NPCs

NPCs

Statistics

Type	NPC
Damage	Varies 10
Max Life	250
Defense	Varies 15
KB Resist	50%
Immune to

Sounds

Purchase & Sell items
Open chat menu

For a complete list of NPC names, see NPC names.

NPCs are friendly automated non-playable characters that provide services to players.

Standing near an NPC and pressing ⚷ Interact will open a dialogue window with one or more options for the player to select. Most NPCs are vendors, displaying a shop inventory when the "Shop" option is selected. They sell items to players in exchange for coins, and can be sold items by a player to obtain coins. Some NPCs also have other options that perform other functions.

Most NPCs are town NPCs, appearing after various milestones are achieved in game advancement. They move into structures the player must provide, known as houses, which are generally required for town NPCs to remain available. Each NPC will need their own house, with the exception that a pet and non-pet NPC may share a house. NPCs will not move in if time freeze is on while playing Journey mode.

NPCs can reduce enemy spawn rates in the area, an effect that increases the more of them are present. With 3 or more town NPCs nearby, enemies generally stop spawning on or near the visible screen altogether (unless in Expert Mode or Master Mode). Players tend to utilize this effect by building large structures (towns or bases) with several integrated houses, to serve as their safe area. These reductions are usually overridden by events like Blood Moons or Goblin Invasions, during which spawn rates return to normal or are elevated, and enemies will once again attack players and NPCs in the area.

Town NPCs generally walk around during the day. They remain still in their assigned houses at night and during events. NPCs have limited health and can take damage, and ultimately die from enemies, traps, lava, or by drowning in water; however, they cannot be attacked directly by players (outside of special Voodoo Doll accessories, Rotten Eggs, or the Flymeal). They do not suffer from fall damage and their health regenerates over time. The Nurse can furthermore heal herself and other nearby NPCs. Additionally:

• Town NPCs will attack nearby enemies, each NPC having their own unique form of attack. They will not actively pursue combat, however, but rather attack in an act of self-defense.
• Town NPCs gain defense and damage boosts based on which bosses have been defeated in the current world.
• Occasionally, NPCs sit in chairs and randomly "talk" to other NPCs or the player (shown as mouth movement and speech bubbles).

NPCs will only move in during daytime. If an NPC is killed, they will respawn after a delay, as long as a suitable vacant house is still available. All requirements needed for the initial NPC spawn (e.g. the 50 requirement for the Merchant) need to be met again for the respawn. However, a rescued NPC will remain rescued, and respawn without needing to be found again.

There are currently 26 / 23 / 21 / 19 Town NPCs, 8 / 7 / 6 of whom normally appear in Hardmode. An additional 3 / 2 / 1 NPC(s) can be encountered who do not move into houses.

Housing

Main article: House

Each town NPC requires a suitable, vacant house. A house is a room of a certain size enclosed by a frame of blocks, with player-placed background walls, along with a valid light source, flat surface item, and comfort item. Two town NPCs cannot live in the same house at the same time. Houses must not be located near Corruption or Crimson, and if those biomes spread too close to an occupied house, the NPC living there may move out from that house.

Town NPC home assignments can be rearranged using NPC flags from the housing menu, where players can also check whether a room is a suitable house.

Town NPCs will teleport home during night / Blood Moon, Rain, Solar Eclipse , or Slime Rain if the NPC and their home are off-screen.

If a house occupied by an NPC is damaged in a way that makes them invalid, the NPC will move out and walk around the area until a suitable house is restored. If there are vacant houses available in the world, the NPC may move into one of them. If the NPC gets killed and does not have a home, they will not respawn until a new house becomes available.

The Guide and Old Man are unique in that they always spawn upon creating a world. The Old Man is not a town NPC and will not move into a house, but rather remain near his spawn point, near the Dungeon's entrance, and respawn there the following day if killed (while Skeletron has not yet been defeated).

Buying and selling

Selecting the "Shop" option from the dialogue window, opened by pressing ⚷ Interact next to a vendor NPC, will display a shop inventory similar to the player's own inventory. Items can be bought by moving them from the shop inventory into the player's inventory; the cost in coins will be subtracted from the player's storage as soon as the item is picked up from the shop inventory. An item can only be bought if their coin cost is available in the player's inventory ( or in the combined player's savings). Press and hold ⚷ Interact on stackable items allows the player to buy the item in bulk; the buy speed increases the longer ⚷ Interact is held.

Some NPCs sell biome-specific items when they are spoken to in certain biomes. They can be transported there by housing them there and waiting for the night (they will be teleported to their house at night once off-screen) or by using a King or Queen Statue. Note that the NPC does not need to live in the biome; talking to them while the player is in the biome is sufficient.

All NPC vendors can also be used to sell unwanted or surplus items to gain coins. The unwanted item(s) must be in the player's inventory. Hovering over the item while the NPC's inventory screen is open will display its sell value. Items are always sold to vendors at 1/5 of their purchase price. Not all items have a sell value (very common items such as Dirt or Wood have no value). Placing the item in the NPC's shop inventory will sell it, granting the player the sell value into their inventory. Sales to ( and purchases from) NPCs can be cancelled while the NPC's inventory screen is still open: Sold items can be taken back in exchange for the amount they were sold for (and on  PC,  Console,  Mobile, and  tModLoader, purchased items can be sold back in exchange for the amount they were purchased for).

All NPC vendors have the same base buying and selling price. Item prices can be decreased by equipping a Discount Card, which is a rare drop from Pirate Invasions. On  PC,  Console,  Mobile, and  tModLoader, prices can also be higher or lower based on the NPC's happiness level.

All NPC vendors will sell Pylons when their happiness level is above a certain threshold.

Town NPCs

The NPCs are listed in the order in which they are generally likely to be acquired. See Living preferences below for  PC,  Console,  Mobile, and  tModLoader biome and neighbor preferences. The term "other town NPCs" always includes the Old Man, Traveling Merchant, and Town pets, but not the Skeleton Merchant.

Pre-Hardmode

NPC		Description	Spawn requirement	Defending weapon ()	Drops upon death
	Guide	Provides tips and a general guide on how to acquire other NPCs and provides recipes that include an item that is shown to him.	Always already present when starting a new world.	Wooden Bow (with Wooden Arrows / HM: Flaming Arrows) (Ranged)	Green Cap 100%;     only when named Andrew / always
	Merchant	Sells basic tools and supplies.	All players combined have more than 50 in their inventories. Replaces the Guide as the starting NPC when starting a new Not the bees world.	Throwing Knife (Ranged)	n/a
	Nurse	Heals players and cancels debuffs in exchange for coins.	A player has more than 100 health and the Merchant is present.	Syringes (Thrown; targets NPCs and heals)	n/a
	Demolitionist	Sells explosives.	A player has an explosive in their inventory and the Merchant is present. Replaces the Guide as the starting NPC when starting a new For the worthy world.	Grenades (Ranged; explodes)	n/a
	Dye Trader	Sells the Dye Vat crafting station. Provides rare dyes in exchange for Strange Plants.	A player has a dye item or any item used to craft dye in their inventory, in addition to certain other conditions.	Exotic Scimitar (Melee)	Exotic Scimitar 12.5*1/8 (12.5%)
	Angler	Gives fishing quests and rewards players for completing them.	Found and spoken to in an Ocean biome.	Frost Daggerfish (Thrown)	n/a
	Zoologist	Sells vanity, mount, pet, and critter-themed items.	At least 10% of the Bestiary (54 entries) has been filled.	Claws (Melee)	n/a
	Dryad	Sells nature/Corruption/Crimson items, and can report the percentage of Corruption/Crimson and Hallow in the world.	The Eye of Cthulhu, Eater of Worlds/Brain of Cthulhu, or Skeletron has been defeated.	Dryad's Blessing (Area of effect; buffs players and harms enemies)	n/a
	Painter	Sells paint, painting tools, and paintings.	8 / 4 other town NPCs are in the world.	Paintball Gun (Ranged)	Paintball Gun 10*1/10 (10%) Jim's Cap 100%; only when named Jim
	Golfer	Sells Golf Clubs, Balls, and other golfing items.	Found and spoken to in the Underground Desert.	Golf Balls (Thrown)	n/a
	Arms Dealer	Sells guns, bullets, and other ammunition.	A player has bullets or a gun that shoots bullets in their inventory.	Flintlock Pistol / HM: Minishark (Ranged)	n/a
	Tavernkeep	Sells items that summon and help with fighting the Old One's Army, most of them only in exchange for Defender Medals.	Found and spoken to after the Eater of Worlds or Brain of Cthulhu has been defeated.	Ale (Thrown)	Ale Tosser 16.67*1/6 (16.67%)
	Stylist	Can change the player's hairstyle and sells Hair Dyes.	Found and spoken to in a Spider Nest.	Stylish Scissors (Melee)	Stylish Scissors 12.5*1/8 (12.5%)
	Goblin Tinkerer	Sells items such as the Tinkerer's Workshop, and can reforge items.	Found and spoken to in the Cavern layer, after a Goblin Invasion has been defeated. Typically in the Dungeon.	Spiky Balls (Thrown)	n/a
	Witch Doctor	Sells the Blowgun, the Imbuing Station, summoner equipment, Fountains, and Leaf Wings.	The Queen Bee has been defeated.	Blowgun (Ranged)	n/a
	Clothier	Sells some vanity items, including the Familiar set.	Skeletron has been defeated.	Book of Skulls (Magic; Shadowflame version)	Red Hat 100%
	Mechanic	Sells the Wrench, Wire, and other mechanism-related items.	Found and spoken to in the Dungeon.	Combat Wrench Wrench (Thrown)	Combat Wrench 12.5*1/8 (12.5%)
	Party Girl	Sells novelty items that create colorful visual effects.	1/40 chance of spawning after 14 / 2 other town NPCs are in the world. Replaces the Guide as the starting NPC when starting a new Drunk world. Spawns as a starting NPC when starting a new world with Celebrationmk10 seed.	Happy Grenade (Thrown)	Happy Grenade 25*1/4 (25%); in stacks of 30–60

Hardmode

NPC		Description	Spawn requirement	Defending weapon ()	Drops upon death
	Wizard	Sells magic-related items.	Found and spoken to in the Cavern layer.	Flower of Fire (Magic; inflicts On Fire!)	n/a
	Tax Collector	Collects property taxes from other NPCs. Earns 50 per NPC present, collectable by the player.	A Tortured Soul is transformed with Purification Powder in the Underworld. Replaces the Guide as the starting NPC in a Don't dig up world.	Classy Cane (Melee)	Classy Cane 12.5*1/8 (12.5%)
	Truffle	Sells the Autohammer, Mushroom Spear, and other mushroom-themed items.	A house is available in an above-ground Glowing Mushroom biome during Hardmode.	Mushroom Spore (Magic; stationary until touched)	n/a
	Pirate	Sells the Cannon and other pirate-themed items.	A Pirate Invasion has been defeated.	Pirate Cannon (Ranged)	n/a
	Steampunker	Sells the Clentaminator, Jetpack, and other items.	A mechanical boss has been defeated. Spawns as a starting NPC when starting a new world with Celebrationmk10 seed.	Clockwork Assault Rifle (Ranged)	Ivy 100%; only when named Whitney
	Cyborg	Sells the Proximity Mine Launcher, Rockets, and Nanites.	Plantera has been defeated.	Rocket (Ranged)	n/a
	Santa Claus	Sells the Santa set, colored lights, Christmas trees and their respective decorations.	The Frost Legion has been defeated and it is Christmas.	Bauble (Thrown)	n/a
	Princess	Sells several vanity and furniture items.	All other town NPCs are in the world (except for town pets and Santa Claus). Spawns as a starting NPC when starting a new world with Celebrationmk10 seed.	Crushing Crystals (Magic; swiftly contracts out of sight after attacking target)	Resonance Scepter 12.5*1/8 (12.5%)

Town Slimes

   

PC/Console/Mobile/tModLoader-Only Content: This section's information applies only to the PC, Console, Mobile, and tModLoader versions of Terraria.

Main article: Town Slimes

Not to be confused with Town pets.

This content is transcluded from Town Slimes § Types.There are 8 different town slimes and each is unlocked in a different way:

Slime	Spawn conditions	Map Icon
Nerdy Slime Internal NPC ID: 670	Moves in after killing King Slime.
Cool Slime Internal NPC ID: 678	May move in during naturally generated Parties.
Elder Slime Internal NPC ID: 679	Moves in after beating Skeletron and unlocking an Old Shaking Chest in the Cavern Layer with a Golden Key. Detectable with the Lifeform Analyzer.
Clumsy Slime Internal NPC ID: 680	Can be found as a Clumsy Balloon Slime near floating islands in the Space Layer which must be shot down. Detectable with the Lifeform Analyzer.
Diva Slime Internal NPC ID: 681	Moves in after throwing a Sparkle Slime Balloon into Shimmer.
Surly Slime Internal NPC ID: 682	Can be fished up during a Blood Moon. Name appears when using Sonar Potion.
Mystic Slime Internal NPC ID: 683	Moves in after using Purification Powder on a Mystic Frog in the Jungle surface. Detectable with the Lifeform Analyzer.
Squire Slime Internal NPC ID: 684	Moves in after dropping a Copper Helmet or a Copper Shortsword on a Slime.

Town pets

   

PC/Console/Mobile/tModLoader-Only Content: This section's information applies only to the PC, Console, Mobile, and tModLoader versions of Terraria.

Not to be confused with Pets.

Town pets are special town NPCs that appear at dawn (4:30 AM) the day after a pet license item sold by the Zoologist is used. They are not to be confused with pets, which follow the player around. Town pets have distinctive housing assignment banners, and can share houses with another NPC. They count as NPCs for pylon requirements and for decreasing enemy spawn rates in an area, but are not counted as neighboring NPCs in other NPCs' happiness calculations, and indeed do not positively or negatively affect the happiness of other NPCs in any way. Unlike other NPCs, town pets have no means of self-defense.

Town pets offer a unique "Pet" option, which places the player directly in front of the pet when selected, and displays a petting animation. The effect is purely visual.

Pet		License item	Sell requirement
	Town Cat	Cat License	n/a
	Town Dog	Dog License	25% Bestiary completion (135 entries)
	Town Bunny	Bunny License	45% Bestiary completion (243 entries)

Other NPCs

The following NPCs are not considered town NPCs because they won't live with the player or move into other houses.

NPC		Description	Spawn requirement	Defending weapon ()	Drops upon death
	Traveling Merchant	Stays until the evening, sells a random selection of unique items each day.	22.12% spawn chance during morning hours (04:30 AM – 12:00 PM) once two other NPCs are present.	Revolver / HM: Pulse Bow (Ranged)	Peddler's Hat 100%
	Old Man	Found at the entrance to the Dungeon. Summons Skeletron when prompted to with the "Curse" interaction option by the player, but only at night. Once Skeletron is defeated, the Old Man moves into town as the Clothier.	Starting a new world.	n/a	n/a
	Skeleton Merchant	Sells Counterweights, Spelunker Glowsticks, Magic Lantern, the Yoyo Glove and some other items, based on the lunar cycle. Some items such as the Slap Hand can only be obtained from him.	Rarely found in the Caverns.	Bone (Thrown)	n/a

Removed NPCs

The following NPCs no longer exists on any platform.

NPC		Description	Spawn requirement
	Mc MoneyPants	Unspawnable mobile-exclusive NPC introduced alongside the Chinese New Year content, removed entirely in Mobile 1.3.0.7.	unknown
	Star Merchant	Old Chinese mobile-exclusive NPC, selling magic items and decorations.	3.33*1/30 (3.33%) chance of spawning after all the NPCs available in pre-Hardmode are present.

Stat boosts

     

PC/Console/Mobile/Old Chinese/tModLoader/tModLoader 1.3-Legacy-Only Content: This section's information applies only to the PC, Console, Mobile, Old Chinese, tModLoader, and tModLoader Legacy versions of Terraria.

All NPCs have a base defense stat of 15 (except for the Skeleton Merchant, who has 30), and their base attack stats vary from one NPC to another. In addition, all NPCs gain specific defense and damage boosts based on the bosses that have been defeated so far in the current world. These boosts are completely independent of each other (e.g. the "Hardmode entered" boost can potentially be gained without first attaining the "Eye of Cthulhu beaten" boost, and vice-versa). The boosts are also permanent for a given world, and are applied instantly to all town NPCs, including all Town pets and all other NPCs.

The Dryad also gains boosts to her attack damage. She does not deal damage directly, but rather by inflicting the Dryad's Bane debuff on enemies. These boosts to the Dryad's Bane debuff are not quite the same as those damage-stat boosts, however, so both kinds of boosts are listed in the following table. Just as with the stat boosts, the Dryad's Bane boosts are independent of each other, are permanent for a given world, and are applied instantly to all enemies inflicted with the debuff.

Defeating the Deerclops will not give stat boosts to NPCs.

Event	Defense bonus	Damage boost
		Attack
Advanced Combat Techniques used	+6	+20%	n/a
Advanced Combat Techniques: Volume Two used	+6	+20%	n/a
Eye of Cthulhu beaten	+3	+10%
Eater of Worlds / Brain of Cthulhu beaten	+3	+10%
Queen Bee beaten	+3	+10%
Skeletron beaten	+3	+10%
Hardmode entered	+12	+40%
Queen Slime beaten	+6	+15%	n/a
The Twins beaten	+6	+15%
The Destroyer beaten	+6	+15%
Skeletron Prime beaten	+6	+15%
Plantera beaten	+8	+15%
Golem beaten	+8	+15%
Empress of Light beaten	+8	+15%	n/a
Lunatic Cultist beaten	+8	+15%

Happiness

   

PC/Console/Mobile/tModLoader-Only Content: This section's information applies only to the PC, Console, Mobile, and tModLoader versions of Terraria.

See also: Guide:NPC Happiness

Multiple different factors affect the happiness of an NPC, including neighboring NPCs and current biome they live in.

An alternative way to display NPCs' opinions of each other and the biomes they live in

An NPC's happiness determines their buying and selling prices, giving the player up to a 25-33% benefit when happiest, or similar detriment when unhappiest. Happiness is based on the biome the NPC lives in and which other NPCs are nearby. All NPCs have happiness, but aside from the flavor text when choosing the Happiness dialog option, the only in-game effect is on prices. Only the NPCs the player buys and sells from need to be happy and only while the player is buying and selling. NPCs who don't sell goods or services (like the Guide or Angler) can be placed where most convenient, or used to make other NPCs happy. NPCs can be moved, but can take up to an in-game day or so to move from one living space to another.

The most accurate way to judge most NPC's happiness is to check their prices. The happiest NPC who can offer a pylon will sell it for 7 gold 50 silver. There is a " Happiness" option in every NPCs dialogue window, that makes the NPC tell the player if any factors make them currently happy or unhappy, although they often try to put a positive spin on things and will not say what could make them happier or unhappier. For example, if the Guide is located alone in a Forest, he will praise the lack of other NPCs around and the fact he is in a Forest, but not that he would prefer to live near the Clothier or Zoologist.

NPC happiness will lower their prices for goods purchased from them, down to a minimum of 75*3/4 (75%), and increase the value of goods sold to them by the inverse of the same modifier, up to a maximum of 133*4/3 (133%). Conversely, NPC unhappiness will raise prices for goods purchased from them, up to a maximum of 150*3/2 (150%), and decrease the value of goods sold to them, down to a minimum 67*2/3 (67%) (rounded to the nearest 1%). When an NPC that sells items, other than the Skeleton Merchant or Traveling Merchant, has a price modifier at or below 90%, they will allow the player to purchase the pylon for their current biome. The Tax Collector's current tax funds and tax collection limit are both divided by his happiness factor, such that at maximum happiness he will store up to 133333, and at maximum unhappiness he will only store up to 66666; the amount of taxes that he collects per minute also scales at the same rate.

For the purpose of calculating distances below, the position of an NPC's home tile is considered instead of the NPC itself, unless the NPC is homeless in which case their actual position is considered. The home tile is the block where NPCs stand on during nights and events. NPC's flag will "hook" directly above the home tile. One can easily find the home tile by locating the central column of the 3×3-tile area that the NPC's flag occupies, and then moving all the way down to the tile in the floor of the house. For more detailed definition of a home tile, see House § Home tile score.

Similarly, biome-related preferences will reference the primary biome where the player is, rather than where the NPC or their home is. If the player is in a hybrid biome, and the NPC likes/loves one of the biome, that biome will take priority in the happiness calculation. However, if they are being neutral to, dislike, or hate all the biomes nearby, or they are in the Dungeon, Corruption, or Crimson, the happiness calculation will be based on the following biome priority.

1. Dungeon
2. Corruption
3. Crimson
4. Glowing Mushroom
5. Hallow
6. Jungle
7. Underground jungle
8. Snow
9. Ocean
10. Desert
11. Underground, Cavern, or The Underworld
12. Forest

An NPC's happiness is computed the moment their chat window is opened, which means that their happiness can be altered very quickly (e.g. by closing their chat window, adding or removing nearby NPC flags, and re-opening the chat window).

Factors affecting happiness

The below price modifiers are applied in the order shown in the table. If the modifier is prefixed with a star, it is multiplied with the running total of the modifier, and if prefixed with an equals sign, the modifier is instead set to that value, overriding all prior logic. The final multiplier is capped at a minimum of 67% and a maximum of 150%. The Traveling Merchant and Skeleton Merchant are special cases; they skip over the happiness-pricing logic in the table below and instead simply always set their multipliers to 100%.

Criteria	Price modifier (purchasing)	Price modifier (selling)
Solitude Bonus: There are no more than two other NPCs within 25 tiles, and no more than three other NPCs between 25 and 120 tiles away.	95%	105%
Crowded Penalty: For the fourth, fifth, etc. NPC within 25 tiles, each. This equates to a maximum of three other NPCs within 25 tiles to avoid this penalty.	105%	95%
Located in a Loved biome	88%	114%
Located in a Liked biome	94%	106%
Located in a Disliked biome	106%	94%
Located in a Hated biome	112%	89%
For each Loved NPC within 25 tiles	88%	114%
For each Liked NPC within 25 tiles	94%	106%
For each Disliked NPC within 25 tiles	106%	94%
For each Hated NPC within 25 tiles	112%	89%

Living preferences

(Note: The Princess is liked by all NPCs, and therefore is not put in every column for the sake of less clutter.)

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Shimmer

This content is transcluded from Shimmer § NPC transmutations.NPCs that come into contact with Shimmer will change appearance and teleport upwards, unless there is no block to land on, in which case they will teleport a few blocks to the side. The change in appearance doesn't affect anything sold in the shops or NPC dialogue. The housing icons are changed to match the NPC's new look, but the bestiary entries are not. They can be returned to their classic looks by being submerged in Shimmer again.

NPC Shimmered form Map Icon Guide Guide Merchant Merchant Nurse Nurse Painter Painter Dye Trader Dye Trader Zoologist Zoologist Golfer Golfer Party Girl Party Girl Angler Angler Stylist Stylist Demolitionist Demolitionist Dryad Dryad Tavernkeep Tavernkeep Arms Dealer Arms Dealer Goblin Tinkerer Goblin Tinkerer Witch Doctor Witch Doctor Clothier Clothier Mechanic Mechanic Tax Collector Tax Collector Pirate Pirate Truffle Truffle Wizard Wizard Steampunker Steampunker Cyborg Cyborg Santa Claus Santa Claus Princess Princess Traveling Merchant Traveling Merchant Old Man Old Man n/a Skeleton Merchant Skeleton Merchant n/a

Emotes

Although it may seem to be random, NPCs talk about things depending on their environment.

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Notes

• NPCs will not spawn during an active event (the Lunar Events are an exception) or at night.
• An NPC takes about 2 minutes to spawn after another NPC has spawned or dawn passes.
• If valid housing is off-screen during spawning, the NPC will spawn directly into the house.
• NPCs will not move and always face the player as long as their dialogue window is open.
• Unlike Chests and structures generated on world creation, bound NPCs spawn around the player's position on-the-fly, similar to enemy spawns. They are temporary, and can respawn elsewhere if missed (see NPC spawning).
• NPC vendors who have biome requirements to sell certain items need to be spoken to with the player being in said biome to fulfill the requirement. It is not sufficient to have their home located in the specific biome.
• NPC Behavior as of 1.3.0.1:
  • NPCs are known to "visit" other NPCs, talk, and play three rounds of rock paper scissors.
  • NPCs are able to walk up stairs.
  • NPCs can drown in water that is 2 tiles deep, whereas players require 3 tiles of water depth in order to drown.
  • All NPCs have a base attack damage stat of 10, but the details of their attacks vary significantly. Their defense generally starts at 15.
    • As of version 1.4 ( PC,  Console,  Mobile, and  tModLoader), their attack and defense will increase throughout the game. NPCs are stronger in Expert Mode so they can defend themselves against early game enemies.

if the player uses an emote near an NPC the NPC will use an emote

• The Oasis mini-biome counts as a Desert in terms of an NPC's preferred biome.
• Similarly, a Graveyard counts as the host biome, and (dialogue aside) being in a Graveyard does not affect NPC happiness.

Achievements

No Hobo • “Build a house suitable enough for your first town NPC, such as the guide, to move into.”

Successfully get an NPC to move into your first House.

Category: Explorer

Real Estate Agent • “Have all possible town NPCs living in your world.”

All town NPCs are housed in your world.

Category: Challenger

Leading Landlord • “Meet with a tenant who's as happy as they possibly can be!”

Talk to any town NPC while its happiness is at its maximum.

Category: Challenger

Feeling Petty • “Deliver headpats to the town pet.”

Pet a Town pet.

Category: Challenger

Home Sweet Home • “The Guide has moved into your house”

Have the Guide move into a house.

All in the Family • “Every NPC has moved into your house”

All town NPCs are housed in your world.

Tips

• When Traveling Merchant arrives, he will have a random shop inventory. If the player leaves the world between 4:30 AM and 12:00 PM, and enters again, there is a 22% chance he will re-spawn (with a new shop inventory).
• Bound NPCs found underground can be freed by talking to them, after which they will always respawn whenever a vacant house is available. Having an empty room ready for them beforehand will cause them to move in at night as soon as they are off-screen.
• Bound NPCs can be found by listening to their "hurt" sounds, especially the Mechanic, as the Dungeon is teeming with enemies.
• A housing area can be created where all the NPCs can have their biome-specific items: 1500 / 300 Pink Ice Blocks, 101 / 100 Mushroom grass, 140 / 80 Lihzahrd Bricks, 1500 / 1000 Sand Blocks and 7 Gravestone at the space layer in one screen where the houses are located.
• Drowning an NPC in water is an easy way to get NPC drops (safer than lava and quicker than Rotten Eggs).
• Land Mines are a more efficient, but late-game, way to kill NPCs.
• The Advanced Combat Techniques book, obtained by fishing during a Blood Moon, can be used to permanently increase the stats of all NPCs.
• To open a Chest behind an NPC, press the ⚷ Interact button twice. The first press will open the NPC's dialogue box, the second one will open the Chest.

Trivia

• During a Blood Moon, all female NPCs except the Party Girl and Princess have dialogue that is more irritable or aggressive than normal. This references premenstrual syndrome, which may cause mood swings and irritability in some females. Both the menstrual cycle and the real-world moon cycle occur approximately every 28 days.
• The only NPC interactions required to defeat the Moon Lord are talking to the Old Man to summon and defeat Skeletron and allow the Cultists to spawn, and killing the Guide with the Guide Voodoo Doll to summon and defeat the Wall of Flesh.
• Skeletons will not attack the Skeleton Merchant.
• The Party Girl is the only NPC to "love" two NPCs as one of their living preference(s).
• If an NPC attempts to move in when the enemy cap has been reached, the name of the most recently spawned enemy will appear instead of the NPC's name before "has arrived"

History

 PC version

• Desktop 1.4.4.4: Fixed an issue where NPCs whose names were translated would not drop name-based special drops.

• Desktop 1.4.4:
  • Added Shimmered forms for all town NPCs.
  • NPCs who die will now respawn freely, ignoring the original unique conditions which were required to spawn in the first place.
  • NPCs (except the Old Man) that are standing on Dungeon Bricks will no longer be immediately teleported back to their home.

• Desktop 1.4.3.3:
  • The minimum required happiness for NPCs to sell Pylons decreased from 0.85 to 0.9 (the lower this number is, the happier the NPC). This means that it is now easier to make NPCs happy enough to sell a Pylon.
  • If an NPC is present in a hybrid biome (e.g. the Hallowed Desert), and they like at least one of those biomes, then they will gain positive happiness from the biome they like.
  • The number of NPCs in a town before Crowded penalties begin to take effect increased by 1.

• Desktop 1.4.1.2:
  • Happiness price modifiers are now rounded to the nearest 1% increment instead of the nearest 5% increment.
  • NPC Happiness now gives the "Solitude" bonus for 3-NPC towns. Previously, there was neither a bonus nor a penalty at 3 NPCs.
  • Reverted the change to the distances to compute happiness made in 1.4.1.

• Desktop 1.4.1.1:
  • Fixed several grammatical/spelling issues in NPC dialogue.
  • Fixed an issue where Town NPCs would try to sit on Dynasty Chairs (they should not be able to).

• Desktop 1.4.1:
  • Added the Princess NPC.
  • Doubled the distances to compute happiness, from 25 tiles / 26-120 tiles to 50 tiles / 51-240 tiles.
  • The boost from the "Solitude" factor decreased by half.
  • The boost/penalty for Like/Dislike/Love/Hate factors increased by 20%.
  • The maximum number of NPCs in a town before "hate crowded" quotes begin to appear increased from 6 to 7. Note that this did not change the thresholds of crowded penalty.

• Desktop 1.4.0.5: The Truffle now likes living in the Mushroom biome (instead of being neutral).

• Desktop 1.4.0.4:
  • Will no longer let the player pet a town pet if slopes are interfering and would cause them to float.
  • Fixed Traveling Merchant and Skeleton Merchant accidentally having NPC Happiness.
  • Fixed NPCs sitting incorrectly in Dynasty Chairs.

• Desktop 1.4.0.3: Fixed erroneously huge dislike modifiers to happiness.

• Desktop 1.4.0.1:
  • Added the Zoologist and Golfer NPCs.
  • Now sell pylons.
  • Now have a Happiness system depending on where they live and who they live with.
  • NPCs will now drop Tombstones when they die in Hardcore mode.
  • Dye Trader requirements changed to only require a Dye item or material to craft a dye item.
  • Town NPCs now get a little stronger each time the player defeats a boss.

• Desktop 1.3.5: NPCs who are manually assigned to a room will have their successor attempt to move in when the original is killed.

• Desktop 1.3.4:
  • Added the Tavernkeep NPC.
  • Added 4 new emotes: Tavernkeep, Old One's Army, Beer, and Defender Medal.
    • Beer and Defender Medal are unused, but appear in the game files.

• Desktop 1.3.2:
  • Added 4 new emotes: Party Present, Party Hats, Party Cake, and Party Balloons.
  • Fixed spazzing if there is lava underneath them.
  • NPCs now try to avoid falling into cliffs away from their home area.
  • Party event added.

• Desktop 1.3.0.1:
  • Added the Skeleton Merchant and Tax Collector NPCs.
  • Improved the sprites of some NPCs.
  • NPCs now avoid enemies and fight back if necessary.
  • NPCs now talk to each other, sit in chairs, and avoid blocking chests.
  • Having all possible NPCs living in a world now unlocks the "Real Estate Agent achievement".
  • Changed the spawn order for Town NPCs so that the more important ones spawn first.
  • NPCs can now drown in water.

• Desktop 1.2.4:
  • Added the Angler NPC.
  • Fixed bugs with the sign / NPC chat display again.
  • Fixed exploit where the player could buy and sell stackable items for profit.

• Desktop 1.2.3.1: Fixed problems with rescued NPCs not having any names.

• Desktop 1.2.3:
  • Added the Stylist and Traveling Merchant NPCs.
  • Names are now decided on spawn rather than World Creation.
  • Fixed a bug where numerous NPCs could spawn if the player beat a Hardmode boss in a pre-Hardmode world.
  • Invasions can now spawn enemies anywhere near friendly NPCs instead of just the middle of the world.
  • Enemy attacks no longer trigger Spectre set healing from hitting friendly NPCs.

• Desktop 1.2.2: NPCs now go back to their houses during Solar Eclipses.

• Desktop 1.2.1.2: Added some checks to ensure multiple NPCs of the same type do not spawn.

• Desktop 1.2.1.1: Rotten Eggs now correctly damage friendly NPCs.

• Desktop 1.2.1: Several friendly NPCs will sell costumes.

• Desktop 1.2.0.3:
  • NPCs that require Plantera to be defeated to sell things now do so correctly in multiplayer.
  • King and Queen Statues will correctly summon the new NPCs.

• Desktop 1.2:
  • Added 8 NPCs: Steampunker, Truffle, Cyborg, Pirate, Witch Doctor, Party Girl, Dye Trader and Painter.
  • Fixed bug where attempting to move NPCs with reverse gravity used the opposite screen height position.
  • Increased speed at which the player buys stacks of items.

• Desktop 1.1.1:
  • Bound NPCs now can be untied with Autopause enabled.
  • Added the Santa Claus NPC.

• Desktop 1.1:
  • Added 3 NPCs: Goblin Tinkerer, Mechanic and Wizard.
  • NPCs now have random names given to them on World Creation. Their deaths will be reported with these names. Also other NPCs will use it in their quotes. Upon respawning after death, they will be given a new random name.
  • NPCs now may be told where to live using the new Housing Menu feature.
  • Two NPCs of the same type can no longer spawn, even in a multiplayer world. (Previously that was two additional Merchants and second Nurse. They had multiplayer conditions.)

• Desktop 1.0.6.1: NPCs now look at the character.

• Desktop 1.0.6:
  • Shops now sell items back to the player. Shift-clicking items will automatically sell them.
  • New sound for initiating a conversation to an NPC.

• Desktop 1.0.4:
  • Added the Clothier NPC.
  • Added an option that will pause the game while talking to an NPC in single player. It defaults to off.

• Desktop-Release: Introduced 7 NPCs: the Guide, Nurse, Merchant, Arms Dealer, Demolitionist, Dryad and Old Man.

 Console version

• Console 1.4.4: Update equivalent to PC 1.4.4. See Desktop 1.4.3.3 and Desktop 1.4.4 above.   

• Console 1.4.3.2.0: Update equivalent to PC 1.4.3.2. See Desktop 1.4.1 through Desktop 1.4.1.2 above.   

• Console 1.4.0.5.5: Update equivalent to PC 1.4.0.5. See Desktop 1.4.0.1 through Desktop 1.4.0.5 above.

• Console 1.4.0.5.4.1: Update equivalent to PC 1.4.0.5. See Desktop 1.4.0.1 through Desktop 1.4.0.5 above.  

• Console 1.0.1096.2: Update equivalent to PC 1.3.5. See Desktop 1.3.2 through Desktop 1.3.5 above.

• Console 1.19: Update equivalent to PC 1.3.5. See Desktop 1.3.5 above.  

• Console 1.17: Update equivalent to PC 1.3.4. See Desktop 1.3.2 and Desktop 1.3.4 above.  

• Console 1.0.711.6: Introduced. (PC 1.3.0.7 equivalent) See Desktop-Release through Desktop 1.3.0.1 above.

• Console 1.0.933.1: Update equivalent to PC 1.3.0.7. See Desktop 1.3.0.1 above.

• Console 1.0.750.0: Update equivalent to PC 1.3.0.7. See Desktop 1.3.0.1 above.

• Console 1.08: Introduced. (PC 1.2.4 equivalent) See Desktop-Release through Desktop 1.2.4 above.

• Console 1.07: Update equivalent to PC 1.2.4. See Desktop 1.2.4 above.  

• Console 1.06: Update equivalent to PC 1.2.3. See Desktop 1.2.3 above.  

• Console 1.04: Update equivalent to PC 1.2.2. See Desktop 1.2.2 above.  

• Console 1.03: Introduced. (PC 1.2.1.2 equivalent). See Desktop-Release through Desktop 1.2.1.2 above.  

• Console 1.02: Update equivalent to PC 1.2.1.2. See Desktop 1.2 through Desktop 1.2.1.2 above.   

• Console 1.01: Introduced. (PC 1.1.2 equivalent) See Desktop-Release through Desktop 1.1.1 above.

• Console-Release: Introduced. (PC 1.1.2 equivalent) See Desktop-Release through Desktop 1.1.1 above.  

 Mobile version

• Mobile-Release: Introduced.

Nintendo 3DS version

• 3DS-Release: Introduced.