a new world with seed.	Happy Grenade 	 	
=== Hardmode ===
NPC	NPC 	Description 	Spawn requirement 	Defending weapon	Drops upon death
 	Sells magic-related items. 	Found and spoken to in the Cavern layer. 	Flower of Fire 	 	
 	Collects property taxes from other NPCs. Earns per NPC present, collectable by the player.	A Tortured Soul is transformed with Purification Powder in the Underworld.Replaces the Guide as the starting NPC in a world. 	Classy Cane 	 	
 	Sells the Autohammer, Mushroom Spear, and other mushroom-themed items. 	A house is available in an above-ground Glowing Mushroom biome during Hardmode. 	Mushroom Spore 	 	
 	Sells the Cannon and other pirate-themed items. 	A Pirate Invasion has been defeated. 	Pirate Cannon 	 	
 	Sells the Clentaminator, Jetpack, and other items. 	A mechanical boss has been defeated.Spawns as a starting NPC when starting a new world with seed. 	Clockwork Assault Rifle	 	
 	Sells the Proximity Mine Launcher, Rockets, and Nanites. 	Plantera has been defeated. 	Rocket 	 	
 	Sells the Santa set, colored lights, Christmas trees and their respective decorations. 	The Frost Legion has been defeated and it is Christmas. 	Bauble 	 	
 	Sells several vanity and furniture items. 	All other town NPCs are in the world (except for town pets and Santa Claus).Spawns as a starting NPC when starting a new world with seed.	Crushing Crystals 	 	
== Town Slimes ==
== Town pets ==
Town pets are special town NPCs that appear at dawn (4:30AM) the day after a pet license item sold by the Zoologist is used. They are not to be confused with pets, which follow the player around. Town pets have distinctive housing assignment banners, and can share houses with another NPC. They count as NPCs for pylon requirements and for decreasing enemy spawn rates in an area, but are not counted as neighboring NPCs in other NPCs' happiness calculations, and indeed do not positively or negatively affect the happiness of other NPCs in any way. Unlike other NPCs, town pets have no means of self-defense.
Town pets offer a unique "" option, which places the player directly in front of the pet when selected, and displays a petting animation. The effect is purely visual.
Pet	Pet	License item 	Sell requirement
 	 	 	
 	 	25% Bestiary completion ()	
 	 	45% Bestiary completion ()	
== Other NPCs ==
The following NPCs are not considered town NPCs because they won't live with the player or move into other houses.
NPC	NPC 	Description 	Spawn requirement	Defending weapon	Drops upon death
 	Stays until the evening, sells a random selection of unique items each day. 	22.12% spawn chance during morning hours (04:30AM – 12:00PM) once two other NPCs are present.	Revolver / 	 	
 	Found at the entrance to the Dungeon. Summons Skeletron when prompted to with the "Curse" interaction option by the player, but only at night. Once Skeletron is defeated, the Old Man moves into town as the Clothier.	Starting a new world. 	 	 	
 	Sells Counterweights, Spelunker Glowsticks, Magic Lantern, the Yoyo Glove and some other items, based on the lunar cycle. Some items such as the Slap Hand can only be obtained from him. 	Rarely found in the Caverns. 	Bone 	 	
== Removed NPCs ==
The following NPCs no longer exists on any platform.
NPC	NPC 	Description 	Spawn requirement
 	Unspawnable mobile-exclusive NPC introduced alongside the Chinese New Year content, removed entirely in Mobile 1.3.0.7.	unknown 	
 	Old Chinese mobile-exclusive NPC, selling magic items and decorations. 	chance of spawning after all the NPCs available in pre-Hardmode are present.	
== Stat boosts ==
All NPCs have a base defense stat of 15 (except for the Skeleton Merchant, who has 30), and their base attack stats vary from one NPC to another. In addition, all NPCs gain specific defense and damage boosts based on the bosses that have been defeated so far in the current world. These boosts are completely independent of each other (e.g. the "Hardmode entered" boost can potentially be gained without first attaining the "Eye of Cthulhu beaten" boost, and vice-versa). The boosts are also permanent for a given world, and are applied instantly to all town NPCs, including all Town pets and all other NPCs.
The Dryad also gains boosts to her attack damage. She does not deal damage directly, but rather by inflicting the debuff on enemies. These boosts to the Dryad's Bane debuff are not quite the same as those damage-stat boosts, however, so both kinds of boosts are listed in the following table. Just as with the stat boosts, the Dryad's Bane boosts are independent of each other, are permanent for a given world, and are applied instantly to all enemies inflicted with the debuff.
Defeating the will not give stat boosts to NPCs.
Event 	Defensebonus	Damage boostDamage bonuses are computed by first adding all applicable damage boosts to obtain a boost factor, then multiplying the NPC's base attack damage (or, for the Dryad, the Dryad's Bane base debuff damage) by that total factor. Thus, "+10%" and "+15%" and "+40%" combined give an increase of +65%.	Damage boostDamage bonuses are computed by first adding all applicable damage boosts to obtain a boost factor, then multiplying the NPC's base attack damage (or, for the Dryad, the Dryad's Bane base debuff damage) by that total factor. Thus, "+10%" and "+15%" and "+40%" combined give an increase of +65%.
Event 	Defensebonus	Attack 	
used 	+6 	+20% 	
used 	+6 	+20% 	
Eye of Cthulhu beaten 	+3 	+10% 	+10%
Eater of Worlds / Brain of Cthulhu beaten	+3 	+10% 	+10%
Queen Bee beaten 	+3 	+10% 	+10%
Skeletron beaten 	+3 	+10% 	+10%
Hardmode entered 	+12 	+40% 	+40%
beaten 	+6 	+15% 	
The Twins beaten 	+6 	+15% 	+15%
The Destroyer beaten 	+6 	+15% 	+15%
Skeletron Prime beaten 	+6 	+15% 	+15%
Plantera beaten 	+8 	+15% 	+15%
Golem beaten 	+8 	+15% 	+15%
beaten 	+8 	+15% 	
Lunatic Cultist beaten 	+8 	+15% 	+15%
== Happiness ==
NPCs have individual preferences about other NPCs or the biome they live in which in turn affects their prices. When selecting "" in an NPC's dialogue window, the NPC will tell the player if any factors make them currently happy or unhappy, although they will not say what could make them happier or unhappier. For example, if the Guide is located alone in a Forest, he will praise the lack of other NPCs around and the fact he is in a Forest, but he will not hint at the fact he would prefer to live near the Clothier or Zoologist.
Factors that make an NPC happy will lower their prices for goods purchased from them, down to a minimum of , and increase the value of goods sold to them by the inverse of the same modifier, up to a maximum of . Conversely, factors that make an NPC unhappy will raise their prices for goods purchased from them, up to a maximum of , and decrease the value of goods sold to them, down to a minimum . Price modifiers are rounded to the nearest 1% increment. When an NPC that sells items, other than the Skeleton Merchant or Traveling Merchant, has a price modifier at or below 90%, they will allow the player to purchase the pylon for their current biome. The Tax Collector's current tax funds and tax collection limit are both divided by his happiness factor, such that at maximum happiness he will store up to , and at maximum unhappiness he will only store up to ; the amount of taxes that he collects per minute also scales at the same rate.Note that tax amounts are converted to a floating-point number, then divided by the current happiness price adjustment, then truncated to an integer; hence, e.g. divided by a price modifier gives due to the truncation.
For the purpose of calculating distances below, the position of an NPC's home tile is considered instead of the NPC itself, unless the NPC is homeless in which case their actual position is considered. The home tile is the block where NPCs stand on during nights and events. NPC's flag will "hook" directly above the home tile. One can easily find the home tile by locating the central column of the 3×3-tile area that the NPC's flag occupies, and then moving all the way down to the tile in the floor of the house. For more detailed definition of a home tile, see House § Home tile score.
Similarly, biome-related preferences will reference the primary biome where the player is, rather than where the NPC or their home is. If the player is in a hybrid biome, and the NPC likes/loves one of the biome, that biome will take priority in the happiness calculation. However, if they are being neutral to, dislike, or hate all the biomes nearby, or they are in the Dungeon, Corruption, or Crimson, the happiness calculation will be based on the following biome priority.
# The Dungeon, Corruption, and Crimson biomes always maximize Town NPCs' unhappiness. 
# 
# 
# 
# 
# 
# 
# 
# 
# 
# , , or 
# 
An NPC's happiness is computed the moment their chat window is opened, which means that their happiness can be altered very quickly (e.g. by closing their chat window, adding or removing nearby NPC flags, and re-opening the chat window).
=== Factors affecting happiness ===
The below price modifiers are applied in the order shown in the table. If the modifier is prefixed with a star, it is multiplied with the running total of the modifier, and if prefixed with an equals sign, the modifier is instead set to that value, overriding all prior logic. The final multiplier is capped at a minimum of 67% and a maximum of 150%. The Traveling Merchant and Skeleton Merchant are special cases; they skip over the happiness-pricing logic in the table below and instead simply always set their multipliers to 100%.
Criteria 	Price modifier (purchasing)	Price modifier (selling)
Solitude Bonus: There are no more than two other NPCs within 25 tiles,and no more than three other NPCs between 25 and 120 tiles away.	 	
Crowded Penalty: For the fourth, fifth, etc. NPC within 25 tiles, each. 	 	
Located in a Loved biome 	 	
Located in a Liked biome 	 	
Located in a Disliked biome 	 	
Located in a Hated biome 	 	
For each Loved NPC within 25 tiles 	 	
For each Liked NPC within 25 tiles 	 	
For each Disliked NPC within 25 tiles 	 	
For each Hated NPC within 25 tiles 	 	
=== Living preferences ===
(Note: The Princess is liked by all NPCs, and therefore is not put in every column for the sake of less clutter.)
== Shimmer ==
== Emotes ==
Although it may seem to be random, NPCs talk about things depending on their environment.
== Notes ==
* NPCs will not spawn during an active event (the Lunar Events are an exception) or at .
* An NPC takes about 2 minutes to spawn after another NPC has spawned or passes.
* If valid housing is off-screen during spawning, the NPC will spawn directly into the house.
* NPCs will not move and always face the player as long as their dialogue window is open.
* Unlike Chests and structures generated on world creation, bound NPCs spawn around the player's position on-the-fly, similar to enemy spawns. They are temporary, and can respawn elsewhere if missed (see NPC spawning).
* NPC vendors who have biome requirements to sell certain items need to be spoken to with the player being in said biome to fulfill the requirement. It is not sufficient to have their home located in the specific biome.
* NPC Behavior as of 1.3.0.1:
** NPCs are known to "visit" other NPCs, talk, and play three rounds of .
** NPCs are able to walk up stairs.
** NPCs can drown in water that is 2 tiles deep, whereas players require 3 tiles of water depth in order to drown. 
** All NPCs have a base attack damage stat of 10, but the details of their attacks vary significantly. Their defense generally starts at 15.
*** As of version 1.4 (), their attack and defense will increase throughout the game. NPCs are stronger in Expert Mode so they can defend themselves against early game enemies. 
if the player uses an emote near an NPC the NPC will use an emote
* The Oasis mini-biome counts as a Desert in terms of an NPC's preferred biome.
* Similarly, a Graveyard counts as the host biome, and (dialogue aside) being in a Graveyard does not affect NPC happiness.
== Achievements ==
== Tips ==
* When Traveling Merchant arrives, he will have a random shop inventory. If the player leaves the world between 4:30AM and 12:00PM, and enters again, there is a 22% chance he will re-spawn (with a new shop inventory).
* Bound NPCs found underground can be freed by talking to them, after which they will always respawn whenever a vacant house is available. Having an empty room ready for them beforehand will cause them to move in at night as soon as they are off-screen.
* Bound NPCs can be found by listening to their , especially the Mechanic, as the Dungeon is teeming with enemies.
* A housing area can be created where all the NPCs can have their biome-specific items: 1500 / 300 Pink Ice Blocks, 101 / 100 Mushroom grass, 140 / 80 Lihzahrd Bricks, 1500 / 1000 Sand Blocks and 7 Gravestone at the space layer in one screen where the houses are located.
* Drowning an NPC in water is an easy way to get NPC drops (safer than lava and quicker than Rotten Eggs).
*Land Mines are a more efficient, but late-game, way to kill NPCs.
* The book, obtained by fishing during a Blood Moon, can be used to permanently increase the stats of all NPCs.
* To open a Chest behind an NPC, press the button twice. The first press will open the NPC's dialogue box, the second one will open the Chest.
== Trivia ==
* During a Blood Moon, all female NPCs except the Party Girl and have dialogue that is more irritable or aggressive than normal. This references , which may cause mood swings and irritability in some females. Both the and the real-world moon cycle occur approximately every 28 days.
* The only NPC interactions required to defeat the Moon Lord are talking to the Old Man to summon and defeat Skeletron and allow the Cultists to spawn, and killing the Guide with the Guide Voodoo Doll to summon and defeat the Wall of Flesh.
* Skeletons will not attack the Skeleton Merchant.
* The Party Girl is the only NPC to "love" two NPCs as one of their living preference(s).
== History ==
== References ==