How to Assign Settlers in Fallout 4

Congratulations! You’ve planted your first carrot.
But wait, why isn’t the food meter going up? Well it’s because you haven’t assigned anyone to harvest it!

From crops, to shops, to guard posts, there are many important jobs you can give to your settlers to ensure your settlement is defended and its people are fed. In this guide we will discuss how you can see what positions are available, how to assign people to them, and how to check what settlers are already working on something.

(We suggest you check our Fallout 4 Settlements Guide when you are done, since there are many aspects of your settlement that you can take advantage of, if you know what to look for.)

Which Resources Require Worker Assignments?

Besides food, there are several other objects in your settlement that will not function properly without someone operating it such as guard posts and vendor stalls. In workshop mode, you can tell if a resource has an assigned settler by aiming your crosshair at it. Beneath the description you’ll see a vault boy icon. If he is red, this means there is no one assigned to it. If he is the color of your HUD, it is occupied.

Aiming at the objects inside your settlement is a great way to see what resources require a worker assignment to begin with. As a bonus, you will see how many workers it requires, whether it requires power, as well as the amount and type of resources it produces.

Little tip: if you hover over a settler that was assigned to a job, their associated place of work will get highlighted along with the settler (their assigned bed will light up as well).

How to Assign a Settler to a Task?

To assign a settler to a resource, simply aim your crosshair at a settler and then “Command” them with the interact button (you will see the options on the bottom). Then hover your crosshair over the object you want to assign them to and hit the interact button again to “Assign”.

There should be a prompt telling you that the resource is now assigned. If you had someone else assigned to the position before, they will be automatically unassigned.

Be mindful that you cannot assign settlers to multiple jobs. For example, you can’t have a single settler occupy a guard post and harvesting carrots at the same time.

Did you know that if you have 5 or more unassigned settlers you aren’t going to get new recruits? Of course, you can only have as many as your Charisma score + 10. Remember that the happier your settlers are, the higher the chance that you will get a new recruit!