Jobs and hobbies

Jobs

Job	What it does
UNEMPLOYED	Nothing in particular
MINER	Goes on mining expeditions and returns with ores
FARMER	Claims a Scarecrow, harvests, and replants specific crops
FISHERMAN	Claims a Fishing Post and gathers fish
LUMBERJACK	Claims a Lumber Post and gathers wood. (He is a lumberjack, but very calm. No rage please)
GUARD	Night watch — sleeps by day
EXPLORER	Exploring
BUILDER	Walks to construction sites
HUNTER	Goes on hunting expeditions and returns with raw meat

Assigning a job

Hold the matching tool and use Assign Job in the interaction panel.

Job	Trigger item contains
Miner	Pickaxe
Farmer	Hoe
Fisherman	Tool_Fishing_Trap
Lumberjack	Hatchet
Guard	any recognised weapon — melee (sword, axe, dagger, spear, mace, ...) or ranged (bow, crossbow, firearm, ...)
Explorer	Tool_Map
Builder	Tool_Hammer
Hunter	Shortbow or Crossbow specifically

An NPC can refuse: each one rolls jobs she likes and jobs she dislikes.

Guards and weapon categories

A Guard is no longer tied to swords specifically. Handing over any item SimTale recognises as a weapon assigns the Guard job, and the Guard remembers whether that weapon was melee or ranged:

• Melee (sword, axe, dagger, spear, mace, ...): the Guard closes to about 2.5 blocks before fighting, same as always.
• Ranged (bow, crossbow, firearm, ...): the Guard stops at range (about 7 blocks) and does not walk into melee distance.

A bow or crossbow still makes a Hunter, not a Guard — that check runs first, so nothing about Hunter changed.

Because new weapons (from other mods, or future SimTale updates) are not something SimTale can predict by name, there are two ways to teach it about one, in order of priority: another mod calling WeaponCategoryRegistry.register("itemId", WeaponCategory.RANGED) directly from its own code, or a simtale-weapons.json file in the server's working directory (next to simtale-ai.json) listing {"itemId": "MELEE"}/{"itemId": "RANGED"} entries by hand. Neither is required for the weapons already built into Hytale.

Child labor restrictions

Only NPCs at the TEEN or ADULT life stages can be assigned jobs. Young children (BABY, TODDLER, CHILD) are protected and will refuse to take tools or work ("I'm just a kid!"). However, children can freely engage in leisure hobbies like fishing or gardening when their fun need drops, allowing them to hang out near family crop plots or water spots without taking on economic tasks.

Matching is by item name

The check looks for those words inside the item id, so a modded item without one of the words above in its id still needs WeaponCategoryRegistry.register(...) or simtale-weapons.json (see above) — or, for the non-Guard jobs, simply won't be recognised.

The Farmer

The Farmer requires a Scarecrow to act as their workstation. They will walk to ripe crops, harvest them (dropping 1 produce and 1-2 seeds), and then carry everything to a chest in their own house. If they have seeds and there is empty tilled soil nearby, they will replant. Supported crops are: Carrot, Wheat, Tomato, and Corn.

Expeditions: Miners and Hunters

Miners and Hunters do not actively walk up to rocks or animals. Instead, they go on "Expeditions". When their work shift begins, their model scales down (shrinks) and they conceptually disappear for about 2 real minutes. When they return, they spawn back at the Village Center or their house, carrying loot based on a weighted table.

• Miners return with ores (Copper, Iron, Silver, Gold, Adamantite, etc.).
• Hunters return with Raw Meats (Beef, Pork, Chicken). They immediately walk to their home chest to deposit the loot.

The Fisherman

The Fisherman requires a Fishing Post. You create one simply by placing a Fishing Trap block near water (within 8 blocks). They will walk to this post, perform their gathering animation, and then deposit their catch into their home chest.

The Lumberjack

The Lumberjack requires a Lumber Post. You create one simply by placing a Lumbermill Bench block near a tree trunk (within 10 blocks). They will walk to this post, perform their gathering animation, and then deposit the gathered wood into their home chest.

Hobbies

Hobby	Where she goes
FISHING	nearest water
MINING	nearest stone
GARDENING	nearest crops
READING	home
SLEEPING	home

When fun drops below 40, she goes and does her hobby, and comes back happy.

If the scenery does not exist — a fisherman in the desert — she does not get stuck looking. She gives up and relaxes at home, recovering fun more slowly.

Hobbies matter socially

• Gifts: giving a fishing rod to someone whose hobby is fishing is worth far more than an ordinary gift.
• Conversation: two NPCs with the same hobby build friendship faster.
• Work: a farmer whose hobby is gardening gains fun from harvesting. One who would rather be reading loses a little.