Non-renewable items
The flip-side of renewability is non-renewability – items and resources which may or may not be common, but cannot be created within a single world. This includes any item which cannot be purchased, gained from a drop, or crafted from renewable materials.
On the Desktop version, Console version, and Mobile version, any item that can go in the player's inventory can be researched and duplicated, making them all infinitely renewable, but only for Journey characters in Journey worlds. The only exception to this is Etherian Mana, however it is only used for the Old One's Army event, and is renewable.
Non-renewable items include the following:
- Some blocks are created with the world, and may be quite plentiful, but cannot actually be crafted or otherwise created. This normally becomes an issue only when a player has explored the whole world, and undertakes to rebuild it entirely.
- Some items are found in specific Chests, of which a limited number spawn with a world, and a few of those cannot also be obtained by fishing. Most Chests themselves are also non-renewable.
- A few items are created with the world in particular locations, and cannot otherwise be created in world. This includes furniture 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 as above.
- Some types of natural background walls cannot be harvested or crafted by the player. In some cases, this is relevant to game mechanics and/or game balance.
- Any item which can only be acquired by crafting, and which requires a non-renewable item in all of its crafting recipes.
- Most NPC quest rewards are renewable, but there is a special case: The Fuzzy Carrot and the Angler armor set are one-time rewards, so each player in a world can only get one of each.
In general, the non-renewability of these items extends to items crafted from them.
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
- Clay, Silt, Slush, Desert Fossil(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions), and Ash. This extends to items created from the above materials, including:
- Red Brick (clay) and Iridescent Brick (ash).
- The Amber Mosquito.
- Hellstone and Hellstone Brick.
- A few kinds of unsafe walls, including unsafe Living Wood and Jungle Walls.
- (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) The following items are non-renewable:
- Moss variants.
- Ice (and Thin Ice), which extends to Frozen furniture and Ice Bricks.
- On Desktop, Console, and Mobile, Ice is renewable through White Solution.
- Some types of unsafe background walls cannot be harvested by the player; even harvestable walls will no longer be considered unsafe if they are harvested and replaced.
- Hive blocks are found only in Bee 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 (Bee armor, Beenade, Hornet Staff), plentiful but non-renewable.
- On Desktop, Console, and Mobile, Hive blocks can be created by throwing Honey Blocks or Crispy Honey Blocks into Shimmer.
- Gems are only either found placed in the world, or obtained from spending Silt and Slush on an Extractinator. Therefore gems (including Amber), are non-renewable. Note that it is possible to deplete a world's Extractinator blocks, especially in a small world.
- Non-craftable statues, except the Bast Statue(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions).
- In worlds where the Jungle Mimic(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) appears, Silt, Slush, Hardened Sand, Sandstone, Ice, and Ash are all renewable through the mimic's "stuff cannon" attack.
Location-specific generation
A few items are created with the world in particular locations, and cannot otherwise be created in the world. This includes (but is not limited to) furniture and materials from several fixed structures, notably the Dungeon, the Jungle Temple, and the Underworld's Ruined Houses. It also covers most of the special Chests from these structures, and most trap blocks.
- Varied locations:
- Altars
- Many particular paintings (see page for details)
- Several decorative banners (see page for details)
- Assorted Chests (see page and/or list below)
- Terragrim(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
- (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) Enchanted Sword
- The Dirtiest Block(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
- Underground and Caverns:
- Geyser traps
- Dart Traps
- Non-craftable statues
- Glow Tulip(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
- 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.
- Water Bolt
- Catacomb (painting)
- (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) Alchemy Table
- (Old-gen console version) Bone Welder
- On Desktop, Console, and Mobile, it can be purchased from the Steampunker.
- Underworld:
- Hellforge
- Hellstone ore
- Obsidian furniture (the few craftable pieces require Hellstone, except platforms)
- (see also "Shadow Chests" below)
- Floating Islands:
- (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) Cloud blocks (including Rain and Snow Cloud).
- On Desktop, Console, and Mobile, Cloud blocks can be found in Sky and Azure Crates.
- (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) Cloud blocks (including Rain and Snow Cloud).
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 in the 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. Some of these Chests are common enough to qualify as "plentiful", but random chance can still fail to supply one of their items in a given world.
- Gold Chest:
- Mace(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
- Blowpipe
- Shoe Spikes
- Flare Gun
- Band of Regeneration
- Cloud in a Bottle
- (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) Hermes Boots
- Functionally identical to the renewable Sailfish Boots(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions).
- Can Of Worms(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
- The worms it contains are renewable.
- Herb Bag(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
- The herbs and seeds it contains are renewable.
- (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) Spear
- (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) Wooden Boomerang
- On Desktop, Console, and Mobile, it is sold by the Skeleton Merchant.
- (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) Enchanted Boomerang
- On Desktop, Console, and Mobile, it can be crafted from the Wooden Boomerang.
- (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) Magic Mirror
- (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) Lava Charm
- On Desktop, Console, and Mobile, it can be found in Obsidian Crates and Hellstone Crates.
- Gold Chests in the Pyramid:
- Flying Carpet
- Pharaoh's Robe
- (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) Sandstorm in a Bottle
- On Desktop, Console, and Mobile, it can be found in Oasis Crates and Mirage Crates.
- (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) Pharaoh's Mask
- Frozen Chest items:
- Ice Mirror(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
- The following items are only non-renewable in the Old-gen console version and Nintendo version. In the Desktop version, Console version, and Mobile version, all of them can be found in Frozen Crates and Boreal Crates.
- Ice Boomerang
- Ice Blade
- Ice Skates
- Snowball Cannon
- Blizzard in a Bottle
- Flurry Boots
- Identical to the renewable Sailfish Boots(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions).
- Ice Machine
- On Desktop, Console, and Mobile, this item can also be bought from the Steampunker.
- Fish
- Ivy Chest
- Bee Minecart(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
- (Old-gen console version) Honey Dispenser
- On Desktop, Console, and Mobile, this item can be bought from the Steampunker when in the Jungle.
- The following items are only non-renewable in the Old-gen console version and Nintendo version. In the Desktop version, Console version, and Mobile version, they can both be found in Jungle Crates and Bramble Crates.
- Living Wood Chest
- Ladybug Minecart(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
- Sunflower Minecart(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
- (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) Living Wood Wand
- On Desktop, Console, and Mobile, it can be obtained by shaking Forest trees.
- (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) Leaf Wand
- (Old-gen console version) Living Loom
- On Desktop, Console, and Mobile, this item is sold by the Steampunker if the player has a Living Wood Wand in their inventory.
- Water Chest
- (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) Beach Ball
- On Desktop, Console, and Mobile, this item is sold by the Party Girl.
- The following items are only non-renewable in the Old-gen console version and Nintendo version. In the Desktop version, Console version, and Mobile version, they can all be found in Ocean Crates and Seaside Crates.
- (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) Beach Ball
- Shadow Chest
- The following items are only non-renewable in the Old-gen console version and Nintendo version. In the Desktop version, Console version, and Mobile version, they can be found in Obsidian Lock Boxes, which can be found in Obsidian Crates and Hellstone Crates.
- Mushroom Chest items:
- Mushroom set(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
- Shroom Minecart(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
- Sandstone Chest(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
- Desert Minecart(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
- Encumbering Stone(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
- Dead Man's Chest(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
- Dead Man's Sweater(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
- Skyware Chest items:
- (Old-gen console version) Sky Mill
- On Desktop, Console, and Mobile, this item is sold by the Steampunker.
- The Skyware Chest itself is only non-renewable on Old-gen console and . On Desktop, Console, and Mobile, it can be crafted.
- (Old-gen console version) Sky Mill
- Biome Chest items:
- Staff of the Frost Hydra, Piranha Gun, Rainbow Gun, Scourge of the Corruptor or Vampire Knives, and Desert Tiger Staff(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions).
- The Biome Chests themselves are only non-renewable on Old-gen console and . On Desktop, Console, and Mobile, they can be obtained by throwing the respective Biome Key into Shimmer.
Non-renewable crafting stations
It seems worthwhile to summarize those crafting stations which are non-renewable (as listed above).
- Lihzahrd Furnace
- Hellforge (and subsequently the Hardmode Forges)
- (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) Alchemy Table
- The following crafting stations are only non-renewable in the Old-gen console version. In the Desktop version, Console version, and Mobile version, they are sold by the Steampunker if the player fulfills varying conditions.
Becoming non-renewable as the game progresses
Some items may be renewable in a new world, but they become non renewable as the game progresses:
- The Gray Zapinator(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) is renewable from the Traveling Merchant pre-Hardmode after any boss kill, but it is replaced by the Orange Zapinator in Hardmode.
- The Bone Key becomes non-renewable after defeating Skeletron.
- The Cascade(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions), renewable after defeating Skeletron, becomes non-renewable in Hardmode as it is replaced by Hel-Fire.
- Similarly, the Demon Heart(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions), Advanced Combat Techniques(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions), Torch God's Favor(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions), and the Artisan Loaf(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) become unavailable for a character once they have used one.
Renewable in some secret world seeds
These items are commonly considered non-renewable, but they are renewable in some specific secret world seeds(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions). This includes:
- Celebrationmk10
- Terragrim, sold by Princess during Blood Moon
- Dropped by the Jungle Mimic:
- Angel Statue
- Red Potion
- Fart in a Jar can be decrafted into Cloud in a Bottle via Shimmer
- Being renewable due to the "stuff cannon" attack of the Jungle Mimic:
- Ash Block
- Silt Block and Slush Block, and then, Amber Mosquito
- Red Brick, and then, Clay Block
- Don't dig up
- Mimics and its variants can spawn pre-Hardmode. This makes some loots in Golden Chest renewable pre-Hardmode:
- Because Get fixed boi combines most of the features from all the other secret world seeds, these items above are all renewable in it.