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[OPEN] Sims sit somewhere else or stand instead of eating at table

by MavandClide

Original Post

Re: [OPEN] Sims sit somewhere else or stand instead of eating at table

★★★ Apprentice

My sims usually stand in front of the fridge when I use the round 6 seater tables. If I use the rectangle tables, my sims will go sit down at the table.

Message 21 of 41 (546 Views)


[ Edited ]
★★★★ Newbie

I had this problem too a while back, but somehow it stopped. Ditzy me forgot why and how until this latest patch came out and I removed all my mods. It took me while but I did some research and figured out why all of a sudden my sims were standing at the fridge or wherever to eat instead of sitting at a table or whatnot. So here's my solution...


Unfortunately, for people who don't like mods, this solution is something you may not like. But this really awesome person named CoolSpear created a mod called "Prefer to Eat at Dining Table" and it works wanders for this annoyance. The best part about it, it still works after the latest patch (6/16/2019). You can find the mod here: Simsasylum, Prefer to eat at dining table.


I hope this helps!


Happy Simming!


<removed mod link. Please only name mods at AHQ>

Message 22 of 41 (454 Views)

Sims do not sit down to eat.

★★★★ Novice

Product: The Sims 4
Which language are you playing the game in? English
What is your current game version number? 1.52
What expansions, game packs, and stuff packs do you have installed? I own all packs for the Sims 4.
Steps: How can we find the bug ourselves? Direct a sim to eat food.
What happens when the bug occurs? Sims do not autonomously sit down to eat their food. They stand in front of the refrigerator instead.
What do you expect to see? I expect a sim grab their food and find the nearest available table or other seating.

I've only recently returned to playing TS4 so I'm not sure how recent this issue is. But whenever I direct sims to eat food or grab leftovers, 9 times out of 10 they opt to stand instead of finding a table or other sensible seating. I've done all of the usual, repairing the game, removing mods, resetting the change. While this bug doesn't make the game unplayable, it is really annoying. Of course I can direct my sims to sit but this becomes a hassle with larger households and sims outside of my control.

Message 23 of 41 (408 Views)

Re: Sims do not sit down to eat.

★★★★ Novice

Guessing there is not fix for this besides the mod? Or I'm the only one having this problem?

Message 24 of 41 (344 Views)

Re: Sims do not sit down to eat.

★★★ Guide

Unfortunately, no fix, and no you're not the only one with this problem @xitneverendss.


I don't have many problems nowadays with Sims standing while eating, but they always block the fridge while drinking. Coolspear hasn't updated his mods for the recent patch yet (actually he's still testing his updates at the moment), but his mod works great to get everyone eating at the dining table.

I'd strongly suggest checking his mods out. You'll need to register though at Sims Asylum before you can browse the forum or download anything.

Message 25 of 41 (334 Views)


★★ Apprentice

It hasn't really bothered me, but since it's been mentioned, it is indeed happening with me too.

Message 26 of 41 (299 Views)


★★★ Apprentice

I've been setting the table with my latest Sim. He eats at the table most of the time now. He only stands when the table has not been set. (I think Set the Table is from Parenting)

Message 27 of 41 (280 Views)

Re: Sims do not sit down to eat.

★★★★ Novice

Having the same issue. I only noticed this after installing the new Island Living expansion. Before this my sims have been eating on table nicely, but now they tend to stay next to fridge quite often.


@SimGuruIcarus I assume this still needs saves as it is marked [open] and the issue seems to have popped up again? Here's link to my save game where sims tend to eat standing up next to fridge.

Message 28 of 41 (261 Views)

Re: Sims do not sit down to eat.

[ Edited ]
★★★ Apprentice

I haven't had much trouble with sims eating before, but lately, they are acting up. I tell them to go get leftovers/quick meals, and they will grab it and then just stand in front of the fridge while eating. Of course blocking anyone else that needs to grab a meal. This happens even if the table set, which my good mannered (usually anyway, and IF they have the trait) sims will do autonomously when someone is cooking a meal.


ETA: I've been doing some testing with "table setup". I thought maybe the chairs were too close together, so the sims couldn't sit down on the middle ones. I have a long dining table with 3 chairs on each side. I moved the chairs around to 1 on each short end, and 2 on each long end (if that makes sense....) There were still placemats by 2 of the chairs, the ones in the middle of each side. Told a sim to grab some food, and he actually sat down straight away, where the table was set from earlier. And now the second sim also sat down with no problems, by the last placemat. Now with no more table setting, my third sim also sat down by the table to eat. I didn't have to micro-micro manage any of them.

Message 29 of 41 (215 Views)


[ Edited ]
★★★★ Novice

I've noticed that this problem seems to be when they are taking a serving of food from a serving plate, like a grand meal, family meal, or something grilled. If my sim cooks a single serve meal, he almost always sits down. But if he grabs a serving from a larger plate, he virtually never sits down. Even if it's a plate inside his inventory, same problem. And on a similar note, I don't know if it's a feature or not, but I really hate the fact that when grilling, my sim just drops the food in his inventory now instead of putting on a table. I really don't see any advantage to this; just more clicking to avoid spoiled food in inventory.

Message 30 of 41 (187 Views)

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