Modding:Items

← Index

This page explains how the game stores and parses item data. This is an advanced guide for mod developers.

Overview

Item IDs

Every item is identified in the game data using a unique item ID. This has two forms:

• The unqualified item ID (item.ItemId) is a unique string ID for the item, like 128 (vanilla item) or Example.ModId_Watermelon (custom item). For legacy reasons, the unqualified ID for vanilla items may not be globally unique; for example, Pufferfish (object 128) and Mushroom Box (bigcraftable 128) both have item ID 128.
• The qualified item ID (item.QualifiedItemId) is a globally unique identifier which combines the item's type ID and unqualified item ID, like (O)128 for object ID 128.

With SMAPI installed, you can run the list_items console command in-game to search item IDs.

Note: mods created before Stardew Valley 1.6 may use the item.ParentSheetIndex field as an item identifier. This is not a valid identifier; multiple items of the same type may have the same sprite index for different textures.

Item types

Items are defined by item type data definitions, which handle parsing data of a certain type. For example, the game's ObjectDataDefinition class handles producing object-type items by parsing the Data/Objects asset.

Each definition has a unique ID like (O), which is used to form globally unique qualified item IDs. In C# code, this is tracked by the item.TypeDefinitionId field, which matches ItemRegistry.type_* constants for vanilla item types.

These are the item types for which custom items can added/edited:

item type	type identifier	data asset	brief summary
Objects	(O)	Data/Objects	The most common item type. Depending on their data, they can be placed in the world, picked up, eaten, sold to shops, etc.
Big craftables	(BC)	Data/BigCraftables	Items which can be placed in the world and are two tiles tall (instead of one like objects).
Boots	(B)	Data/Boots	Items which can be equipped in the player's boots slot. These change the player sprite and may provide buffs.
Furniture	(F)	Data/Furniture	Decorative items which can be placed in the world. In some cases players can sit on them or place items on them.
Hats	(H)	Data/Hats	Items which can be equipped in the player's hat slot. These change the player sprite.
Mannequins	(M)	Data/Mannequins	Decorative items which can be placed in the world, and used to store and display clothing.
Pants	(P)	Data/Pants	Items which can be equipped in the player's pants slot. These change the player sprite.
Shirts	(S)	Data/Shirts	Items which can be equipped in the player's shirt slot. These change the player sprite.
Tools	(T)	Data/Tools	Items that can be swung or used by the player to perform some effect (e.g. dig dirt, chop trees, milk or shear animals, etc).
Trinkets	(TR)	Data/Trinkets	Items that can be equipped in the player's trinket slot to enable special effects.
Wallpaper & flooring	(WP) and (FL)	Data/AdditionalWallpaperFlooring	Items which can be applied to a decoratable location (e.g. a farmhouse or shed) to visually change its floor or wall design. (These are separate from placeable items like brick floor.)
Weapons	(W)	Data/Weapons	Items which can be swung or used by the player to damage monsters.

When resolving an unqualified item ID like 128, the game will get the first item type for which it exists in this order: object, big craftable, furniture, weapon, boots, hat, mannequin, pants, shirt, tool, trinket, wallpaper, and floorpaper.

Item sprites

For each item type, the game has two files in its Content folder (which can be unpacked for editing):

• a data asset for the text data for its items (names, descriptions, prices, etc);
• and a spritesheet for the in-game item icons.

Each item has a ParentSheetIndex field which is its position in the item type's spritesheet, starting at 0 in the top-left and incrementing by one as you move across and then down. For example, hat #0 is the first sprite in Characters/Farmer/hats.

Define a custom item

You can define custom items for most vanilla item types using only Content Patcher or SMAPI's content API.

For example, this content pack adds a new Pufferchick item with a custom image, custom gift tastes, and a custom crop that produces it. Note that item references in other data assets like Data/Crops and Data/NPCGiftTastes use the item ID.

{
    "Format": "2.8.0",
    "Changes": [
        // add item
        {
            "Action": "EditData",
            "Target": "Data/Objects",
            "Entries": {
                "{{ModId}}_Pufferchick": {
                    "Name": "{{ModId}}_Pufferchick", // best practice to match the ID, since it's sometimes used as an alternate ID (e.g. in Data/CraftingRecipes)
                    "Displayname": "Pufferchick",
                    "Description": "An example object.",
                    "Type": "Seeds",
                    "Category": -74,
                    "Price": 1200,

                    "Texture": "Mods/{{ModId}}/Objects",
                    "SpriteIndex": 0
                }
            }
        },

        // add gift tastes
        {
            "Action": "EditData",
            "Target": "Data/NPCGiftTastes",
            "TextOperations": [
                {
                    "Operation": "Append",
                    "Target": ["Entries", "Universal_Love"],
                    "Value": "{{ModId}}_Pufferchick",
                    "Delimiter": " " // if there are already values, add a space between them and the new one
                }
            ]
        },

        // add crop (Pufferchick is both seed and produce, like coffee beans)
        {
            "Action": "EditData",
            "Target": "Data/Crops",
            "Entries": {
                "{{ModId}}_Pufferchick": {
                    "Seasons": [ "spring", "summer", "fall" ],
                    "DaysInPhase": [ 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 ],
                    "HarvestItemId": "{{ModId}}_Pufferchick",

                    "Texture": "Mods/{{ModId}}/Crops",
                    "SpriteIndex": 0
                }
            }
        },

        // add item + crop images
        {
            "Action": "Load",
            "Target": "Mods/{{ModId}}/Crops, Mods/{{ModId}}/Objects",
            "FromFile": "assets/{{TargetWithoutPath}}.png" // assets/Crops.png, assets/Objects.png
        }
    ]
}

Most item data assets work just like Data/Objects. See also specific info for custom fruit trees, custom tools, and melee weapons.

Error items

When an item is broken (e.g. due to deleting the mod which adds it), it's represented in-game as a default Error Item with a 🛇 sprite. This keeps the previous item data in case the item data is re-added.

Common data

Quality

Each item has a quality level which (depending on the item type) may affect its price, health boost, etc. The valid qualities are:

quality	value	constant
normal	0	Object.lowQuality
silver	1	Object.medQuality
gold	2	Object.highQuality
iridium	4	Object.bestQuality

Categories

Each item also has a category (represented by a negative integer). In code, you can get an item's category value from item.Category, and its translated name from item.getCategoryName(). 0 can be used as a blank value. Here are the valid categories:

value	internal constant	context tag	English translation	Color	Properties
-2	Object.GemCategory	category_gem	Mineral	#6E005A	Affected by Gemologist profession
-4	Object.FishCategory	category_fish	Fish	#00008B (DarkBlue)	Affected by Fisher and Angler professions
-5	Object.EggCategory	category_egg	Animal Product	#FF0064	Affected by Rancher profession, can be used in a slingshot
-6	Object.MilkCategory	category_milk	Animal Product	#FF0064	Affected by Rancher profession
-7	Object.CookingCategory	category_cooking	Cooking	#DC3C00
-8	Object.CraftingCategory	category_crafting	Crafting	#943D28	Is Placeable
-9	Object.BigCraftableCategory	category_big_craftable			Is Placeable
-12	Object.mineralsCategory	category_minerals	Mineral	#6E005A	Affected by Gemologist profession
-14	Object.meatCategory	category_meat	Animal Product	#FF0064
-15	Object.metalResources	category_metal_resources	Resource	#406672
-16	Object.buildingResources	category_building_resources	Resource	#406672
-17	Object.sellAtPierres	category_sell_at_pierres
-18	Object.sellAtPierresAndMarnies	category_sell_at_pierres_and_marnies	Animal Product	#FF0064	Affected by Rancher profession
-19	Object.fertilizerCategory	category_fertilizer	Fertilizer	#708090 (SlateGray)	Is Placeable, is always passable
-20	Object.junkCategory	category_junk	Trash	#696969 (DimGray)
-21	Object.baitCategory	category_bait	Bait	#8B0000 (DarkRed)	Can be attached to a fishing rod
-22	Object.tackleCategory	category_tackle	Fishing Tackle	#008B8B (DarkCyan)	Can be attached to a fishing rod, cannot stack
-23	Object.sellAtFishShopCategory	category_sell_at_fish_shop
-24	Object.furnitureCategory	category_furniture	Decor	#9650BE
-25	Object.ingredientsCategory	category_ingredients	Cooking
-26	Object.artisanGoodsCategory	category_artisan_goods	Artisan Goods	#009B6F	Affected by Artisan profession
-27	Object.syrupCategory	category_syrup	Artisan Goods	#009B6F	Affected by Tapper profession
-28	Object.monsterLootCategory	category_monster_loot	Monster Loot	#320A46
-29	Object.equipmentCategory	category_equipment
-74	Object.SeedsCategory	category_seeds	Seed	#A52A2A (Brown)	Is Placeable, is always passable
-75	Object.VegetableCategory	category_vegetable	Vegetable	#008000 (Green)	Affected by Tiller profession, can be used in a slingshot
-79	Object.FruitsCategory	category_fruits	Fruit	#FF1493 (DeepPink)	Affected by Tiller profession (if not foraged), can be used in a slingshot
-80	Object.flowersCategory	category_flowers	Flower	#DB36D3	Affected by Tiller profession
-81	Object.GreensCategory	category_greens	Forage	#0A8232
-95	Object.hatCategory	category_hat
-96	Object.ringCategory	category_ring
-97	Object.bootsCategory	category_boots
-98	Object.weaponCategory	category_weapon
-99	Object.toolCategory	category_tool
-100	Object.clothingCategory	category_clothing
-101	Object.trinketCategory	category_trinket
-102	Object.booksCategory			#552F1B
-103	Object.skillBooksCategory			#7A5d27
-999	Object.litterCategory	category_litter

Console commands

With the Console Code mod installed, you can run this command in the SMAPI console to see a list of objects by category: cs return string.Join(`\n`, Game1.objectData.Keys.Select(key => new StardewValley.Object(key, 1)).GroupBy(item => item.Category, item => item.Name).OrderByDescending(p => p.Key).Select(p => $`{p.Key}: {string.Join(`, `, p.OrderBy(name => name))}`));

Context tags

A context tag is an arbitrary data label like category_gem or item_apple attached to items. These provide metadata about items (e.g. their color, quality, category, general groupings like alcohol or fish, etc), and may affect game logic (e.g. machine processing).

See Modding:Context tags for more info.

Specific item types

For docs about each item type (e.g. objects or weapons), see the item types table above.

For C# mods

Identify items

You can uniquely identify items by checking their item ID fields. For example:

bool isPufferfish = item.QualifiedItemId == "(O)128";

The ItemRegistry class also provides methods to work with items. For example:

// check if item would be matched by a qualified or unqualified item ID
bool isPufferfish = ItemRegistry.HasItemId(item, "128");

// qualify an item ID if needed
string pufferfishQualifiedId = ItemRegistry.QualifyItemId("128"); // returns "(O)128"

Note that flavored items like jellies and wine don't have their own ID. For example, Blueberry Wine and Wine are both (O)348. You can get the flavor item ID from the preservedParentSheetIndex field; for example, Blueberry Wine will have the item ID for blueberry. (Despite the name, it contains the item's ID rather than its ParentSheetIndex).

Create item instances

The ItemRegistry.Create method is the main way to construct items. For example:

Item pufferfish = ItemRegistry.Create("(O)128"); // can optionally specify count and quality

If the ID doesn't match a real item, the ItemRegistry will return an Error Item by default. You can override that by setting allowNull: true when calling the method.

You can also get a specific value type instead of Item if needed. This will throw a descriptive exception if the type isn't compatible (e.g. you try to convert furniture to boots).

Boots boots = ItemRegistry.Create<Boots>("(B)505"); // Rubber Boots

When creating an item manually instead, make sure to pass its ItemId (not QualifiedItemId) to the constructor. For example:

Item pufferfish = new Object("128", 1);

Work with item metadata

The ItemRegistry class provides several methods for working with item metadata. Some useful methods include:

method	effect
ItemRegistry.Create	Create an item instance.
ItemRegistry.Exists	Get whether a qualified or unqualified item ID matches an existing item. For example: bool pufferfishExists = ItemRegistry.Exists("(O)128");
ItemRegistry.IsQualifiedId	Get whether the given item ID is qualified with the type prefix (like (O)128 instead of 128).
ItemRegistry.QualifyItemId	Get the unique qualified item ID given an unqualified or qualified one. For example: string qualifiedId = ItemRegistry.QualifyItemId("128"); // returns (O)128
ItemRegistry.GetMetadata	Get high-level info about an item: // get info about Rubber Boots ItemMetadata metadata = ItemRegistry.GetMetadata("(B)505"); // get item ID info $"The item has unqualified ID {metadata.LocalId}, qualified ID {metadata.QualifiedId}, and is defined by the {metadata.TypeIdentifier} item data definition."; // does the item exist in the data files? bool exists = metadata.Exists(); And get common parsed item data: // get parsed info ParsedItemData data = metadata.GetParsedData(); $"The internal name is {data.InternalName}, translated name {data.DisplayName}, description {data.Description}, etc."; // draw an item sprite Texture2D texture = data.GetTexture(); Rectangle sourceRect = data.GetSourceRect(); spriteBatch.Draw(texture, Vector2.Zero, sourceRect, Color.White); And create an item: Item item = metadata.CreateItem(); And get the type definition (note that this is very specialized, and you should usually use ItemRegistry instead to benefit from its caching and optimizations): IItemDataDefinition typeDefinition = info.GetTypeDefinition();
ItemRegistry.ResolveMetadata	Equivalent to ItemRegistry.GetMetadata, except that it'll return null if the item doesn't exist.
ItemRegistry.GetData	Get the parsed data about an item, or null if the item doesn't exist. This is a shortcut for ItemRegistry.ResolveMetadata(id)?.GetParsedData(); see the previous method for info on the parsed data.
ItemRegistry.GetDataOrErrorItem	Equivalent to ItemRegistry.GetData, except that it'll return info for an Error Item if the item doesn't exist (e.g. for drawing in inventory).
ItemRegistry.GetErrorItemName	Get a translated Error Item label.

Define custom item types

You can implement IItemDataDefinition for your own item type, and call ItemRegistry.AddTypeDefinition to register it. This provides all the logic needed by the game to handle the item type: where to get item data, how to draw them, etc.

This is extremely specialized, and multiplayer compatibility is unknown. Most mods should add custom items within the existing types instead.

See also

• For specific item types, see the item types table above.
• Modding:Index for related content like crops, fish, gift tastes, and recipes