So I've set up the beacon, I turn it on and I leave it for a day. No one comes in. Does It take longer than that? Or is it because My defenses are low? Or is this just a bug? I should also mention that I have charisma 10 and the current population is 6.

I usually have them showing up right away. Does the settlement have any available beds, crops or water? If not just plop down a water pump somewhere, plant some crops and build a couple beds. They should show up pretty quickly.

40 water, 10 beds, 9 food. Why this is happening is beyond me

Usually there will be at least 1 or 2 new settlers within about 10 minutes real time if you hang out at the settlement regardless of resources. It sometimes takes a day or more game world time for an initial settler. If your character is talking days or weeks in game time, then it may be buggy. I would imagine having enough resources would speed up the influx.

The only other thing I can think of is making sure your signal is connected to power, confirmed by having your pip-boy picking up the local recruitment beacon signal.

yes I'm picking it up.

I believe there is something in the build mode that you can add to it to make the signal stronger. I haven't used but I thought I saw something that did this.


Some settlements take longer than others. My castle has been sitting at 8 for the longest. It's at because I sent people from hangmans alley there. Which I had about 16 settlers there.


Just increase the food, water, and beds but also be ready for attacks.

Ok first off, what boosts the signal? cause I've never heard of anything like that. And 2 I'm trying to grow sanctuary.

probability: word is out around the settlements, and they do NOT look forward to drowning in your 40 Water.

Sarcasm /off

After the initial show-ups, it varies; but the most weighted result is One settler every other day.

Sometimes one a day, sometimes two after a day & a half w/ variables.

speed things up: add broadcasts in other settlements & then tear them down/turn off.

(until patch comes, will probably have to do the restart fix to actually turn them off.

doesnt matter where you want them to "grow"

open the builder, highlight the troopie, send them to whichever settlement you want.

Again I'm not 100% this exist, just that I thought I saw something that did this. If the signal travels further more people will hear it.


Sanctuary I'm up to 15 settlers, I think. I haven't been back there in awhile. It did take awhile for it to grow for me. Try adding stores.

pull people off your plants. assign them as guards or provisioners. that will help attract needed workers to fill roles. can't say if it was that or coincidence, but worked for me once.

Supposedly the limit of settlers you have is your charisma + 10.

However, you should be able to generate settlers. Generally, food and nursing stores raise the happiness of the settlement. You can also ask the settlers if anything is up, by asking them how are things or vice versa. having adequate supplieswill of course generate a higher happiness level. So i think you should explore the wasties a little. Find some supplies for Sanctuary Hills or your armor or hell, even your power armor. It should have some settlers that are willing and able to be at your command.

try turning the beacon off (red light) for a couple of minutes, then turn it back on (green light)...make sure your power is about 5...that worked for me.

Dude its totally random.

Its also going to be based on actual game time allowed to pass.

You cant just go to bed for a week and expect 20 settlers....Cause its based on actual game time passing...I'm not talking about the games clock Im talking about the real minutes you spend playing the game.

I've had it take months of game days for a settlement to cap out....I was spending that time actually building on settlements too.

It seems like certain settlements naturally attract settlers at faster rates. On 2 different playthroughs I couldn't keep up with the number of people showing up at Starlight Drive-in, Hangman's Ally, Tenpines Bluff, and Spectacle Island. Meanwhile Sunshine Trading Co-op stayed stuck at 2 forever even though it has more intact buildings than any settlement but Sancutary.

Jamaica Plain, the Castle, and Sanctuary have always had moderate growth rates.

Everywhere else has been outright slow for me.

It does take time to attract settlers. They don't show up en-mass. I am currently maxing out at around 17-18 settlers and when I turn on a beacon at a new settlement it can take maybe an in-game month or two to get from 0 to 17-18, so sometimes they show up quickly, other times they trickle in. Your experience doesn't sound bugged to me, just be patient. Not sure you can do anything to speed it up.

Also, I know there are a few signal boosters around the commonwealth, but they are not something you can build, you just need to find them and turn them on. Not sure they'll help with settlers though, I think they are for a quest or something (they might help).

Also, I have a bug in my game (and so do others) that when I fast travel away from within the range of one of my settlement recruitment beacons my pip-boy shows the wrong number of settlers, or 0 water, or not enough beds, or any other number of wrong things in relation to settlements. These are wrong of course, since when I travel back there is plenty of water, and beds, and the number of settlers is correct, but as long as I am away the settlement(s) are losing happiness due to the wrongly reported numbers on my pip-boy. So now I have to hoof it far enough away from any recruitment beacons before fast traveling. Just FYI. Something to look forward to.