Deer

This page was last verified for Vintage Story version 1.20.7.

Deer
Type	Land
Behavior	Passive[[::Category:Passive_creatures| ]], adult males defensive
Health	varies by species, sex, and age
Base attack	varies by species, sex, and age Tier: 2

Deer are a source of red meat , hides , fat and bones . These animals cannot be domesticated.

Spawning

Worldgen spawn conditions

Deer (including moose) spawn in grass , shallow snow, or air, only on the world's surface . A male might spawn alone, or with one or more females and/or baby(s), with an average group size of 2, ±3.

Regional conditions

Variant	Minimum temperature	Maximum temperature	Minimum elevation	Maximum elevation	Minimum rain	Maximum rain	Minimum forestation	Maximum forestation
Fallow deer	-5	15	0.9	1.2	0.4	1.0	0.4	1.0
Pampas deer	6	30	0.9	1.2	0.4	1.0	0	0.4
Guemal deer	-5	8	1.2	1.6	0.1	0.6	0	0.5
Chital deer	16	28	0.9	1.2	0.2	0.9	0	0.8
Taruca deer	12	24	1.2	1.6	0.1	0.6	0	0.5
Elk	-12	-2	1.2	1.8	0.2	0.7	0	0.4
Pudu deer	0	8	0.9	1.2	0.5	0.8	0.5	1.0
Water deer	5	18	0.9	1.1	0.65	?	0	0.4
Caribou	-19	1	0.9	1.5	0.35	?	0.1	0.6
Marsh deer	11	25	0.9	1.3	0.35	?	0.3	0.9
Red brocket deer	20	40	0.9	1.4	0.5	?	0.6	1.0
Whitetail deer	-5	15	0.9	1.4	0.25	?	0.25	0.75
Moose	-19	-2	0.9	1.5	0.35	?	0.35	0.95

Pampas deer are twice as likely to appear as fallow deer.
0.003 average triesPerChunk: Fallow deer, guemal deer, chital deer, pudu deer, water deer, caribou, marsh deer, red brocket deer, moose (adult males).
0.006 average triesPerChunk: Pampas deer, taruca deer, elk, whitetail deer.

Runtime spawn conditions

In addition to grass, shallow snow, and air, deer (including moose) can spawn on soil, sand, or gravel during runtime in light level 10 or higher. The average group size is 2, with a maximum group size of 4. The chance is 0.005.

There's no known method of preventing deer/moose from spawning. Because they can spawn in air, replacing soil etc with manmade blocks isn't likely to have any effect.

Despawn conditions

Deer might despawn if in the dark (below light level 8) for 5 minutes and at least 16 blocks away from the player.

{ "code": "despawn", "minPlayerDistance": 16, "belowLightLevel": 8, "minSeconds": 300 },

Variants

In addition to the data below on drop chances, baby deer can drop red meat and a small hide.

Fallow deer Health Health (Male/Female) 21 Health (Fawn) 6 Attack Base Attack (Male) 8 Base Attack (Female) 6 Base Attack (Fawn) 0.1 Behavior Run Speed {{{RunSpeed}}} Run Speed {{{RunSpeed}}} Swim Speed {{{SwimSpeed}}} Swim Speed {{{SwimSpeed}}} Multiply Drops Red meat (M/F) 10 - 16* Red meat (B) 1 - 3* Raw hide (M/F: large) 2 - 2* Raw hide (B: small) 1.5 - 2.1* Raw hide (B: small) 1.5 - 2.1* Raw hide (B: small) 1.5 - 2.1* Animals	Pampas deer Health Health (Male/Female) 10 Health (Fawn) 3 Attack Base Attack (Male) 6 Base Attack (Female) 4 Base Attack (Fawn) 0.1 Behavior Multiply Drops Red meat 3 - 7* Raw hide (medium) 0.7 - 2.7* Fat 0 - 0* Animals	Guemal deer Health Health (Male/Female) 21 Health (Fawn) 6 Attack Base Attack (Male) 6 Base Attack (Female) 4 Base Attack (Fawn) 0.1 Behavior Multiply Drops Red meat 10 - 16* Raw hide (medium) 0.3 - 2.3* Fat 1.5 - 2.1* Animals
Chital deer Health Health (Male/Female) 21 Health (Fawn) 6 Attack Base Attack (Male) 8 Base Attack (Female) 6 Base Attack (Fawn) 0.1 Behavior Multiply Drops Red meat 10 - 16* Raw hide (large) 2 - 2* Fat 1.5 - 2.1* Animals	Taruca deer Health Health (Male/Female) 21 Health (Fawn) 6 Attack Base Attack (Male) 6 Base Attack (Female) 4 Base Attack (Fawn) 0.1 Behavior Multiply Drops Red meat 10 - 16* Raw hide (medium) 1.3 - 1.3* Fat 1.5 - 2.1* Animals	Elk Health Health (Male/Female) 30 Health (Calf) 9 Attack Base Attack (Male) 12 Base Attack (Female) 9 Base Attack (Calf) 0.1 Behavior Multiply Drops Red meat 15 - 25* Raw hide (large) 2 - 2* Fat 1.5 - 2.5* Animals
Pudu deer Health Health (Male/Female) 6 Health (Fawn) 2 Attack Base Attack (Male) 1 Base Attack (Female) 0.6 Base Attack (Fawn) 0.1 Behavior Run Speed {{{RunSpeed}}} Run Speed {{{RunSpeed}}} Swim Speed {{{SwimSpeed}}} Swim Speed {{{SwimSpeed}}} Multiply Drops Red meat 10 - 16* Raw hide (small) 0 - 2* Fat 0 - 0* Animals	Water deer Health Health (Male/Female) 11 Health (Fawn) 4 Attack Base Attack (Male) 6 Base Attack (Female) 4 Base Attack (Fawn) 0.1 Behavior Multiply Drops Red meat 3 - 7* Raw hide (medium) 0.3 - 2.3* Fat 0 - 0* Animals	Caribou Health Health (Male/Female) 21 Health (Fawn) 6 Attack Base Attack (Male) 10 Base Attack (Female) 8 Base Attack (Fawn) 0.1 Behavior Multiply Drops Red meat 10 - 16* Raw hide (large) 1.7 - 1.7* Fat 1.7 - 2.3* Animals
Marsh deer Health Health (Male/Female) 21 Health (Fawn) 6 Attack Base Attack (Male) 7 Base Attack (Female) 5 Base Attack (Fawn) 0.1 Behavior Multiply Drops Red meat 10 - 16* Raw hide (large) 1.7 - 1.7* Fat 1.7 - 2.3* Animals	Red brocket deer Health Health (Male/Female) 10 Health (Fawn) 3 Attack Base Attack (Male) 6 Base Attack (Female) 4 Base Attack (Fawn) 0.1 Behavior Multiply Drops Red meat 3 - 7* Raw hide (medium) 0.7 - 2.7* Fat 0 - 0* Animals	White-tailed Health Health (Male/Female) 21 Health (Fawn) 6 Attack Base Attack (Male) 8 Base Attack (Female) 6 Base Attack (Fawn) 0.1 Behavior Multiply Drops Red meat 10 - 16* Raw hide (large) 1.7 - 1.7* Fat 1.7 - 2.3* Animals
Moose Health Health (Male/Female) 21 Health (Calf) 6 Attack Base Attack (Male) 12 Base Attack (Female) 9 Base Attack (Calf) 0.1 Behavior Run Speed {{{RunSpeed}}} Run Speed {{{RunSpeed}}} Swim Speed {{{SwimSpeed}}} Swim Speed {{{SwimSpeed}}} Multiply Drops Red meat (M/F) 10 - 16* Red meat (B) 1 - 3* Raw hide (large) 1.7 - 1.7* Raw hide (small) 1.7 - 1.7* Raw hide (small) 1.7 - 1.7* Raw hide (small) 1.7 - 1.7* Animals

Behavior

Climbing

• Deer stepHeight is 3.1251.
• Moose stepHeight is 2.1251 (client), 3.1251 (server).

Sleeping

• Deer sleep from 1:00 to 4:00 and 18:00-10:00. Moose sleep 18:00-10:00.

Fleeing

• Deer and moose usually run away when the player gets within 14 blocks.

Combat

• Males become aggressive when they receive damage, after that they will seek the player within 20 blocks to attack.
• Deers also attack wolves and hyenas. Mooses will attack wolves, hyenas, and bears.

Domestication

• Apparently deer cannot be domesticated. They will eat from a large trough but the block info overlay will not indicate number of portions eaten, and females do not become pregnant after eating 10+ portions with an adult male nearby.
• Most deer become pettable as early as generation 1. Moose don't become pettable until generation 4.
• Since deer/moose do not reproduce, generation can only be advanced through the use of commands .

The following information applies only to the latest prerelease version. It may not be accurate for the current stable version.

• A domesticated elk may be purchased from a Treasure Hunter Trader. The purchase includes a saddle and bridle, and the elk can be controlled as a mount. Wild elk cannot be ridden or domesticated.

See Animal Husbandry for overview of raising other livestock.

Harvesting

• Small deer yield smaller hides and less meat than larger variants. Compare the drops sections in infoboxes above.
• Adult water deers and pudu deers leave behind a small carcass, while adult elks leave a large carcass and other adult deers leave a medium carcass. All baby deers leave a small carcass.
• Unharvested deer corpses decay into bones after 4 days.

{
	"code": "deaddecay",
	"hoursToDecay": 96,
	"decayedBlockByType": {
		"deer-water-*-adult": "carcass-small",
		"deer-pudu-*-adult": "carcass-small",
		"deer-elk-*-adult": "carcass-large",
		"*-baby": "carcass-small",
		"*": "carcass-medium"
	}

Source: AppData\Roaming\Vintagestory\assets\survival\entities\land\hooved\deer.json

Antlers

Male deer (including moose) can grow antlers. Antlers grow on male adults starting in October, passing through several phases (number varies by species), and reaching full growth in January. After 1 month at the final stage, the antlers are shed in the first half of February. Shed antlers can be picked up by players and placed on an antler mount made of wood.

Water deer do not have antlers; instead, they have tusks that are not shed, and cannot be harvested.

Deer antlers

Variant	First phase	Final phase	Total phases	Mounted
Fallow deer			8
Pampas deer			7
Guemal deer			5
Chital deer			8
Taruca deer			5
Elk			8
Pudu deer			4
Water deer	No harvestable antlers	No harvestable antlers	1*	No harvestable antlers
Caribou			8
Marsh deer			7
Red brocket deer			4
Whitetail deer			6
Moose			9

* Water deer have tusks, but they are not collectible in-game.

Mounts

As of April 2025, elk are the only creature that can wear a saddle and be ridden by the player. Moreover, wild elk cannot (yet) be domesticated. In creative mode, wild elk and tame elk are separate items.

History

• "11+" deer were added in version 1.19.0-pre.1.

Notes

• Antlers grow on male adults over winter and are shed in spring. Can be picked up by players and placed on 3 variants of wood-typed antler mounts.
• Moose are often mentioned separately from deer, but they belong to the same subfamily, Capreolinae. Moose is the world's tallest, largest and heaviest species of deer now living.
• The deer.json file says "damageByType": {..."deer-baby": 0.1} on line 572, but it might need to say "deer-*-baby" to actually have an effect.
• Chital deer and fallow deer use the same texture/model.

Gallery

teaser image from devlog for 1.19.0-pre1

See also

• Tamed_elk
• Animal husbandry will likely be applicable to elk someday.