In the original Don't Starve and Reign of Giants (RoG) content, the Ocean acts as a barrier, and during Winter, a place for Pengulls to spawn before they hop onto shore. No living thing can cross the ocean, even flying mobs like Batilisks. Flotsam can be found in the ocean, and it is the only object the player can interact with on the ocean.
Objects that are situated on the coast very close to the ocean may drop their items in the ocean, and aside from bugged objects, they will fall into the water with a splash.
Shipwrecked
In the Shipwrecked DLC, the Ocean plays a much larger role in the player's everyday life. It is accessible by boat or raft, and is commonly divided into several sections: Shallow Ocean, Medium Ocean, Deep Ocean, Ship Graveyard and Coral Reef. Flotsam and Pengulls do not spawn in the Shipwrecked Ocean.
Some items, instead of sinking, will stay afloat. Unless the item sunk in Deep Ocean, the sunken item will periodically create bubbles, indicating its location. Within 2 days from the time the item sunk, it can be retrieved by sailing over it while using a Trawl Net. If the item is not retrieved during this time, it will be lost forever. Items that sink in the Deep Ocean tiles are immediately lost and cannot be retrieved.
Shallow Ocean
- Light blue terrain.
- No Waves (present waves will disappear once they reach the edge).
- Mussels, Wobster Dens, Dogfish, and Seaweed are found here.
- Seagulls and Cormorants will land here dropping Seeds and Roe, respectively. (they do not appear during Hurricane Season.)
- Surrounds all islands, but may extend out.
Medium and Deep Ocean
- Light/dark patchy blue when being next to shallow ocean, or solid dark blue terrain for the most distant from land.
- Waves form and travel here.
- Stink Rays, Suspicious Bubbles (Whales), Shoals, Swordfish, and the Volcano are found here.
- Never touches an island - it indicates empty aquatic space in-between.
Ship Graveyard
- Small patches of dark colored areas in the Deep Ocean.
- Wrecks and Watery Graves can only be found here. Commonly contains Shoals, Seaweed and Swordfish.
- Can be next to Medium Ocean, but not Shallow Ocean or islands.
Trivia
- The Strange New Powers update added Pengulls that initially spawn in the ocean before moving onto the shore in Winter.
- Shadow Creatures are able to cross into and out of the waters as they please, but will stay to run to the player on land should they be aggressive towards them.
- Players using console commands can get over the ocean but going too far will cause the screen to turn black, only showing the player character, HUD, the Crafting Tabs, the Day-Night Indicator and the Inventory. Going further will cause the game to crash.
- In the Shipwrecked DLC, the following Items float on the Ocean:
- All Craftable Items, excluding Bee Mines, Cut Stone, Hibearnation Vests, Houndius Shootius, Ice, Insulated Packs, One-man Bands, Pumpkin Lanterns, Rain Coats, Sandbags, Scalemail, Tar Lamps, Thulecite, Thulecite Clubs, Thulecite Medallions, Tooth Traps and Torches,
- All Mob Dropped Items, excluding Ashes, Broken Shells, Doydoy Eggs, Flint, Glommer's Goop, Glommer's Wings, Light Bulbs, Rocks and Thulecite Fragments,
- All Food Items, excluding Doydoy Eggs, Glommer's Goop, Ice, Light Bulbs, Mussels and Rot,
- All Character-Specific Items,
- All dug up Plants,
- All Trinkets,
- All Things,
- All Gems,
- "Ballphin Free" Tuna, Cut Grass, Cut Reeds, Jungle Tree Seeds, Logs, Messages in a Bottle, Palm Leaves, Peg Legs, Pine Cones, Seashells, Tar and Tridents,
- the Fishbone,
- Rawling.
| Biomes | |
| Surface | |
| Caves | |
| Ruins | |
| Water Biomes | |
| Island Biomes | |
| Other | Bridge • Map • Road (Trail) • Turfs • Abyss (Interiors  ) (Lunar Island  ) |
