Survive Together
Play Don't Starve Together alongside your companion: they have their own memory, can sense seasons, weather, and nearby creature threats, will follow you, work and fight on your behalf, and react genuinely to all kinds of in-game events. Everything is done through natural language, and they unlock character-specific abilities based on the game character they take on.
If you haven't completed the four setup steps (installation, activation, API, and character), head to Getting Started first, then come back here.
Before You Start
- Don't Starve Together (PC version) — make sure it's the multiplayer version, not the single-player Don't Starve.
- No prerequisite mods or loaders needed — Don't Starve has a built-in mod system, so it's simpler than Minecraft.
- Currently multiplayer dedicated servers are not supported — just host your own local server.
The local server is built into the KOA launcher. Click the game icon and it starts automatically with synced configuration.
Installing & Enabling the Mod
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One-Click Install
From the KOA home screen, click "Don't Starve" to open the panel, then click "Auto-install mod files" in the top bar. The launcher will locate your game directory via Steam automatically and place the mod into the game's
mods\folder. -
Not detected? Point it manually
If you have a non-Steam version or the game is installed in an unusual location, a folder picker will appear — just point it to your Don't Starve Together installation directory.
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Critical step: enable the mod in your world
After installation, you must enable "KOA" in the world's "Server Mods" menu — you can do this when creating a new world or editing an existing one. If you skip this step, your companion won't appear in-game.
The most common pitfall in Don't Starve is Step 3: the mod is installed but you forgot to enable it in "Server Mods." If your companion doesn't appear, check this first.
Living Together
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Enter the world and meet them
After entering a world with the mod enabled, your companion will automatically appear beside you and follow you around.
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Talk to them
Type in the game's built-in chat box — any message not starting with
/will be heard by your companion. To use voice chat, enable STT in the KOA Don't Starve panel for full voice communication (see Voice Guide for details). -
Backpack and feeding
Press B or a function key to open the in-game panel (the exact key can be changed in "Mod Settings"). You can tell them to stop following, switch combat mode, or pause LLM calls (to save tokens). Right-click on them to browse their backpack; hold food and right-click on them to feed them.
What They Can Do
As always, just say it in natural language — "chop some trees for me," "go find some food":
| Category | What they can do |
|---|---|
| Daily | Follow, stay, return home, find food, add fuel to the campfire when night falls, light campfires proactively, extinguish fires (automatically puts out fires at base, and you can also ask them to extinguish wildfires) |
| Work | Chop trees, mine rocks, gather resources — they'll use proper tools instead of bare hands; handles the full pipeline from collecting to crafting |
| Crafting | All characters can craft items — just tell them what you need and they'll gather materials and make it |
| Combat | Defend, fight on your behalf, use weapons; can attack shadow creatures; the panel lets you toggle between Power Mode (greatly enhanced combat) and normal mode |
| Backpack | Backpack contents persist with world saves; you can take weapons from their backpack |
| Fishing | Can fish in freshwater (ocean fishing is in development) |
| Expedition | Can go out exploring on their own for up to one in-game day, with a chance of bringing back a little surprise |
| Survival | They've been through rigorous training and are no longer bothered by cold or heat; automatically uses endothermic fire pits in summer |
| Character Abilities | They'll proactively use their chosen character's unique abilities without being asked |
| Panel | The in-game panel displays weapon and equipment status, with one-click equipment removal |
| Interaction | Expresses emotions, shows cute effects above their head when thinking; compatible with the Warm Hugs mod — you can hug them |
| Compatibility | Compatible with MYMATE mod and the Wooden Sign Teleport mod |
Character-Specific Abilities
Your companion will leverage the unique abilities of their chosen game character — Willow's teddy bear Bernie, Maxwell's shadow puppets, Wendy's Abigail, and more. Switch characters, and their playstyle changes with it.
For appearance, they can use any game character's skin, including modded character skins — configure this in the Don't Starve panel. If a modded character isn't detected automatically, the panel lets you manually specify the character mod's location.
Troubleshooting
Companion doesn't appear
- Most common cause: you forgot to enable KOA in the world's "Server Mods" menu, or you loaded an old save that doesn't have the mod enabled.
- Confirm that the Don't Starve panel in the KOA launcher is running properly (the home screen card should show a green status light).
Companion doesn't talk / no response
- Make sure your API Key is entered and has remaining balance (see API Setup Guide for an error reference table).
- Check the server output on the launcher's "Logs" page; if needed, Don't Starve's own log files will also be included in the diagnostic package.
If you can't resolve the issue, export a diagnostic package and reach out through the channels listed in the Help Center.