To remove shrapnel in Casualties: Unknown, open the health panel, click the limb marked with the shrapnel icon, press “Remove shrapnel,” and drag each piece slowly straight out of the limb in the minigame. Drag tweezers onto the limb instead and you can pull at any speed without the pain, which makes them the tool to carry for glass and landmine fragments.
Casualties: Unknown does not let a limb heal while something is stuck in it, so shrapnel is worth dealing with as soon as you are somewhere safe. This guide covers the steps, how the minigame decides whether you fail, what to do when it will not let you start, and how to treat the limb afterward.
Why Shrapnel Has to Come Out
Shrapnel shows on the paper doll as a cluster of shards or rubble over the limb it hit. While it stays in, that limb stops healing on its own and stops slowing its own bleeding, so a small wound keeps leaking until you either pull the pieces or cover it with a dressing. The common sources are explosions and landmines, broken glass you step on (it shows as glass shards stuck in the foot), and traps.
Step-by-Step: How to Remove Shrapnel by Hand
- Get somewhere safe. The minigame takes over the screen and you cannot move while it is open.
- Open the health panel with the heart button in the bottom-left corner.
- Click the limb with the shrapnel icon to select it.
- Click Remove shrapnel above the limb.
- In the minigame, an outline of the experiment’s hand follows your cursor. Click and hold on a piece of shrapnel and drag it slowly, straight away from the limb.
- Repeat for every piece. The minigame closes when the last one is out.
What counts as a failure: pulling too fast, or letting the hand drift too far to either side, makes the experiment lose its grip. Each slip hurts, damages the skin and makes the bleeding a little worse, and the hand outline turns redder as your pain climbs. Shaky hands make it harder, which is why low strength, low consciousness and high pain all work against you.
You can stop at any time with Escape or a right click. The pieces you already pulled stay out; only the one in progress resets. That is useful when a few slips have stacked up pain and you want to treat it before carrying on.
How to Remove Shrapnel With Tweezers
Tweezers are the clean way to do it. Their in-game description reads “Can cleanly and painlessly remove shrapnel from limbs.”
- Open the health panel.
- Drag the tweezers from your inventory onto the limb with the shrapnel.
- The same minigame opens, but there is no speed limit: you can pull each piece out as fast as you like.
- Keep the pull straight. Drifting sideways is the one way left to fail.
Tweezers turn up in medical crates, container crates, life-pod chests and drop pods, and they can be crafted once your Intelligence is high enough. They weigh very little, so keep a pair for the whole run.
Why You Cannot Remove Shrapnel
If the button does nothing or the minigame will not progress, it is almost always one of these:
- You are too far gone. An unconscious or nearly unconscious experiment cannot do fine work like this. Wait for consciousness to recover, or fix whatever is knocking it down first.
- Your pain is too high. Every slip adds pain, and pain makes the hand harder to control. Take painkillers (their in-game description says they are “used to treat pain”) or use medical gauze, which is “decent at slowing bleeding and reducing pain from injuries,” then try again.
- There is no shrapnel left. If the icon is a drop or a cyst instead of shards, you are looking at bleeding or an infection, not shrapnel.
What to Do After the Shrapnel Is Out
- Stop the bleeding. Put a dressing on the limb if it is still marked as bleeding. Once the shrapnel is gone, the limb starts slowing its own bleeding again.
- Disinfect. Open wounds can get infected. Spray antiseptic or relief cream on the limb, or use a sterilized dressing.
- Rest. Sleeping speeds up healing, and with the shrapnel out the limb can finally recover on its own.
If the blast that put the shrapnel in also hit your chest or belly, check for a hidden bleed as well. Our guide on how to treat internal bleeding covers the signs and the items that work on it.
Tips Most Players Miss
- Be extra careful on the head. A slip while pulling shrapnel from the head is more dangerous than one on a limb, so use tweezers there whenever you can.
- Glass in the feet is the most common case. Watch where you walk around broken lightbulbs and glass, and pull the shards before you set off again.
- Throw something first. Tossing an item into a dark drop before you jump can set off a trap below you, which saves you a face full of fragments.
- Pain management makes everything in the health panel easier, so do not save painkillers only for emergencies.
- If you came from another detailed injury sim, the habits carry over: our Project Zomboid guides cover the same fight against bleeding, infection and pain in a zombie apocalypse.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you remove glass shards in Casualties: Unknown? The same way as any shrapnel: select the foot in the health panel, press Remove shrapnel and pull each shard out slowly, or drag tweezers onto the foot to pull without the speed limit.
Do tweezers remove shrapnel without pain? Yes. Their description says they remove shrapnel “cleanly and painlessly,” and they remove the speed limit in the minigame. Drifting sideways can still make you lose your grip.
Why does pulling shrapnel keep failing? You are pulling too fast or drifting to the side. Pull slowly and in a straight line, and treat your pain first if the hand outline is turning red.
Can I just leave the shrapnel in? You can, but the limb will not heal or slow its own bleeding while it is in, so you will burn through dressings. Pull it as soon as you are safe.
Can I cancel the shrapnel minigame? Yes, with Escape or a right click. Pieces you already removed stay out.
Where do I get tweezers? Medical crates, container crates, life-pod chests and drop pods, or craft them once your Intelligence meets the recipe.