Checked on 21 October 2026 against Update 6.0 (build 0.10.0.653173), Steam app 1783560 by Channel37.

This is a fan wiki page about The Last Caretaker. The Update 6 patch notes contain no line about racks, pods, seeds or growth [S10]. Channel37's support page was last updated on 8 September 2026, before Update 6 [S1]. Timer lengths, power and water figures and growth minutes below come from players, videos or the community wiki; none is official.

Short answer.

  1. Put a human seed in a Lazarus Pod and seat the pod in a rack with power and fresh water [S11].
  2. Food mostly sets the physical stats and memories mostly set the mental ones [S23][S12]. Durandian says "the mind search actually gives intellect" at [21:12] [S13].
  3. Channel37 says the rack starts growing on its own once the minimums are met, and you can pause it with E to add more [S1].
  4. Track a profession to see its bar. Hitting the full bar does not guarantee that profession; players disagree on why [S16][S18].

What the rack needs

The community wiki lists the smallest possible human as 20 kg, 30 cm and 10 years of life expectancy. It also lists power, fresh water, memories and food as requirements [S11]. FerroCentric on the Steam forum (9 May 2026) on the first human: "There are no memory requirements, just these physical requirements:" weight 20, height 30, life expectancy 10 [S23].

The wiki gives the cost as "Power required: 10.0 kWh" and 10,000 L of water [S11]. Channel37 has published no figure for either.

If the rack says No Power, it may be water, not power. Setting up the rack's power and water is on the Lazarus power and water page.

Items must be on you, not in nearby storage:

  • zombyted (7 December 2025): "Food canisters and memories have to be in your personal inventory when you interact with the pod screens." [S24]
  • Thiesen (12 October 2026, Update 6.0 public beta) complains that the racks "don't obey the proximity of the fortiholds" [S20].

What goes where. ADMNtek (9 May 2026) says memories affect the profession, while weight, height and lifespan come from food [S23]. Shadow (1 May 2026): "each profession has 3 mental requirements that need to be fulfilled" with memories [S15]. Monty's table (8 October 2026, Update 6.0 public beta) lists some professions with four [S19]. Memories don't come back. Steinlutscher (12 October 2026, Update 6.0 public beta): "On top of that, memories are a finite resource and don't respawn." [S20]

Using the rack panel

Sgt DangerCow's video "Easy Guide on How to Grow Humans" walks through the panel [S12]:

  • At [1:13]–[1:22], E opens your inventory, then "hit Q to place one of those things into" the rack [S12].
  • At [1:47], to pick a profession you "want to grow, hit H. Then you can scroll" [S12].
  • At [1:51], "Once you found the human you want, hit E" to track it. The prediction then shows only that profession [S12].
  • At [1:42], requirements show as question marks if you haven't grown that profession before [S12]. Durandian shows the same in a video at [7:33]–[8:23] [S13].

Fill the bar. Sgt DangerCow aims to get "this bar up to 100%" with memories first, then food, and saves before starting ([2:37], [3:28]) [S12]. Durandian shows that each requirement lights "up from red to white" once enough points are in ([9:37]) [S13]. Racks can be started below 100%. Durandian's Systems Engineer at 63% stopped partway: "will stop. Okay? And this will be an unsuccessful" grow ([22:17]) [S13].

Starting and pausing. Channel37's support page lists the "Lazarus rack starting human growth phase automatically after minimum requirements have been met" as a cause of trouble. Its fix: "The growth phase can be paused by pressing E once it starts, then add more food and memories to the rack" [S1].

  • hobbes6598 (17 January 2026): "the human starts growing immediately after meeting the min height/weight/life requirements." [S22]
  • Foxen (11 January 2026) once got a human with no profession because "the damn lazarus rack suddenly started growing the human while I was adding items." [S31]
  • The Igmo (17 January 2026) adds that "it seems like you don't get the full boost from the items that are being consumed when you pause." So The Igmo adds cheap items first [S22].

In Sgt DangerCow's video, by contrast, E starts the growth ([3:45]) [S12].

Growth time. Update 3 (18 March 2026): "Human growth now uses a dynamic growth time instead of a fixed duration." [S3] Before that, a player said 10 minutes per human (Delle(DK), 21 December 2025) [S35]. Durandian's video also says "You have 10 minutes for making the baby" at [21:57] [S13], so it may be from before Update 3. The wiki gives a formula: 1 minute for one item, 2 minutes for 8, then "Adds 10 seconds / item after 8" [S11]. The only later timing in the sources checked is one video, covered on the artifacts page.

The profession can change during growth. Sgt DangerCow: the job under the traits moves as it grows, "But, when it hits about 90%," that is what you get ([3:54]) [S12]. Shadow: "Majority of the recipes will show the profession I want during the cooking but will change at the very end." [S15] Chindian (10 October 2026, Update 6.0 public beta) says to let it finish before reloading [S19].

Why you got the wrong profession

Players give five different rules:

ClaimWho and when
"The rack will allways grow the human (with 100% chance!) that ist shown in the first position of the list."Foxen, 23 March 2026 [S16]
Untrack first: "before cooking the human, I untrack it and see how many 100% I have (usually 2 or 3)." Then adjust until the target is firstTangoblue, 5 April 2026 [S17]
"if you have 100% chance on the trait / job you are tracking and also happened to have 100% chance on another, then its really 50-50."gamedex, 23 March 2026 [S16]
Three candidates at 100% gives a "33% chance of being any of those three."Durandian video, [36:30] [S13]
"Final profession is randomly selected from valid matches, favoring higher-tier matches."community wiki [S11]

Two players also dispute what the percentage means:

  • Shadow (1 May 2026): "The percentage at the professions is not a chance calculator but a simple "progress bar"". Shadow calls the highlight "only a little help" with no effect on the result [S15].
  • ADMNtek (9 May 2026) uses a few memories to see "a percentage value of how likely you are to get a certain type." [S23]

Reports of a tracked profession that still went wrong:

  • watermonster (5 April 2026): "I've tried twice to grow a Maintenance Engineer and keep getting Door jammer and yes I tacked both times 100% Maintenance Engineer." [S17]
  • rickckelley (15 October 2026, Update 6.0 public beta) asks Channel37 to make a tracked 100% always win, after "25 different repeats", saving before every grow [S18].
  • BrownKodo (28 June 2026): "if power fails or water fails for even a moment then the human that comes out is random." [S21] BrownKodo is the only one who says this.

What players do about it.

  • Monty (13 October 2026, Update 6.0 public beta): "Try and only do exactly what the teacher needs. Nothing more or less." [S19] This was the reply to RogueRaptor (11 October 2026, Update 6.0 public beta), who reported getting a Manual Holder every time for five days despite the exact teacher specs and tracking [S19].
  • Thiesen (12 October 2026, Update 6.0 public beta): give the bare minimum so the stats just turn white [S20].
  • Tumbling Dice (6 April 2026): "The tracker obscures the effects of what you add to similar professions", so save first and watch the whole run [S17].
  • rickckelley (15 October 2026, Update 6.0 public beta) uses the save point "near the growth racks inside of the Lazarus facility" [S18].

Going past 200. The wiki says that above 200, further additions to an attribute get a decay penalty [S11]. Shadow's numbers for life expectancy: 5 Ultimate Genesis gives 200 years, and "6 Ultimate genesis -> 209 years" [S15]. A hotfix in November 2025 "Corrected diminishing-return display for human growth results." [S4]

The Oath Token's effect on growing is on the artifacts page.

Seed timers and lost seeds

Its November 2025 hotfix "Added scan text for the Human Seed that shows the current timer." [S4] Scan the seed to see it. What players report:

  • The wiki says a removed seed must be in a pod in a powered, watered rack "within 2 hours. If not, the seed expires and becomes unusable." [S11]
  • Andromèdá found it "so it stayed at 2 hours." on 20 October 2026 [S27].
  • An older Durandian video says "You only have one hour to bring" a seed back ([0:53]) [S13].
  • cn_lees (19 October 2026): "Currently, both Lazarus pod and Human seed have" 2-hour timers [S25].

What happens at zero. Durandian's "Master Class" video at [0:42]: the "seed will fade into nothingness." [S14] HarleyDoc (17 January 2026) lost two seeds that way [S22].

Timer still running in the rack. Durandian points at "See that 2 hour that's not changing." ([7:02]) once the pod is running [S14]. If it keeps counting down in a running rack, Channel37's advice is "Save and reload, check Lazarus rack, pod and seed" [S1].

Resetting it. Channel37 only covers seeds that escaped: "If they are floating, return them to the reserve to reset and stop the countdown" [S1]. The wiki says putting a seed back in a vault resets it, but "This reset method only works if the seed has NOT been placed in a Lazarus Pod yet." [S11] sunwing (18 October 2026, Update 6.0 public beta, in German) says a running timer can be reset by putting the seed back into a cooling chamber or storing it there. Serrel (18 March 2026) wrote: "plug it into the caretaker a minute and the timer will reset." [S24]

Seeds that vanish. Channel37: "Lazarus pods and seeds are attracted to each other" and a seed can bug and disappear. So "Always carry a seed to pod, never a pod to a seed" and "Have space between pods so the seed is only attracted to one pod" [S1]. Seeds can also escape a reserve and float on the sea. "If they are gone, reach out to support via email or Discord and we can spawn missing seeds for you" [S1].

Carrying seeds and pods in Update 6

Update 6 changed what you can carry on your back; the official wording is on the update history page. Players disagree on seeds and pods:

  • Target (15 October 2026, Update 6.0 public beta): "as of now, you cannot carry a Laz pod with a SEED in it, but you can carry one with a Human in it." [S28]
  • Marvin (19 October 2026, after release): "as of 6.0 we can carry 1 seed/pod on our backpack" [S25].
  • cn_lees (19 October 2026): "try picking up the item and pressing the V key (for PC)." [S29]

The two posts are four days apart, beta versus release, so this may be a version difference.

  • Ladders. hocapri (20 October 2026): "The pod can be spun (F) to three different positions. Only one position does the pod go up the ladder." [S29]
  • Seeds from underwater reserves. Juggernaut (19 October 2026) releases them outside the dome: "They float to the surface next to your boat, while you repeat with the others." [S29] Gecko-[GER] (17 October 2026, Update 6.0 public beta, in German) builds pods at the reserve and lets them rise [S26].
  • Four at once. uhnother (22 September 2026, before Update 6): "Did you realize you can put 4 seeds on a metal plate and move all four into the Hall of Humanity at the same time" [S25].

Rack problems and their fixes

Requirements stuck at 0. Mihau (11 January 2026) saw "Weight requirement (0/20) not met" with everything loaded [S22]. WarDog was still seeing it on 6 June 2026: "save the game, exit game and load again." [S22] Channel37's support page gives the same fix: "Remove the food and memories from the Lazarus rack, save and reload, try again" [S1].

Rack stops at once and gives a blank human (October 2026). Tenro (20 October 2026), on two racks: "the rack instantly stops and spits out a human with 0 in everything." Tenro adds: "I submitted a bug report ages ago for it (back before update 4)." The post says "I have tried all the 'Unplug, Save and reload' tricks" without success [S30].

Capsule taken apart in the rack. This one is on the Update 6 known issues page. Thiesen's advice from that thread: "NEVER leave Lazarus with pods In the racks...." [S27]

Fixes Channel37 has shipped:

DateFix
14 November 2025"Fixed Lazarus rack state fallback issues." [S4]
12 January 2026"Fixed an issue where Lazarus pod seeds could disappear when attachment failed." [S5]
11 February 2026"Fixed the Lazarus Pod causing seeds to disappear if grabbed during seed generation" [S6]
11 February 2026"Fixed Basketballs / Bowling Balls / Bowling Pins providing no noticeable bonuses in Human Growth" [S6]
15 April 2026Hologram and pod issues, "pod tracking, and save-related power problems." [S7]
24 June 2026"Fixed human seed interaction and recycling issues." [S8]
31 August 2026"Fixed Lazarus Pods being grabbable while being attached to a rack." [S9]

How many seeds there are

The player figures come from different versions and may not count the same thing:

  • Steinlutscher (12 October 2026, Update 6.0 public beta): "As of version 5.5, there are only around 85 human seeds available to breed in the game." [S20]
  • Gecko-[GER] (18 October 2026, Update 6.0 public beta, in German) says more than 120, with 41 needed [S26].
  • crholt1 (15 October 2026, Update 6.0 public beta) counts humans already in orbit: "I have 125 in orbit. Are their more seeds than that ?" [S34]

Sending humans to orbit is on the Exodus and rocket page. Which professions the council needs is on the council and committees page.

Sources and version

Checked on 2026-10-21 against Update 6.0 (build 0.10.0.653173)