charcoal pit are my sworn enemy

[Mon-keigh]

greetings all, i'm new to the game and you have all probably heard this tale over and over again and i sincerely apologies but i am genuinely  having problems with charcoal pits. for what ever reason every time i make one no matter what size of pit, the wood/ charcoal disappears. i've checked the forums and have watched so many videos about it and it doesn't seem to help. i've done everything from making sure there are no air leaks, using the right non flammable material for the pit, not sleeping, making another pit somewhere else waiting 18 in game hours exactly, making sure it isn't raining, if it is making a makeshift roof, fencing it off to prevent things walking over it (idk if that does anything) . i've done literally LIERALLY EVERYTHING you can do and 8/10 i get an empty pit  

I got a screenshot of the pit i made if that helps it is a 3x3x3 pit (technically 3x3x4 so i can seal it up) 

some help would be great 

[Faerador]

There could be a few problems.  First is during the construction of the pit.  So, you're filling the pit with stacks of wood, and burying the pit under some ground of some type apart from one tile's worth of pit?  Then you're building a campfire on that one tile of pit you've exposed, lighting the fire, and then burying the campfire too?  You say you're watching videos on how to do charcoal pits, so I imagine this can't be the problem.

Then it could be a second issue:  If the pit gets exposed at any point before it's done, the wood will just entirely burn away.  If you're digging up your pit to check whether it's done, and it's not actually finished, it pretty much ruins your pit for that run.  I've heard some players say there's a bit of a grace period if you accidentally unearth the charcoal pit, but I've never seen it.  Of course, I've only had the pit prematurely exposed a few times, but all of those times the pit burned to nothing. The black smoke coming from the pit needs to stop before it's ready.

If you're constructing the pit properly and letting it burn out naturally, but there's no charcoal, then it's either mods not playing nicely or you have a genuine bug.  At that point, I'm not sure what to say.  If it's a mod issue, you're going to have to play detective to determine which mod is doing it.  Otherwise, it's a reinstall to check the files.  If it still persists, get the log and send it in to the devs, I guess? 

Sorry I can't be more helpful.  Maybe someone else has more to add on the technical side?

[Faerador]

Here's another thing that just occurred to me:  If you want to make sure your pit is done, I've heard that you can bury it with glass tiles so you can see inside.  I've not tried it myself, but if you're having these problems continuously, maybe try burying the pit with glass so you can observe what happens?

[Zane Mordien]

On 10/5/2025 at 6:55 PM, Mon-keigh said:

I got a screenshot of the pit i made if that helps it is a 3x3x3 pit (technically 3x3x4 so i can seal it up) 

I suggest you start with smaller pits. Most of my pits are 2x2x3 at most. Each stack of firewood has to be exactly 32 pieces. If it is 31 then the pit burns up and you get nothing. It doesn't mater if you walk on it, rains on it, dance on it... NOTHING else maters as long as you don't open it back up until it quits smoking. If you don't see it smoking out the top after you cover it up.. you failed. 

 

Good Luck! 

Edited October 7, 2025 by Zane Mordien

[Thorfinn]

Glass didn't used to let you see anything. It didn't glow like the cementation furnace. It was just either a stack of wood or a slightly smaller stack of charcoal.

Another common mistake is not building a firepit on top and lighting that, but rather just starting the logs on fire.