Dyes

**PC/Console/Old-gen console/Mobile/Windows Phone/Old Chinese/tModLoader/tModLoader 1.3-Legacy-Only Content**: This information applies *only* to the **PC**, **Console**, **Old-gen console**, **Mobile**, **Windows Phone**, **Old Chinese**, **tModLoader**, and **tModLoader Legacy** versions of *Terraria*.

> “My dear, what you're wearing is much too drab. You absolutely must take a lesson in dyeing your tired attire!
>
> — The Dye Trader
>
>

**Dyes** are items that can be placed in the "Dye Slots" of a player's inventory to alter the colors and/or textures of equipped armor, vanity items, and accessories. The Dye Trader NPC sells two dyes (Silver Dye and Brown Dye) as well as the Dye Vat (5). The other dyes must be crafted using the Dye Vat or obtained through trading in Strange Plants to the Dye Trader. Primary crafted dyes can be further combined to craft shade, gradient, and patterned dyes. There are currently  119 /  116 /  68 different dyes in the game (118 / 115 / 67 on single-player worlds, as Team Dye is not available in single-player worlds). Some dyes will make sprites visible in complete darkness, most of which are Strange Dyes.

Dyes are not available on the Nintendo 3DSversion, due to the unavailability of pixel shaders.

## Basic Dyes

Basic Dyes*

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All basic dyes are crafted at the Dye Vat. Their crafting ingredients (not including Silver Dye and Brown Dye) can be found growing as background objects in the natural world or are guaranteed drops from special enemies. All dye plants show on the map. None of the Basic Dyes are visible in complete darkness.

## Bright Dye

Bright Dyes*

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All colored basic dyes (except for black) can be combined with Silver Dye to craft Bright Dyes at the Dye Vat. None of the Bright Dyes are visible in complete darkness.

## Gradient Dyes

Gradient Dyes*

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These dyes produce fade effects between multiple colors. They are crafted at the Dye Vat. None of the Gradient Dyes are visible in complete darkness.

## Compound Dye

Compound Dyes*

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These dyes form patterns with multiple colors, applied as separate blocks depending on the shape of the item. All colored basic dyes, and some "flame" gradient dyes, can be combined with Black or Silver Dye to craft "<Color> and Black Dye" or "<Color> and Silver Dye", respectively. They are crafted at the Dye Vat. None of the Compound Dyes are visible in complete darkness.

## Strange Dyes

     **PC/Console/Mobile/Old Chinese/tModLoader/tModLoader 1.3-Legacy-Only Content**: This information applies *only* to the **PC**, **Console**, **Mobile**, **Old Chinese**, **tModLoader**, and **tModLoader Legacy** versions of *Terraria*.
Strange Dyes*

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These dye are given as quest rewards by the Dye Trader in exchange for Strange Plants. Dyes with a rarity level of Orange or Cyan can only be awarded in a Hardmode world even if strange plants are somehow obtained in pre-hardmode. Note that Strange Plants only begin growing in Hardmode.

Strange Dyes have varying degrees of visibility in complete darkness.

## Craftable Dyes

Craftable Dyes*

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## Other Dyes

Other Dyes*

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## Unobtainable Dyes

Unobtainable Dyes*

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**Unobtainable**
The item(s) or effects described **in this section** exist as functional game items, but cannot be acquired through normal gameplay.

* Disappears from the inventory as soon as you load into a World if spawned into the inventory via an inventory editor.
* Its associated shader, ``ColorOnly``, is used internally to draw player outlines on the minimap.
* Its sprite is a copy of the Unicorn Wisp Dye.

## Notes

* All vanity items will benefit from dye, except for the Familiar shirt and pants. The colors shown when wearing the Familiar set can be changed using a Dresser instead.
	+ The Familiar Wig, on the other hand, will change the appearance of the player's hair, when dyed. If the dye has effects, like the Bloodbath Dye, for example, will give the player the special effects (your hair will have blood drip from it, in the Bloodbath Dye's case). This allows for interesting dye/hair dye colors, effects and combinations.
* When transformed into a werewolf or a merfolk by the Neptune's Shell, Moon Charm, Moon Shell, or Celestial Shell any dye placed in the dye slots will color the werewolf or merfolk form's head, torso, and legs as if they are vanity items.
* The dye crafting materials found naturally-placed can be placed again manually by players (e.g. as decoration) excluding the Pink Prickly Pear. Green and Teal Mushrooms, as well as the Sky Blue Flower, can be placed on any blocks. Orange Bloodroot must be hung from the underside of any block. Lime Kelp must be submerged in liquid. When they are placed, they occupy space as one tile, even though most of them look larger or taller than one tile (same happens to Strange Plants). Enemy-dropped dye crafting materials cannot be placed (Red/Cyan/Violet Husks, Purple Mucus, Black Ink).
* Basic and Combined Dyes only affect the hue of an armor's color, but not the saturation level (i.e. how vibrant the color is). This means that armor and clothing that are dull in color, such as Ninja set, Necro armor, and Reaper set are relatively unaffected by these dyes. Compound Dyes, however, override an armor's color completely, so they do not have the same problem.
* Some white-/silver-colored clothing items, such as the Mrs. Claus Heels, will not dye properly with a basic dye but will take on the desired color when a combination that features Silver Dye is applied.
* Dyes with a small blue orb in their icon have a unique animation.
* The lid of a dye container seems to indicate some things about the type of dye:
	+ A dark gray lid indicates basic dyes
	+ A silver lid indicates bright dyes
	+ A blueish gray lid indicates multicolored/gradient dyes, with a deeper blue lid for intense dyes
	+ A checkered lid indicates a compound dye, with dark being "[...] and Black", light being "[...] and Silver", and bluish being "[...] Flame and [...]"
	+ A green lid indicates glowing
	+ A gold lid indicates the dye is reflective
	+ A purple lid indicates animated dyes or other special effects
		- For unknown reasons, Black and White Dye falls under this category.
	+ A red lid is reserved for Team Dye
* Dye also changes the appearance of the player's helmet on the map.
* Some dyes that have an animation – such as the Living Flame dye or Phase Dye – can cause mounts, Minecarts, and the Wisp in a Bottle to appear invisible.
* For some armors (such as Meteor armor), the trails will reflect the color of the dye. This means that if the player has Blue Dye, Pink Dye, and Yellow Dye on an armor, it will split to where it shows trails of the three colors.
* Oddly, there is no "White Dye", however, Bright Silver can sometimes be an alternative.
* The compound dyes have a different inventory sprite on Old-gen console version and Windows Phone version, showing one normal sized bottle with colored dye next to a small bottle with Black or Silver Dye.
* On the Nintendo Switch version, due to a bug, many dyes cause the accessories, armor, etc. they are equipped on to appear invisible. The following dyes are unaffected and work as expected: All acid dyes, all reflective dyes, all hades dyes, Grim Dye, Gel Dye, Purple Dye, Mirage Dye, Shifting Sands Dye and Phase Dye.

## Achievements

 **Dye Hard** • *“Equip a dye in every possible dye slot.”*Equip **dyes** in all dye slots. Category:  Collector
## Tips

* All dyes and items used to create them sell for 20, so a beginning character should pick them up whenever encountered to sell them even if they are not interested in the dye itself.
* To craft thirteen () / three () of each dye (one for each dye slot, including combined and compound dyes), it takes:
	+ 104  / 24  each of Red Husks, Green Mushrooms, Teal Mushrooms, Blue Berries, Purple Mucuses, Violet Husks and Pink Prickly Pears;
	+ 156  / 36  each of Orange Bloodroots, Lime Kelps, Cyan Husks and Sky Blue Flowers;
	+ 208  / 48  Yellow Marigolds;
	+ 247  / 48  Black Inks;
	+ 403  / 75  Silver Dyes (costing 43  / 75 );
	+ 13  / 3  Team Dyes (costing 13  / 3 , multiplayer-exclusive);
	+ 52  Brown Dyes (costing 52);
	+ 130  Pink Gel;
	+ 260  Crystal Shards.
* It takes at least  102 /  170 Strange Plants to obtain ( 18 /  15 of each dye ( 6 /  3 dye per plant) reward for 13 dye slots (likely much more, since obtaining many repeat rewards from the Dye Trader is common).
* To craft only one of each dye, if the player does not want to repeat any, it takes:
	+ 8 each of Red Husks, Green Mushrooms, Teal Mushrooms, Blue Berries, Purple Mucuses, Violet Husks and Pink Prickly Pears;
	+ 15 each of Orange Bloodroots, Lime Kelps, Cyan Husks and Sky Blue Flowers;
	+ 16 Yellow Marigolds;
	+ 19  / 16  Black Inks;
	+ 31  / 25  Silver Dyes (costing 31  / 25 );
	+ 1 Team Dye (costing 1, multiplayer-exclusive);
	+ 4  Brown Dyes (costing 4);
	+ 10  Pink Gel;
	+ 20  Crystal Shards.

## Trivia

* It was going to be possible to apply dyes to weapons. The feature was later scrapped because the particle and dye systems did not work very well with it.
* If not hunting for either specifically, and a mechanical boss has already been defeated, it is more likely that one will acquire the Living Rainbow Dye before the Rainbow Dye due to Rainbow Dye's complex crafting tree.
* The effect of the Hades dyes are a reference to the character Hades in Disney's 1997 animated musical fantasy film *Hercules*.

## History

PC version
* Desktop 1.4.0.1:
	+ Basic Dye crafting now gives 2 of that dye instead of 1.
	+ Strange Dyes are now Hardmode.
	+ Added 3 new dyes: Bloodbath Dye, Fogbound Dye (both from Dye Trader), and Prismatic Dye.
	+ Renamed "Skiphs's Blood" to "Skiphs' Blood".
	+ Added Color Only Dye, but unobtainable.

* Desktop 1.3.4.4: Some dye items rarity colors tweaked.

* Desktop 1.3.0.1:
	+ Sprites of all dyes updated.
	+ Dyes now color particle effects (such as those from Rocket Boots).
	+ Added 4 brown variants: Brown (from Dye Trader), Bright Brown, Brown and Black, and Brown and Silver Dyes.
	+ Added 6 craftable dyes: Black and White, Bright Silver, Flame and Silver (Green Flame, Blue Flame), and Silver and Black Dyes.
	+ Animated dyes introduced.
		- Added Loki's Dye.
		- 7 craftable animated dyes: Lunar dyes (Nebula, Solar, Stardust, Vortex), Pink Gel, Shifting Pearlsands, and Void Dyes.
	+ Added special dyes rewarded by Dye Trader in exchange for Strange Plants.
		- Shadow Dye, Negative Dye (purchase/reward).
		- 18 animated: Acid (Blue, Red), Gel, Grim, Hades (Burning, Shadowflame), Living (Flame, Ocean, Rainbow), Midnight Rainbow, Mirage, Phase, Purple Ooze, Shifting Sands, Skiphs's Blood, Twilight Dyes.
		- 13 non-animated: Chlorophyte, Glowing Mushroom, Martian, Pixie, Reflective (Copper, Gold, Metal, Obsidian, Silver), Wisp (Infernal, Unicorn) Dyes.

* Desktop 1.2.3:
	+ Dyes now stack.
	+ Dyes can now be applied to accessories.
	+ Added Team Dye (from Dye Trader).

* Desktop 1.2:
	+ Old  Black Dye and  Green Dye are now Black Thread and Green Thread, respectively.
	+ Dyes are now crafted at the Dye Vat.
	+ Added 64 dyes (63 craftable):
		- 14 basic dyes: Silver (from Dye Trader), Black, Blue, Cyan, Green, Lime, Orange, Pink, Purple, Red, Sky Blue, Teal, Violet, and Yellow Dyes.
		- 12 <basic color> and Black Dyes (Blue, Cyan, Green, Lime, Orange, Pink, Purple, Red, Sky Blue, Teal, Violet, Yellow).
		- 12 <basic color> and Silver Dyes (Blue, Cyan, Green, Lime, Orange, Pink, Purple, Red, Sky Blue, Teal, Violet, Yellow).
		- 12 Bright <basic color> Dyes (Blue, Cyan, Green, Lime, Orange, Pink, Purple, Red, Sky Blue, Teal, Violet, Yellow).
		- 7 gradient dyes: Flame (Blue Flame, Green Flame), Cyan Gradient (Violet Gradient, Yellow Gradient), and Rainbow Dyes.
		- 7 compound dyes: Flame and Black (Blue Flame, Green Flame), Intense Flame (Blue Flame, Green Flame), and Intense Rainbow Dyes.

* Desktop 1.0.4: Introduced Black Dye (sold by the Clothier for 1), and Green Dye (crafted @ Alchemy Station from 3 Jungle Grass Seeds, Bottle), along with Tuxedo Pants & Shirt and Hero's clothes.

Console version
* Console 1.4.0.5.5:
	+ Updated to Desktop 1.4.0.5.
	+ Fixed an issue where most dyes would cause the accessories, armor, etc. they are equipped on to appear invisible.

* Console 1.4.0.5.4.1: Updated to Desktop 1.4.0.5.

* Console 1.0.1096.2: Updated to Desktop 1.3.5.

* Console 1.0.1479.5: Updated to Desktop 1.3.5.

* Console 1.19: Updated to Desktop 1.3.5.

* Console 1.0.711.6: Introduced with changes up to Desktop 1.3.0.7.

* Console 1.0.933.1: Updated to Desktop 1.3.0.7.

* Console 1.0.750.0: Updated to Desktop 1.3.0.7.

* Console 1.06: Updated to Desktop 1.2.3.

* Console 1.02: Updated to Desktop 1.2. Old  Purple Dye is now Purple Thread.

* Console-Release: Introduced Black Dye and Purple Dye, along with Tuxedo Pants & Shirt and purple Hero's clothes.

Mobile version
* Mobile 1.4.0.5.0: Updated to Desktop 1.4.0.5.

* Mobile 1.3.0.7: Updated to Desktop 1.3.0.7.

* Mobile 1.2.11212: Updated to Desktop 1.2.4.1.

* Mobile 1.2.6508: Updated to Desktop 1.2. Old  Purple Dye is now Purple Thread.

* Mobile-Release: Introduced Black Dye and Purple Dye, along with Tuxedo Pants & Shirt and purple Hero's clothes.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Also available from Dye Trader during a full moon (375)
2. ↑ Also available rarely from Hardmode Treasure Bags
3. ↑ Only affects multiplayer, and is only available during multiplayer games.
4. ↑ reply by Unit One (Jan 28, 2021)
5. ↑ Terraria's 8th Anniversary - Ask Redigit and Cenx! (May 20, 2019)