Think of the world as 16 layers high.  You can’t stack more than 16 things on top of each other – you simply run out of layers. However the dec tool can only get you 15. To get into the 16th layer, you have to stack by hand. Simply stack 15 objects (I like to use fishcakes) and then the next thing you place on top will be in the 16th layer.

You use this kind of manuel stacking to make, for example, the roofs of player-made cabins.

When you go under objects in the 16th layer, the object itself disappears. This is because the 16th layer is the layer where the roof of your house sits. When you walk into your house and are under that 16th layer, the roof disappears and you can see your rooms. In the same way, ANYTHING you put in the 16th layer disappears if you stand under it.

To make 2 objects share a layer in the first 15 layers, simply use your dec-tool. To make 2 or more objects share a layer at level 16, you need to use a different method.

The crate method: You put the objects in a crate. You stack 15 fishcakes on top of one another. You put the crate in the 16th layer by stacking it on top of the fish. The crate sits in one layer. When you pop the crate with an axe, all the objects inside fall out into the same layer.

The problem: The objects in the crate will NOT stay in the order in which you wish them to show. They change order when the house loads. For example, pretend you want to have a piece of cloth, a plate, and an apple share a layer. Obviously you want the apple (the smallest) to be on top, then the plate, then the cloth. If the cloth is on top, you can not see the apple or the plate.You put the things in the crate in your desired order (apple plate cloth) and then pop the crate. The things fall out perfectly. BUT! If you leave the house and then return, the apple that was on top could now be on the very bottom.

The Solution: You have to double load everything. (this is also true for backpack art). The thing that you wish to be LOWEST in the layer (In our example, the piece of cloth) must become the MIDDLE layer.  So you load your crate like this:

apple, plate, cloth, plate, apple.

Think of the middle layer (the cloth in this case) as a mirror. You have to build the exact same thing in the same order on both sides of the mirror. You have to have a perfect reflection, or your object will not always load in the same way.

The Next Problem: So you load your crate correctly:

apple, plate, cloth, plate, apple

You pop your crate. What you see is apple, plate, cloth. The other plate and the other apple are blocked by the middle layer. You can only lock down the objects you can see. So you lock down the apple you see, the plate you see, and the cloth, but the other apple and the other plate will decay. Once they poof, you no longer have a mirror image, and sometimes the apple and plate will load back under the cloth again.

The Next Solution: Lock down all the objects you can see…Apple, plate, cloth. Then run out of the house. Get off the steps and a screen or so away so the interior of the house cannot be seen. When you re-enter the house, all the deco will reload. Your locked down apple and plate are now under the cloth. The non-locked apple and plate are now visible. Lock ‘em down.

When making backpack art, you have to remember this as well. So lets say you make a cat. His head is a wool ball. You put an emerald on the wool ball for an eye. Sometimes when you open the pack, the eye will be on top of the head. Sometimes, the eye will have slipped under the wool ball, and your cat will be eyeless and strange. The solution is the same.

Instead of putting a woolball with an emerald on top of it, you need to stack it like this:

emerald, wool ball, emerald.

If you are still not sure how to do this and you need to see how this works in an actual structure to understand it, you can see it used in the Fake Full Fruit Basket.