Farming & Seasons¶
Runaria replaces vanilla farming with a seasonal system. Crops only grow in their season, need watering, and roll a quality grade when harvested.
Seasons¶
Four seasons rotate automatically — Spring → Summer → Autumn → Winter — each lasting 28 in-game days, or roughly 9 hours of real time. A full year takes about a day and a half.
- Planting a crop out of season is refused outright.
- If the season turns while a crop is in the ground, it simply stops growing. It doesn't die.
- Greenhouse Glass within 5 blocks protects crops from seasonal withering.
- Scarecrows protect crops within 7 blocks from crows.
Farming is disabled in the spawn world — plant elsewhere.
How growth works¶
Crops advance by growth points rather than vanilla stages. Each tick that passes its conditions gives one point, and the crop is harvestable once it reaches its total.
Two things are checked every tick:
- Season — must be one the crop accepts.
- Water — the farmland has to stay hydrated. Tree and fruit crops are thirstier than field crops.
Runaria uses ordinary vanilla farmland, so the usual rules apply: keep water within range of your plot, or bring it to the crops yourself with a watering can or a sprinkler. Rain waters your fields for free.
Dry farmland kills crops
On any tick where the farmland has dried out, most crops have a high chance of withering. Apple, Garlic and Dragon Fruit are the exceptions — they have no death conditions at all, which makes them the safest crops to leave unattended.
Star quality¶
Every harvest rolls a grade:
| Grade | Base chance |
|---|---|
| Normal | 85% |
| Silver Star | 10% |
| Golden Star | 5% |
Quality fertilizer shifts those odds substantially:
| Fertilizer | Normal / Silver / Golden |
|---|---|
| Quality I | 70% / 20% / 10% |
| Quality II | 55% / 30% / 15% |
| Quality III | 40% / 40% / 20% |
Star crops aren't just worth more — Silver and Golden crops are the required ingredients for Silver and Golden dishes at the Cooking Station.
The crops¶
"Points" is how many successful growth ticks a crop needs — lower is faster.
| Crop | Season | Points | Yield | Stars | Farming XP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cucumber | Spring | 4 | 1–5 | Yes | 3 |
| Cabbage | Spring | 4 | 1 | Yes | 3 |
| Napa Cabbage | Spring | 3 | 1 | Yes | 6 |
| Cherries | Spring | 4 | 1–5 | Yes | 6 |
| Tomato | Spring, Autumn | 6 | 1–4 | Yes | 3 |
| Corn | Summer | 3 | 1 | Yes | 3 |
| Blackberry | Summer | 4 | 1–5 | Yes | 3 |
| Blueberry | Summer | 4 | 1–5 | Yes | 6 |
| Hop | Summer | 3 | 2–5 | Yes | 6 |
| Chili | Autumn | 3 | 1–5 | No | 3 |
| Pepper | Autumn | 5 | 3–6 | Yes | — |
| Grape | Autumn | 8 | 3–5 | Yes | 6 |
| Garlic | Winter | 3 | 4 | Yes | 3 |
| Plum | Winter | 3 | 1–5 | No | 6 |
| Raspberry | Winter | 4 | 1–5 | Yes | 3 |
| Eggplant | Summer, Autumn | 3 | 2–5 | Yes | 9 |
| Guava | Summer, Autumn | 4 | 1–5 | Yes | 14 |
| Papaya | Summer, Autumn | 4 | 1–5 | Yes | 14 |
| Avocado | Spring, Summer | 4 | 1–5 | Yes | 9 |
| Coconut | Spring, Summer | 4 | 1–5 | Yes | 21 |
| Orange | Spring, Summer | 2 | 1–5 | No | 9 |
| Lemon | Winter, Spring | 4 | 1–5 | No | 9 |
| Mango | Winter, Spring | 4 | 1–5 | Yes | 14 |
| Goji Berry | Autumn, Winter | 4 | 1–5 | Yes | 9 |
| Kiwi | Autumn, Winter | 4 | 1–5 | Yes | 14 |
| Pineapple | Autumn, Winter | 4 | 1 | Yes | 9 |
| Peach | Spring–Autumn | 2 | 1–5 | No | 6 |
| Starfruit | Spring–Autumn | 4 | 1–5 | Yes | 21 |
| Dragon Fruit | Spring, Autumn, Winter | 8 | 3–5 | Yes | 21 |
| Durian | Summer–Winter | 4 | 1–5 | Yes | 32 |
| Red Packet | Spring, Summer, Winter | 5 | 1–4 | No | 32 |
| Lychee | All four | 4 | 1–5 | Yes | 21 |
| Apple (tree) | Any | 8 | 1–4 | No | 3 |
Reading that table: Lychee is the only crop that grows year-round and has star grades. Apple is the only fully unrestricted one. Durian and Red Packet give the most farming experience. Grape, Dragon Fruit and Apple are the slowest.
Tools¶
Watering cans¶
| Tier | Water per use | Area |
|---|---|---|
| I | 1 | 1×1 |
| II | 2 | 2×2 |
| III | 3 | 3×3 |
| IV | 5 | 5×5 |
Sprinklers¶
| Tier | Range | Storage | Infinite water |
|---|---|---|---|
| I & II | 3×3 | 4 | No |
| III | 5×5 | 20 | Yes |
Sprinkler III is the one worth saving for — it never needs refilling.
Fertilizers¶
Five families, three tiers each.
| Family | What it does |
|---|---|
| Quality | Better star odds (see above) |
| Yield Increase | Chance of extra crops per harvest — tier III guarantees at least two extra |
| Speed Grow | Chance of bonus growth points per tick |
| Soil Retain | 10%, 20% or 30% chance not to consume water |
| Variation | 2%, 4% or 8% chance to mutate into a variant crop |
Quality and Soil Retain last 28 growth cycles; the others last 14.
Apply order matters
Quality, Speed Grow and Yield Increase must go on before you plant. Soil Retain and Variation can be applied at any time.