In Terraria, an item or block is considered "renewable" if it can be created indefinitely within a single world. Even for renewable items, there are often prerequisites to obtaining them. They may require the presence of a particular NPC or killing a specific enemy (or NPC) which does not appear until various conditions have been met. Sometimes the relevant creature is quite rare, and/or rarely drops the desired item. Thus, even renewable items and resources can differ widely in their scarcity.
There are many forms in which renewable resources come:
- Items obtained by killing various enemies, bosses, or even NPCs are renewable, as most bosses and all NPCs can be respawned infinitely (The exception is the Queen Bee, see below for details). All enemy, boss, and NPC drops are technically infinite (though a very few become unavailable after certain progress is reached in the game). This also means that money (in the form of coins) is renewable. For tips on making money in large quantities, see Guide:Making Money.
- Items purchased from NPCs are renewable, since coins are renewable and items can be bought infinitely from NPCs.
- Fishing for the items, either as direct catches or via Crates or Angler rewards.
- Use of game mechanics:
- Some items are explicitly "crops" to be farmed, by planting the appropriate seeds.
- Others will spontaneously spawn in predictable environments.
- Liquid behavior allows a number of ways to combine liquids, increasing their volume over time, and also to create certain blocks by combining them.
- Miscellaneous methods such as using the Sandgun with ammo-reduction effects.
- Any item which is crafted solely from renewable items is itself renewable, even if it requires a non-renewable crafting station.
Non-renewable items are of a few sorts:
- Any item which has a non-renewable item in its crafting recipe (and cannot be created otherwise) is non-renewable.
- Some items are found in location-specific chests, of which a limited number spawn with a world, and a few of those can not also be obtained by fishing for Crates. Most of the chests themselves are also non-renewable items, either created with the world or crafted from non-renewable material.
- A few items are created with the world in particular locations, and cannot otherwise be created in world. This includes (but is not limited to) furnishings and materials from several fixed structures, notably the Dungeon, the Jungle Temple, the Underworld's Ruined Houses, and Altars. These structures also tend to include location-specific chests.
- Some blocks are created with the world, and may be quite plentiful, but cannot actually be created in-world. This applies to all Soil types except for Sand (the Sandgun allows duplication), Granite (dropped from enemies), and Snow (via the Frost Legion). It also applies to Hive blocks, and therefore to the Queen Bee's drops.
- Some types of natural Wall cannot be harvested or crafted by the player. In some cases, this is important for gameplay -- for example, the Underground Desert biome is defined by the presence of naturally generated Sandstone walls.
Here is a list of renewable resources separated by categories.
Building/Crafting Materials
Wood
Wood is arguably the most common renewable resource. Chopping down Trees will yield the biome-appropriate wood for whatever grass type or other material (snow, sand) the tree was growing on. Most tree types also drop Acorns that can be planted to grow new trees. Jungle trees don't drop acorns, but can spontaneously spawn on Jungle Grass.
Wood is one of the most versatile resources as well, as it is used in both construction and crafting. All sorts of wood can be used for structures, background walls, furniture, and platforms.
Sand
Sand is an infinite resource if you have a ton of patience or the right equipment:
- Antlions can be goaded into generating more sand, albeit very slowly. Antlions "shoot" Sand projectiles that create a sand block when they land.
- More practically, a Sandgun used with ammunition-conserving methods such as Ammo Reservation Potion, Necro Armor set, and/or Ammo Box, can place more sand than it uses, thus "farming" sand.
By extension, Ebonsand, Crimsand and Pearlsand are also renewable, since the normal variant can be intentionally transformed prior to harvesting. Be aware that the blocks can only be infected during Hardmode.
Also by extension, Glass is renewable as it is crafted solely from sand.
Miscellaneous Blocks
- Granite Blocks are renewable, as they drop from Granite Golems & Granite Elementals. (However, Marble is non-renewable.)
- Sturdy Fossils are dropped by Basilisks in Hardmode.
- Cobwebs automatically regenerate on naturally occurring Spider Walls found in Spider Nests, and a few other locations. However, beware that these walls are themselves non-renewable — they are only created during world generation, and can't be picked up after removal.
- Snow is (barely) renewable, as it can be created and dropped by the enemies of the (optional and rare) Frost Legion invasion. The required summoning item for the Frost Legion appears only during the Christmas season. Each invasion seems to yield nearly a stack of snow.
Gel
Gel is an enemy drop which warrants special mention simply because it is so common -- it is dropped by every sort of Slime and a few other monsters as well. It is used for many crafts, beginning with the all-important Torch. With a Solidifier, it can be converted to a building material, Slime Blocks. While it comes in many colors, most of those are ephemeral appearances of the same material.
The exception to this is Pink Gel, which is dropped by one, fairly rare type of slime called Pinky. It is still renewable, but is extremely hard to get in large amounts.
Bomb
Bombs are an infinite resource since they can be created infinitely using wiring and a Bomb Statue, or bought from the Demolitionist.
Using the Bomb Statue is a method to farm money by selling the bombs created, however keep in mind that bombs only sell for 60 each.
Bomb Fish are equivalent to Sticky Bombs, and are obtained from fishing, making these also renewable.
Crops and Herbs:
(see Guide:Gardening)
- Cactus is an infinite resource as long as there is sand around, since it spawns automatically on surface sand blocks.
- Hay is produced by cutting tall grass with a sickle.
- Pumpkins can be grown from Pumpkin Seeds, which the Dryad always sells. They also spawn naturally during Halloween.
- Coral is renewable as it grows on the ocean bottom (see its page for full details).
- Regular, Glowing, and Vile or Vicious Mushrooms will grow on their respective grass types. (See also "Dyes" below.)
- All herbs will spawn indefinitely in their respective Biome, and can be manually planted with their respective Seeds. As of 1.3.0.1, the player can speed up this growth with Planter Boxes, and obtain more seeds by harvesting blooming herbs with the Staff of Regrowth.
Ores
With the exception of Hellstone and Chlorophyte, all Ores are renewable through various means. (Note that chlorophyte is "almost unlimited", see below.)
Standard Pre-Hardmode ores
(Copper, Tin, Iron, Lead, Silver, Tungsten, Gold, and Platinum) can be found in the ground throughout the game (only one ore of each pair in a world), and can also be obtained in smaller quantities by use of the Extractinator. Neither of those processes are renewable, but the ores are renewable, through two methods: They can be gotten (as ore or bars) from fished Wooden Crates, or the ore can be found inside Slimes as rare bonus drops.
Crimtane and Demonite Ore
In a Crimson world, Crimtane Ore is renewable as it is dropped by the Eye of Cthulhu and Brain of Cthulhu. In a Corrupt world, Demonite Ore is renewable as it is dropped by the Eye of Cthulhu and Eater of Worlds. If the other evil biome is transported into a world, it will then be renewable; the Eye will not change its drops, but the evil-specific boss can be summoned for their drops.
Meteorite
See Meteorite for full details.
Meteorite is a major renewable resource in pre-Hardmode. The initial meteorite crash(es) occur on a 50% chance after smashing a Shadow Orb or Crimson Heart (2% chance per night thereafter) and these spawn Meteor Heads which can drop more ore.. Once Hardmode begins, the ore is no longer dropped by Meteor Heads, but there is still a 2% chance per night of having a new meteorite fall (if there are not too many Meteorite blocks present in the world).
Standard Hardmode Ores
Cobalt, Palladium, Mythril, Orichalcum, Adamantite, and Titanium are all renewable, as the ores and bars can be found in Crates during Hardmode (ores only drop from Wooden Crates). These ores can also be generated non-renewably in the landscape by smashing altars; however there are a limited number of altars in a world (and after the first three they give diminishing returns).
Metal Bars
Copper, Tin, Iron, Lead, Silver, Tungsten, Gold, and Platinum bars are available from crates via fishing. Cobalt, Palladium, Mythril, Orichalcum, Adamantite, and Titanium are available this way as well after the world is in Hardmode. All of these can also be crafted from their ores, which are renewable. Hallowed Bars are dropped by the three Mechanical Bosses in Hardmode.
Lunar Event Items
Lunar Event armors, weapons, items, and blocks are renewable due to the Lunar Events being infinitely summonable. All of the weapons, armors, blocks, and items are derived from Luminite and Celestial Fragments obtained from the Lunar Events.
- Luminite is dropped only by the Moon Lord, a boss that can be summoned infinite times, and is thus renewable.
- Celestial Fragments are dropped by the Celestial Towers, which can be summoned an infinite amount of times.
Other Renewable Items
Enemy and NPC drops
Any item which can be gained by killing something is renewable (with the exception of non-renewable drops from Queen Bee, like the Bee Keeper). Killing enemies and bosses is straightforward (if sometimes non-trivial). NPCs can also be killed, with more effort. Visit the NPC, NPC Drops, and Drops pages for a list of all of them. This includes money, which can also be gained by selling other renewable items.
An unorthodox case of this is the fact that Demonite Brick is renewable in Corruption worlds despite the ebonstone in the recipe being non-renewable, as small quantities are obtained upon killing the Wall of Flesh. A similar principle applies to Crimtane Brick in a Crimson world.
Purchased Items
Since money is renewable, all items purchased from NPC's are renewable. Most NPC's have items to sell, the exceptions being the Guide, Nurse, Angler, Tax Collector, and Old Man. The Angler and the Dye Trader can furthermore provide items as quest rewards. Visit the NPCs' respective pages to view the items they sell.
Fishing
Items obtained by Fishing are all renewable. Visit that page to view all Items obtainable from fishing. Many ores and bars (see above) can be obtained by way of Crates, as can many weapons, tools, and accessories, and even a crafting station. Additional items can be gotten from the Angler as quest rewards.
Dyes
All the "basic" dyes are either plants that spawn spontaneously, purchased, or mob drops. Quest-exclusive Dyes can be obtained from the Dye Trader as long as Strange Plants can grow to trade them in. All other dyes can be crafted from basic, purchased, and/or quest dyes.
Crystal Shards
Crystal Shards are renewable as they naturally grow on Pearlstone Blocks and Pink Ice Blocks in the Cavern.
On the Windows Phone version and Nintendo version, Crystal Shards are also dropped by Arch Demons, allowing for large-scale collection.
Fallen Stars
Fallen Stars will regularly fall from the sky every night, and are therefore renewable.
Critters
All the Critter types spawn spontaneously in their respective biomes.
Liquids
All liquids can be reproduced infinitely. By extension, all liquid-created Blocks (Obsidian, Honey Block, and Crispy Honey Block) can be created indefinitely.
Non-renewable Items
Non-renewable items are few enough that they can be listed individually. A few of those are "semi-renewable", produced by something that is plentiful but ultimately finite.
Plentiful but Finite
- The various Soil types are created with the world, but only Sand and Granite, and (sometimes) Snow, can actually be created in world. Ignoring variations of grass, moss, and biome conversion, that leaves Dirt, Stone, Clay, Mud, Silt, Slush, Desert Fossil, Hardened Sand, Sandstone, Ice, Thin Ice, Ash, and Marble as plentiful but non-renewable. This extends to items created from these materials, including all craftable Statues, and several furniture sets: Frozen, Marble, Flesh, and (due to the stone needed for their bricks) Skyware, Meteorite, and Crystal.
- Gems are found placed in the world, but the only other source for them is using an Extractinator on Silt, Slush, and Desert Fossils. Therefore gems (including Amber), are non-renewable, as is the Amber Mosquito item. Sturdy Fossils, however, are dropped by Basilisks in Hardmode, so those are renewable.
- Hive blocks are found only in hives in the Jungle. Since Hive (or a Larva, which is only generated with the world) is needed to summon the Queen Bee, this makes the Queen Bee's drops (except Bottled Honey), and any item made with Bee Wax, plentiful but non-renewable (but still plentiful).
- Chlorophyte ore is created by replacing mud, which can be crafted from dirt but is still non-renewable. In practice this makes chlorophyte "nearly unlimited", but it would be possible to deplete a world's mud/dirt; say, by using chlorophyte for large-scale building, or farming it for sale. All of this applies equally well to Shroomite and Spectre Bars, which are made from chlorophyte.
- Some types of natural Wall cannot be harvested or crafted by the player; even harvestable walls will no longer be considered "natural" if they are harvested and replaced.
- Natural walls do not suppress enemy spawning, while any placed walls can.
- The Dungeon, Spider Nest, and Underground Desert (mini-)biomes are defined by the presence of their respective naturally generated walls.
Location Specific Generation
A few items are created with the world in particular locations, and cannot otherwise be created in world. This includes (but is not limited to) furnishings and materials from several fixed structures, notably the Dungeon, the Jungle Temple, the Underworld's Ruined Houses.
- Varied Locations:
- Many particular Paintings (see page for details)
- Several decorative Banners (see page for details)
- Assorted Chests (see page and/or list below)
- The Enchanted Sword or Arkhalis.
- Underground and Caverns:
- Geyser Traps
- Dart Traps
- Non-craftable Statues
- Sharpening Station
- Jungle Temple:
- Lihzahrd Bricks, and all matching furniture and statues
- Lihzahrd Pressure Plates and traps: Spiky Ball Trap, Flame Trap, Spear Trap, Super Dart Trap, Wooden Spike
- Lihzahrd Chest
- Lihzahrd Altar
- Dungeon:
- Dungeon Bricks and most associated Furniture.
- Alchemy Table
- Water Bolt
- Bone Welder (placed or in chests)
- Valor (yo-yo) (in chests)
- Catacomb
- Underworld:
- Most Obsidian Furniture
- Hellforge
- Hellstone ore
- see also "Shadow Chests" below.
Location-Specific Chests
Various special chests spawn with a world, and even those chests which have corresponding Crates have a few items which are not found in their crates. In all cases, items are listed under only the first chest they appear in. All of the chests listed below are themselves uncraftable and non-renewable items.
- Gold Chest: Most items are shared with other "generic" chests.
- Spear
- Wooden Boomerang
- Blowpipe
- Umbrella
- Wand of Sparking
- Herb Bag (the herbs and seeds it contains are renewable)
- Band of Regeneration
- Magic Mirror
- Cloud in a Bottle
- Hermes Boots (but renewable Sailfish boots are identical)
- Shoe Spikes
- Flare Gun
- Lava Charm
- Gold Chests in Pyramid:
- Ice Chest
- Ice Boomerang
- Ice Blade
- Ice Skates
- Snowball Cannon
- Blizzard in a Bottle
- Flurry Boots (but renewable Sailfish boots are identical)
- Ice Machine
- Ice Mirror (identical to Magic Mirror)
- Fish (item)
- Ivy Chest
- Living Wood Chest
- Skyware Chest
- Water Chest
- Trident
- Breathing Reed
- Flipper
- Water Walking Boots
- Beach Ball ( purchasable on Desktop)
- Web Covered Chest
- Shadow Chest
- the four-out-of-five Biome Chests in the Dungeon: Frozen, Jungle, Hallowed, and either Corruption or Crimson.
- Their special prizes are likewise non-renewable: Staff of the Frost Hydra, Piranha Gun, Rainbow Gun, Scourge of the Corruptor, and Vampire Knives.
Non-renewable Crafting Stations
It seems worthwhile to summarize those crafting stations which are non-renewable (as listed above). Special mention for the Sharpening Station, which is not a crafting station but in some ways resembles one.