A guide to early housing in Wurm

There are many housing guides on the Wurmpedia, some of which are out of date, some of which are still very helpful. This is one written by Wurmpedia staff, so we will try and keep it up to date.

A Newbie in Search of a Home

You just started in Wurm, and you need a place to put your 1 ql pumpkins and that pig you managed to tame. Before you start chopping and digging, it's good to ask yourself a few questions. Did you start in Wurm to build? Do you want to spend your quality Wurm hours sawing planks right now? Maybe you'd like to join a village first, to get a feel for your new server and find the good spots. Some villages have premade houses to use or will let you build. Some don't but will let you drop a tent, until they know if you'll stick around. Ask around in server and global chat. You could also forgo any housing and just use your newbie tent for a few days. Some players only ever live with others and love that. Some are eager to found a deed, build a house, and start their own farm, compound, or castle.

Okay, I Want a House, How Do I Build?

Finding a Spot

Great, you know you want to build a house. First, you need to find a spot! If you just landed in a starter town, you're probably surrounded by established villages and what we in Wurm call "newbie shacks". Head away from the starter area. This is where asking in server chat can help. Some servers are more active than others, and someone may be able to direct you to an empty spot. At very least, you want to look for a more open area.

In Wurm, it's considered rude to build or deed up against another deed without asking that neighbor. These will be your new neighbors and it's an MMO, so it's best to try and befriend them. Look in local chat for people in the nearby area and right-click on ground tiles to see if you're in the perimeter of an established village. Those neighbors may save you from a troll or help you with your deed some day. There are also game rules about actions like gating off or moving highways or blocking another's deed. You're also not able to build a house in a someone else's village or perimeter of that village. Ask around, be kind, act towards other players how you'd like to be treated.

Resources

You'll want a spot with access to water, trees, and ideally some exposed rock to make a mine (eventually). To build your first newbie shack (a 1x1 building) you'll also need a flat dirt or grass- covered area. A larger flat spot is a good idea, since you'll likely want to extend your shack, as well as farm or raise animals. You might luck out and find a spot abandoned by a previous owner and preflattened.

You might need to do some digging of your own, which can be hard at a low level. Activate your hatchet (double click in inventory) and chop down any trees or shrubs on the tile you want to flatten. Take your shovel and activate it. All Wurm's digging is based on corners, so you want to make sure all the tile borders are even. You may need to dig one dirt on one corner and walk it over to another corner, then drop it. There are options to flatten and level on tiles, but you may not have enough skill yet (This is where those neighbors might be able to help!). You can check the digging page if you see warnings when you try to dig.

The Newbie Shack

Usually, your first home, unless you've spent a bunch of time working on your skills, will be a 1x1 building. This is a good start and you'll get skills while building it! This guide will cover making a 1x1 wooden house, with one door.

Supplies - Wood

First, you'll need planks and a mallet. Like before, activate your hatchet and look for some trees. Make sure they aren't on someone's perimeter! Right-click on the tree tile to find the age of the tree and also the type. It's best to cut down very old or overaged trees as they give the most lumber. You also want to avoid cutting down fruit trees, as they give very little lumber at all. Right-click on your tree and select cut down. This may take a few tries, but soon, you'll have a felled tree. Right-click on this and select chop up to create logs. You will need to chop several trees for this whole process.

Planks

Pick up a log. Activate your newbie saw. Right-click on that log and select Create > Construction material > Plank. You'll need 20 planks per wall, so 80 planks for a 1x1 house. This will take a while and a lot of logs, but as your carpentry skill increases, you'll get faster. You'll end up with a lot of wood scraps in your inventory. You can drop these on the ground, but keep them nearby as you'll need them soon.

Reminder: Repair your newbie tools often, they are low quality and might disintegrate!

Mallet

Next, you need a mallet. Activate your newbie carving knife and right-click on a log in your inventory. Select 'Create > Construction material > Shaft. You'll need two shafts. Click on one of them and select Create > Tool parts > Mallet head. Activate that mallet head (double-click!), right click on the other shaft, and select Create > Tools > Mallet. You'll n

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