As you explore the world of Terraria, more NPCs will flock to your town with the intention of moving into rooms you build for them. Most NPCs can sell items from explosives to ammunition for guns, but other NPCs can provide services for a small price, for example the nurse can heal you to full health.
So yeah, there are quite a few different NPCs out there. They each with their own set of requirements that you need to fulfil before they move into your town.
This Terraria NPCs guide details how many NPCs are in Terraria, and how to unlock NPCs in both pre-Hardmode and Hardmode.
How many NPCs are in Terraria?
There are 28 NPCs and 3 pets in Terraria. Only the guide will be in your town at the start of the game. The rest require certain conditions to be met to unlock. If we break down the types of NPCs in Terraria, there are:
- 18 town NPCs in the regular mode.
- 3 pets that you can purchase licences for.
- 7 town NPCs that are found in Hardmode.
- 3 NPCs that don't live in the town.
What happens if my NPC dies?
NPCs aren't invincible, though it isn't the end of the world if they die. When they are killed they are gone until the next day. There are some notable exceptions where you need to have an item in your inventory for them to reappear, such as the Demolitionist and Arms Dealer that require either explosives or bullets respectively.
Thankfully NPCs aren't just meat shields. Most of them have weapons that they can defend themselves with, should your defences fall and enemies gain access your town. This is particularly important during a Blood Moon when zombies can open doors.
Moving in requirements for Terraria NPCs
In addition to meeting an NPC's own personal requirements, you'll also need to build a room for every single NPC. These rooms need to be built to a certain specification. Once built, the NPC will happily move in after a short time. The optimal room has:
- A living space of 30 blocks or more [60 when you include walls, floor, and ceiling. 750 blocks or more in total is too big].
- Structural walls and ceiling with non-corrupted materials.
- Player-made background walls.
- An entrance to the room [door/platform/trap door in ceiling].
- A flat surface such as a table or work bench.
- Any chair.
- Any kind of light source.
These rooms can even be built in the air. You can remove the supports once the house is built to make these houses float. NPCs will live in these floating rooms happily and it prevents monsters from being able to get inside, since the floating houses can be placed above an enemy's jump height.
Pre-Hardmode NPCs
Most NPCs in Terraria will visit your town when you've met their requirements. You'll also need to have built a room for them before they arrive. An NPC's arrival is indicated by text that appears on-screen.
Some NPCs are special. They're either pets, for which you need to buy a licence from the Zoologist, or wandering NPCs that don't settle into town.
Here are all the NPCs that will appear before activating Hardmode:
| Guide | Provides tips on how to get other NPCs and lists all item recipes shown to him. | Create a new world. |
| Merchant | Sells basic tools and supplies. Sells marshmallows in Snow biome | All players have 50 silver coins or more combined. |
| Nurse | Heals players and debuffs for coins. | A player has more than 100 health |
| Demolitionist | Sells explosives. | A player has an explosive in their inventory |
| Dye Trader | Sells the Dye Vat crafting station and provides rare dyes in exchange for Strange Plants. | A player has a dye item or any item used to create dyes. |
| Angler | Gives fishing quests, rewarding players if they complete them. | Speak to the Angler in the Ocean biome. |
| Zoologist | Sells items for critters. | Fill 10% of the Bestiary. |
| Dryad | Sells nature, corruption, and crimson items. Can report the percentage of corruption, crimson, and Hallow in the world. | Defeat a boss other than King Slime, or Wall of Flesh. |
| Painter | Sells paints, painting tools, and paintings. Sells the Jungle Pylon. | Acquire 8 other town NPCs, including Old Man and Travelling Merchant. |
| Golfer | Sells golf clubs and other golfing accessories. | Speak to the Golfer in the Underground Desert. |
| Arms Dealer | Sells guns, bullets, and other kinds of ammo. | A player has bullets or a gun that shoots bullets in their inventory. |
| Tavernkeep | Sells items for coins or Defender Medals to summon and fight the Old One's Army. | Defeat Eater of Worlds or Brain of Cthulhu to make him appear. Then speak to him. |
| Stylist | Change players hair style. Sells hair dyes. | Speak to Stylist to free her from a Spider Cave. |
| Goblin Tinkerer | Sells items such as the Tinkerer's Workshop. Can reforge items. | After defeating the Goblin Invasion, find and speak to Goblin Tinkerer in the cavern layer. |
| Witch Doctor | Sells blowgun, imbuing station, summoner equipment, and fountains. | Defeat Queen Bee. |
| Clothier | Sells vanity items, such as the Familiar Set. | Defeat Skeletron. |
| Mechanic | Sells the Wrench, Wire, and other mechanism items. Can sell the Mechanic's Rod under certain conditions. | Speak to the Mechanic in the dungeon. |
| Party Girl | Sells items that create colourful visual effects. | 1/40 chance to spawn after 14 town NPCs have been acquired. This includes Old Man and Travelling Merchant. If killed, doesn't always respawn the next day, instead having the 1/40 chance. |
| Travelling Merchant | Sells a random selection of unique items each visit. | Once 2 other NPCs are in town, has a 22.12% chance to spawn during in-game morning hours [04:30am - 12:00pm]. Does not move into town |
| Old Man | Becomes the Clothier when you defeat Skeletron. | Found at the entrance to the dungeon at night. Does not move into town |
| Skeleton Merchant | Sells items such as Counterweights, Spelunker Glowsticks, Yoyo Glove, and Magic Lanterns. Slap Hand can only be obtained from Skeleton Merchant. | Randomly and rarely found in the caverns. Does not move into town |
| Town Cat | You can pet the cat. | Purchase cat licence from Zoologist. Requires 10% bestiary condition and no other Town Cats. |
| Town Dog | You can pet the dog. | Purchase dog licence from Zoologist. Requires 10% bestiary condition and no other Town Dogs. |
| Town Bunnies | You can pet the bunny. | Purchase bunny licence from Zoologist. Requires 10% bestiary condition and no other Town Bunnies. |
Hardmode NPCs
To get these Hardmode NPCs to appear, you'll first need to activate Hardmode. This is done by defeating the Wall of Flesh boss. To make it appear, you'll need to do the following:
- Kill a Voodoo Demon in The Underworld and take the Guide Voodoo Doll it drops. Voodoo Demons spawn in The Underworld.
- Throw the doll into lava and kill the Wall of Flesh boss. This boss has around 8000 health points and travels in one direction while firing lasers at you. You can learn how to beat it in our Terraria bosses guide.
Once the boss is killed, you'll activate Hardmode immediately. You'll keep all previously unlocked NPCs in your town.
Here are the extra NPCs that can settle in your town once Hardmode is unlocked:
| Wizard | Sells magic items. | Find and speak to the Wizard in Hardmode's Cavern layer. |
| Tax Collector | Collects 50 copper coins in property taxes for you from every other NPC in town. | Transform a Tortured Soul with Purification Powder in the Underworld biome. Dryad sells the Purification Powder |
| Truffle | Sells Autohammer, Mushroom Spear, and some other mushroom-related items. | Build a house in an above-ground Glowing Mushroom biome. |
| Pirate | Sells cannon and pirate-related items. | Defeat a Pirate Invasion. |
| Steampunker | Sells Clentaminator, Teleporter, Jetpack, and other items. | Defeat a Mechanical Boss. [The Destroyer, Skeletron Prime, or The Twins] |
| Cyborg | Sells Promimixty Mine Launcher, Rockets, and Nanites. | Defeat Plantera. |
| Santa Claus | Sells Santa costume, and other Christmas themed decorations. | Defeat Frost Legion. Appears only during Christmas season [December 15th-31st]. You can change your PC clock to force winter. |
That's more or less how to unlock every NPC in Terraria. Thanks very much for reading our guide and if you have any tips of your own, do leave a comment.
There are few other guides featured for the game covering the Journey's End update that came out in 2020, so if you want to learn How to make a bed in Terraria, learn Best wings in Terraria, or all about summoning and defeating the Terraria bosses, then do have a look at our other guides.