Builders, What's Your Favorite Wood Type?

[Big Bad]

I've been curious if any experienced builders have a certain wood type and/or wood pairing they gravitate towards? In Minecraft, there's a very vocal majority who enjoy building with spruce the most-- but I find that there isn't such a dominant preference(at least at a glace) among Vintage Story's community. I'm sure the greater variety of tree species and the more difficult exploration does make it difficult to simply decide on a preferred wood, but I ask none-the-less.

Currently, I find redwood and larch a stunning combination for light tones.

[ifoz]

Myself, aged wood.
Despite the weird texture/naming inconsistencies between "aged" and "very aged" wood types (this is a real rabbit hole to go down, looking in the creative inventory lol) it's probably my favourite. Usually my go-to in creative mode builds where I don't have to worry about actually finding it.

Aged has two colour palettes unlike all other wood types, due to the weird inconsistencies mentioned. The planks are a darker green, whereas the doors/bookshelves/etc are a pale brown. This is due to some aged items using the "very aged" colour scheme. I promise this makes sense. 
While I'd love to see "aged" and "very aged" finally given a true distinction, this can sometimes work in aged wood's favour as both colour palettes are quite nice. The dark green is good for old/weathered builds, and the light brown is nice for a cozier vibe. It's identical to oak in wood grain, though a little more pale.


^ Super scientific diagram.

Edited November 24, 2025 by ifoz

[Koda Passero]

I LOVE larch wood! I like the contrast between the rough, cracked gray bark and the soft yellowish white grain. I made a little texture pack that changed pine to be a rich dark reddish-brown too, and I like using that with larch for the high contrast.

[MKMoose]

Just for convenience in survival I've liked acacia and oak, since I can use either of them for everything including tannin, and acacia even has resin. I kinda hate the color of acacia, though, while oak's advantage is that (if I recall correctly) it's visually the most similar of all wood types to items which don't have wood type variants, like shelves or tables, and so it can create a more uniform appearance across a build (though it may sometimes end up a bit bland). Because of this, when I was using more than one wood type, oak tended to be one of them.

Other than that it's down to aesthetic preference and it largely depends on where and what I'm building. I've found myself often defaulting to pine for its somewhat rich and saturated color, which stands out neatly when using more gray-ish stone or daub. For less standard color palettes I tend to include oak or birch or sometimes larch, since they are perhaps the most neutral and inoffensive wood types which can counterbalance other, more unusual colors.

I kind of wish we had some dark, saturated browns, not unlike Minecraft's spruce and dark oak (could also be some mahogany or chestnut), cause the closest we have is either desaturated, off-brown, or oddly striped in the case of ebony. I'd be interested in a rich yellow/golden/honey sort of color as well, some oak or ash probably.

[Vexxvididu]

Ebony and Purple heart are the correct answers!

...my survival world mostly uses birch because that was what was more available.

[Scorpixel]

For logs, that would be oak, maple, cypress and walnut for their reliable, conventional looks. Redwood gets an honorable mention for its unique large version and abundance if found.

Regarding planks, it depends on if the build includes stone and the type thereof. Cypress, larch, birch and oak are my usual gradient for marrying with. Again honorable mention to redwood, this time for the wine colour which reminds me of my beloved Minecraft jungle planks that go excellently with darker contrasts.

I have a massive bias for lighter colours, sandstone's my favourite (along chalk, but i just can't find a good partner for the later), so planks have to marry well with it.

Edited November 24, 2025 by Scorpixel

[LadyWYT]

It depends heavily on what I'm building, and what the local stone type is. Oak tends to be my go-to, which pine a close second, since both look quite nice and are easy to come by. However, if I'm working with a very dark stone type, I'll be more likely to pick birch or larch so that the light color contrasts with the dark stone, leaving the space looking inviting and not oppressive.

Acacia, bald cypress, redwood, walnut, and kapok I tend to use for furniture or other detailing, since they're a little harder to come by. Acacia I especially like since it's very bright and makes for nice flashy furniture or brightly colored inlays on chiseled design. 

Ebony and purpleheart I almost never use, since I don't venture to the tropics. However, of the two, ebony is the easier to get, since my friend and I almost always play with Primitive Survival and the tree hollows the mod adds can sometimes contain ebony seeds(but not purpleheart).

Aged wood I like the appearance of, but it's not really renewable, and realistically whatever I'm building doesn't need to look ancient considering that it's a brand new building. Plus considering the setting is the Middle Ages, bright colors are a must! Even if I'm not really a fan of garishly bright color. 

[Maelstrom]

Acacia with basalt is absolutely AMAZING!   If no basalt?   kapok has a pleasing shade that's darker than birch and larch but lighter than oak.

[Eepy_T1me]

I'm in love with maple, I'm gonna be honest. of all the easier to find woods, it just slaps the hardest with beginner building stuff like mud bricks imo

Edited November 25, 2025 by Eepy_T1me
I need image space lol you're not gettin allat

[Bruno Willis]

It depends almost entirely on the local stone. I've found myself using maple more than I expected to, for doors and windows often, and I like how mildewy and worn it looks. I love oak for interiors, and it matches the colour of tables so that's helpful. I like walnut too, but I think that's mainly because the trees are so good looking, and they're the first sort of special tree I've found in game. The planks work really well with some stone, and not so much with others, but I love them. 

[7embre]

It depends — all colors are useful. Except for purpleheart, I have some difficulties with this one. It become quite easier with addition of wattle and daub and ceramic colors to come up with reasonable block pallet.

I'd say that most of the time I tend to build out of local materials (and for some reason they almost always are pine and oak), plus some of them are more useful in certain applications — e.g. larch, aged or walnut for the floor, walnut and ebony for the furniture etc. I also don't really like the color of maple planks, so to the wooden paths for the outside they go with their "mossy" look.

[LadyWYT]

6 hours ago, 7embre said:

Except for purpleheart, I have some difficulties with this one.

Purpleheart is best used with medieval-style logic. That is, color matching isn't what's important--it's showing off how rich you are! And one easy way to do that is to use a hard-to-obtain wood with a very flashy coloring.

[Teh Pizza Lady]

I really enjoy using pine and oak. They both have a good color that's familiar and make me feel like my home smells incredible when I walk inside.

[Allen]

Mostly depends on what trees I find, but my general setup is pine walls, birch floors, and oak furniture.

Birch floors because I like the color, oak furniture because as said above, they're the closest in color to other generic wood items. Pine walls mostly because pine trees are common and I don't hate the color.

[Nathan Flaminio]

I've been using Walnut and Larch for my floors and walls, and Oak for furniture. 

[Enderminion]

Pine and Maple if I have the choice, idk I feel pine is the most wood colored wood