If you’ve spent even a few hours exploring the corrupted wilds of Enshrouded, you’ve probably run into a roadblock when you try to upgrade your base or craft basic building components: dirt is way harder to track down than you’d expect. Unlike wood or stone, it doesn’t spawn in obvious piles everywhere you look, and new players often waste hours digging in the wrong spots just to get a few stacks for their first farm or stone wall. I’ve put in over 80 hours of playtime across early access, so I’ve tested every possible method to find this common but elusive resource. This guide breaks down exactly how to get dirt in Enshrouded, no guesswork required.
Core Methods to Get Dirt in Enshrouded
Dirt isn’t a rare resource, but it only spawns in specific biomes and from specific interactions, so you won’t find it by hacking at every rock or tree you pass. There are three reliable ways to farm it consistently, no matter what stage of the game you’re in. You don’t need any high-tier tools to get your first stacks of dirt, but upgrading your pickaxe will cut your farming time in half later on.
- Digging in grassy, non-rocky surface areas in the Revelwood and Springlands biomes: Look for soft, dark brown ground patches without stone peeking through, and hit them with a pickaxe or shovel to get 1-2 dirt per swing.
- Looting buried chests and destructible dirt piles in shallow, non-corrupted cave systems: These small, crumbling piles spawn near cave entrances, and each one drops 5-10 dirt when destroyed, plus occasional extra loot like seeds or copper ore.
- Processing stone and soil waste from mining operations at the Grinder: Once you unlock the Grinder crafting station, you can turn excess stone, rubble, and even sand into dirt at a 2:1 ratio, which is perfect if you already spend a lot of time mining for ore.
I’ve found that the first method is best for new players who haven’t unlocked the Grinder yet, while the third method is a great way to cut down on waste once you’re running regular mining runs for iron or tin. Avoid digging in the Shroud or rocky mountain biomes unless you’re specifically looking for other resources, as those areas almost never drop dirt no matter how much you dig.
Best Early-Game Dirt Farming Routes for New Players
If you’re still in the first few hours of play and haven’t unlocked fast travel points outside the starting area, you don’t have to trek across the map to stock up on dirt. The best early farming spot is right near the first Ancient Spire you unlock in the Springlands, just north of the starting Cinder Vault. The large, flat grassy fields between the spire and the nearby small river have dozens of soft dirt patches that spawn immediately, and they respawn every 10-15 minutes if you leave the area and come back.
I usually bring 2 empty stack slots when I run this route, and I can fill both in less than 10 minutes without running into any high-level enemies. Make sure to skip the patches of ground with small green weeds or yellow flowers – those drop grass and fiber instead, so you’ll waste swings if you hit them. If you run out of patches to dig, head to the small cave system just west of the river. The entrance has 4-5 destructible dirt piles that you can break for extra dirt, plus a few low-level wolves that are easy to take down with a basic sword. You don’t have to go deep into the cave, either – all the dirt piles spawn near the entrance, so you don’t have to worry about running into Shroud corruption or high-level enemies inside.
How to Turn Excess Mining Waste Into Dirt Mid-Game
Once you hit level 10 and unlock the Grinder crafting station from the Carpenter NPC, your dirt farming routine will get way easier. Most players end up with hundreds of excess stone, rubble, and sand after a few mining runs for iron or silver, and you can turn all of that into usable dirt instead of throwing it away or letting it take up space in your storage chests. The Grinder takes 2 pieces of any stone or rubble type to make 1 dirt, and you can stack 50 pieces of material in the station at a time to process while you’re off doing other quests or exploring.
You can also process unused sand blocks from desert biomes into dirt at the same 2:1 ratio, which is a great use for the stacks of sand you’ll collect if you’re farming glass for windows or advanced crafting stations. The only downside to this method is that you’ll need to have a steady supply of mining waste to make it worth it, so it’s not ideal for players who don’t spend a lot of time mining. But if you’re already running regular mining trips to upgrade your gear or build better base defenses, this method will let you stock up on dirt without setting aside extra time to farm it specifically. I usually keep my Grinder running 24/7 with excess stone, and I end up with 2-3 full stacks of dirt every time I come back to my base after a few hours of exploring.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Farming Dirt
Even if you know where to look for dirt, it’s easy to waste time making simple mistakes that slow down your farming runs. I made all of these mistakes in my first playthrough, so I can save you the hassle of repeating them. First, don’t waste your time digging in rocky or mountainous areas. The stone surface in those biomes doesn’t have any dirt under it, so every swing of your pickaxe will only give you stone, even if it looks like there’s dirt on top.
Don’t use a sword or axe to dig for dirt, either – those tools only deal 1 damage per swing to dirt patches, while a basic pickaxe deals 3, and a copper pickaxe deals 5, so you’ll get dirt way faster if you use the right tool. Another common mistake is ignoring the destructible dirt piles in caves. A lot of players walk right past these because they look like part of the cave background, but they drop way more dirt per swing than regular surface patches, and they often have extra loot like seeds or small amounts of ore. Finally, don’t hoard more dirt than you need. Each stack of dirt holds 100 pieces, and you’ll only need 2-3 stacks at most for basic base building and farming. Any more than that will just take up space in your storage that you could use for rarer resources like ore or crafting components. If you do end up with extra dirt, you can use it to fill in gaps in your base terrain or craft raised garden beds for farming, so it doesn’t have to go to waste if you farm too much.
Dirt is one of those underrated resources that you don’t realize you need until you’re stuck waiting for it to craft a new workbench or expand your base. The good news is that once you know where to look and what methods work best for your playstyle, you’ll never run out again. Whether you’re a new player digging in the Springlands fields or a mid-game player processing waste at your Grinder, there’s a simple way to get the dirt you need without hours of mindless grinding. Next time you’re short on this core resource, try one of the methods we covered above, and you’ll have all the stacks you need to keep building and upgrading in no time. Knowing how to get dirt in Enshrouded is a small skill, but it’ll save you dozens of hours of frustration over the course of your playthrough.