What to do with all the rock?

[Navi]

My stockpiles are full of rock so nothing else it's getting stored, I can make them bigger, but there is always more rock. Can I make them to throw the rocks to other places, even if it's not an storage zone?

[Keshire]

Turn them into blocks and store them in bins

Alternatively, look up quantum stockpiles.

[McFuzz]

Crafts, blocks, furniture. Yes, 2000 seems like a lot now, but once you stop expanding you'll be like, dam boi where all ma granite go.

[cc]

Turn them into training points for some dwarves

[Teemo]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0rUEEb8oSI

[kheftel]

Try making a 1x1 garbage dump zone near the rocks and marking the stones for dumping. Delete it after and unforbid the stone so you don't get actual trash put there

[Navi]

And what I want blocks for? Trading?

[Navi]

Originally posted by kheftel:

Try making a 1x1 garbage dump zone near the rocks and marking the stones for dumping. Delete it after and unforbid the stone so you don't get actual trash put there

But only one rock fits in one square right? Or can I put every rock in the same

[Pug Jesus]

Craftdwarf's workshop, make them into crafts. Offload them onto unsuspecting elven caravans.

[Mysticara]

Blocks are good for building. Floors, Walls, Fortifications, roads, bridges, workshops, wells, screwpumps, etc. They're more efficient, as one stone gives you four blocks, so if you ever want to pave a huge room, create towers, etc. having tons of blocks makes the construction easier. They're also lighter so construction and hauling takes less time. And more valuable, so you can sell them for higher than just plain rocks. And it's good training for your masons.

[Navi]

Originally posted by Mysticara:

Blocks are good for building. Floors, Walls, Fortifications, roads, bridges, workshops, wells, screwpumps, etc. They're more efficient, as one stone gives you four blocks, so if you ever want to pave a huge room, create towers, etc. having tons of blocks makes the construction easier. They're also lighter so construction and hauling takes less time. And more valuable, so you can sell them for higher than just plain rocks. And it's good training for your masons.

Thanks! n.n I will have then one "volunteer" to never do anything else but carving rocks

[michaelvipperman]

Turn them into furniture and build with them. I give every bedroom its own rock coffer and rock cabinet so they have somewhere to put all their stuff; if you're rock hungry enough you'll never have enough rock, let alone too much.

[Empath demon]

When used for constructions (walls, floors, fortifications, etc), blocks are also faster to both construct and deconstruct than a raw log or rock, and I believe they have some minimal room value while raw materials do not.

[Mysticara]

It's also fun to do some pixel art floor designs with them, since different rocks are different colors. If you want to get specific rocks turned into blocks for a certain color e.g. to make sure your furnaces will be red or your road is blue, you can change the work order detail to specify which rock to use. E.g. Make Jet Blocks or Make Chert blocks, whatever stone is native in your area.

You can also queue up the Polish rocks / stones in the Jeweler work shop to turn rocks into cheap gems and trade them off or use them to decorate stuff to increase the value of furniture or other goodies.

[Dagmar]

I wouldn't bother with quantum stockpiles for boulders unless the fortress is well into an advanced state of "filthus maximus" with clutter as far as the eye can see.

Some helpful guidelines, because you're going to regularly be dealing with lots of boulders unless you decide to just build on the surface like a bunch of pathetic elves...

1. Never assign a stockpile to hold stones or blocks unless you really, really mean it.
   
2. Definitely assign a stockpile that holds only stones that's about 5x5 or larger as near to your stonemason workbench as possible. Plan on adding more workbenches over time. Ensure there's a free wheelbarrow or two because stones are heavy and slow to tote.
   
3. Likewise, assign a stockpile (this one can be smaller, but 5x5 is a good starting point) for just blocks of stone somewhere relatively near your stonemason workbench.
   
4. Just go ahead and set a repeating task for making a stone block for each "plain rock"-type of rock your dwarfs dig up. (You don't want them carving ores or more valuable stones into blocks without a good reason.)
   
5. Go ahead and make 5-6 wooden bins, or enough bins to fill the stone stockpile, because stone blocks will stack neatly in the wooden bins.

Those will mostly keep loose stone from cluttering up the place (looks messy and dwarves don't like that), and give you plenty of much-more-easily toted stone blocks to build things with. Blocks are twice the value of undressed stone when you build something with them, and by specifying which types of stone you'll avoid problems with someone having chopped up all the marble into blocks when you want to make a nice marble statue or some thrones or whatever. Your stonemasons will also basically be rolling in passive EXP-gain because if they've got nothing better to do and there's rocks available, they'll go cut them into blocks.

[Navi]

Originally posted by evildagmar:

I wouldn't bother with quantum stockpiles for boulders unless the fortress is well into an advanced state of "filthus maximus" with clutter as far as the eye can see.

Some helpful guidelines, because you're going to regularly be dealing with lots of boulders unless you decide to just build on the surface like a bunch of pathetic elves...

1. Never assign a stockpile to hold stones or blocks unless you really, really mean it.
   
2. Definitely assign a stockpile that holds only stones that's about 5x5 or larger as near to your stonemason workbench as possible. Plan on adding more workbenches over time. Ensure there's a free wheelbarrow or two because stones are heavy and slow to tote.
   
3. Likewise, assign a stockpile (this one can be smaller, but 5x5 is a good starting point) for just blocks of stone somewhere relatively near your stonemason workbench.
   
4. Just go ahead and set a repeating task for making a stone block for each "plain rock"-type of rock your dwarfs dig up. (You don't want them carving ores or more valuable stones into blocks without a good reason.)
   
5. Go ahead and make 5-6 wooden bins, or enough bins to fill the stone stockpile, because stone blocks will stack neatly in the wooden bins.

Those will mostly keep loose stone from cluttering up the place (looks messy and dwarves don't like that), and give you plenty of much-more-easily toted stone blocks to build things with. Blocks are twice the value of undressed stone when you build something with them, and by specifying which types of stone you'll avoid problems with someone having chopped up all the marble into blocks when you want to make a nice marble statue or some thrones or whatever. Your stonemasons will also basically be rolling in passive EXP-gain because if they've got nothing better to do and there's rocks available, they'll go cut them into blocks.

Okey now I want to build on top of the trees and call myself "The petite elves".

Thanks for the info btw