Stardew Valley players that have managed to get as far as the first Winter in the game might have discovered one of the most interesting items in the game: Secret Notes.
These notes will have information on them ranging from villager’s favorite gifts to special treasure maps. You never know what you might find when you read a Secret Note in Stardew Valley.
Recommended Read: How to Get Coal in Stardew Valley
However, one thing players might wonder the first time they find one of these Secret Notes is how to actually read them.
To read Secret Notes in Stardew Valley, players need to place the note in one of the quick slots, equip it, and right-click (Perform Action button).
Table of Contents
- How to Read Secret Notes in Stardew Valley
- How to Get the Magnifying Glass and Secret Notes in Stardew Valley
How to Read Secret Notes in Stardew Valley
Secret Notes work exactly the same as consumable items such as food.
To read Secret Notes in Stardew Valley, you just need to equip them in the hotbar and press the right mouse button (A on Xbox and Nintendo Switch and X on PlayStation).
The player will “use” the Secret Note, and you will read what appears on it. The note will disappear from the inventory and you can find it again in the Secret Notes collections tab in the menu.
You can only read Secret Notes in Stardew Valley once you obtain the Magnifying Glass. Players can only get these items during the Winter.
This means that you probably won’t even know what to do with Secret Notes until you’ve spent at least 3 seasons in the game.
How to Get the Magnifying Glass and Secret Notes in Stardew Valley
Now that you know how to read them, here is how you can get Secret Notes in Stardew Valley.
First, here is how you can unlock the ability to read Secret Notes in the game:
- During Winter, walk toward the Bus Stop from the Farm between 6 AM and 4 PM to get a cutscene with a Shadow Guy.
- Head over to the playground next to the Community Center and interact with the bush where the Shadow Guy is hiding. He will pop out and give you the Magnifying Glass.
Spawn Rates for Secret Notes
Now that you have the Magnifying Glass, we should go over the things that you could do to obtain Secret Notes in Stardew Valley.
There are two checks that the game does to decide if you are going to get a Secret Note when you do something in Stardew Valley.
The first one is based on the action you did. For example, if you harvest a giant crop, there is a 100% chance that you will pass the first check, advancing to the second one.
The second check is based on the amount of Secret Notes you’ve already found.
For example, if you haven’t found any Secret Notes yet, you have an 80% chance of passing the second check. If you are only missing one note, you have a 12% chance of passing it. If you pass both checks, a Secret Note will spawn.
Here are the actions that you can take to trigger the first spawn check for Secret Notes in Stardew Valley:
- Harvest Giant Crops – 100% chance of passing the first check
- Dig Artifact Spot – 11% chance of passing the first check
- Fish – 8% chance of passing the first check
- Cut down a Large Log or Stump / Mine a Large Boulder – 5% chance of passing the first check
- Defeat Monsters – 3.3% chance of passing the first check
- Cut down Weeds – 0.9% chance of passing the first check
- Mine Stone – 0.75% chance of passing the first check
- Cut down Trees – 0.5% chance of passing the first check
Types of Secret Notes
Most Secret Notes will be relatively similar. There are three types of information that they can hold inside:
- List of loved gifts for villagers
- Tips and tasks that can get your rewards
- Hidden treasure maps and puzzles
Since you can generally find what all NPCs like or love using guides, such as this one, you won’t really find a third of the Secret Notes that useful. However, some of them unlock content that you wouldn’t be able to see otherwise.
For example, there is a note that will tell you to bring Maple Syrup into the Secret Woods.
If you do this, you will meet a bear that will teach you the ancient way of selling berries at a higher price.
That’s everything you need to know about how to read Secret Notes in Stardew Valley!
Have any input or suggestions for this guide? Let us know in the comment section below.
