DFHack - Dwarf Fortress Modding Engine

DFHack - Dwarf Fortress Modding Engine

Released Apr 2023

Extensions for Dwarf Fortress, including bugfixes, interface improvements, automation agents, design blueprints, modding building blocks, and other tools.

99% positive · 1,159 reviews
Not yet
Released, but still in active development
High confidence
Active Development
Not yet
Released, but still in active development
High confidence
Active Development

Where to get it

Free on Steam

Evaluation

DFHack is a modding engine and toolset for Dwarf Fortress that has been under continuous, active development since its Steam release on April 13, 2023. The developer has published a steady stream of updates across more than 50 posts, including major version releases, feature patches, bug fixes, and architectural changes. The most recent activity as of today (August 26, 2026) is extremely fresh: a hotfix release (53.16-r1.1) on August 8, 2026 addressed a crash bug, following a compatibility update (53.16-r1) on August 5, 2026 for the latest version of Dwarf Fortress. Prior to that, the team shipped 53.15-r2 on July 13, 2026 (with bug fixes and new features) and 53.15-r1 on June 25, 2026. Looking further back, an April 1, 2026 developer post outlined a significant architectural rework to how DFHack installs via the Steam client — demonstrating active, ongoing engineering investment. The December 2025 release (53.07-r1) introduced expanded keybindings, a new edge-scrolling plugin, and other user-facing features. The November 2025 releases (53.04-r1 and 53.01-r1) brought compatibility with Dwarf Fortress's major "Siege Update" along with new tools like a siege manager and armor resizing. DFHack is by its nature a living project: every time Bay12 Games releases a new version of Dwarf Fortress, DFHack typically requires a compatibility update, and the team has consistently delivered these updates. The team has shown no indication of winding down development, and updates have been arriving roughly every few weeks to months throughout 2025 and 2026.
Evidence
Hotfix release 53.16-r1.1 addressing a crash bug in stockpile-related tools. Most recent developer communication as of today.
news post · Aug 8, 2026 source development ongoing
high
Release 53.16-r1 providing compatibility with Dwarf Fortress 53.16, along with minor fixes and structural improvements.
news post · Aug 5, 2026 source content shipped
high

Media

Details

Publisher
The DFHack Team
Achievements
—
Platform
Windows, Linux
Controller
—
Steam Deck
Playable
Players
Single-player

About this game

DFHack is an add-on for Dwarf Fortress (search for it here on Steam!) that enables mods and tools to significantly extend the game. The default DFHack distribution contains a wide variety of these tools, including bugfixes, interface improvements, automation agents, design blueprints, modding building blocks, and more. Third-party tools (e.g. mods downloaded from Dwarf Fortress Steam Workshop or the forums) can also seamlessly integrate with the DFHack framework and extend the game far beyond what can be done by just modding the raws.

DFHack’s mission is to provide tools and interfaces for players and modders to:

  • expand the bounds of what is possible in Dwarf Fortress
  • reduce the impact of game bugs
  • give the player more agency and control over the game
  • provide alternatives to toilsome or frustrating aspects of gameplay
  • make the game more fun

Our online Quickstart Guide (see the "View the website" link in the sidebar) will help you get up to speed with how to use DFHack. It's also available in-game via the quickstart-guide command.

The best way to make feature requests or report problems is to open an Issue on our GitHub issue tracker (see the "Stats" link in the sidebar).

When reporting problems, links to your zipped, uploaded savegame and mods are immensely helpful, and issues with attached savegames and mods get fixed faster. We need a zip of your mods because we can't load your savegame without them.

DFHack installs itself directly into your Dwarf Fortress installation. It does this the first time you launch it, so you must launch DFHack once for this to happen. If you are on Linux, both games must also have the same "Compatibility" setting (e.g. "Steam Linux Runtime 1.0 (scout)") or this won't work.

It is not a problem if you already have DFHack manually installed and are switching to Steam. You can subscribe to the Steam version. Your saved DFHack configuration in the dfhack-config directory will be safe, and the DFHack launcher will detect and clean up your prior installation so it won't interfere.

Last evaluated Aug 26, 2026
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