TerrariaGame guides
Build a Basic NPC House in Terraria
What a valid Terraria NPC house needs, how the Housing Query checks it, and what 1.4.5 changed for homeless villagers.
Town NPCs such as the Merchant and the Nurse move in only when a valid house is waiting for them. A valid house is a small walled room with a handful of furniture, and building one takes a few minutes. This guide covers what the room needs, how to check it, and what changed for NPCs in 1.4.5.
Checked against Terraria 1.4.5.8 on PC, October 2026.
What a valid house needs
The official Terraria wiki lists these requirements for a house, and the room-checking code in the game's own source agrees on the size, wall, door, light, table and chair rules:
- Size. At least 60 tiles and fewer than 750 tiles in total, counting the frame around the room.
- A solid frame. The room is enclosed by solid blocks, plus platforms, doors, trap doors or tall gates. The frame can't have gaps.
- Walls behind the room. The space inside needs a background wall. A run of five or more tiles with no wall makes the game report that the room is missing a wall.
- A door. At least one door, platform, tall gate or trap door.
- A light source. At least one piece of furniture that gives off light. Solid blocks, platforms and walls don't count as light.
- A table. A table-type item such as a Work Bench.
- A chair. A Chair, Bed, Bench or Throne. The wiki also lists the Toilet.
Build the frame, walls and door first, then add a light, a Work Bench and a Chair. Run the Housing Query after each piece to see which requirement is still missing.
Check the house with the Housing Query
Open the housing menu and pick the housing query mark, then use the action button anywhere inside the room. Re-Logic's 1.4.5 launch notes say the Housing Query got a makeover. It now gives a visual indication of what is being scanned, plus icons showing where the valid elements for Villager housing are located. Fix whatever it shows is missing, then query the room again.
Move an NPC in
According to the wiki, each NPC needs its own house, and a valid room can hold one town NPC and one town pet. Once the room is valid and the NPC is in your world, it moves in by itself.
Re-Logic's 1.4.5 notes say a Villager who is evicted, for example because you changed the room, now waits before it looks for a new house. Give it a moment before you assume something is wrong.
What changed in 1.4.5
Re-Logic's 1.4.5 launch notes say Villagers no longer need a valid room to arrive, and that one without a home or room retreats to safety and is unavailable at night. The official wiki adds that a homeless NPC now has a Housing dialogue option in place of the Happiness one, and it explains what a suitable house needs.
Playing on your server
Houses are part of the world you play in. If you want to build in a world you already made on your PC, upload it first with Upload a Terraria world to your server. New to the server? Start at Terraria getting started.
The full furniture lists are on the Terraria wiki Housing page.
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