Skip to Content

Dead bodies not being picked up in Cities: Skylines (3 Tips)

Dead bodies not being picked up in Cities: Skylines (3 Tips)

A common issue that a lot of new players in Cities: Skylines face is that dead bodies in their city are not picked up by the cemeteries. This can cause your dead bodies to pile up, and your city can face many issues due to this. So in this article, we’ll go over several fixes you can use to solve this issue.

You can build Cemeteries to pick up dead bodies in Cities: Skylines. Well-maintained and empty cemeteries function the best for this purpose. Additionally, crematoriums can alleviate the issue of bodies piling up.

Several deep systems make it possible to build your city in Cities: Skylines as realistic as possible. Managing how your city disposes of the percentage of the population that passes away becomes something you have to manage. Read on to learn in-depth about the solutions we discussed above.

Related: Not Enough Raw Materials In Cities: Skylines (5 Fixes)

How to Fix Dead Bodies Not Being Picked Up

Building your perfect city can take a lot of effort in Cities: Skylines. You have to manage a lot of different systems that are vital for your population to survive. You have to sort your districts to ensure that traffic is working well and that emergency and public services are working well. Issues might still arise, however.

You might be getting a notification from Chirper that dead bodies are piling up inside or around your city. If you do not want this to become a health hazard for your people. Then you need to get rid of these dead bodies as soon as possible. Thankfully, there are several fixes that you can employ.

1) Build Cemeteries to Pick Up Dead Bodies

Cemetery - Cities: Skylines
Cemetery – Cities: Skylines

Perhaps the most obvious solution to the problem of piling dead bodies is to create Cemeteries. If you haven’t already constructed one inside your city. Then it is high time that you consider constructing one within your city for there to be someplace the dead bodies can go.

After all, the recently departed require some place to rest. If you’re going to construct a city worth living inside, then there also needs to be a way for the people that remain to remember their departed loved ones. It is the cemetery that sends out hearses to pick up the deceased.

You can unlock the ability to build cemeteries by reaching the Boom Town milestone. This milestone is obtained when the population inside your city reaches a total of 2,400. The cemetery is a healthcare service that you can use to house up to 3,000 deceased patients.

Cemeteries are fairly easy to build, however, they will require some investment to construct. To build a cemetery, you need 10×8 cells. The initial construction of the cemetery will cost you $8,000, and you will need to give $160 every week to upkeep the cemetery. This is worth it, though, since cemeteries severely improve the rate at which bodies are picked up by hearses.

Related: Why Is Everyone Sick in Cities: Skylines? (6 Reasons)

2) Empty Existing Cemeteries

Emptying Cemeteries - Cities: Skylines
Emptying Cemeteries – Cities: Skylines

An issue that you might be facing is that you have cemeteries, but they’re constantly flooded. So what can you do to ensure that hearses still move into the cities and pick up dead bodies as necessary? Well, the straightforward answer is to empty the cemeteries to make room for more bodies.

Cemeteries, like any structure, have a limit to the number of bodies that they can accommodate. This limit is 3,000 in Cities: Skylines. If you reach this cap, then your cemetery will no longer send out hearses to pick up other bodies, and you will notice that dead bodies will begin to pile up.

We do not want the city to be littered with dead bodies because this can cause sickness and infection. Which can often rapidly increase the speed of death in your city and further exacerbate your issue. Your best option is to empty your cemetery and replace it with another cemetery.

How to Move Bodies From One Cemetery to Another

If you have more than one cemetery in your city then you will have the option to empty the full cemetery into the empty facility. This can alleviate the issue of full cemeteries not sending out hearses to pick up dead bodies. To do this, follow the steps outlined below:

  • Click on the Cemetery you wish to empty.
  • A new window will pop up upon clicking the Cemetery.
  • Locate the Empty Building icon within this new window.
  • Click the Empty Building icon

Once you’ve pressed the Empty Building button, Cities: Skylines will automatically transfer your deceased population into the new cemetery. Thus alleviating the existing burden on your previously full cemetery. Your original cemetery can then begin using its hearses to pick up dead bodies again.

Related: How To Get More Workers In Cities: Skylines (4 Ways)

3) Build more Crematoriums

Crematorium - Cities: Skylines
Crematorium – Cities: Skylines

Cemeteries are simply not enough to ensure that the dead in your city is being properly handled. In these circumstances, it is beneficial to additionally create crematoriums within your city as well. The crematorium is another healthcare service that you can employ within your city as an upgrade to your cemeteries.

At one time, crematoriums can provide cremation services to up to 105 deceased patients and individuals within your city. This can be massively important in alleviating the burden of storage in your cemeteries and is a boon to taking care of the dead. It is unlocked by reaching the Big City milestone at 16,000 population.

Another major benefit of using crematoriums is that they will save space. So you will not have to construct an excess of cemeteries to store all of the deceased individuals within your city. And you will be able to manage your area far better as a result.

Important Note

It is important to know that Crematoriums are not a replacement for cemeteries. But are rather an upgrade to build alongside your existing cemeteries. This is why I urge you not to bulldoze your existing Cemeteries, especially if you’re hoping to do so to make room for your Crematorium.

You will require both if you aim to reduce the pileup of dead bodies within your city. Additionally, getting rid of cemeteries can cause you to lose your ability to use hearses to transport dead bodies in the first place. It is always a bad idea to bulldoze vital city buildings for upgrades. So do not do it.

Related: How To Make Money In Cities: Skylines (Ultimate Guide)

Additional Deathcare Tips

A reason why you might be experiencing issues with your dead bodies not being picked up is that you may be experiencing a death wave. A death wave occurs because of a multitude of factors, but essentially it is the widespread death of your population.

In this section, we’ll discuss a few ways you can avoid death waves. And you’ll be able to get your dead bodies picked up much more easily as a result. To avoid death waves, you can adopt the following policies when it comes to managing your city:

  • When you begin populating a new residential area, it can be beneficial to not populate it all at once. If you begin by adding to the residential area slowly, this allows for your population to fill up the space more. It also allows the lifecycles of the CIMs to be spread out, rather than concentrated.
  • Another thing that’s important to remember is that you can turn deathcare buildings on and off as needed to handle the demand. You may also choose to invest more budget to increase the number of hearses that you have available to pick up dead bodies.
  • Finally, you should keep a close watch on the stats of your population. Specifically, birth waves can later on turn into death waves, so it can be important to manage the flow of your population.

By following all of these recommendations and tips, you can solve the issue of dead bodies not being picked up in Cities: Skylines. It is critical to manage all of these tips at the same time for maximum effectiveness when dealing with death waves in-game.

I hope this guide helped you. Happy building, folks!