How to Restore Energy in Permafrost (Exhausted, Tired and Weary Explained)

The bottom-left status row has five diamonds; Energy is number four, and it gradually declines whenever your character is awake. Press Tab to open the inventory, where Energy appears as a value out of 300.

What the Weary, Tired and Exhausted warnings mean

As Energy slips, the game flags it with a fatigue effect in the top-left of the inventory screen. Each one slows how fast your Stamina comes back, and the two whose tooltips were read, Weary and Tired, list Rest as the remedy. Left alone on Story, the meter hit 0 after roughly 62 game hours without sleep and Exhausted appeared. The character could still walk around.

Effect	What it does	Remedy
Weary	Stamina Gain Rate −15%	Rest
Tired	Stamina Gain Rate −25%	Rest
Exhausted	Appears when Energy reaches 0	Sleep

Weary is the mild one, reading “Light fatigue slows recovery. Some rest is needed.” Tired is the next step up, with “Fatigue affects energy recovery. Rest would help.” Exhausted means the meter is empty. Neither Weary nor Tired asks for medicine: both list Rest as the remedy.

Sleep in a claimed bed to refill Energy

Sleep is what refills Energy. The Bed’s own text reads “Comfy and safe; recovers the energy most efficiently.” On Story, sleeping in a claimed Bed next to a lit Campfire raised Energy from 0 to 299/300, and the effect Well Rested appeared. The sleep lasted from 10:15 in-game until roughly 06:00 the next morning, or about 20 seconds in real time.

First secure a sleeping spot. You can claim one of the sleeping bags on the upper floor of Horizon’s bunkhouse at no cost using “Press F Claim”. As an alternative, make a Bed for 5 Cloth and 5 Wood; it also has to be placed on a Wooden Foundation, which costs 5 Wood.

Outside, set a Campfire (2 Stone) beside the bed, add Wood, then ignite it with X. In the open at -27°C the bed refused to let the character sleep without it.

Cooking panel on the inventory screen showing a lit fire fuelled with two wood and the fuel timer counting down — The Cooking panel on the inventory screen, with the fire burning on two wood and a two-minute fuel timer running.

Keep F held as you target the bed, move the cursor to Sleep, and release the key. Your character wakes in the morning with Energy restored.

On Survival, sleeping on a claimed sleeping bag in the bunkhouse from 05:40 to 08:00 lifted Energy from 146 to 298 and Health from 149 to 210. The same catch applies to both difficulties: you wake up hungrier. Hunger fell during each sleep, so keep food on hand for when you get up.

At −27°C, attempting to sleep outdoors was blocked by the message “TOO COLD TO REST. YOU NEED A HEAT SOURCE!” Placing a lit Campfire next to the bed solved the problem, but equipping a Makeshift Heater did not.

Rest on a bed without skipping time

For an Energy boost that doesn’t use up nighttime, briefly press F on a claimed bed instead of holding the key. This starts Resting, restoring 1 Energy and 1 Health per tick, with no jump of the clock. After 15 real seconds of rest on Survival, Energy rose from 188 to 245 and Health from 226 to 283.

Survivor lying in a sleeping bag on a striped mattress in a log cabin, seen from above, with quest tracker and tutorial prompts. — Resting in a sleeping bag inside a wooden cabin, with the notice “REST INTERRUPTED: MOVEMENT” and the quests Horizon’s Kitchen and Tonight… We Hunt! tracked.

Pressing any movement key stops it immediately, with “REST INTERRUPTED: MOVEMENT” shown on screen. It is slower than a full sleep, but useful when you only need a partial refill or want to heal up while keeping daylight.

Food and drinks that restore Energy

A few consumables add Energy on the spot, which is handy when you are away from any bed. These never fill the meter the way sleep does, but they buy you time in the field.

Item	Energy	Also restores	Cost / where
Ultra Dish (H/W/E)	60	Hunger 120, Cold Res. 30, Health 60	45 Bucks at The Mule (Story)
Improvised Coffee	45	Cold Res. 45, Hunger 10	Value 10; Hunter starts with one
Granola Bar	40	Hunger 40, Stamina 40	Value 12; Survival starting item
Energy Drink	25	Hunger 10, Stamina 60	15 Bucks at The Mule (Story)

Improvised Coffee is the quick pick-me-up. Drunk at Energy 0 on Story, it pushed the meter to 54 a few seconds later and applied the Caffeinated buff. The Hunter background carries one from the start. A Granola Bar eaten on Survival moved Energy from 167 to 206. Sugar is also sold at The Mule for 5 Bucks and adds a small amount (Hunger 5, Energy 5) if you need a cheap sliver.

Inventory with the Improvised Coffee tooltip: ENERGY 45, COLD RES. 45, HUNGER 10 — Improvised Coffee: ENERGY 45, COLD RES. 45, HUNGER 10.

You will know the restore worked when the number out of 300 climbs on the inventory screen and any fatigue effect drops off. After a full sleep, the clock rolls to morning.