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[CrazyEyes]

I've sat, I've waited, I've checked the stockpile, I've checked the dwarves' labors, and I've even checked the wiki, but I still can't figure out what's causing this.

Like the title says, my dwarves won't abide by the rules of custom stockpiles, treating them in fact like they aren't there at all.  My stockpile for seeds next to my farm plots is sitting empty, my metal ores/coal stockpile next to my metalsmiths and smelters is likewise barren.  The relevant materials either go to other stockpiles that do allow them (even if the custom stockpile is set to take from that one they just sit there) or, if there are no other stockpiles that allow them (in the case of my metal ores), lie on the ground untended.

So far the only way I've found to get my ore where I need it is to zone a garbage pit over the stockpile then designate it for dumping, but this is incredibly tedious as I have to either:

A) Designate each chunk of ore individually, as it is mined
B) Wait until the mining is finished, then use the stocks menu to designate every chunk of ore on the map for dumping - which would be bearable if it wasn't so horribly inefficient thanks to every dwarf in my fortress suddenly climbing over each other to carry the ore back.  They're constantly dropping it, other jobs go neglected, etc.  Then once the dumping is done I have to reclaim every single chunk of ore.  So they'll use it.

Can anyone help me with this?  I really hate having to play like this, as being able to use custom stockpiles would make my base ten times more efficient.

[erendor]

Not sure about your stockpile problem, but if you press -[d]esignate->->[d]umping, you can area-mark for dumping.  D-b-c marks for reclaimation.

[Fossaman]

Have you tried using the 'Take from stockpile' command? I forget specific keystrokes and such right now, but it lets you order a stockpile to receive items from another stockpile.

Link to the wiki: Taking from a stockpile

[CrazyEyes]

The relevant materials either go to other stockpiles that do allow them (even if the custom stockpile is set to take from that one they just sit there)

 

And the designate for dumping/reclamation thingy will help loads while I get this sorted out.

[warwizard]

   The z stocks menu lets you reclaim items as well, go to stones then move highlight to the materials and you'll see an F (bright white if all of that stone type has been forbidden, dingy if some is forbidden and some not) pressing f will toggle forbid/reclaim on the items. Can be used prior to making a stockpile to only allow a few types to even be touched.

   Watch for the number of pending jobs, only the first 255 jobs seem to be listed, and the dwarves may need to work through some of that backlog of jobs before new stockpile jobs start showing up for the custom pile.

warwizard

[CrazyEyes]

Never mind, I figured it out.

Apparently the additional options actually matter - "Allow Plant/Animal" and "Allow Non-Plant/Animal" were both turned off, essentially meaning that nothing was allowed to be stored there, despite it being specifically designated for specific storage.

Oh well.  Now I know, and they're using it perfectly.

[galmud]

Good you figured it out. Custom stockpiles is one of the best features available and it works great. Dunno what I'd do without it

[Fanghorn]

Phew. Thanks to this post even i figured how to use custom stockpiles properly.

[Derakon]

Generally I make custom stockpiles by using one of the existing basic stockpiles (e.g. for seeds, a food stockpile) and then turning off everything I don't want in the stockpile. I've yet to have this go wrong for me.