Disney Dreamlight Valley has a critter system that does more than make your village look adorable. Companions actively help you gather resources while you work, and the Elements of Nature Star Path leans directly into that mechanic with a duty that asks you to collect 25 items found by your critters. The task sounds simple, but there are a few requirements you need to meet first before anything starts dropping.
How do you pick up what your critter finds?
The short answer: you mostly don't have to do anything manually. When a Companion finds a bonus item, it picks the item up on its own. Every one of those auto-collected items counts toward your 25-drop total for the Star Path duty. The real work is in the setup.
Before a critter can find anything for you, your relationship with it needs to reach level four. Below that threshold, Companions won't generate bonus drops at all. Check your bond level with any critter by opening the Collection page, navigating to the Critters tab, and hovering over the Companion you want to inspect.
Disney Dreamlight Valley Guide: How to Pick Up What Your Critter Finds
You can equip up to two Companions at the same time. Running two level-four-or-higher critters that share the same specialization doubles your drop rate and cuts the time needed to reach 25 items significantly.
The key word there is same specialization. Two critters that do different jobs won't stack their drops efficiently. Pair them by role for maximum output.
What can critters find in Disney Dreamlight Valley?
Each critter type is tied to a specific activity. The items they find match whatever you're doing in the world, so your chosen task and your chosen Companions need to line up.
Notable Companions and certain other critters (specific dogs, cats, and similar animals) have unique pickup habits that don't fit neatly into the table above. Always verify via the Collection menu before committing to a pair.
Disney Dreamlight Valley Guide: How to Pick Up What Your Critter Finds
What's the fastest way to complete this duty?
Gardening is the answer. The activity cycles quickly compared to fishing or mining, which means more opportunities for your Companions to trigger bonus drops in a shorter window. Equip two Rabbits (or any Notable Companions who specialize in gardening) at level four or above, plant something, and keep harvesting. The drops accumulate fast.
After testing this against other methods, gardening consistently outpaces digging and foraging for raw drop volume per minute. Fishing works too if your best-bonded critters happen to be Foxes, Sea Turtles, or Crocodiles, but don't force it just because you have a high-level fishing critter available.
Equipping two critters with different specializations won't double your drops for a single activity. A Rabbit and a Raven equipped together while you garden means only the Rabbit contributes bonus gardening drops.
What do you earn for finishing this duty?
Completing the 25-item collection duty rewards 25 Tokens in the Elements of Nature Star Path event. That's enough to make progress, but you'll need to complete several other duties to unlock the higher-tier Star Path rewards. The token economy in these events requires stacking multiple completions.
While you're working through the Star Path, there are other companion-related mechanics worth knowing.
For more Disney Dreamlight Valley walkthroughs and event guides, browse the full guides section to find everything from quest walkthroughs to resource farming tips.