7 Days to Die Resources Guide
Find the materials you need faster. This guide covers mining, farming, wrenching, fuel, ammo materials, animal resources, salvage parts, and the resources you should avoid wasting.
Featured Video
Full Resource Overview
The best featured video for this page is the broad resource guide because it covers the widest range of mining, salvage, crafting, fuel, ammo, and animal resources.
Overview
Resource categories
Most resources come from one of a few loops: mining, digging, chopping, wrenching, looting, crafting, farming, hunting, or trading.
Natural resources
Wood, stone, clay, plant fiber, and basic terrain materials used from day one onward.
Mining resources
Iron, lead, nitrate, coal, oil shale, stone, sand, silver, gold, and diamonds.
Salvage resources
Mechanical parts, electrical parts, springs, engines, headlights, batteries, polymers, and pipes.
Farming resources
Farm plots, crops, seeds, Southern Farming magazines, Living Off the Land, and super corn.
Fuel resources
Gas, oil shale, oil, vehicle parts, wheels, and the materials needed to keep travel running.
Ammo resources
Lead, brass, coal, nitrate, gunpowder, paper, clay, and the materials that feed Blood Moon prep.
Animal resources
Meat, leather, bones, animal fat, rotten flesh, feathers, eggs, and testosterone.
Trader resources
Dukes, sellables, valuable ores, super corn, trader discounts, and items worth buying instead of crafting.
Basics
Basic natural resources
These are the day-one resources you will constantly use for tools, blocks, repairs, and early crafting.
Plant Fiber
Punch grass or harvest hay bales later.
Used constantly for early crafting, primitive gear, and basic survival items.
Clay
Dig grassy terrain, dirt, or dirt soil with a shovel.
Dirt soil is faster to dig than normal terrain and clay is needed for forge crafting.
Wood
Chop trees, scrap wooden items, or break firewood piles.
Fully grown planted trees give the best yield, but natural trees can be chopped freely.
Stone
Pick up small stones, mine terrain, or break stone and brick pallets.
Stone pallets are excellent POI sources when you find them.
Mining
Mining resources and map colors
Surface ore nodes appear as colored spots on the map. Once you learn the colors, finding ore becomes much easier.
Iron
Map color: Dark brown / rust-colored
Surface nodes, underground ore veins, and some salvage.
Iron is needed for tools, forged iron, base materials, weapons, and many recipes.
Lead
Map color: Blue / light blue
Surface nodes and underground deposits.
Save lead for ammo production, especially once Blood Moon prep becomes more serious.
Nitrate
Map color: White
Surface nodes and underground deposits.
Nitrate combines with coal for gunpowder and is also used in farm plot crafting.
Coal
Map color: Black
Surface nodes, underground deposits, and some biome/POI sources.
Coal is essential for gunpowder. Desert coal nodes are replaced by oil shale.
Oil Shale
Map color: Light brown
Naturally found in the desert, plus some oil/gas POIs.
Oil shale is the long-term fuel resource for gas production at a chemistry station.
Stone / Gravel
Map color: Gray for surface stones
Stone terrain, surface rocks, pallets, and gravel deposits.
Underground gravel often leads toward larger ore deposits.
Biomes
Best biomes for mining
The safest or best mining biome depends on what you need and how dangerous your world has become.
Pine Forest
The safest beginner mining biome with clay, stone, iron, nitrate, lead, coal, and gravel sand.
Desert
Best for oil shale and easy-to-spot resources, but it does not naturally spawn coal nodes.
Snow
Can be good for coal, but tougher wildlife and enemies make mining riskier.
Burnt Forest
Ore can be less abundant, but chopping burnt trees can provide coal.
Wasteland
Can provide stone and sand, but mines, dangerous enemies, and terrain hazards make it risky.
Efficiency
Mining tools, perks, armor, and boosts
For serious mining, combine better tools with Miner 69er, Mother Lode, Rock Busters, coffee, mining armor, and Art of Mining books.
Miner 69er
Improves block damage and stamina efficiency, helping you break blocks faster.
Mother Lode
Improves resource yield, making each block more profitable.
Rock Busters
A vending machine candy that boosts mining harvest for short mining sessions.
Coffee / Blackstrap
Useful for stamina and Art of Mining bonuses during longer mining trips.
Art of Mining
Mining books add bonuses like gems, coffee ore bonuses, resource stacks, and better mining output.
Mining armor
Mining pieces can improve ore damage, harvest, stamina cost, fall safety, and tool durability.
Quick mining tool path
Start with whatever you have, but upgrade out of stone tools as soon as possible. Iron pickaxes are the first real step up, steel pickaxes are strong mid-game tools, and augers offer huge output once you can support the fuel cost.
Safety
Mining safety
Mining can attract attention, cause cave-ins, and create problems if you dig under the wrong place.
Do not mine under your main base
Zombies can dig, and mining heat can attract screamers. Keep serious mines away from your home base.
Build a real exit
Do not rely only on jump-blocking. If zombies get below you, escaping can become awkward or impossible.
Support your tunnels
Use building blocks as supports and upgrade them so cave-ins are less likely.
Defend the entrance
A few blocks, spikes, or a small elevated defense can buy time when zombies investigate your mine.
Crouch while mining
Crouching can reduce mining noise/heat and may reduce screamer problems during long sessions.
Avoid auger start-stop spam
If using an auger, repeatedly starting and stopping it can generate more heat than keeping it running.
Building
Building and workstation resources
These resources feed base building, workstations, repairs, upgrades, and mid-game progression.
Cobblestone
Craft from clay and stone, or shovel blue cobblestone pallets in POIs.
Excellent early base upgrade material before concrete.
Forged Iron
Craft in a forge with iron and clay, or salvage from broken workstations and similar objects.
Used in workstations, tools, parts, vehicle progression, and repairs.
Forged Steel
Craft with a crucible or salvage from some vending machines, munition crates, lights, transformers, and gas pumps.
Harder to get early, so do not waste it.
Nails
Craft at a forge or find in trash and loot.
Used for storage, furniture, and base utility items.
Short Iron Pipes
Craft at a forge or salvage from pipes, sinks, toilets, cars, and bathroom/kitchen objects.
Used in workstations, weapons, and vehicle/crafting recipes.
Concrete Mix
Craft in a cement mixer from cement, crushed sand, and stone.
Core material for stronger base building.
Cement
Craft from stone at a forge or dig cement bags in POIs.
Save cement bags for easy concrete progression.
Crushed Sand
Craft from stone in a cement mixer or dig gravel/desert terrain.
Needed for concrete mix and other recipes.
Wrenching
Salvage resources
Wrenching is one of the most important resource loops in 7 Days to Die. Cars, electronics, beds, appliances, and workstations all matter.
Scrap Polymer
Scrap plastic items, cars, plastic boxes, furniture, and appliances.
Used in wheels, mods, crafting, and many mid-game recipes.
Electrical Parts
Wrench electronics, lights, computers, appliances, and cars.
Useful for vehicles, traps, electricity, and advanced crafting.
Mechanical Parts
Wrench cars, air conditioners, workbenches, cement mixers, and mechanical objects.
Do not scrap engines for mechanical parts unless you are desperate.
Springs
Cars, beds, safes, gas pumps, vending machines, ATMs, and cement mixers.
Save springs if you craft explosives or advanced items.
Batteries
Wrench cars and trucks, or buy/check traders.
Avoid crafting batteries if it costs valuable acid.
Engines
Cars, trucks, engine blocks, traders, and vehicle-related loot.
Keep engines for vehicles, generators, and progression.
Headlights
Cars, trucks, spotlights, and some salvage sources.
Needed for vehicle crafting and related recipes.
Sewing Kits
Clothing containers and higher-tier end loot.
Annoying early, but common later. Save them for armor and medical crafting.
Fuel
Fuel and vehicle resources
Vehicles, augers, chainsaws, and generators all depend on fuel and salvage-heavy materials.
Gasoline
Wrench cars, loot gas barrels/pumps, buy from traders, or craft from oil shale.
Long-term gas production usually comes from oil shale and a chemistry station.
Oil Shale
Mine in the desert.
One of the most important late-game resource loops for vehicles, augers, and chainsaws.
Oil
Loot, wrench cars, or craft from oil shale and cans at a chemistry station.
Needed for certain trap items, vehicle parts, and recipes.
Wheels
Craft, buy, or loot from vehicle-related sources and Pass-N-Gas containers.
Wheels require acid to craft, so looting or buying them can save resources.
Acid
Science/medical loot, sinks, and later wrenching certain sources with the right book.
Rare enough that you should avoid wasting it on items you can loot or salvage.
Ammo
Ammo resources
If you use guns, ammo prep becomes one of the most important long-term resource loops.
Gunpowder
Craft from coal and nitrate. Chemistry station crafting is more efficient.
Use the chemistry station for bulk ammo prep whenever possible.
Brass
Radiators, brass items, trophies, cars, and smelting dukes late game.
Do not sell or waste brass if you rely on bullets.
Lead
Lead nodes and mining deposits.
Core bullet material alongside brass and gunpowder.
Paper
Cardboard boxes, paper blocks, paper-heavy POIs, and scrapped money if necessary.
Avoid crafting paper with glue unless you are desperate.
Coal
Coal nodes, some POIs, and burnt trees.
Needed for gunpowder, so stockpile it before Blood Moon.
Nitrate
Nitrate nodes and underground deposits.
Needed for both gunpowder and farm plots.
Crafting Staples
Glue, duct tape, cloth, and repair kits
These resources block a lot of crafting progression, so it is worth knowing how to keep them stocked.
Glue
Craft from bones and water at a campfire or chemistry station, or loot/buy it.
The chemistry station uses fewer bones, so it is better for larger batches.
Duct Tape
Craft from glue and cloth.
Used everywhere: weapons, tools, vehicles, repair kits, and progression crafts.
Cloth
Cotton, cloth objects, loot, and some book unlocks.
Cotton is usually easy to gather in the forest biome.
Repair Kits
Craft from forged iron and duct tape.
Keep them for tools, weapons, armor, and vehicles.
Farming
Farming resources
Farming can solve food, medical, glue, trader discount, and money problems once your setup becomes sustainable.
Farm plots
Most crops need farm plots. They cost wood, rotten flesh, nitrate powder, and clay.
Use farm POIs
Some POIs already have farm plots. Claiming one can save a lot of materials early.
Living Off the Land
The core farming perk. It improves yields and reduces farm plot costs.
Southern Farming
This magazine line unlocks most crop seeds and is boosted by farming investment.
Farming armor
Certain farming pieces improve crop yield, seed returns, and seed looting.
Crop growth
Most crops take about two in-game days. Mushrooms do not need farm plots.
Farm plot materials
Farm plots cost wood, rotten flesh, nitrate powder, and clay. If you want a large farm early, look for POIs with existing farm plots before crafting every plot yourself.
Crops
Best crops to farm
Not every crop deserves farm plot space. Prioritize crops that are rare, valuable, or used in strong recipes.
Hops
Farm from seeds once unlocked/found.
Useful for beer, melee stamina, brawling builds, and strong late-game consumables.
Mushrooms
Plant almost anywhere.
Great because they do not require farm plots and are used in strong recipes.
Corn
Farm after Southern Farming progression.
One of the best food crops because it appears in many late-game recipes.
Potatoes
Farm after Southern Farming progression.
Pairs extremely well with corn for better food recipes.
Super Corn
Guaranteed route through Bob’s Boars and Carl’s Corn POI.
Valuable for selling, glue, Grandpa’s drinks, and late-game recipes.
Pumpkins / Coffee
Optional farm targets depending on your playstyle.
Pumpkins help with some trader discount food, while coffee supports stamina-heavy play.
Gather Instead
Crops you can usually gather wild
Some crops are so common in certain biomes that farming them heavily may not be worth the plot space.
Cotton
Common in the forest biome.
Often easier to gather wild than farm heavily.
Goldenrod
Common in the forest biome.
Useful for drinks, but usually easy to gather.
Chrysanthemum
Common in the forest biome.
Useful for drinks and paint, but usually not worth heavy farm space.
Yucca
Common in the desert.
Gather wild unless you lack desert access.
Aloe
Common in the desert.
Useful for healing, but wild desert gathering is usually enough.
Blueberries
Common in the snow biome.
Farm if snow biome access is dangerous or inconvenient.
Valuable Crop
Super Corn
Super corn is one of the best long-term farming resources. It can be sold for dukes and used in valuable recipes like glue and Grandpa’s drinks. The guaranteed route is the Bob’s Boars and Carl’s Corn POI, but the area can be dangerous, so do not treat it like a casual early-game house.
Hunting
Animal resources
Use a knife or machete when harvesting animals and corpses so you get better yields.
Raw Meat
Harvest animals with a knife or machete.
Used for food and long-term cooking progression.
Leather
Animals, sofas, office chairs, and furniture.
Needed for armor, crafting, and some early progression.
Bones
Animals, corpses, and rotten meat sources.
One of the best glue sources when combined with water.
Animal Fat
Harvest animals and some corpse sources.
Useful in cooking and crafting recipes.
Rotten Flesh
Zombie animals, roadkill, dead bodies, and corpse sources.
Needed for farm plots, so save it if you plan to farm.
Feathers and Eggs
Bird nests, chickens, and vultures.
Feathers help with arrows/bolts, while eggs are valuable for food.
Testosterone
Bears, zombie bears, and some medical loot.
Use a knife or machete for better harvest yield.
Quick Tips
Best resource gathering tips
These habits save time and prevent you from wasting materials that become important later.
Use the right tool
Axes for wood, shovels for soil/pallets, pickaxes or augers for ore, and wrenches for salvage.
Wrench cars
Cars feed many systems: gas, batteries, engines, springs, headlights, mechanical parts, electrical parts, and polymers.
Use POI pallets
Cobblestone, cement, paper, and stone pallets can save time early.
Save acid
Do not waste acid on batteries, wheels, or military fiber if you can loot, buy, or salvage those instead.
Bring mining boosts
Rock Busters, coffee, mining armor, Miner 69er, and Mother Lode make big mining trips much better.
Use traders to fill gaps
Sometimes buying a missing part is better than wasting hours trying to force a specific drop.
Avoid These
Common resource mistakes
Most resource problems come from wasting rare items, ignoring better tools, or mining/farming inefficiently.
Mining without a safe exit
Always make a way out that does not depend only on jump-blocking.
Mining under your main base
Zombies can dig, and mining heat can pull attention toward your home.
Ignoring gravel deposits
Underground gravel often points toward ore. Dig it out and check behind it.
Not crouching during long mining sessions
Crouching can reduce mining noise and heat, which may help with screamer problems.
Wasting acid
Acid is annoying to replace. Avoid spending it on items you can loot or buy.
Crafting paper with glue
Glue is usually too valuable. Break boxes, find paper blocks, or visit paper-heavy POIs instead.
Scrapping engines casually
Engines are valuable and cannot simply be crafted like basic materials.
Selling brass before Blood Moon prep
If you use bullets, brass becomes extremely important later.
Farming without Living Off the Land
Without farming perks, seed costs can eat most of your harvest.
Crafting tons of farm plots too early
Check for POIs with existing farm plots before spending rotten flesh, nitrate, clay, and wood.
Next Guides
Use these resources in your next progression steps
Resources connect directly to crafting, vehicles, base building, and Blood Moon prep.
Crafting Guide
Learn how magazines, workstations, and materials connect to crafting progression.
Vehicles Guide
Use fuel, wheels, engines, batteries, and salvage parts to unlock better transportation.
Base Building Guide
Use wood, cobblestone, concrete, forged materials, and traps for stronger bases.
Blood Moon Guide
Stockpile ammo, repair kits, building materials, and explosives before horde night.