Building blocks

Vintage Story has a great number of different building blocks, which are accessible at different stages of the player's technological progress. Different types of building materials can be used to create useful structures, while maintaining a balance between what looks good and what works well or is the most available in an area.

The player can trade with various NPC traders around the world for building blocks regardless of their current technical progress, however the following lists will focus only on the blocks the player can directly find or craft at their applicable progression stage. Some other blocks like Bookshelves, Wallpapers or ancient ruin blocks can theoretically be acquired at any point of the game, but require the player to venture into ruins below ground. The same applies to aged wood, which can be found in various crafted versions in ruins.

These lists will also disregard containers and various decorative items like paintings and flowerpots, as well as miscellaneous items like armor stands, rugs or useable structures and tools like bloomeries, clay molds or light sources.

Requires no tools or stone tools

When starting the game, the player only has access to resources they can scavenge by hand or with basic stone tools. Luckily, this still allows for a variety off building materials and even essentials like doors and fences.

The following list is further divided in lower and higher effort, as some blocks are theoretically obtainable from the very start of the game, but may not be "worth" the time and resources the player would have to invest while simultaneously trying to survive.

Low effort

Blocks that can be obtained with minimal effort and time investment, and are therefore optimal for starter homes.

Soil based blocks

Blocks that can be crafted with soil of any fertility as part of the recipe, together with sand, clay or dry grass.

Keep in mind that building with soil itself may not work if gravity is enabled for soil on world creation.

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  Any type of soil can be picked up by hand; although terra preta should be kept for farming instead of building.

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  Any type of gravel can be picked up by hand. In the standard & wilderness survival world presets, gravel is affected by gravity unless customized.

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  Any type of sand can be picked up by hand. In the standard & wilderness survival world presets, sand is affected by gravity unless customized.

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  Bony soil
  can be picked up by hand. It can be scavenged from existing ruins in the world. It can be used as a building block or for panning.

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  Cob
  crafted from dry grass and soil. Grass can spread on this block similar to regular soil blocks.

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  Packed dirt
  crafted from soil. There's an alternative lighter "arid" version which substitutes sand for parts of the recipe.

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  Strewn straw
  crafted from soil and dry grass

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  Mud brick
  a block or slab version can be crafted with dry grass, clay, soil and sand - or alternatively leave the sand out for a darker version.

Wood based blocks

Blocks that can be obtained directly from trees - like logs - or crafted from the by-products of felling them - like sticks. This also includes utility blocks like ladders, fences, gates and doors.

All recipes in this section require the possession of an axe - except for the ones that only use sticks.

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  Any type of log can be obtained by felling a tree. Remember to first remove all leave blocks to obtain the maximum amount of seeds and sticks.

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  Rough hewn fence
  crafted with sticks, logs and an axe.

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  Rough hewn gate
  crafted with sticks, logs and an axe.

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  Rough wooden door
  crafted with sticks, logs and an axe. As a temporary first solution, this door may randomly break upon usage.

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  Layer of sticks
  crafted with a full grid of sticks. This is a solid block for walking and keeping things in/out; it let's rain through but keeps firepits from going out.

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  Ladder
  can be crafted with sticks. An alternative recipe substitutes most of the sticks with boards, which are only accessible after gaining a saw in the Anvil Age.

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  Rope Ladder
  can be crafted with rope and sticks.

Stone based blocks

Blocks that can be crafted with any kind of loose stone as part of the recipe, sometimes together with clay or soil.

Loose stones can be simply acquired by picking them off the ground, but will later also be a by-product of mining.

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  Different stone types of Cobblestone can either be crafted as a block, stair or slab version with one type of loose stone and clay, or scavenged by hand from existing ruins in the world.

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  Cobble skull
  can only be scavenged by hand from existing ruins in the world.

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  Different stone types of Dry stone fence can be crafted with one type of loose stone. A version with mixed stone types is only accessible after gaining a saw.

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  Stone path
  can be crafted as a block, stair or slab version with loose stones and soil.

Other blocks

Some other building blocks require different main ingredients like dry grass, quartz or clay. All these can be acquired without the use of tools.

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  Hay
  can be crafted with dry grass. It is used as a building block and in a number of recipes, for instance for the various thatch roof pieces.

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  Different parts of Thatch Roofs - slanted, corner, ridge and tip - can be crafted with hay.

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  Quartz Glass
  can be crafted from sticks and clear quartz bits specifically - if found on the ground.

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  Two kinds of Hardened Clay can be crafted by simply baking 8 pieces of blue or fire clay in a firepit. The red and brown clay versions exist in the game, but can only be acquired through traders.

Higher effort

Blocks that require considerable investment of time or resources, or require the player to have specific climates or stone types around them which otherwise would require time to search for. It is possible to acquire these blocks, but the player should weight the effort taken.

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  normal and green Glass
  can be obtained once the player has a bloomery, charcoal and quartz or olivine chunks. These requirements can be fulfilled without basic metal tools, but it will be comparatively harder.

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  Stacked bamboo
  crafted with bamboo stakes. This block is only viable in warmer climates, which should be to the south of spawn on a normal world setting.

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  Different parts of Bamboo Roofs - slanted, corner, ridge and tip - can be crafted with bamboo stakes.

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  Different parts of Slate Roofs - slanted, corner, ridge and tip - can be crafted with loose slate stones and blue clay. The effort to obtain these blocks depends on whether or not the player finds slate rock.

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  Different parts of Clay Roofs - slanted, corner, ridge and tip - can be crafted with clay shingles of all colours - although brown and red can only be acquired through traders. Crafting shingles requires a lot of time, clay and fuel.

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  Glacier Ice
  can be found in colder climates, which should be to the north of spawn on a normal world setting. Unlike lake ice, glacier ice will not melt even under higher temperatures.

Requirems basic metal tools

Once the player has found their first copper bits and ventured into casting metal into tools, they not only gain easier and faster access to already familiar resources, but also some new crafting methods and therefore blocks.

The possession of a pickaxe finally allows to mine ores and minerals as well as loose and whole rocks. Crafting a chisel allows for some advanced crafting recipes, but mainly opens the possibility for complete design freedom, as almost every building block can be chiselled into different forms or even combined with different materials.

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  Any stone type of whole rock can be obtained by mining out the 6 directly adjacent blocks around it, making the whole stone block fall as an item that can be picked up.

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  Similarly to rock, any type of whole Ore block can be obtained by mining out the 6 directly adjacent blocks around it, making the whole block fall as an item instead of dropping only the ore chunks inside. This method works for ores, minerals, and even meteor blocks.

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  Any stone type of Polished Stone can be crafted with a whole stone block, hammer and chisel. Polished slabs can be crafted by splitting a whole polished block with a hammer and chisel in the crafting grid.

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  Any stone type of Drystone can be crafted with one stone brick and loose stones of the same type. A mixed variant exists, requiring 8 different kinds of loose stone.

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  Plaster
  can be crafted with sand and lime, the latter requiring a hammer for processing. Alternative plaster versions with wood detailing exist, however these require a saw to create boards.

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  Violet, smoky and pink Glass
  can be obtained once the player has a bloomery, charcoal and the minerals/ gemstones required for the specific glass tint. There's a number of other glass colours that cannot be crafted by the player and instead only acquired through trade.

Requires an anvil and saw

With enough metal the player can cast their first anvil, unlocking new tools like the saw, and recipes like metal plates. The saw specifically opens the technology tree up, since the ability to produce boards enables the player to create buckets and barrels for liquid storage.

Wood based blocks

With a saw, the player can create boards, a key requirement for all advanced wooden recipes.

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  Any wood type of plank can either be crafted as a block, stair or slab version with one type of boards.

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  Variants of Plaster with wooden detailing can be crafted with a plain plaster block and boards.

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  Wooden door
  can be crafted with boards in the inventory.

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  Wooden trapdoor
  can be crafted with boards and sticks in the inventory.

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  Wooden fence
  can be crafted with boards and sticks in the inventory.

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  Wooden fence gate
  can be crafted with boards and sticks in the inventory.

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  Wooden path
  can be crafted with a saw and aged planks in the inventory. Aged planks can only be acquired by disassembling aged wood items found in ruins with a saw.

Brick based blocks

With access to a barrel, the player can start making mortar, an ingredient required to craft clay, stone and refractory brick blocks.

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  Different kinds of Clay brick blocks can be crafted as a block, stair, slab or chimney version with fired clay bricks and mortar. Brown and red clay versions can only be acquired from traders.

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  Any stone type of Stone brick blocks can be crafted as a block, stair or slab version with shaped stone bricks and mortar.

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  Refractory brick blocks
  can be crafted with fire clay, various crushed ingredients and mortar. Since the effort to create them is high and they are necessary for the process of steel making, their use as building materials is extravagant.

Metal based blocks

With a steady supply of metal and advanced processing methods on an anvil, the player can create whole metal blocks and other metal based building parts.

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  Any metal type of Metal blocks can be crafted with plates of that metal type in the inventory.

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  Different parts of Copper Roofs - slanted, corner, ridge and tip - can be crafted with copper plates.

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  Metal door
  can be crafted with iron plates in the inventory or looted from rare underground ruins.

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  Glass slabs
  of all colour variants can be created with a full glass block of the same tint and a saw with inventory crafting.

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  Leaded glass panes
  can be crafted with a glass block, one type of boards and a lead ingot.

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