Which warmth problem are you solving?
| What you see | First check | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Too Cold to Rest at a bed | Is a nearby fire actually burning and fuelled? | A built bed and an equipped portable heater do not prove the sleep heat check is met. |
| Heat still falling in a Cold Zone | Move back outside the zone and watch Body Warmth recover. | Do not treat a temperature reading beside a fire as proof that the zone’s effect has ended. |
| Red building preview | Read whether it says No-Build Zone or Area Obstructed. | A placement restriction is separate from insufficient heat. |
These checks combine two published UI-based walkthroughs. The bed example was recorded on Story difficulty; this site has not reproduced it on other difficulties or the latest patch.[1][2]
Get the bed’s sleep option working
- Use the Building Tool to place a campfire close to the bed. The published example uses the Survival building tab; follow your current placement prompt.
- Open the fire, put Wood into its fuel slots and turn it on. Confirm it is burning rather than only constructed.
- Return to the claimed bed. In the documented keyboard layout, hold F, point to Sleep and release. A quick interaction can choose Rest instead.
- If the warning remains, check the fire position and fuel, then record the difficulty and exact message. Do not assume adding more walls is the only answer.
AllThingsHow’s example shows an outdoor foundation bed working beside a lit fire, while the equipped Makeshift Heater did not satisfy the check. That establishes a reported working setup, not a universal building rule or a fixed heat radius.[1]
Make a return route before entering a Cold Zone
- Read the zone banner and choose one objective for the trip, such as a container or a short climb.
- Find ground outside both the Cold Zone and any No-Build restriction. A red placement preview can stop you establishing the recovery fire where you expected.
- Fuel and light the recovery fire, then confirm Body Warmth rises before leaving it.
- Return while you still have warmth. If Health starts falling, leave the zone instead of waiting for an assumed safe time limit.
The published Cold Zone example shows reduced warmth recovery inside the zone and uses a fire on its rim. A brazier may help where placement is allowed, but it is not a reason to remain inside while warmth is empty.[2]
What this guide does not measure
No universal clothing threshold, fire radius or safe crossing time is claimed here. Weather, difficulty and patches can change what your HUD shows. For late-story clothing and missing recipes, use the White Hell preparation checks. For an objective that will not register, use quest troubleshooting rather than repeatedly rebuilding the same setup.
Unofficial guide. Sources and their limits are identified below; this site has not tested these steps in the game.
Sources & verification
- AllThingsHow: bed and heat-source walkthrough (external site, opens in a new tab). Published UI example; Story difficulty, campfire versus portable heater, and Rest/Sleep interaction. Checked October 16, 2026.
- AllThingsHow: Cold Zone crossing walkthrough (external site, opens in a new tab). Reported zone and placement behaviour; no universal timing or difficulty guarantee. Checked October 16, 2026.