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To move a normal merchant into Core Keeper, build a fully enclosed room containing 4–64 floor tiles (from 2×2 through 8×8), leave at least one floor tile unoccupied, add one crafted bed that no other NPC claims, and drop that merchant’s specific summoning item on the floor. Move more than 30 tiles away while the merchant arrives; the official developer FAQ says the process should take no more than about a minute once every condition is met. The Spirit Merchant is the exception: its Ancient Hologram Pod summons it without a room or bed.
Room requirements at a glance
The present-day checklist below combines the current Core Keeper Wiki guidance with the developers’ official Steam FAQ. A room must satisfy every applicable row before a merchant can move in.
| Requirement | What to build or do | Important qualification |
|---|---|---|
| Enclosure | Surround the room with walls so no opening remains. | Any wall type works. A door is optional in the current wiki guidance. |
| Floor area | Provide 4–64 enclosed floor tiles. | That range corresponds to rooms from 2×2 through 8×8 tiles. A room larger than 8×8 is outside the official limit. |
| Free tile | Keep at least one floor tile empty. | Torches and some 2×2 floor decorations can occupy space the NPC needs. |
| Bed | Place one crafted bed for each NPC. | A player may share the bed, but another NPC may not already have it claimed. |
| Summoning item | Drop the correct item for that merchant on the room’s floor. | Each merchant has its own item; a different item does nothing. |
| Arrival conditions | Leave the area after completing the room. | The official FAQ requires the player to be more than 30 tiles from the room or merchant. |
How to build a merchant room
1. Choose a location and mark the interior
Measure the enclosed interior, not the outside edge of the walls. Keep the finished floor area between four and 64 tiles. A 2×2 interior is the smallest permitted footprint; an 8×8 interior reaches the maximum. An enclosed 9×9 interior contains 81 floor tiles and therefore exceeds the limit.
2. Complete the enclosure
Place walls around every side of the interior. The current wiki accepts any wall material and treats a door as optional, so a sealed wall perimeter is sufficient. Check corners and any passage into the room: one opening means the enclosure test can fail.
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3. Reserve an unobstructed floor tile
Leave at least one interior floor tile visibly empty. Do not use that space for a torch, furniture, or a 2×2 floor tile that occupies multiple cells. Decorative objects can make a room appear large enough while leaving no usable tile for the arrival check.
4. Assign a bed
Craft and place one bed in the room for the incoming NPC. Beds can be shared with your character, but a bed already assigned to another NPC cannot satisfy a second merchant’s room. If you are moving an existing merchant, pick up its old bed before setting up the replacement room.
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Drop the exact summoning item on the floor inside the completed room. The item must be in the room rather than in a chest or in your inventory. Examples appear in the next section.
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6. Move away and wait
Walk more than 30 tiles from the room and from the merchant’s current position. The official FAQ says the move should take no more than about one minute after all requirements are fulfilled. Returning too quickly can prevent the arrival trigger from completing.
Summoning items by merchant
The item is not interchangeable between NPCs. Use the item associated with the merchant you want to summon:
| Merchant | Required item | Placement |
|---|---|---|
| Bearded/Slime Merchant | Slime Oil | On the floor inside the room |
| Cloaked/Caveling Merchant | Mysterious Idol | On the floor inside the room |
| Fishing Merchant | Pile of chum | On the floor inside the room |
| Brave Merchant | Nuclear Battery | On the floor inside the room |
| Otherworldly Merchant | Void Idol | On the floor inside the room |
The current wiki lists the expanded merchant roster and these later-game examples. If the item is merely carried, stored, or placed outside the enclosure, the game has no valid summon marker for that room.
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Bed ownership and moving an NPC
One NPC per bed
Give every NPC its own crafted bed. The developers’ FAQ describes the requirement as a bed “not currently already taken by another Merchant.” Sharing with the player is allowed; sharing between two NPCs is not. If two rooms point to the same bed, one of the merchants can remain homeless and refuse to move.
Relocating an existing merchant
When changing rooms, first pick up the merchant’s old bed. Then place the bed in the new enclosed room, add the correct summoning item, and leave the area. Removing the old bed clears the previous assignment; simply building a second room can leave the NPC tied to its original location.
Distance, timing and teleport behavior
Distance is part of the move-in process rather than a convenience recommendation. The official Steam FAQ states: “Players cannot be near the room or the Merchant for the Merchant to move in (you must be more than 30 tiles away).” Count a margin beyond 30 tiles before waiting.
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The same FAQ says the move should not take more than about a minute when all requirements are fulfilled. The current wiki adds that merchants can teleport while they are on-screen when the player is in the new room. They may linger if you stand close to their old position; leaving that area gives the teleport event room to occur. A practical sequence is to finish the room, travel well away, wait roughly a minute, and then return.
Does a merchant need a door?
No door is required under the current Core Keeper Wiki rules. A wall-enclosed room can qualify without a door, and a door can be useful for keeping a merchant contained after arrival but is not itself a summon condition.
Older advice needs a date qualifier. A PC Gamer guide published March 16, 2022 recommended wooden doors and described an apparent bug in which stone doors could block move-in. Treat that as historical troubleshooting for the version covered by that guide, not as a permanent rule. If a modern room meets every current condition, removing a door is a cleaner test than assuming a particular door material is mandatory.
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The Spirit Merchant exception
The Spirit Merchant does not use the normal room system. Place an Ancient Hologram Pod to summon it; because the NPC is a hologram, it needs neither an enclosed room nor a bed. Applying the ordinary merchant checklist to this NPC can waste time and materials.
Troubleshooting a merchant who will not move in
Check the following in order. Change one variable at a time so you can identify the failed condition.
- Recount the interior. Confirm that the enclosed floor contains at least four and no more than 64 tiles. If the room is 9×9 or larger, reduce it.
- Inspect the perimeter. Look for a missing wall segment, open corner, or passage that leaves the room unsealed. Any wall type is acceptable, but the enclosure must be complete.
- Clear a floor tile. Remove torches and large floor decorations until at least one tile is empty. A 2×2 floor object can consume the space even when it appears decorative.
- Verify the bed. Make sure the bed is crafted, inside the room, and not already assigned to another NPC. For a relocation, pick up the previous bed first.
- Verify the item. Match the item to the intended merchant and drop it directly on the room’s floor. Slime Oil, Mysterious Idol, Pile of chum, Nuclear Battery and Void Idol each summon different merchants.
- Leave the trigger area. Move more than 30 tiles from both the room and the merchant, then wait up to about a minute.
- Return from a different position. If the merchant is still near its old location, leave that area and approach the new room later. The wiki notes that proximity can make the merchant linger before teleporting.
- Reload the world. If every condition is correct and the merchant still does not appear, exit and reload the world, then repeat the distance-and-wait step.
Comparing room layouts
Use validity first, then convenience. The following examples apply the documented rules without relying on a specific building style.
| Layout | Validity | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 2×2 enclosed room, one bed, correct item, one empty tile | Valid | It meets the 4-tile minimum and leaves required free space. |
| 8×8 enclosed room with the same contents | Valid | It reaches, but does not exceed, the 64-tile maximum. |
| 9×9 enclosed room | Invalid | Its 81-floor-tile interior is larger than the 8×8 limit. |
| Correctly sized room filled with torches or 2×2 floor tiles | Invalid until cleared | No usable empty tile remains for the NPC. |
| Room with a bed already claimed by another NPC | Invalid until reassigned | NPC bed ownership cannot be shared. |
| Sealed room with no door | Valid | The current wiki treats a door as optional. |
What the official wording establishes
The developers’ Steam FAQ sets two boundaries that are easy to miss: the room must be no bigger than 8×8 tiles with walls and a bed not already taken by another merchant, and the player must be more than 30 tiles away during move-in. The current wiki supplies the lower limit, free-space warning, item roster, relocation step and teleport behavior. Taken together, those rules explain most failed move-ins without requiring a particular wall or door material.
For a normal merchant, the reliable pattern is therefore: enclosed 4–64-tile floor, one unclaimed bed, one empty tile, the correct item on the floor, and the player more than 30 tiles away for up to a minute. Use the Ancient Hologram Pod instead when summoning the Spirit Merchant.
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