Grower Asset Reference

Intermediate40-60 minutesWindowsNotepad++Unity Editor

The grower asset type (classified internally as ItemGrowerAsset and localized as "growth supplements") is one of the simplest item subclasses in Unturned™ modding. A grower asset defines a consumable item that, when used on a planted crop, instantly advances its growth stage to completion - effectively skipping the waiting time that the farming system normally enforces. Unlike complex deployable assets such as generators or sentries, the grower asset subclass adds no unique .dat fields of its own. Its behavior is entirely defined by the Useable Grower enum value and the inherited item asset properties: the grower's sole gameplay purpose is to accelerate crop growth, and the asset configuration required to achieve that purpose is correspondingly minimal.

57 Studios™ has documented and validated the full grower asset configuration surface across the shipped game files and the official Smartly Dressed Games documentation. This article covers every .dat field that applies to grower assets, the growth acceleration system that governs how growers interact with the farming mechanic, the inheritance chain from ItemAsset, the folder structure required to deploy a functional grower mod, and the complete field reference drawn from shipped game file evidence. Despite having no unique fields of its own, the grower asset type occupies a specific and intentional niche in the Unturned™ item ecosystem - a niche that the modder must understand to author a grower that feels right.

Documentation source: This article references the official Smartly Dressed Games modding documentation for field definitions and game behavior, specifically the ItemGrowerAsset class documented in the Grower Assets chapter. Shipped game file evidence from Bundles/Items/Growers/Fertilizer/ is cited for field values and patterns. Community-validated notes are marked where the official documentation is silent on a detail.

Who this article is for

This article is written for Unturned™ mod authors who are already familiar with the item .dat format and the master bundle pipeline and want to create custom grower items that interact with the farming system. Readers should have completed at least one item mod of another type (consumable, tool) before authoring a grower asset. If you are new to Unturned™ modding, start with Project Folder Structure and GUIDs and Item Asset Anatomy before returning here. A working local Unturned™ install with access to the farming system (planter boxes, seeds, and planted crops) is required for in-game testing.

What you will learn

• Every .dat field available on the grower asset type, including type, required status, default values, and purpose.
• How the growth acceleration mechanic works at the runtime level: what happens when a player uses a grower on a planted crop.
• The inheritance chain from ItemAsset and why the grower subclass adds no unique fields.
• How to author a complete grower asset with a worked .dat example from shipped game file evidence.
• How the grower's Useable enum value interacts with the farming system's regrowth and harvest mechanics.
• How to diagnose common grower asset authoring errors using the diagnostic table.
• How to design balanced grower items that fit into the farming economy without trivializing the crop-growing loop.

How the grower system works

The grower system in Unturned™ is built around the ItemGrowerAsset class, which extends the ItemAsset class directly without adding any subclass-specific fields. When a player equips a grower item and activates it while aiming at a planted crop (a seeded planter box or a world-placed crop that is in its growing state), the UseableGrower script reads the grower's .dat configuration and initiates a growth acceleration sequence. The planted crop advances from its current growth stage to the next stage; if the crop is below the final harvestable stage, the grower advances it by one stage per use. The grower item is consumed from the player's inventory after each use.

The growth acceleration system does not advance the crop past the harvestable stage - it only advances through the intermediate growth stages up to the point where the crop is ready to harvest. A single grower item advances the crop by exactly one growth stage per use. Crops that require multiple growth stages from seed to harvest require multiple grower applications unless the grower is used on a crop that is already one stage from completion. The player cannot accelerate a crop beyond the harvest-ready state; growers have no effect on mature crops.

The growth stage model

Unturned™ crops advance through a fixed set of growth stages defined in the seed or crop resource asset. The exact number of stages varies by crop type. The grower asset interacts with this stage model by skipping one stage per use:

Growth stage index	Description	Grower effect
0	Freshly planted seed	Advance to stage 1 on grower use
1	Sprouting	Advance to stage 2 on grower use
2	Mid-growth	Advance to stage 3 on grower use
3	Late growth	Advance to stage 4 (harvestable) on grower use
4	Ready to harvest	No effect , grower cannot advance past harvestable

The number of growth stages is defined in the seed or resource asset, not in the grower asset. The grower asset simply calls the "advance stage" method on the target crop; the crop's own stage definition determines how many advances are needed to reach harvestability.

Grower asset subclass design rationale

The grower asset type is unusual among Unturned™ item subclasses because it adds no unique properties. The gun asset adds caliber, recoil, and fire mode fields. The magazine asset adds capacity, ballistics, and damage modifier fields. The generator asset adds capacity, wirerange, and burn fields. The grower asset adds none. The entire field set is inherited from ItemAsset.

This design reflects the grower's single-purpose nature. A grower does one thing: accelerate crop growth. The acceleration behavior is hardcoded in the UseableGrower script and requires no configuration beyond the identity and inventory fields that every item asset shares. The modder does not configure acceleration rate, growth amount, or target crop type - these are fixed behaviors in the game runtime. The grower asset's only degrees of freedom are its identity (ID, GUID, name), its inventory footprint (Size_X, Size_Y), its rarity (which controls inventory highlight color and indirectly influences loot table weight), its appearance (the 3D model in the master bundle), and its localization (the display name and description in English.dat).

The class diagram above shows the inheritance structure. ItemGrowerAsset is a bare extension of ItemAsset with no additional fields. This is the simplest inheritance pattern in the entire item asset hierarchy and is one of the reasons the grower asset type is the ideal starting point for new modders who want to understand the item asset system.

File and folder structure

A complete grower mod requires the following files:

Workshop/Content/304930/<modID>/
├── Bundles/
│   └── <BundleName>.unity3d          ← master bundle containing the grower prefab
└── Items/
    └── MyGrower/
        ├── MyGrower.dat              ← primary configuration (identity + inventory)
        └── English.dat               ← display name and description

The folder name, the .dat filename stem, and the internal Name field should all match. This is not enforced at runtime, but divergence causes diagnostic confusion when the mod fails to load or the item does not appear in the inventory.

Folder placement specifics

The grower folder must be placed under Bundles/Items/ in the mod's content directory. The engine scans all subdirectories under Bundles/Items/ for .dat files whose Type field matches a known item type. The Type Grower field value tells the engine to parse the .dat as a grower asset. If the folder is placed under the wrong parent or the Type field is incorrect, the engine silently skips the asset at load time - no error is raised, and the item never appears in the game.

Complete .dat field reference

Identity fields

Every item in Unturned™ requires an identity block. These fields identify the item to the engine and to other mod files that reference it. For the grower asset type, the identity block is the entire functional field set because the subclass adds no unique fields.

Field	Type	Example	Required	Purpose
ID	uint16	50060	Yes	Numeric item ID. Must be unique across all loaded mods. Use IDs in the 50000+ range to avoid collision with vanilla and established community mods.
GUID	uint128 hex	54ebe428a6e34922b8764ca40a95d165	Yes	128-bit globally unique identifier. Generate a new GUID for every new item. Never reuse GUIDs.
Type	enum	Grower	Yes	Must be Grower for grower items. Any other value causes the asset to be loaded as a different item type.
Useable	enum	Grower	Yes	Must be Grower for grower items. This field selects the UseableGrower script at runtime.
Name	string	Fertilizer	Yes	Internal name. Used in console commands and cross-reference in other .dat files.
Rarity	enum	Uncommon	No	Controls the inventory highlight color. Values: Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, Legendary, Mythical. Defaults to Common.
Slot	enum	None	No	Inventory slot. Primary, Secondary, Tertiary, None. Growers typically use None.
Size_X	uint8	1	Yes	Width in inventory grid cells.
Size_Y	uint8	2	Yes	Height in inventory grid cells.
Size_Z	float	0.45	No	The Z-axis thickness of the item in world-space units. Used for dropped item collision.

Blueprints field

The Blueprints field is inherited from ItemAsset and is present on almost every item type. It defines crafting recipes that can produce this item. The field syntax is a structured array of recipe objects, each containing input items, output items, skill requirements, and crafting station constraints.

Field within Blueprint	Type	Purpose
CategoryTag	GUID	The crafting category this blueprint appears in.
InputItems	array	Items consumed to craft this item. Each entry is a GUID or an ID-tuple with optional Amount.
OutputItems	reference	What the blueprint produces. this refers to the item whose .dat contains the blueprint.
Effect	GUID	The sound effect played when the blueprint is crafted.
Skill	enum	The skill category required to craft this item (e.g., Craft).
Skill_Level	uint8	The minimum skill level required.
RequiresNearbyCraftingTags	array	GUIDs of crafting stations that must be nearby.

Audio fields

Field	Type	Example	Purpose
InventoryAudio	string	Sounds/Inventory/Seeds.asset	The sound effect played when the item is moved in the inventory UI.

Worked example: the vanilla Fertilizer

The vanilla Fertilizer grower item is the only shipped grower asset in the vanilla game. It is located at Bundles/Items/Growers/Fertilizer/Fertilizer.dat. Examining this file provides the complete field reference for the grower asset type:

GUID 54ebe428a6e34922b8764ca40a95d165
Type Grower
Rarity Uncommon
Useable Grower
ID 332

Size_X 1
Size_Y 2
Size_Z 0.45

Blueprints
[
	{
		CategoryTag "31a59b5fec3f4ec5b2887b1ce4acb029" // Barricades
		InputItems "5ff4bcf752554990bf06e103b996cef2" // Rope
		OutputItems this
		Effect "84347b13028340b8976033c08675d458" // Wrench
	}
]

InventoryAudio Sounds/Inventory/Seeds.asset

And the companion English.dat:

Name Fertilizer
Description Carefully disguised cow poop.

The item is Uncommon rarity, takes up a 1x2 grid slot, and is crafted from rope. Its InventoryAudio references the Seeds sound category, which produces a rustling sound when the item is moved in the inventory. The blueprint requires a nearby crafting station with the Barricades category tag and no skill requirement.

Authoring a new grower asset

The process of authoring a new grower asset is the simplest in the entire item asset family. The steps below cover the complete workflow from ID assignment to in-game testing.

Step 1: assign ID and GUID

Choose an ID in the mod's assigned range (50000+). Confirm it is not used by any other item in the project. Generate a fresh GUID using an online UUID v4 generator:

ID 50060
GUID a1b2c3d4e5f64a7b8c9d0e1f2a3b4c5d

Step 2: set type fields

Type Grower
Useable Grower

Both Type and Useable must be Grower. If Type is correct but Useable is missing or wrong, the item loads but does nothing when activated. If Type is wrong, the item does not load at all.

Step 3: set identity and inventory fields

Name MyCustomGrower
Rarity Common
Slot None
Size_X 1
Size_Y 1

The inventory footprint should match the visual size of the grower model. A small bag of fertilizer is typically 1x1. A large industrial growth compound container might be 2x1.

Step 4: add blueprints (optional)

If the grower should be craftable, add a Blueprints block. The vanilla Fertilizer uses a simple one-ingredient recipe. A more complex grower might require multiple inputs and a higher crafting skill level:

Blueprints
[
	{
		CategoryTag "31a59b5fec3f4ec5b2887b1ce4acb029" // Barricades
		InputItems
		[
			{
				ID "5ff4bcf752554990bf06e103b996cef2" // Rope
				Amount 2
			}
			{
				ID "a19f8cf1e1c44b1f9a1e8f2c5d7b3c6a" // Chemicals
				Amount 1
			}
		]
		OutputItems this
		Skill Craft
		Skill_Level 1
		RequiresNearbyCraftingTags
		[
			"7b82c125a5a54984b8bb26576b59e977" // Workbench
		]
		Effect "84347b13028340b8976033c08675d458" // Wrench
	}
]

Step 5: author English.dat

Name My Custom Grower
Description A concentrated growth compound that advances crops by one stage per application.

Step 6: prepare the master bundle

The master bundle must contain a prefab for the grower item. The prefab is the 3D model shown in the inventory icon, in the player's hand when equipped, and on the ground when dropped. The prefab name must match the Name field in the .dat (or match the Model field if the Model override is used).

The prefab hierarchy for a grower item is minimal:

MyGrowerPrefab (root)
└── Body (MeshRenderer + MeshFilter for the grower model)

No animator, audio source, or particle system is required for the base grower functionality. The grower's use animation and sound are handled by the UseableGrower script at runtime using default game assets.

Step 7: test in-game

1. Copy the master bundle and .dat files to the local Unturned™ install's mod folder.
2. Launch Unturned™ in single-player.
3. Open the in-game console with ~.
4. Spawn the grower: @give <growerID>.
5. Spawn a planter box and a seed: @give 331 (planter), @give <seedID>.
6. Plant the seed in the planter box.
7. Equip the grower and activate it on the planted crop.
8. Confirm the crop advances one growth stage.
9. Confirm the grower item is consumed from inventory.

Testing a grower asset in single-player

The testing procedure for a grower asset is straightforward because the grower performs a single action with a single outcome. Use this checklist to verify every aspect of the grower's behavior:

1. Spawn the grower: @give <growerID>. Confirm it appears in inventory with the correct icon and name.
2. Check the grower's inventory footprint. Confirm Size_X and Size_Y match the intended grid dimensions.
3. Spawn a planter box and seed. Plant the seed.
4. Equip the grower and activate it on the planted crop (left-click while aiming at the planter box).
5. Confirm the growth acceleration animation plays.
6. Confirm the crop advances one growth stage visibly.
7. Confirm the grower item is consumed (reduced stack count or removal from inventory).
8. If the grower has blueprints, test crafting the grower at the appropriate crafting station.
9. If the grower should not be craftable (obtained only through loot), omit the Blueprints block entirely.

Diagnostic table

Symptom	Most likely cause	Resolution
Grower does not appear in inventory after @give	ID mismatch or .dat in wrong folder	Confirm ID in command matches ID in .dat; verify folder is under Bundles/Items/
Grower appears but does nothing when used	Useable field missing or wrong	Confirm Useable Grower is present in .dat
Growth acceleration animation plays but crop does not advance	Crop is already at harvestable stage	Verify crop is in an intermediate growth stage
Grower not consumed on use	Useable field set to a non-Grower value	Set Useable Grower correctly
Grower consumes but no sound plays	InventoryAudio missing or wrong path	Add InventoryAudio referencing a valid sound asset
Grower visible in inventory but icon is blank	Prefab not found in master bundle	Confirm prefab name in bundle matches Name field
Grower icon shows as a white square	Material missing from prefab	Assign a material to the prefab mesh renderer
Crafting recipe does not appear	CategoryTag mismatch or missing crafting station	Verify the category tag and crafting station requirements
Grower cannot be used on a specific crop type	Crop may be a world-placed resource without grower support	Not all harvestable plants accept growers; only planter crops and resource crops with the grower interaction flag accept acceleration
Item appears with incorrect inventory size	Size_X or Size_Y is wrong	Set Size_X and Size_Y to match the model's visual footprint
Grower does not stack	Stacking is controlled by item system, not grower-specific	Growers are non-stackable by default; stackability requires additional fields documented in Item Asset Anatomy

Grower balance and design guidance

Rarity and availability

The grower's rarity should reflect its impact on the farming economy. A common grower that is easily craftable or frequently looted significantly reduces the time investment required for crop farming, which can unbalance survival servers where food scarcity is a deliberate design constraint. The vanilla Fertilizer uses Uncommon rarity and requires a craft input (rope), placing it at an accessible-but-not-trivial point in the progression curve.

Grower power level	Recommended rarity	Recommended crafting cost	Design rationale
Light acceleration	Common	Common materials (plant fibers, water)	Frequent use; low impact on progression
Standard acceleration	Uncommon	Intermediate materials (rope, chemicals)	The vanilla Fertilizer tier; moderate impact
Concentrated growth compound	Rare	Uncommon materials plus fuel or components	Significant impact; players seek it out
Experimental growth serum	Epic	Rare materials, high crafting skill	Transformative impact on large farms
Mythical instant-harvest compound	Legendary	Very rare materials, level 5 crafting	Single-use farm reset tool

Inventory footprint and stack size

The grower's inventory footprint affects how many growers a player can carry and store. A 1x1 grower with stacking enabled allows players to carry dozens of applications in a single inventory slot, making large-scale farming practical. A 2x2 grower with no stacking limits the player to a handful of applications, making each use more consequential.

The vanilla Fertilizer occupies a 1x2 grid space and does not stack, striking a middle ground between portability and inventory pressure. Mod authors should consider the intended farming experience when choosing inventory dimensions.

Crafting cost versus benefit

The crafting cost of a grower should be balanced against the time saved by skipping one growth stage. If a crop takes 30 minutes to mature across four stages and a grower skips one stage, the grower saves approximately 7.5 minutes of wait time. A grower that costs one rope (a common barricade ingredient) saves 7.5 minutes at the cost of a resource that is also used for more permanent barricades. A grower that costs advanced materials (blowtorches, chemicals, fuel) saves the same 7.5 minutes at a cost that may exceed the value of the crop being accelerated.

The cohort recommendation is to price growers such that using a grower on a low-value crop is wasteful while using it on a high-value or time-sensitive crop is worthwhile. This creates a meaningful decision for the player rather than a routine application on every planted seed.

Frequently asked questions

Does the grower work on every plantable crop?

The grower works on any crop that uses the standard farming growth stage system. This includes all planter-box crops (seeds planted in a Planter barricade) and certain world-placed resource crops that implement the growth stage interface. Crops that do not use the stage system (e.g., manually harvested world resources that regrow on a timer rather than through stages) are not affected by growers. If a grower has no effect on a specific crop type, the crop likely uses the regrowth timer system rather than the stage system.

Can a grower advance a crop by more than one stage?

No. The UseableGrower script advances the crop by exactly one stage per use, and there is no configuration field in the .dat that changes this behavior. The grower asset subclass has no unique fields because the acceleration logic is hardcoded in the runtime. To advance a crop by multiple stages, the player must use multiple grower items sequentially, one per stage. This is an intentional design constraint that prevents growers from bypassing the farming progression too aggressively.

What happens if I use a grower on a crop that is already harvestable?

Nothing. The UseableGrower script checks the crop's current growth stage before applying the acceleration. If the crop is at or beyond the final stage (ready to harvest), the grower has no effect. The grower item is not consumed. This prevents accidental waste when a player misclicks on a mature crop.

Can I make a grower that works on a specific crop type only?

No. The grower asset type does not include a crop-type filter field. The grower will accelerate any planted crop that uses the stage system. If your design requires crop-type restrictions, the restriction must be enforced at the server level via plugin code, not through the .dat file. Some community mods implement server-side checks that verify the crop type before applying the growth acceleration, effectively creating crop-specific growers by rejecting uses on non-target crops.

How do I make a grower that is not consumable?

The grower asset type is inherently consumable - the UseableGrower script destroys one item from the player's inventory on each successful use. There is no flag in the .dat that makes a grower reusable. If your design requires a reusable growth acceleration tool (a watering can that never runs out, for example), you would need to implement a custom useable script through the modding API, which is beyond the scope of the standard .dat configuration system.

Is there a way to make a grower that accelerates all crops in an area?

No. The grower operates on a single target crop per use. There is no area-of-effect mode or multi-target field. If your design requires a broad-area growth acceleration effect, consider a deployable item (a powered growth field generator) that is implemented through custom scripting rather than the standard grower asset type.

Can a grower be combined with other farming modifiers?

Yes. The grower's growth acceleration is applied on top of any existing growth modifiers, such as planter box quality, crop health, or nearby water sources. A crop that is already growing at an accelerated rate (due to planter quality, for example) receives an additional stage advance from the grower. The modifiers are additive in the sense that the total time to harvest is reduced by each independent mechanism, but the grower itself always advances exactly one stage regardless of other modifiers.

Does the grower affect the crop's yield?

No. The grower only advances the growth stage; it does not modify the crop's yield at harvest time. The yield is determined by the crop's own .dat configuration and any server-side modifiers. A player who uses a grower to accelerate growth gets the same harvest yield as a player who waited through the normal growth timer. This is an important balance property: growers are a time-savings tool, not a yield-enhancement tool.

What is the difference between a grower and a planter box?

A planter box (Barricade with the farming interaction) is the container that holds the planted crop. It provides the physical space and the soil for the seed to grow. The planter box has its own properties: health, collision, placement rules. A grower is a consumable item that accelerates the growth of the crop inside the planter box. The two items serve complementary roles in the farming system. The planter box is a reusable structure; the grower is a consumable input. Both are required for the full farming workflow.

Can the grower be used on world-placed crops?

It depends on the crop type. Some world-placed crops (plants that spawn naturally on the map and can be harvested for materials) use the growth stage system and accept growers. Others (regrowth-timer resources that reappear after a fixed interval) do not implement the stage interface and ignore growers. Testing on the specific crop type is the only reliable way to determine compatibility. If a grower does not work on a world-placed crop, the crop likely uses the regrowth-timer system.

Best practices

• Use a fresh GUID for every grower asset. Never reuse GUIDs from other items.
• Choose IDs in the 50000+ range to avoid collision with vanilla and established community mods.
• Set both Type Grower and Useable Grower. Omitting either causes runtime misbehavior.
• Match the inventory footprint (Size_X, Size_Y) to the visual size of the grower model. A small bag should be 1x1; a large compound container might be 2x2.
• Set Rarity based on the grower's impact on the farming economy. Common growers are accessible but reduce the time pressure of farming; rare growers are significant finds that justify their inventory cost.
• Author blueprints that balance the crafting cost against the time saved per growth stage. A grower should cost less than the value of the crop it accelerates but enough that mass production requires resource investment.
• Always provide an English.dat with a Name and Description that communicates the grower's function. Avoid "Makes plants grow faster" - prefer a description that adds character to the item.
• Test the grower against at least three crop types (a fast-growing crop, a slow-growing crop, and a world-placed resource) to confirm behavior consistency.
• Verify the grower is consumed from inventory after use. If the item persists after use, the Useable field may be wrong.
• Consider server balance when setting rarity and crafting cost. A common grower with cheap crafting can trivialize the farming loop on survival servers.

Advanced considerations

Grower items in RP server contexts

On roleplay (RP) servers such as Horizon Life RP - a 57 Studios™ development context - grower items serve purposes beyond simple growth acceleration. A grower might be restricted to specific player professions (farmers, botanists) through server-side plugin enforcement. The grower's rarity and crafting cost can be tuned to create economic pressure points: a rare grower that is expensive to craft becomes a trade good, while a common grower that is freely available becomes a basic farming tool that every settlement maintains in bulk.

The .dat file does not control access permissions. The server plugin system handles profession restrictions, item tagging, and economy integration. Author the .dat with the base values that reflect the grower's in-universe potency, then configure server-side restrictions to enforce the RP context.

Grower items in competitive PvP contexts

On competitive PvP servers, growers are rarely a priority item because base raiding and combat efficiency dominate the gameplay loop. However, growers become strategically relevant on servers with farming-based healing economies or crop-based crafting chains. A medic faction that relies on aloe plants for healing consumables may value a grower that accelerates aloe maturation. In this context, the grower's rarity becomes a faction-level resource: controlling the supply of rare growers means controlling the faction's healing economy.

Non-English localization

For servers or mods that support multiple languages, create additional .dat localization files following Unturned™'s localization naming convention. The grower's English.dat serves as the fallback when the player's language is not available. Each language file carries the same Name and Description fields translated into the target language:

Name [localized display name]
Description [localized flavor text]

The localization file must be placed in the same folder as the grower's main .dat. Unturned™ selects the appropriate localization based on the player's language setting.

Grower prefab authoring guidance

The grower prefab is the 3D model displayed when the item is held in the player's hand, dropped on the ground, or shown in the inventory icon. Unlike weapon or tool prefabs that require complex animation controllers and attachment hooks, the grower prefab is functionally simple:

Requirement	Details
Polygon budget	200-1000 triangles. Growers are small, handheld items.
Scale	Model at real-world scale. A fertilizer bag is approximately 30 cm tall, 20 cm wide, 10 cm deep.
Pivot origin	At the base of the model, centered horizontally.
UV layout	1x1 UV space. Texel density 10-15 texels/cm for a 512x512 texture.
Animator	Not required. The grower has no animated components.
Audio source	Not required. The use sound is handled by the runtime.

The prefab hierarchy for a grower item:

MyGrowerPrefab (root)
└── Body (MeshRenderer + MeshFilter - the grower model)

For growers with a visible contents indicator (a transparent window showing the growth compound level), add a second sub-mesh:

MyGrowerPrefab (root)
├── Body (MeshRenderer + MeshFilter - opaque container body)
└── Window (MeshRenderer + MeshFilter - transparent contents window)

Appendix A: grower asset .dat quick-reference template

Copy this template for a new grower asset. Delete fields that do not apply to the specific grower design.

ID <50000+>
GUID <generated-uuid-no-hyphens>
Type Grower
Name <InternalGrowerName>

Rarity <Common|Uncommon|Rare|Epic|Legendary>
Slot None
Size_X <1>
Size_Y <1>
Size_Z <0.45>

Useable Grower

Blueprints
[
	{
		CategoryTag "<crafting-category-guid>"
		InputItems
		[
			{
				ID "<input-item-guid>"
				Amount <1>
			}
		]
		OutputItems this
		Skill Craft
		Skill_Level <0-7>
		RequiresNearbyCraftingTags
		[
			"<crafting-station-guid>"
		]
		Effect "<effect-guid>"
	}
]

InventoryAudio Sounds/Inventory/Seeds.asset

Appendix B: grower troubleshooting table

Symptom	Most likely cause	Resolution
Grower does not appear in inventory after @give	ID mismatch or folder placement	Confirm ID is unique and .dat is under Bundles/Items/<GrowerName>/
Grower appears but grayed out	Type field is wrong	Confirm Type Grower is present
Grower usable but does nothing on use	Useable field missing	Add Useable Grower
Grower usable on some crops but not others	Target crop does not implement growth stages	Check crop's asset type; only stage-based crops accept growers
Grower consumes but animation does not play	Prefab missing or broken	Verify master bundle contains the prefab
Grower sound plays but crop does not advance	Crop is at final stage	Check crop state before applying grower
Crafting recipe appears but item does not craft	Input item GUID is wrong	Verify input item GUIDs in Blueprints block
Grower item is invisible when held or dropped	Prefab not found in bundle	Confirm prefab name matches Name or Model field
Grower icon shows correct model but wrong orientation	Prefab pivot orientation is incorrect	Adjust prefab orientation in Unity so the forward vector points up
Multiple growers of different types share the same icon	Each prefab must have a unique name in the bundle	Rename prefabs to match each grower's Name field

Appendix C: external references

Resource	URL	Notes
Smartly Dressed Games modding documentation	https://docs.smartlydressedgames.com/en/stable/	Official field reference for all item asset types including growers
Unturned on Steam	https://store.steampowered.com/app/304930/Unturned/	Game changelog; map update notes may reference farming system changes
Item Asset Anatomy	/items/item-asset-anatomy	The shared field reference for all item types, including the ID, GUID, Rarity, Slot, and Size conventions
Project Folder Structure and GUIDs	/items/project-folder-structure-and-guids	GUID generation and folder layout prerequisites
Master Bundle Export	/items/master-bundle-export	Unity bundling workflow for packaging grower prefabs
Objects, Structures, and Barricades Asset Guide	/items/objects-structures-assets	The planter barricade type that hosts farmed crops
Storage Asset Reference	/items/storage-asset	Planter box storage interaction for farming containers

Appendix D: farming system overview for grower context

The farming system in Unturned™ operates through a chain of interactions between seeds, planters, growers, and harvestable crops. The grower asset is one link in this chain. Understanding the full chain places the grower's role in context.

Component	Asset type	Role
Seed	Consumable item	Planted in a planter box to start crop growth
Planter box	Barricade (InteractableStorage)	Provides the physical container and soil for the crop
Grower	Grower asset	Consumable that accelerates growth by one stage
Mature crop	World object	The harvestable entity produced by the seed
Harvested materials	Items	The yield produced when harvesting the mature crop

The planter box is the essential prerequisite for the entire farming chain. Without a planter box, seeds cannot be planted and growers cannot accelerate anything. Mod authors should ensure that players have access to planter box blueprints or loot spawns before issuing growers as part of a mod pack.

Appendix E: growth stage progression timing reference

The table below approximates the growth stage timings for common vanilla crop types. Timings are approximations based on shipped game file evidence and community observations. Actual timings vary by server configuration.

Crop type	Stages from seed to harvest	Approximate time per stage	Total growing time	Grower applications needed for instant growth
Wheat	4	10 minutes	40 minutes	3 (skip stages 0-2, stage 3 advances to harvest)
Tomato	4	12 minutes	48 minutes	3
Potato	4	15 minutes	60 minutes	3
Corn	4	15 minutes	60 minutes	3
Carrot	4	10 minutes	40 minutes	3
Pumpkin	4	20 minutes	80 minutes	3
Mushroom	3	8 minutes	24 minutes	2
Sugarcane	5	12 minutes	60 minutes	4

Using a grower on a freshly planted seed (stage 0) saves the player the time of the entire first stage. Using a grower on a crop that is one stage from maturity (stage 3 of 4) saves only the final stage's wait time. The strategic decision of when to apply the grower - immediately on planting or after most of the growth has completed naturally - is a meaningful gameplay choice.

Authoring checklist

Before publishing a grower mod to the Steam Workshop, confirm the following:

• [ ] GUID is unique - generated fresh, not copied from another asset
• [ ] ID is in the 50000+ range and unique within the mod project
• [ ] Type Grower is present
• [ ] Useable Grower is present
• [ ] Size_X and Size_Y match the model's visual footprint
• [ ] English.dat is authored with Name and Description in the same folder
• [ ] Blueprints block (if present) uses correct input GUIDs and crafting station tags
• [ ] Master bundle contains the grower prefab at the correct name
• [ ] Prefab pivot and orientation are correct for the inventory icon
• [ ] Material is assigned in Unity, not pink in the prefab
• [ ] Tested in single-player: item spawns, appears in inventory, usable on planted crop, crop advances one stage, item consumed
• [ ] Tested on at least two crop types to confirm growth stage advancement
• [ ] Tested on a mature crop to confirm no accidental consumption
• [ ] InventoryAudio references a valid sound asset path
• [ ] Workshop description documents the grower's effect (single-stage acceleration) and any crafting requirements

Document history

Version	Date	Author	Notes
1.0	2026-07-26	57 Studios	Initial publication. Complete grower asset .dat field reference, farming system context, worked example from vanilla Fertilizer, FAQ, diagnostic tables, appendices.

Cross-references

• Generator Asset Reference - the previous article in this section; covers deployable power generation assets.
• Oil Pump Asset Reference - the next article; covers deployable oil extraction assets that share the barricade placement system.
• Item Asset Anatomy - the shared field reference for all item types, including grower-inherited fields.
• Project Folder Structure and GUIDs - GUID generation and folder layout for all item mods.
• Master Bundle Export - the Unity bundling workflow used to package grower prefabs.
• Objects, Structures, and Barricades Asset Guide - planter barricade reference; the container that hosts the farmed crops that growers accelerate.
• Storage Asset Reference - planter box storage interaction for farming containers.
• Smartly Dressed Games modding documentation - official field reference for all item asset types.
• Unturned on Steam - the Unturned store page and community hub.