Overview
The Friendship Collar is an equippable accessory for animals and pets in Starsand Island. When placed on an animal, the collar increases the rate at which that animal gains happiness. Higher happiness translates to better quality byproducts, improved breeding success rates, and a more productive ranch overall. The Friendship Collar is one of the most impactful individual-animal upgrades in the game because its effects compound over time through both direct production improvements and generational breeding advantages.
How to Unlock
The Friendship Collar blueprint is a Senior Rancher unlock, available after reaching the third tier of the Rancher profession progression. Senior Rancher status requires completing all Intermediate Rancher trials at Green Pasture Ranch. The blueprint costs 4,500 coins from the Green Pasture Ranch shop terminal.
This is the same progression tier that unlocks the Music Box, the Wool Shearing Station, and the Milking Station. Players reaching Senior Rancher typically have 4,500 coins available from selling animal products accumulated during the Intermediate Rancher trials.
Crafting Recipe
The Friendship Collar is crafted at a Worktable using textile materials. The recipe reflects the collar's nature as a wearable accessory rather than a heavy crafting station.
Material | Quantity | Source |
|---|---|---|
4 | Process Wool at the Spinning Wheel | |
Silk Thread | 2 | Process Silkworm Cocoons at the Spinning Wheel |
Copper Sheet | 1 | Process at the Cutter |
Dye (any color) | 1 | Craft at the Dye Station or purchase from shops |
The Silk Thread requirement means you need Silkworm ranching operational before crafting the Friendship Collar. If you do not yet have Silkworms, you can purchase Silk Thread from certain NPCs or trade with other players, though the cost is higher than producing it yourself.
How to Equip
To equip the Friendship Collar, walk up to the target animal and open the interaction menu. Select the "Accessories" tab, then place the Friendship Collar in the accessory slot. Each animal has one accessory slot. If the animal is already wearing a different accessory, you must remove it first before equipping the collar.
The collar remains equipped permanently until you manually remove it. It does not degrade, break, or expire. Once crafted and equipped, it provides its happiness boost indefinitely with no ongoing cost.
Happiness Boost Mechanics
The Friendship Collar increases the rate at which an animal gains happiness, not the maximum happiness cap. This means the animal reaches peak happiness faster and recovers from happiness drops (caused by hunger, dirty enclosures, or overcrowding) more quickly.
Scenario | Without Collar | With Collar |
|---|---|---|
Time to reach max happiness from baseline | 5-7 in-game days | 3-4 in-game days |
Happiness recovery after hunger event | 2-3 in-game days | 1-2 in-game days |
Happiness maintained during mild overcrowding | Slow decline | Stable or slow decline |
Happiness with Music Box + Collar | N/A | Near-instant recovery, consistently maxed |
The Friendship Collar is most impactful on newly acquired animals that start with low happiness, and on animals recovering from negative events. For animals already at maximum happiness in well-maintained enclosures, the collar acts as insurance that keeps them at peak levels even if conditions temporarily dip.
Effect on Byproduct Quality
Animals with higher happiness produce higher quality animal products. Since the Friendship Collar helps animals reach and maintain maximum happiness faster, it indirectly improves byproduct quality for the equipped animal.
Animal | Standard Product | High-Happiness Product |
|---|---|---|
Fine Wool | ||
Cow | Rich Milk | |
Chicken | Large Egg | |
Alpaca | Alpaca Fiber | Premium Alpaca Fiber |
Duck | Duck Egg | Premium Duck Egg |
High-happiness byproducts sell for more coins, produce better results in crafting, and are required for some advanced cooking recipes. The Friendship Collar essentially guarantees that the equipped animal produces the premium version of its byproduct most of the time.
Effect on Breeding
Happy animals have higher breeding success rates. The Friendship Collar's happiness boost directly translates to better odds when pairing two animals for breeding. Equipping both parents with Friendship Collars maximizes the breeding success probability.
Offspring born from happy parents also tend to start with higher base happiness, making the next generation easier to raise. This creates a positive feedback loop: Friendship Collars improve breeding, which produces better offspring, which are easier to keep happy, which improves the next round of breeding.
For players running selective breeding programs focused on desirable traits (color variants, size, temperament), the Friendship Collar is essential equipment on every breeding pair. The difference in success rates between happy and unhappy animals is significant enough that breeding without collars is noticeably less efficient.
Synergy with Music Box
The Friendship Collar and the Music Box are complementary happiness boosters that stack together. The Music Box provides a passive, area-wide happiness boost to all animals in an enclosure, while the Friendship Collar provides an individual, equipped-animal happiness rate increase. Using both simultaneously results in the fastest possible happiness growth and the most reliable high-happiness maintenance.
In practice, the optimal ranching setup is one Music Box per enclosure plus a Friendship Collar on each high-value animal within that enclosure. This combination keeps all animals at or near maximum happiness at all times, regardless of temporary dips from feeding delays or enclosure cleaning gaps.
Pets vs. Farm Animals
The Friendship Collar works on both farm animals (chickens, cows, sheep, etc.) and pets (dogs, cats, exotic companions). For pets, higher happiness increases their affection toward the player, unlocks pet-specific interactions, and can trigger companion bonuses during exploration.
If you have limited Friendship Collars and must choose between equipping a pet or a farm animal, prioritize whichever provides more gameplay value. Farm animals benefit through byproduct quality and breeding, while pets benefit through companion bonuses and affection milestones.
How Many to Craft
Each Friendship Collar equips one animal. For a ranch with 10 to 15 animals, you ideally want 10 to 15 collars. However, the Silk Thread cost makes mass-producing collars expensive early on. A practical approach is to prioritize collars for:
Breeding pairs (both parents should have collars for maximum success rates).
Highest-value animals (animals that produce the most expensive byproducts).
Newly acquired animals (to bring them to peak happiness quickly).
Pets (if you rely on companion bonuses for exploration or combat).
Tips
Craft Friendship Collars as soon as you unlock Senior Rancher. The sooner your animals reach peak happiness, the sooner you start earning premium byproduct prices.
Always equip both parents in a breeding pair. The happiness bonus from two collars significantly improves breeding outcomes compared to one or none.
Combine the collar with a Music Box in the same enclosure for the strongest possible happiness setup.
Do not forget to equip collars on new animals when you add them to your ranch. It is easy to overlook the accessory slot when focused on placing the animal in the right enclosure.
If Silk Thread is scarce, prioritize collars for your most expensive breeding stock. A single high-quality offspring from a successful breeding can be worth more than dozens of standard byproducts.
The collar does not increase the happiness cap, only the gain rate. You still need to maintain proper feeding, cleanliness, and social conditions for animals to reach and stay at maximum happiness.
Collars are permanent and never break. Every collar you craft is a permanent investment in your ranch's productivity.