Fences are craftable items in Stardew Valley that are handy for various functions, such as keeping animals in one place and organizing your farm neatly. Here are all the fence types and how to build them.
Table Of Contents
Fence Basics
Fences are extremely useful for corralling animals and keeping out monsters. You’ll learn how to build fences primarily through leveling up your Farming skill, with recipes for better fences the higher your level goes.
However, regardless of what fence you have, they all have one thing in common: they will all break down. A worn-down fence will eventually disappear if not removed and replaced, leaving a gap in your fences.
There are two ways you can avoid regularly replacing fences:
- Marriage. Marrying a bachelor or bachelorette of your choice will have them move onto your farm and occasionally help with various chores. Repairing fences is one such chore.
- The Gold Clock. Helping the Wizard with his “Magic Ink” quest unlocks his magic building shop, which includes the Gold Clock. The Gold Clock is the most expensive building in the game, but it has many useful perks, including permanently preventing all fences from decaying.
Now that the basics have been covered, let’s move on to the fences.
Wood Fence
The wood fence is the first fence recipe you’ll have access to, right at the start of the game. It takes 2 pieces of wood to build an individual fence post, so building an enclosure out of wooden fence posts would be easy.
However, like all fence posts in Stardew, wooden fence posts have a finite lifespan. Wood fence posts deteriorate after 54 to 58 days. They have the least durability of all the fences in the game and as such would need to be regularly replaced.
Stone Fence
Stone fences are the next fence type you’ll learn to construct and are slightly more durable than wooden fences. Here are the details for stone fencing.
Farming Skill Level learned: Level 2
Crafting Ingredients: 2 stones per fence block
Lifespan: 118 to 122 days
Iron Fence
Iron fences are the only metal fences you’ll craft in the game. You’ll need to have gone down far enough in the Mines to gather iron ore if you want to craft this fence. Furthermore, crafting this recipe yields you multiple fence posts at the same time.
Farming Skill Level learned: Level 4
Ingredients: 1 iron bar (which gives you 10 fence posts per craft)
Lifespan: 248 to 252 days
Hardwood Fence
The Hardwood Fence is the final fence recipe you’ll learn and the most durable of all.
Farming Skill Level learned: Level 6
Ingredients: 1 piece of Hardwood
Lifespan: 558 to 562 days
You can also buy hardwood fences from Qi’s Casino in the Calico Desert. One hardwood fence post costs 100 Qi Coins, which equates to 1,000 gold.
Gates
Gates are a unique type of fencing in Stardew Valley. A gate acts as the doorway in and out of your fenced area, allowing you and your horse to pass through. You’ll automatically have this recipe at the start of the game.
Ingredients: 10 pieces of wood
Lifespan: 400 days
Here are some helpful tips about gates:
- Two gates can be placed next to each other for double-width gateways.
- Breaking a gate with a pickaxe doesn’t destroy it. If you remove your gate the day before it degrades and replace it immediately after, it will not degrade.
- You can replace fence pieces with gates by selecting the gate in your inventory and clicking on the fence piece.
Now that you know all the types of fences and what it takes to construct them, you’ll have no trouble organizing your farm plans neatly with the gates of your choice.
