Quick answer
What to do first
Select one pawn and one job. First rule out drafting, incapability, schedule, forbidden objects and unreachable areas. Then check work priorities and the job’s own prerequisites. If only research is affected, diagnose research separately rather than changing every work setting.
Match your symptom
| Symptom | Likely cause | Check | Next action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pawn ignores all ordinary work | Drafting, incapability or schedule | Inspect drafted state, Work tab, health and current activity. | Undraft when safe; assign a capable worker and allow time for work. |
| Can work, but never hauls or cleans | Another eligible task wins priority | Use manual priorities and inspect the active job. | Raise the needed work temporarily; equal priorities are considered left to right. |
| Right-click order unavailable | Target or route is invalid | Check forbidden items, allowed areas, doors and reachable destination. | Remove the specific access restriction; do not open unsafe areas indiscriminately. |
| Jobs fail after a mod change | A dependency or behavior changed | Compare the first error and current mod versions with the last working setup. | Back up the save and follow the mod isolation guide. |
Find the blocked job
A job can be enabled without being available. Start with the pawn’s Bio and Work information: a pawn unable to perform a work type cannot be made capable by selecting a higher priority. Drafted colonists also need to be released from combat orders before normal work resumes.
Check whether the pawn can do it
Next inspect the target. Hauling needs an allowed destination with suitable storage settings; cleaning needs a relevant home area and access. A pawn and the required item must both be able to reach the job. Changing priorities cannot repair an unreachable route.
Separate priority from access
Manual work priorities help distinguish preference from a hard blocker. Low numbers win; at the same number, categories farther left are considered first. Test a small, observable job before applying a colony-wide change. Keep medical care and rest in mind when temporarily prioritizing labor.
When mods or a patch are involved
The 1.6.4850 notes include a job-queue fix. That is a reason to confirm your version, not proof that every idle pawn has that bug. If a problem starts after adding or updating a mod, preserve the working save and investigate the mod boundary before blaming vanilla work rules.
Version & sources
Sources & what may change
- Applies to
- Core · PC 1.6.4850.
- Last verified
- 2026-09-04
- When to check again
- Recheck after a relevant game patch, DLC change or source correction. Mods can change these conditions.
Documentation reviewed; not an in-game test report. RimWorld Wiki is community-maintained, not Ludeon documentation.
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