Achievements Guide
CastleMiner Z has 31 Steam achievements covering crafting, combat, distance, survival days, and time played. They only unlock in Endurance mode, so Survival, Creative, and Dragon Endurance award nothing no matter what you do there. The time-played achievements were badly broken for years, but the August 2025 update fixed them, and they now accumulate across sessions.
CastleMiner Z has 31 Steam achievements. None of them are hidden: every one ships with a public name and description.
:::danger Endurance mode or nothing Achievements only unlock in Endurance mode. Survival, Creative, and Dragon Endurance award nothing, which is the single most common reason players see no progress. Solo Endurance is fine for kill, craft, distance, and day achievements. :::
:::tip The timer bug is fixed The time-played achievements really were broken for years, until DigitalDNA patched the game in August 2025. Update 1.9.9.8 states plainly that time-based achievements like MinerZ Potato now accumulate and save correctly, and the same update reduced out-of-memory crashes. :::
Crafting Achievements
You earn these by crafting items at any station. The counter tracks every individual item produced.
| Achievement | Requirement | Approx. Unlock Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Tinkerer | Craft 1 item | 23% |
| Crafter | Craft 100 items | 10% |
| Master Craftsman | Craft 1,000 items | 3% |
| Demolition Expert | Craft TNT | 9% |
The counter tracks every individual item produced, so crafting cheap stackable goods in quantity is the efficient route to Master Craftsman.
Combat Achievements
Kill enemies using various weapons and strategies to unlock these.
| Achievement | Requirement | Approx. Unlock Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Self Defense | Kill one enemy | 32% |
| No Fear | Kill 100 enemies | 10% |
| Zombie Slayer | Kill 1,000 enemies | 3% |
| Dragon Slayer | Kill the undead dragon | 4% |
| Air Defense | Kill a dragon with a guided missile | 3% |
| Boom! | Kill an enemy with a grenade | 3% |
| Fire in the Hole! | Kill an enemy with TNT | 2% |
| Alien Encounter | Get close to an alien | Low |
| Alien Technology | Make a kill with a laser weapon | Low |
The Dragon Slayer achievement requires killing the Undead Dragon specifically, not just any dragon. It force-spawns at 4,000 blocks from the origin, and only on odd-numbered days. Bring a Bloodstone LMG or a laser assault rifle with plenty of ammunition.
Distance Achievements
These track how far you travel laterally from the spawn point.
| Achievement | Requirement |
|---|---|
| First Contact | Travel 50 blocks from start |
| Leaving Home | Travel 200 blocks from start |
| Desert Crawler | Travel 1,000 blocks from start |
| Mountain Man | Travel 2,300 blocks from start |
| Deep Freeze | Travel 3,000 blocks from start |
| Hell On Earth | Travel 3,600 blocks from start |
| Around the World | Travel 5,000 blocks from start |
Depth Achievements
Two achievements measure how far down you dig, not how far out you walk, which is an easy distinction to miss:
| Achievement | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Deep Digger | Dig 20 blocks below the surface |
| Welcome to Hell | Dig 40 blocks below the surface |
Survival Achievements
Stay alive for a set number of in-game days.
| Achievement | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Survived the Night | Survive 1 day |
| One Week Later | Survive 7 days |
| 28 Days Later | Survive 28 days |
| Survivor | Survive 100 days |
| 28 Weeks Later | Survive 196 days |
| Anniversary | Survive 365 days |
Time-Played Achievements
| Achievement | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Short Timer | Play for 1 hour |
| Veteran MinerZ | Play for 10 hours |
| MinerZ Potato | Play for 100 hours |
The Timer Bug, and Its Fix
For most of this game's life these three were notorious. Closing or crashing the game reset the playtime counter, and players reported losing runs at 30, 33, 89, and even 91 hours. That history is why players built an elaborate ritual around them.
Update 1.9.9.8 in August 2025 fixed it. The patch notes state that time-based achievements like MinerZ Potato now accumulate and save correctly, and the same update improved memory handling to reduce the crashes that caused the losses. These are cumulative achievements: you do not need a single unbroken session, and 100 hours of ordinary play across many sessions will get you MinerZ Potato.
That fix still holds on the current build. DigitalDNA Games has published no update since 1.9.9.8 on August 25, 2025, and Steam shows the game's public branch last changing on September 1, 2025.
If You Still Want to Idle
Idling is now a convenience and no longer a necessity. The documented community method is simple:
- Host a passcode-protected Endurance lobby. Press Escape, then Options, then Host Options to set a password and control who can join, build, or get kicked.
- Seal yourself in. Wall yourself into a box of copper, iron, or bloodstone, or simply go underground. Zombies do not spawn underground and skeletons cannot break blocks, so an enclosed chamber is genuinely safe.
- Leave the game running.
If the in-game audio bothers you, mute CastleMiner Z through your operating system's volume mixer. The game does have its own mute checkbox and volume slider, but players widely report that they do not work.
No exact travel distance, specific bunker footprint, or precise amount of air space affects achievement tracking. Numbers like those circulate as player folklore, and no source supports them.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many achievements does CastleMiner Z have?
31 Steam achievements, and none of them are hidden. Every one ships with a public name and description.
Why are my CastleMiner Z achievements not unlocking?
You are almost certainly not in Endurance mode. Achievements only unlock there, so Survival, Creative, and Dragon Endurance award nothing. Solo Endurance works fine for kill, craft, distance, and day achievements.
How do I get the MinerZ Potato achievement?
Play for 100 hours. It is cumulative across sessions, not a single unbroken run. The old timer bug that reset progress on close or crash was fixed by Update 1.9.9.8 in August 2025.
Do I still need to AFK for the time achievements?
No. Since the August 2025 fix they accumulate normally through ordinary play. If you want to idle anyway, host a passcode-protected Endurance lobby and seal yourself in a box or go underground, where zombies do not spawn and skeletons cannot break blocks.
Which dragon do I need to kill for the Dragon Slayer achievement?
The Undead Dragon specifically, not just any dragon. It force-spawns at 4,000 blocks from the origin and only on odd-numbered days, so bring a Bloodstone LMG or a laser assault rifle with plenty of ammunition.
What to Read Next
- Game Modes. Mode requirements behind the endurance achievements.
- Enemies and Biomes. Distance scaling for the travel achievements.
- Weapons and Tiers. Crafting chains the tier achievements need.
- Getting Started. Early unlocks from your first few hours.
- Tips and Tricks. The one mode that counts, and the timer bug that is finally gone.