Kenshi is a brutal, unforgiving sandbox. Between the Beak Things and starving bandits, the last thing you want is a misplaced building or a stuck character ruining your run. That’s where the Shift+F12 menu (the in-game editor) comes in. It’s not a cheat menu in the traditional sense—it’s a developer tool left accessible to players. Used wisely, it can fix bugs, improve your base, and save your game from glitches. Used carelessly, it can break your save. Here’s how to use it right.
This is the primary use for the Shift+F12 menu. It allows you to instantly change the political and physical state of a town.
“My characters won’t enter my base after I built walls.”
→ Regenerate navmesh (Shift+F12→ Regenerate Navmesh (Roads+)).
“I accidentally deleted my own building.”
→ Reload your last save (can’t undo in editor).
“The editor won’t close.”
→ TryShift+F12again or restart Kenshi.
If you want a visual walkthrough or example of adding a new town, let me know—I can describe it in more detail.
The Ultimate Kenshi Shift+F12 Guide: Mastering the In-Game Editor
If you’ve played Kenshi for more than a few hours, you know it’s a masterpiece of "beautiful jank." Sometimes your character gets stuck inside a mountain, a building placement goes horribly wrong, or you just want to build a massive kingdom without grinding for forty hours.
That is where the Shift+F12 menu comes in. Often called the "God Mode" or "Developer Mode," this tool allows you to bypass the game’s physical constraints. Here is everything you need to know to use it without breaking your save file. What is the Shift+F12 Menu?
Shift+F12 opens the In-Game Editor. Unlike the Forgotten Construction Set (FCS), which is an external modding tool, this editor works while the game is running. It allows you to move buildings, spawn items, fix navmesh bugs, and create custom outposts on the fly. A Fair Warning kenshi shift f12 guide
Save your game before opening this menu. The editor is powerful but unstable. Deleting the wrong thing or clicking "Fix Stuff" in a crowded area can occasionally cause crashes or permanent world bugs. 1. The Basics: Navigating the Editor
When you hit Shift+F12, your UI will disappear, and a window with several buttons will pop up.
Move/Rotate: When you select an object (like a wall or a house), three arrows (X, Y, Z axes) and rotation circles appear. You can drag these to precisely position buildings.
Delete: Select an object and hit the Delete key on your keyboard.
Undo: There is no "Ctrl+Z." If you mess up, you usually have to exit without saving or manually fix it. 2. Essential Functions for Players Fixing "Stuck" Characters (Navmesh Tools)
Kenshi’s pathfinding (Navmesh) often breaks. If your characters are walking through walls or getting stuck on invisible pebbles: Open the Shift+F12 menu. Click "Navmesh Tools" on the right side.
Click "Regenerate Sector." This forces the game to recalculate the walking paths in your immediate area. Moving "Unmovable" Buildings
Placed a Wind Generator slightly too far from your base? Or maybe a Mod-added building is clipping into a hill? Select the building while in Shift+F12. Use the Widget (Arrows) to slide it into place.
Crucial: After moving a building, click "Fix Stuff" in the main editor window to ensure the game recognizes its new coordinates. Deleting Ghost Buildings Kenshi is a brutal, unforgiving sandbox
Sometimes when you dismantle a building, a "ghost" frame remains that can’t be clicked. Enter Shift+F12, select the invisible frame, and hit Delete. 3. Advanced Building: The "Town Placement" Hack
One of the biggest frustrations in Kenshi is your base being split into two different "towns," making your AI workers confused.
Open the editor and look for the "Town Statues." These are white, translucent markers that define the center and radius of a settlement.
You can select your outpost’s statue and move it to better center your base.
You can also change the Radius to make your base boundaries larger. 4. The "Fix Stuff" Button: Friend or Foe?
The "Fix Stuff" button is the "Have you tried turning it off and on again?" of Kenshi. It scans the area for misplaced items, broken navmeshes, and redundant data.
Use it when: Buildings are flying, or you’ve just moved a large number of walls.
Avoid it when: You are in a major NPC city (like Heft or Blister Hill). It can sometimes accidentally delete NPC shop counters or furniture, "breaking" the city’s economy. 5. Spawning Items and Buildings
Under the "Item Provider" or "Buildings" tabs, you can search for any asset in the game. “My characters won’t enter my base after I built walls
Want to place a decorative tree? Search for "Tree" and click to place.
Want to build a wall without spending Iron Plates? Use the editor to place the "Finished" version of the wall directly. Summary Checklist for a Clean Experience Save before you start. Shift+F12 to open. Make your changes (Move, Delete, Adjust). Click "Exit" (The 'X' in the corner). Save again in a new slot.
Reload the Save. This is the most important step—it "bakes" the changes into the world and prevents physics glitches.
Kenshi is a game about struggle, but you shouldn't have to struggle against the engine itself. Use Shift+F12 wisely, and you’ll spend less time stuck in rocks and more time losing limbs to Beak Things.
Are you trying to fix a specific bug with your base, or are you looking to do some creative building in a spot the game usually won't allow?
Here is the most important part: Do not click "Save Mod" unless you want these changes permanently applied to every new game you ever start.
To just fix your base and go back to normal:
Why? If you just close the menu and keep playing, the terrain collision might stay glitched. A full save/load cycle "bakes" your changes into the game safely.
BACK UP YOUR SAVE.
Shift+F12 edits the actual map data of your current game session. While the game usually fixes itself upon reload, a misplaced click can delete a mountain. Go to Documents/Kenshi/save and copy your quick.save folder somewhere safe.