Two Dwellers getting along in Fallout Shelter.
Image via Bethesda

How to get more Dwellers in Fallout Shelter

Getting more Dwellers is key to ensure your Vault's survival.

Soon after setting foot into Fallout Shelter, you’ll want your vault humming with activity. While you can get away with only a few people initially, you need to get more Dwellers in Fallout Shelter for further progression.

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Having a healthy vault population is essential for success in Fallout Shelter. Dwellers are the lifeblood of your vault, manning your resource rooms, defending against threats, and exploring the Wasteland for vital supplies. With a limited number of dwellers, you’ll find it challenging to keep up with Fallout Shelter’s demands. Resource production will be slow, your vault will be vulnerable to attacks, and venturing into the Wasteland will become risky.

How do you increase the number of Dwellers in Fallout Shelter?

Inside of a Vault in Fallout Shelter.
Grow your society. Image via Bethesda Softworks

The most straightforward way to get more Dwellers in Fallout Shelter is assigning a male and female dweller to Living Quarters.

You can essentially play matchmaker and watch them bond. However, picking suitable candidates may be a complex process at times. You’ll need to choose individuals that aren’t related to each other. Dwellers with high Charisma tend to find love faster, speeding up the baby-making process. It’s important to plan for the future by building enough Living Quarters to accommodate newborns. More dwellers means more mouths to feed, so you must carefully manage your food and water sources.

There are also alternative methods when it comes to increasing the number of Dwellers in Fallout Shelter:

  • Build a Radio Studio and assign a dweller with high Charisma to broadcast and attract new residents to your vault.
  • Lunchboxes offer a chance to expand your vault with legendary dwellers. You can get Lunchboxes by maintaining 100 percent dweller happiness for a week, completing specific tasks and quests, sending dwellers out to explore the Wasteland, or buying them from the game store.
  • When you send your Dwellers to the Wasteland, they can also encounter potential recruits, and you may rescue or recruit Dwellers after completing certain quests.

How often do new Dwellers arrive in Fallout Shelter?

A Knight running in Fallout Shelter.
You’ll get to explore various parts of the game during the search. Image via Bethesda

If you have a Radio Station in your shelter, you can expect new Dwellers to arrive every six to 12 hours. The time it takes for recruits to find you will decease when you upgrade your station and assign your most charming residents to spread the word about your thriving vault.


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Gökhan is a Staff Writer and Fortnite Lead at Dot Esports. Gökhan graduated as an industrial engineer in 2020 and has since been with Dot Esports. As a natural-born gamer, he honed his skills to a professional level in Dota 2. Upon giving up on the Aegis of Champions in 2019, Gökhan started his writing career, covering all things gaming, while his heart remains a lifetime defender of the Ancients.