To sleep in Casualties: Unknown, open the health panel and press the Sleep button (the “Zz” button on the right side of the panel), or use a sleeping bag from your inventory. The game only lets you sleep once you are tired, which the Drowsy moodle tells you, and heavy pain or bad sickness block it unless you take sleeping pills or eat a naptail.
Casualties: Unknown treats sleep as part of your health, not just a clock. This guide covers the steps, every reason the Sleep button stays grayed out, how sleep quality works, and the items that force sleep when you need it.
Step-by-Step: How to Sleep
- Wait until you are tired. Energy drains while you are awake. The Drowsy moodle (“Getting sleepy.”) appears once your energy runs low, and that is when sleep opens up.
- Find a safe spot away from water, traps and enemies. A shallow hole you dig yourself is ideal.
- Open the health panel with the heart button in the bottom-left corner.
- Press the Sleep button. It sits in the column of buttons on the right of the panel, under the exercise button, and shows the quality of sleep your current spot will give.
- The experiment lies down and sleeps until energy is full, unless something wakes it.
With a sleeping bag: use it from your inventory instead of the panel button. Its description reads “Use to sleep in it, bumping the sleeping quality up a tier (capped at Good) and giving you some insulation for the night. Normal sleep restrictions apply.” It has a limited number of uses.
Why You Cannot Sleep
If the Sleep button is grayed out or the experiment wakes right back up, one of these is the reason:
- You are not tired enough. Until the Drowsy moodle shows, you cannot sleep normally.
- You are in too much pain. Treat it first with painkillers, medical gauze or an ice pack.
- You are too sick. High sickness keeps you awake and wakes you up.
- Your head is in water, or you are too hot or going through withdrawal.
- The spot is bad. Bad or mediocre sleep quality makes you wake up earlier, with lower consciousness for a while afterward.
How Sleep Quality Works
Sleep comes in four tiers, Bad, Mediocre, Okay and Good, and better sleep refills your energy faster. The tier depends on the block under the experiment’s chest, which is why moving a step to the side can change what the button says.
- Good spots: rubber flooring and sand are among the best natural surfaces.
- Okay spots: the top of a crate or drop capsule, or lying over a small gap, counts as okay.
- Everything else: other blocks can rate Mediocre or Bad, so read the button before you lie down and shuffle over if it is low.
- Sleeping bag: raises whatever tier you are on by one, up to Good.
Because the experiment shifts as it lies down, the tier shown while standing can differ slightly from what you get. Lying down first (ragdoll with X) and then sleeping keeps you exactly where you are.
How to Sleep When the Game Will Not Let You
Two items skip the restrictions entirely:
- Sleeping pills. Their description: “Makes you able to sleep better when in bad physical condition. Don’t combine with other drugs.” Take them, then press Sleep as usual. Do not stack doses, and never mix them with opiates such as painkillers or morphine, because the combination can slow your breathing dangerously while you are out.
- Naptail. The tail end of a hydreed, which “can instantly knock someone out for a while, with a visible mood increase afterwards.” Eating one puts you straight to sleep and gives a mood boost when you wake. The catch is that you will not wake for danger, so only eat one in a dug-out hole away from water.
What Sleep Does for You
- Restores energy. Low energy caps your consciousness, so a tired experiment gets sluggish and blurry.
- Speeds up healing. Limbs recover faster while you sleep, which pairs well with treating wounds right before bed. If you just pulled fragments out, see our guide on how to remove shrapnel first.
- Steadies your mood. The 7.0 patch notes say mood normalizes faster while asleep.
Tips Most Players Miss
- Exercise before bed. The exercise button sits right above Sleep. Working out tires you out faster, and you are about to rest anyway.
- Coffee, energy drinks and soda restore energy when you cannot find a safe place to sleep yet, but they come with sickness.
- Do not let energy hit zero. If it runs out, the experiment collapses wherever it stands, which may be the worst possible place.
- Fill a blood bag before sleeping if you have one and are healthy, so you wake up with a reserve for the next emergency.
- Treat bleeding first. Bleeding does not pause while you sleep, so check the guides on internal bleeding and what to do when your heart stops before you lie down hurt.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is the sleep button in Casualties: Unknown? In the health panel, in the column of buttons on the right side, marked “Zz.” Open the panel with the heart button in the bottom-left corner of the screen.
Why can’t I sleep in Casualties: Unknown? You are not tired enough, you are in too much pain, you are too sick, or your head is in water. Take sleeping pills or eat a naptail to bypass the restrictions.
How do you use the sleeping bag? Use it from your inventory. It works like the Sleep button but raises your sleep quality by one tier, and the normal restrictions still apply.
What is the best place to sleep? Rubber flooring or sand, ideally with a sleeping bag for Good quality, in a dug-out spot away from water and traps.
Is it safe to eat a naptail? Only somewhere safe. It knocks you out instantly and nothing wakes you, including drowning or freezing, so never eat one near water.
Can I mix sleeping pills and painkillers? Avoid it. The sleeping pills warn against combining them with other drugs, and opiates on top of them can slow your breathing dangerously while you sleep.