Habitable room requirements, all spawn items, and more

In Core Keeper, you’ll find several merchants around the depths who can shack up in your base. But to get them to move in, you need to build a “habitable room” and place their favorite items inside.

The survival-crafting game doesn’t exactly tell you what a habitable room is. If you’re like me, you’ve probably already tried a combination of objects. There’s a certain set of requirements you’ll need to meet when you’re building your room, though, and once you have the right furniture and design, the merchant will spawn almost instantly.

Habitable room requirements in Core Keeper

A habitable room must have the following components before a merchant will move in:

• Walls
• Door
• Flooring
• A bed
• Torches (or other lighting)
• The merchant’s spawn item

I’ve found that both wood and stone floors and walls will work, but I opted for wood in my own builds since it’s an easier material to come across than other options. It doesn’t need to be big, either; the rooms I have are five-by-six spaces, counting the walls. You could go even smaller if you’d like. Don’t forget to line your room with walls instead of just carving out a space in the rock, though. Merchants prefer a well-insulated room, after all.

All Core Keeper merchants who can live in your base

There are a total of five merchants you can invite to stay in your base in Core Keeper. You’ll find many of these merchants after defeating a boss; the Bearded Merchant, for example, spawns after taking down Glurch the Abominous Mass. While he stays close to the area after the fight, you can get him to spawn in your base by placing the Slime Oil item you’ll receive after defeating Glurch.

Here are all the merchants who can live in your boss and how to summon them.

How to get a merchant to move into your base

If you’ve met all the requirements for a habitable room in Core Keeper and you still can’t get a merchant to show up, there may be a fix. I had built several rooms with the above components and placed the merchant’s item on a table. But after waiting an extended period of time, the NPC still hadn’t spawned in my base.

It wasn’t until I removed the merchant’s item from the table and placed it on the ground that they finally appeared. You should know whether this trick works or your room isn’t considered habitable in moments after setting the item down. The merchant will spawn almost instantly. If it doesn’t, check the list of room requirements and compare it to your base to ensure you have the correct items placed.