While exploring the Commonwealth in Fallout 4, you’ll have many opportunities to switch companions. Some are more useful in certain situations than others. This, unfortunately, can lead to a companion getting losing their way. I’ve noticed this most distressingly with my beloved doggo companion. In this guide, I’ll tell you how to find a lost Dogmeat, as well as other NPCs that may vanish.
How to Find a Lost Dogmeat in Fallout 4
It can be hard to find a lost Dogmeat in Fallout 4 if you don’t know where to look. Once when I lost him, he returned to the gas stations south of Sanctuary. But another time, he completely disappeared (even though I know I sent him to Sanctuary). Regardless of the situation, you’ll want to:
- Check Doghouses.
- Use Console Commands.
Check Doghouses for a Lost Dogmeat
If you’re on PlayStation or Xbox consoles, this is your only hope to find a lost Dogmeat. He can somehow end up in the game’s dog houses. There are several of them in Sanctuary. I thought I had found them all, but in the image below, the green dot (aiming reticle) is pointing at the location of a doghouse I didn’t know existed — where I found my faithful companion. It’s behind the yellow crafting house toward the bridge.
Use Console Commands on PC
You can also find a lost Dogmeat by using console commands on PC. Bring up the console by clicking the Tilde (~) key on your keyboard. It’s usually to the left of the “1” key and above Tab. This console has a wealth of power, but we just need a few things.
- We need the ID of Dogmeat and a way to get him to you. This will work with other NPCs if they somehow get lost.
- For a complete list of companions and their IDs check out our companion list with their in-game IDs. You can then use the process below to summon them back to you!
Recover a Lost Dogmeat or Other Companion
We can confirm that the Dogmeat ID is 0001d162
- Open up the Console by typing Tilde (~)
- Type ‘prid 0001d162’
- Hit Return/Enter
- Type ‘moveto player’
- Hit Return/Enter
- Hit Tilde (~) again to close the console
- Dogmeat will shoot at you like he’s being magically summoned
- Travel the Commonwealth with your Dogmeat
How to Find the ID or Base ID of other NPCs
Players refer to this by different names, but base ID and ID are roughly equivalent. You may have to load a previous save where the NPC or object was still accessible. Then do the following:
- Open up the Console with Tilde (~)
- Click on the NPC
- A string will appear like this (000d0e9b), indicating the ID, but NPCs will have extra info after them like this [ER].
The string inside the () is the ID. NPCs usually have brackets after them indicating a type of something similar – they may look like this (000d0e9b[ER]) with another bit in brackets after the ID. The ID is still just 000d0e9b. If the NPC indicator brackets are not after the NPC, you’ve probably clicked the wrong thing. Keep clicking around until you get the NPC indicator. You can now login to your broken save and follow the same steps as those outlined above for Dogmeat.
That’s how to find a lost Dogmeat in Fallout 4.Â
