Caves

Caves are large underground sections of world, generated as whole new worlds/shards upon entry. They have many unique features but also share some terrain, biomes, creatures, and plants with the surface world (such as a Marsh biome). Each cave has a Plugged Sinkhole entry and a separate map from the surface world. A loading screen displays for several seconds when entering or leaving the caves.
 Each Don't Starve Together server has a single Cave system that connects to all 10 sinkholes. Each sinkhole on the surface leads to a stairway in a different section of the caves. The stairways in the caves do not line up with the sinkholes on the surface world (adjacent sinkholes may lead to distant stairways and vice-versa). This sometimes creates useful shortcuts. In single-player, no time passes in the game while the loading screen displays upon entering or exiting the caves. In multiplayer, the game clock continues to run and other players experience no interruption while any one player (or players) sees the loading screen (while the character is going up or down the stairs). The cave world-shard contains the entire Ruins, meaning there is no sinkhole/boundary where the caves stop and ruins begin. Instead, the Lichen Meadow is the entrance to the Ruins in . Each sinkhole is surrounded by a few tiles of bare ground (no turf).
 Don't Starve has 3 separate Cave worlds; one for each sinkhole. Each cave has its own plugged entrance to a separate Ruins with an Ancient Guardian . No time passes in the game while the loading screen displays upon entering or exiting the caves . There are many Rocks strewn about the 10-20 tiles around each sinkhole.
==Spelunking==
Caves can be found underneath a Plugged Sinkhole. Upon mining the plug with a Pickaxe, an open Sinkhole appears with a stairway (in , a rope leading down in ) into a new Cave. While within a Cave, time in the world above continues to pass and vice versa. In the Clock is visible all the time, while in it is removed in the game's HUD when not standing under a Cave Light, making it difficult to keep track of the current Day-Night Cycle. 
Once a Sinkhole is unplugged, Batilisks can emerge at Dusk and roam the surface world, but will not travel far from the Sinkhole from which they emerged. All 6 emerge in 3 seconds in . In , there are about 10 seconds between each Batilisk.
In the sinkholes on the surface connect to stairway pillars in the caves. When a Sinkhole is entered in , the player drops into a small circle of light inside the Cave, with a rope hanging from above and a skeleton nearby. Interacting with the rope will return the player to the surface world.
Though the surface light is not always visible, mobs such as Bunnymen, Spiders, and Moleworms become active/dormant according to the surface Day-Night Cycle. Caves shares the Winter with the surface world, but Summer is moderate without wildfires in the caves, like Spring or Fall. Caves may be affected by the Lunar Cycle in , but in the moon does not reach the caves: Woodie and Pigs do not turn into their were-forms and the Moon Dial is always dark (like when there's a new moon on the surface).
Most of the caves are perpetually in darkness with the usual Sanity drain and Charlie attacks. Natural light leak in from the surface in Cave Lights while it is daytime in the world above. Small patches of ground even receive enough light to grow Farm Plants! Caves are home to some additional light sources such as Light Flowers, Mushtrees, or Nightmare Fissures. But illuminated areas are the exception and players will need to bring their own sources of light (or night vision) to effectively explore the caves.
== Depths Worm Attacks ==
In place of Hound and giant attacks, Depths Worms will attack the player at intervals similar to the Hound wave attacks on the surface, and will increase in intensity as the days spent in the caves increase. Like Hound attacks in the surface, Depths Worms will automatically target the player unless distracted by another mob.
If a player skips a hound wave while spelunking, the wave may occur as soon as the player emerges from the cave. If a player skips the spawning of Deerclops or Bearger, it might also spawn upon resurfacing (sometimes skipping the warm-up "growling" period). Staying in a cave until the season changes will prevent the previous season's giant from attacking in this manner.
==Earthquakes==
Earthquakes occur every few days while the player is within a Cave. When an earthquake strikes, the screen shakes and a rumbling sound plays. Rocks, Flint, Nitre, Marble, Gold Nuggets, and sometimes Red and Blue Gems will fall from the Cave ceiling. In Rabbits and Moleworms fall from the ceiling as well (usually one each per earthquake). A small shadow will appear where each item is about to fall. If struck by a falling mineral, the player will take a small amount of damage. Many of the items that fall during an earthquake shatter when they hit the ground, but some will remain intact and can be collected by the player. Once the earthquake ends, Slurtles and Snurtles leave their homes and roam the Cave in search of minerals to eat.
==Creatures==
In addition to normal Spiders, Fireflies, and Tentacles, the following creatures reside only in Caves:
*Cave Spider
*Spitter
*Batilisk
*Bunnyman / Beardlord
*Slurtle
*Snurtle
*Rock Lobster
*Big Tentacle
*Baby Tentacle
*Depths Worm
More creatures can only be found in the Ruins, below the Caves.
==Features==
Some surface plants can also be found in Caves, such as Saplings, Evergreens, Berry Bushes, Grass, and Mushrooms. However, several plants only grow underground: Light Flowers, Cave Banana Trees, Ferns, and Mushtrees (and its Red and Green variants). Like the above-ground versions, Berry Bushes and Grass will regrow after a few days.
Stalagmites are a common sight in any cave, and can be mined for Rocks, Gold, and Flint. Similar-looking Spilagmites are home to Cave Spiders and Spitters, and can only be destroyed with a Pickaxe. Less common are the Slurtle Mounds, which spawn slow-moving Slurtles and, rarely, Snurtles. Additionally, stalactites and various rock formations can be seen in the dark areas of the caves. 
Nightmare Fissures can be encountered in the caves and appear as jagged cracks in the ground, emitting light. The amount of light they emit changes based on the Ruins' place in the Nightmare Cycle. When approached, the fissure will spawn a Shadow Creature nearby which can detect and attack the player regardless of their sanity level.
Like the surface world, Set Pieces can appear in caves. These often include a skeleton and may even spawn advanced structures such as Ice Boxes, Science Machines, and Chests.                                                
==Death==
Life Giving Amulets, Touch Stones or Meat Effigies will revive the player as normal.
== Downloadable Content==
In the Reign of Giants DLC, Rabbits and Moleworms can fall from the ceiling during earthquakes, along with other items. They will be in their 'stunned' state as if they were just dropped by a player, but will behave as normal shortly afterwards.
== Don't Starve Together ==
In Don't Starve Together, the Caves received some re-balances. Their generation algorithm has changed to be more like the surface world, having fewer dead-end corridors. Light Flowers now only light up when a player approaches them, and they now have a dormant state to prevent players from exploiting their limitless light.
Since the ruins were moved to the same level of the caves, players must now have double caution when venturing through the darkness.
Unlike Don't Starve that has 3 separate Cave worlds, Don't Starve Together only has one Cave world per server, with a single Ancient Guardian, but the ruins can be reset by killing the Ancient Fuelweaver
The Toadstool can also be found in the caves.
If a player is inside the caves during Summer, Cave-ins can occur which drop Boulders around the player. These are caused by the Antlion on the surface.
== Trivia==
Cave Walls in game1.png|In game
Cave Walls in game2.png|In game
Cave Walls in game3.png|In game
Cave Walls in game4.png|In game
Cave Walls in game5.png|In game
TextureCaveWall1.png|Texture Wall 1
TextureCaveWall2.png|Texture Wall 2
TextureCaveWall3.png|Texture Wall 3
TextureCaveWall4.png|Texture Wall 4
TextureCaveWall5.png|Texture Wall 5
TextureCaveWall6.png|Texture Wall 6
TextureNoBgCaveWall1.png|Texture Wall 4 with out bg
TextureNoBgCaveWal2.png|Texture Wall 6 with out bg
*The Caves used to have giant walls, making it hard for the player to see. These were later removed.
**In the game files, unused wall textures can still be found. One of them is the wooden walls that were used for the Forbidden Knowledge short, and as interior decor for houses in the Hamlet DLC. These wooden walls were also used in an unfinished version of ruins, found in the files of the Hungry For Your Hunger update.
*When Caves were first released and the player died in one, they would reappear at the Sinkhole on the surface revived without the the use of any reviving items. The player could retrieve their lost items, but any food would turn into rot.
*Caves will often generate long stretches of ground that end up leading to nowhere. These can become deadly traps if the player is pursued down one.
*According to Maxwell's quotes, he plugged up the cave entrance "a long time ago," and if the player mines it open, he will state that it was a bad idea to do so.
*Before the Game Update 165304 of Don't Starve Together, only dedicated servers could support caves, otherwise unplugged sinkholes would have roots blocking the path.
*On the subject of character unlocking in Don't Starve, Kevin said: "I'm not against having a secret character unlock down in the depths of the cave, but it would probably end up being a more esoteric one, like Wortox or something else non-human"
*Basing in the caves during summer prevents the player from overheating, but they must still be wary of cave-ins that replace Antlion sinkholes on the surface.
*To create convincing audio for the caves, Klei sent their audio department to the Britannia Mining Museum to record the sounds and impulses of a real life cave. (Archived) Behind The Scenes - What Do Caves Sound Like? Don't Starve blog. Posted on May 8, 2013
== Bugs== 
*When dying in Caves or Ruins, exiting the game right at the death moment will cause the Cave or Ruins world to reset. Upon reloading, the player will spawn in a new Cave or Ruins world and lose all the items along.
** This bug can be exploited to make rare non-renewable items such as Green Gems and Thulecite renewable without using the Wooden Thing. This bug works only if the player doesn't have any resurrecting structures active.
*After sleeping in a cave, the morning tune and evening tune play at the same time.
*If the player starts a fire above the ground and then goes underground, no matter how much time is spent in the cave, the same fire will still be burning upon the player's return.
*If one gets killed while going up/down a sinkhole, and they have a Touch Stone activated or a Meat Effigy built at the surface, the world will forever be stuck in the loading screen.
* If the player plants seeds in a farm during Winter and then goes down into a cave, the crops will grow.
*Sometimes when leaving the caves the Seasons glitch and the player jumps two seasons ahead (Autumn instead of Spring, Winter instead of Summer, etc.). The day count is unaffected.
*Occasionally when entering the caves for the first time, a generated cave will not be saved after the player exits, causing a new cave world to be generated every time it is entered. When entering a sinkhole, players should be prepared for both scenarios of entering an existing cave and entering a new cave. Making structures in a cave or leaving rare items in a cave is not advised until after it can be confirmed that the generated cave is being saved.
== Gallery ==
Cave exit.png|Normal cave Exit in Don't Starve Together.
Cave exit over capacity.png|Blocked cave exit when surface server is full in Don't Starve Together.
Cave exit no access.png|Blocked cave exit during rollback and regeneration cooldown in Don't Starve Together.
Underground.jpg|Caves as depicted in the poster for the Underground update.
It's not a rock.png|Caves as depicted in the poster for the It's not a rock! update.
==References==
fr:Caves
zh:洞穴
ru:Пещеры
Category:Gameplay
Category:Sanity Loss