Why dig down

[esthergray]

I've seen youtubers dig down one layer of dirt before laying foundation for builds. Why is that important?

Also, I've seen them use a gun to demolish blocks but I can't find it in the creative menu. Where can I find it?

[MortVent]

digging down for a foundation is a good way to get a nice flat surface, even with the ground level so you don't need stairs to reach the door when in a hurry.

[RasaNova]

Enable creative mode (f1, cm, enter) and open the creative menu. The admin in the search bar, which should show the various dev tools such as the god gun.

[gon]

I sometimes even dig 2 down b4 i put my foundation, the point is to have the zombies target the roof instead of the floor. If the roof get damaged to the point if crumbles it doesnt matter much, but if the same thing happens to the floor you have a big problem.

just going 1 down makes the floor safe, but the walls wont hold sombies out as well as the roof, just remember to make the roof in a way that doesnt allow zombies to get on top of it.

[Capt. W. Schwartz]

They do this because wandering hordes cannot spawn on player placed upgradable blocks.

[Bo0Mz]

because when a horde starts smashing your walls and you are shooting them from above and cops and demolishers start going off the ground begins to get damaged and eventually holes start apearing
zombies that get their legs blown off will crawl and start digging under your base in those holes and that will lead to your precious horde base collapsing
having the surroundings of your base with concrete or steel floor is a must
if you are playing with a low number of zombies on horde night this isnt much of a problem but on 32 zombies its absolute chaos
they will eat through the dirt floor like its butter

[esthergray]

Thank you, all. This is helpful.

[Tonisaka]

Digging 1 layer down is to make a more stable foundation, as the topsoil base doenst have much horizontal support. If you never notice, an explosion can go though blocks, but a demo/cop explosion cannot damage topsoil, as long as there is a build block on top/front of it.
Making a foundation more than 1 block leave the blocks underneath in damage state if demo/cop explodes, and cannot be repaired easily, as Topsoil wont get damage until the block on top of it is completly destoryed, making the repair only on the surface level.

As for the Dev tools, if you still cant figure it out, the steps that Rasa gave was perfect, [but you still need to click on the DEV tab(looks like speakers) for the dev tools to be showned. (ive havent done this since A19, so sorry if this was unnecessary)], typing in Dev in search can be easy way to see all the tools.

[esthergray]

Originally posted by Tonisaka:

Digging 1 layer down is to make a more stable foundation, as the topsoil base doenst have much horizontal support. If you never notice, an explosion can go though blocks, but a demo/cop explosion cannot damage topsoil, as long as there is a build block on top/front of it.
Making a foundation more than 1 block leave the blocks underneath in damage state if demo/cop explodes, and cannot be repaired easily, as Topsoil wont get damage until the block on top of it is completly destoryed, making the repair only on the surface level.

As for the Dev tools, if you still cant figure it out, the steps that Rasa gave was perfect, [but you still need to click on the DEV tab(looks like speakers) for the dev tools to be showned. (ive havent done this since A19, so sorry if this was unnecessary)], typing in Dev in search can be easy way to see all the tools.

Thank you.

[Trooper Bri]

Originally posted by Tonisaka:

Digging 1 layer down is to make a more stable foundation, as the topsoil base doesn't have much horizontal support.

Horizontal support means nothing at ground level. Block damage is the issue. Once elevated horizontal support is dependent on vertical support.
Blocks in 7D2D have mass, and can only stretch so far horizontally X number of blocks between vertical supports before Structural Integrity says "No!", and your stuff collapses.

Vertical support is different. I can build a pole from bedrock to world limit and the lower blocks wont collapse from the crushing mass of all those blocks. But knock out one block and everything above it comes down.

That's why having solid vertical support through dirt makes sense if you're building upwards. It's cheap insurance. Obviously if whatever you're building is meant for hordes, then yes, you're replacing dirt in the affected area with anything that has better block damage than dirt.

[Mardoin69]

Honestly, the only 'answer' for digging down 1 block from ground level that made any sense or rang true is the answer by 'BoOMz'

Your first 'floor' inside your building has no relevance to the rest of your structure, UNLESS you are digging under it with a mine. Then you need to follow SI rules for the floor. Otherwise, it lays directly on top of dirt and is supported without need of any other support. It doesn't matter if it's on top of ground level, one block deep under ground level, or two block deep under ground level. That has nothing to do with SI nor does it in any way, shape, or form keep your floor protected. Your walls are the only thing protecting your interior floors and if a vomit comes through a window....it's going to damage your floor if it hits no matter what.

[Payne]

BoOMz is correct.

[{FU}TheForgeryTTV]

Like people said above, it's for enhanced stability. You cannot upgrade the ground itself whatsoever thus it's better to dig it up to replace it with a block and upgrade it from wood to steel.

The last thing you want is a demolisher or zombie cop to explode and destroy the weak ground when they explode.

[Mardoin69]

Originally posted by {FU}TheForgeryTTV:

Like people said above, it's for enhanced stability. You cannot upgrade the ground itself whatsoever thus it's better to dig it up to replace it with a block and upgrade it from wood to steel.

The last thing you want is a demolisher or zombie cop to explode and destroy the weak ground when they explode.

Your floor has nothing to do with 'stability' or more accurately--Structural Integrity....as I just stated in my response above. The topic is 'Why we dig down one block level into the dirt to start our 'Foundation' which is the bottom of our walls really. That's to keep Zeds from digging under our base when / if dirt outside the base gets destroyed and crawlers trying to get in. That's it.....that's the only reason.

[{FU}TheForgeryTTV]

Originally posted by Mardoin69:

Originally posted by {FU}TheForgeryTTV:

Like people said above, it's for enhanced stability. You cannot upgrade the ground itself whatsoever thus it's better to dig it up to replace it with a block and upgrade it from wood to steel.

The last thing you want is a demolisher or zombie cop to explode and destroy the weak ground when they explode.

Your floor has nothing to do with 'stability' or more accurately--Structural Integrity....as I just stated in my response above. The topic is 'Why we dig down one block level into the dirt to start our 'Foundation' which is the bottom of our walls really. That's to keep Zeds from digging under our base when / if dirt outside the base gets destroyed and crawlers trying to get in. That's it.....that's the only reason.

I'd rather have a solid steel block for ground support than a plain old ground block.