Map markers in Core Keeper are one of those tools you might ignore for the first few hours, then suddenly wonder how you ever played without them. The world is huge, biomes spread out in every direction, and your “I will remember where that was” confidence collapses the first time you find a second ore patch, a second locked door, or a second boss arena. Map markers turn your map into a real navigation system, not just a picture of where you have been.
This guide covers what map markers do, how to place and manage them efficiently, and which marker habits make exploration, farming routes, boss progression, and resource runs dramatically smoother.
What Map Markers Are Used For in Core Keeper
A map marker is essentially a pin you place on the world map to remember a location. That sounds simple, but the value comes from how many different “future tasks” Core Keeper creates as you explore.
Markers are especially useful for:
- Ore veins and mining routes you want to revisit after upgrading your pickaxe.
- Giant mushroom circles, slime zones, or other areas you want to farm repeatedly.
- Boss arenas, summoning spots, and routes back to them.
- Merchants, NPC rooms, and valuable structures you do not want to lose track of.
- Locked doors, sealed passages, or “I cannot deal with this yet” hazards.
- Good fishing spots, especially when you are targeting specific fish or biome drops.
- Teleport points, minecart stations, and long highways you have built across biomes.
If you are playing with other people, markers also become a shared planning tool: “this is the next objective,” “here is where the lava starts,” “here is where we keep dying,” and so on.
How to Place a Map Marker
To use markers, you need to open the in game map, then place a marker at the location you want to remember. The exact button depends on your platform and control scheme, but the flow is always the same:
- Open the map.
- Move your cursor to the spot you want to mark.
- Choose the marker option to place a pin.
- Select an icon or style if the game prompts you to.
- Confirm the placement.
A practical tip that matters more than it should: zoom in before placing a marker if you care about precise placement. It is very easy to pin “near” a point of interest and later waste time searching the wrong side of a wall or river.
Choosing the Right Marker Icon
Core Keeper gives you marker icons for a reason, so use them consistently. The fastest way to make markers useless is to put the same generic pin on everything. The fastest way to make markers powerful is to assign meaning to icons.
Here is a system that works well without becoming complicated:
- Use one icon type for ores and mining targets.
- Use one icon type for bosses or boss related spots.
- Use one icon type for points of interest like structures, NPC rooms, or special loot areas.
- Use one icon type for “blocked for now” obstacles like locked doors, dangerous zones, or areas gated by gear.
If you stick to a simple icon language, your map becomes readable at a glance. You will stop opening the map just to remember “what was this pin again.”
Naming Markers (And Why It Saves You Time)
If your version of the game lets you name markers, do it, at least for anything important. Naming is what turns a marker from “somewhere over here” into a real plan.
Good marker names are short and functional:
- “Tin vein north”
- “Hive farm”
- “Locked door need key”
- “Boss arena”
- “Octarine loop”
- “Fishing spot”
Avoid vague names like “cool place” unless you enjoy rediscovering your own confusion later. A marker name should tell you what to bring and why you are going back. That is the whole point.
The Best Things to Mark Early Game
In the early game, your priorities are resources, safe routes, and anything you cannot handle yet. The most useful early markers tend to be:
- Copper and tin deposits you cannot fully mine yet.
- Big open rooms or corridors that make good travel routes.
- Merchant rooms and any NPC you unlock, so you do not lose them.
- Places where you found key crafting stations or rare materials.
- Boss locations and the route you used to reach them.
One habit that pays off immediately is marking your “main highways.” When I play, I place pins at major intersections or biome edges, basically treating the map like a subway system. That way, when I need to go back out to the Wilderness or Desert of Beginnings, I am not re-navigating the same maze every time.
How to Use Markers for Mining and Resource Routes
Mining is where markers become an efficiency multiplier. Core Keeper’s progression encourages revisiting earlier areas with better tools, and ore deposits are often more valuable later than when you first see them.
A strong mining marker routine looks like this:
- Mark every large ore deposit you cannot fully harvest yet.
- When you upgrade your pickaxe, do a “marker sweep” and clear those deposits in one loop.
- After clearing, either delete the marker or rename it to reflect what is still useful there.
If you are building automated drills or farmable mining outposts, markers get even better. You can pin:
- Drill sites
- Smelter outposts
- Nearby portal or rail access
- “Fuel stash” locations if you keep supplies near the site
The real win is reducing dead travel time. Markers let you chain objectives together so every trip out of base pays for itself.
Using Markers for Boss Progression and Preparation
Boss attempts often involve preparation, travel, and multiple tries. Without markers, it is easy to lose time just re-finding the arena or forgetting where you left a staging area.
What I recommend marking for any boss:
- The boss arena itself.
- The closest safe camp spot where you can place a bed, food, and spare gear.
- A nearby portal location if you are using fast travel options.
- Any hazards on the route, like choke points, poison areas, or zones full of enemies.
If you wipe during an attempt, you want your recovery run to be clean and fast. A boss marker setup is essentially your raid plan.
Marking Farming Spots and Respawnable Resources
Core Keeper encourages repetitive harvesting: crops, mob drops, fishing, and material loops. If you find a strong farming location, pin it immediately.
Great things to mark for farming include:
- Slime areas when you are farming specific gel types.
- Mold or fungal zones if you want consistent drops.
- Large open spaces suited for combat farming setups.
- Crystal or rare resource nodes you want to check periodically.
- Fishing pools tied to a biome, especially if you are hunting a specific fish for cooking or progression.
If you build multiple farms, give them functional names. “Slime farm” is okay until you have three slime farms. “Blue slime gel farm” stays useful forever.
Cleaning Up Markers So Your Map Stays Useful
Map markers are only helpful if your map stays readable. If you pin everything and never delete anything, you end up with visual noise that you ignore.
A simple cleanup routine:
- Delete markers for one time tasks after you finish them.
- Consolidate markers by keeping only the best deposit or best farming spot in a region.
- Rename older markers as your goals change, like “Tin vein” becoming “Cleared, check later for drills.”
- Keep your highest priority markers closest to your base routes so you see them often.
If you are not sure whether to delete a marker, rename it to something that tells you its current value. “Cleared” or “Low value” is often enough to stop wasting time.
Practical Marker Strategies That Make Exploration Easier
Markers are not only about remembering loot. They are also about building confidence when exploring farther from home.
These strategies work particularly well:
- Mark biome borders as soon as you notice a transition. It helps you re-enter a biome later without wandering.
- Mark dead ends that cost you time. If a tunnel ends in nothing, pin it once, then you will stop re-checking it.
- Mark “return later” gates like tough enemy clusters, locked doors, or areas behind environmental hazards.
- Mark shortcuts you create, like bridges, tunnels, or carved passages through walls.
Over time, your map becomes less of a fog of war and more of a custom built guide to your own world.
Common Mistakes With Map Markers
Most marker problems come from habits, not the tool itself.
The most common issues:
- Placing markers without zooming in, then not being able to find the exact spot.
- Using one icon for everything, which makes the map unreadable.
- Never deleting markers, which creates clutter and makes you ignore all of them.
- Not naming important markers, then forgetting why they mattered.
- Marking only the “thing,” but not the route, camp spot, or access point that makes returning convenient.
If you fix even two of those, you will feel the difference immediately.
A Simple Marker System You Can Copy
If you want a ready to use approach that stays lightweight, here is an easy structure:
- One icon for ores and mining
- One icon for bosses and combat objectives
- One icon for structures and NPCs
- One icon for “blocked for now”
- Names that start with the category: “Ore: Tin,” “Boss: Arena,” “Gate: Locked door,” “NPC: Merchant”
It keeps your map clean, searchable in your own head, and scalable as your world grows.
Once you start using map markers this way, the game’s exploration loop changes. You stop wandering to re-find things and start running efficient routes with clear goals, which is exactly what you want in a world that keeps expanding the deeper you go.