A surprise new Stardew Valley update has just dropped and it's filled to the brim with some exciting features, balance changes, quality-of-life tweaks, and much more. The 1.6.4 patch comes almost a month after solo developer Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone released the massive 1.6 update, a release that expanded the indie farming gem with fresh content. While 1.6 was initially meant to launch as a smaller patch, it was anything but with its hundreds of hours' worth of new gameplay. It appears that the dev isn't done spicing the beloved pixel-style game up just yet even now weeks after the iconic 1.6 drop as the recent 1.6.4 update brings even more activities and additions to enjoy.

Whether you're a fan of the cozy farming game for its leisurely features such as fishing or enjoy it more for its challenging moments like those found within the mines, you're bound to find something to look forward to in the new Stardew Valley 1.6.4 patch notes. There are 40 new mine layouts total, including 20 "alternate" layouts for the base mines once you've reached the bottom and 20 entirely different layouts for the volcano mines after you've first completed them. You'll also find fresh fish frenzies as you play, the bubble-like spots that pop up containing more frequent bites and treasure.

Update 1.6.4 expands upon the previous patch's raccoon family questline, too, with a new cutscene and special shop items. You may also notice that some of your items have different uses now, including vinegar and its new-found effect on mossy trees. If you're extremely lucky, Ring of Luck equipped or not, you might even catch a glimpse of some helpful fluttery friends on your farm following this patch. ConcernedApe has added some whimsical, wonderful new content with 1.6.4, and you'll want to acquaint yourself with its features before diving in.

For a better understanding of the additions and changes, here's everything new in the Stardew Valley 1.6.4 patch notes.

Enchantments

The "shaving" enchantment you can apply to your axe at the forge within the volcano mines now functions a bit differently. While this certainly isn't the biggest change, it's still a notable one nonetheless. Your enchanted axe will cause tree-specific drops following the arrival of 1.6.4. For instance, fern trees will drop fiddlehead ferns. Mushroom trees will conversely drop red mushrooms, and on the other hand, mahogany trees will drop hardwood. It's a nice addition as it makes harder-to-obtain and rarer forageables easier to get without having to collect them or randomly come across them.

Fairies

We all know and love crop fairies in Stardew Valley, with most of us hoping they'll visit our farms overnight to bless our most pricey plants. However, these fairies aren't the only little pixies to look out for in-game. If you've ever obtained the Fairy Box from an enemy in the mines before, then you know that you can get an adorable fairy companion that follows you around and heals you as you engage in combat. The new 1.6.4 update adds four fresh fairy styles, meaning that you may come across a differently colored pixie pal than you're used to. It's more an aesthetically pleasing change than anything, but it's a big one for those of us who cherish trinkets. Keep in mind that the style you get in your save seems to be predetermined.

Fish Frenzies

For all you big fishing fans out there, there's nothing better than a good old bubbly spot popping up during one of the new fish festivals or while you're searching for a specific fish but not hooking anything worthy. Update 1.6.4 adds more of these areas that are absolutely bustling with fish, and they're called fish frenzies. These will contain a hefty amount of one particular kind of fish that can be caught during the current season and weather pattern. You'll notice a message appear notifying you of a fish frenzy as well as its respective location when one spawns in-game.

Mine Layouts

Dropping as perhaps the biggest 1.6.4 addition, there are 40 new mine layouts in total. These include 20 that affect the normal mines in Stardew Valley, and you'll gain access to them once you've reached the bottom level. They do appear randomly and function like the previously existing mine layouts. The volcano mines also get 20 new layouts thanks to the patch, which you may encounter after you’ve gone through them and unlocked the handy shortcut between the caldera and the volcano's entrance. These new mine layouts should add some extra flair to the random generation each day you go fighting and mining.

Mrs. Raccoon's Shop

One of the cutest additions to drop with the highly anticipated 1.6 update was that of the raccoon family living in the big tree just south of your farm area. Mrs. Raccoon, the sweet procyonid wife, runs a helpful shop with all sorts of interesting items to purchase including special seasonal seeds. Following 1.6.4, she will now also allow you to trade with her for mystery boxes and even golden mystery boxes. The raccoon-related mystery box reward is now also five instead of four. That's not all that has to do with our furry friends, though. You'll also experience a brand-new cutscene once you've helped the raccoon family grow.

No More Moss

If you're tired of constantly hacking away at moss on certain trees, you can now use vinegar to prevent it from regrowing on your bark. Simply pour it on the trees you want to de-mossify and there you have it, no more fuzzy green growth. We'd recommend holding off on doing this until you've got hundreds of the material stored up, though, as you'll need it for some important late-game craftable items. For instance, just one of the 1.6 crafting recipes, the Statue of Blessings, requires a whopping 333 moss.

Full Stardew Valley 1.6.4 patch notes

New content and features

• Added 20 new ‘alternate’ mine layouts, which can start appearing after reaching the bottom of the mines.
• Added 20 new volcano mine layouts, which can appear after you’ve unlocked the shortcut between the caldera and the volcano entrance.
• Added fish frenzies.
• Added a special cutscene after you’ve helped your new neighbors grow their family to the max.
• Added 4 new fairy styles.
• You can now place 8 additional non-fish items into fish tanks.
• Raccoon shop now includes a trade for mystery boxes and golden mystery boxes.
• Vinegar can now be poured onto trees to stop them from ever-growing moss.
• Shaving enchantment now causes tree-specific drops:
  • fern → fiddlehead fern
  • mushroom → red mushroom
  • mahogany → hardwood

Translation changes

• Many edits and improvements to the Chinese version (中文翻译问题说明和修改日志).
• Edits to the Russian, Portuguese, Hungarian, Turkish, and Korean translations.
• Changed the Chinese fonts to make them more appealing and readable.
• Changed Hungarian number spacing character from a comma to a period.
• Some improvements to the Russian font.

Balance changes

• When you load a save, you’ll now unlock missed Steam achievements if needed (e.g. achievements gained while playing offline).
• Added mini-shipping bin as an expensive Qi gem shop purchase.
• Added more variety, and improvements, to Skull Cave treasure chests.
• Life elixirs now only restore health, and energy tonics now only restore energy.
• Wild seed spots are now rarer but yield more seeds.
• Doubled the Iridium Golem’s chance to drop iridium.
• The monsters in the volcano entry level are now randomized each day.
• Using a treasure totem indoors no longer works. This prevents them from being wasted.
• Going down a level in the mines now makes you invulnerable for 1 second.
• Increased raccoon mystery box reward from 4 to 5.
• Farming experience now contributes to mastery experience at a 50% rate.
• Ice orb will no longer freeze a spider while it is in the air jumping.
• Removed red snapper from the winter fishing quest pool, and sardines from the summer quest pool.
• You will no longer get calico rating points from going down the normal mines.
• Golden mystery boxes now have a small chance to yield an auto petter.
• Slightly reduced chance of finding mystery boxes.
• Mine barrels and coal carts will now “refresh” at the start of each year.
• The order of mystery box rewards is now randomized per player instead of per save.

Visual improvements

• Qi club coins now show up in the shop menu.
• Various map edits and fixes.
• Removed Maru’s glasses from all beach portraits for consistency.
• Improvements to signage in some non-English languages (i.e. Chinese, French, and Russian)

Quality of life changes

• Added a 1.2-second delay after dropping an item, before it’s picked back up by the same player.
• Napalm rings are now non-destructive on the farm and inside the slime hutch (i.e. the explosion will only damage monsters).
• Added ctrl + right-click as an alternate toolbar drop hotkey.
• Receiving a “special notification” (e.g. first geode message) will no longer cancel out player actions such as eating or warping.
• Flopping fish no longer fall back into fish ponds.
• Crab pots now have a short time period after harvesting from them during which they can’t be removed (750ms).
• The Junimo bundle menu now only highlights items that can actually be placed in the selected bundle.

Other changes

• Minor optimizations.
• Added two inappropriate names to the list to exclude from the name generator.
• You can no longer give gifts to NPCs during green rain year 1 (prevents incongruous attitudes). This also prevents a portrait issue with Demetrius.

Gameplay fixes

• Fixed disappearing pets bug.
• Fishing splash zones and ore pan points are now removed overnight.
• The prize ticket machine now consumes your ticket when you get the reward, rather than when you first press the button.
• For the purposes of perfection, the level 100 mines stardrop now has a more robust way to check if it’s been acquired.
• Fixed Monster Compendium not actually doubling all loot.
• Fixed geodes no longer dropping on the farm in normal circumstances.
• Fixed rare crash when spawning items overnight.
• Fixed player colliding with stuff during event cutscenes.
• Fixed pre-1.6 forged weapons having reduced stats.
• Fixed not being able to put a torch on the sprinkler you get as a CC reward.
• Fixed various bugs/crashes related to building a cabin.
• Fixed wild seeds in garden pots putting their final crop in the top-left corner of the map instead of the pot.
• Fixed “lost and found” chests (from the night market and elsewhere) not working anymore in 1.6.
• Fixed a duplication bug with the “lost and found” chests.
• Fixed slime hutch floors reverting to the default after reloading a game.
• Fixed malformed casino shop red fireworks ID.
• Fixed pet adoption catch-all case only working with the animal catalog, and only applying in year 2 specifically, rather than for any year 2 or beyond.
• Fixed the ‘use legacy randomization’ option applied inconsistently when loading a save, which caused weird issues like broken green rain days.
• Fixed the case where you could permanently miss the ancient seed recipe if you grabbed the ancient seed packet but not the associated recipe, and then closed the museum rewards menu. Missing recipes will also be restored upon loading a file.
• Fixed issue with duplicated animals & building interiors from pre ~1.3 saves.
• Fixed end tables not being rotatable.
• Fixed an issue where empty barns/coops could not be removed by Robin on old saves.
• Fixed slime egg incubators letting you reclaim the egg before it hatches.
• Fixed farmhouse placement bounds to match the object placement restrictions around it.

Multiplayer fixes

• Synced some NPC Gift data in other languages.
• Fixed fireworks (and possibly other sprites) drawing behind stuff in multiplayer.
• Fixed “Build a Silo” quest not being completed for farmhands.
• Fixed the Raccoon quest not being removed for all players.
• Fixed double trinket issue when a farmhand disconnects/reconnects.
• Fixed double and/or missing derby participants sprite issue in multiplayer.

Display text and localization fixes

• Many edits and fixes in translation text.
• Fixed a text parsing error for Asian languages which caused them to incorrectly wrap in some cases.
• Fixed spacing issues in Asian languages.
• Fixed several localization issues
• Fixed the Russian line break issue.
• Fixed events not consistently handling gender-dependent text.

Cosmetic fixes

• Adjusted the draw order of basic objects so that debris will not be drawn underneath them as often.
• Placeable grass now offsets vertically a little if it would clip through a front-layer tile.
• Fixed seasonal world map not working for non-English players.
• Fixed flying monsters not being drawn above things on the farm & volcano.
• Fixed reward icon in completed quest menu being visually offset.
• Fixed George’s TV clipping with the farmer during green rain.
• Fixed movies not showing layered sprites (e.g. the eyeball in Mysterium).
• Fixed Qi club coins are drawn below the light map.
• Fixed Qi coin overlay drawn during minigames.
• Fixed crane game audio not stopping when the game is forcefully closed.
• Fixed some tooltip padding issues.
• Fixed movie theater display issues on the world map.
• Fixed repeated dialogue selection sound if a control was plugged in but you are using a mouse.
• Fixed quest reward icon input offset issue.
• Fixed Joja Warehouse roof drawing above the weather (and possibly other similar cases).
• Fixed various map tile issues.
• Fixed a visual issue with a shadow in the farmhouse.
• Fixed ability to swap two chests of the same type.
• Fixed machines sometimes wobbling when they’re not processing anything.

Changes for modded players

• Improved debug commands:
  • Added debug commands to change pet types/breeds, to allow migrating older saves (setPreferredPet and changePet). This replaces the former toggleCatPerson command.
  • The filterLoadMenu <search> command now keeps the original save slot numbers.
  • Combined removeNpc and killNpc commands. The unified command removes all instances of an NPC, to help fix duplicate NPCs.

Changes for mod authors

• C# mods can now hide specific animals from the animal social menu (e.g. animals owned by NPCs) via theFarmAnimal.hideFromAnimalSocialMenufield.
• InData/Buildings, you can now add furniture viaIndoorItems.
• InData/FarmAnimals, added fields to set the sleep sprite and whether they eat golden crackers.
• InData/Locations, added fields to set the effect of fish-specific bait and whether fish can be caught using a training rod.
• InData/Machines, added the option to only let the machine complete overnight.
• InData/Powers, addedCustomFieldsfield.
• Added missing Id fields inData/FarmAnimalsandData/Pets.
• Added a warning when a farm animal’s spritesheet size is invalid, which would previously lead to the animal silently freezing.
• You can now use tokenizable strings in event scripts and dialogue text.
• De-hardcoded forest waterfall fish intoData/Locations.

Fixes for modded players

• Fixed some wallpapers and flooring not appearing in mod item lists.
• Fixed pre-1.6 farm maps having broken warps to the bus stop.
• Fixed errors and crashes due to mods adding items without a name.
• Fixed softlock when a warp leads to an invalid location.
• Fixed crash when playing events that use thereplaceWithClonescommand.
• Fixed crash if an NPC has invalid temporary dialogue.
• Fixed world map showing a glitched texture for custom farm types which don’t override it.
• Fixed another case of NPC duplication involving the movie theater.
• Fixed crash when loading a save if a farm Junimo wasn’t properly removed before saving.
• Fixed crash if the lost & found contains null items.
• Fixed disconnect for Steam players when using mods that send messages before a farmhand has been approved.
• Fixed crash on save if shipping bin has empty slots.
• Fixed riding the bus to the desert instantly warping you back if mods added warps on the desert road.
• Fix multiplayer crash if some players don’t have the same NPC textures.

Fixes for mod authors

• Fixed farmhands’ cellars not applying cellar data fromData/Locations.
• Fixed crash if a farm animal has no entry inData/FarmAnimals.
• Fixed festivals ignoring year suffixes for<setup>_additionalCharactersandnamefields.
• Fixed issues with farm animals that have a custom home building.
• Fixed hardcoded assumptions about farm animal spritesheets which could cause counter-intuitive behavior with custom animals.