“Summons Chester when picked up. Chester will follow the holder. While Chester is alive, the eye will be open.”
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The Eye Bone is an item that spawns Chester in Don't Starve. It is a naturally spawned item that is possible to find anywhere on the map, typically lying on the ground near a cobblestone road. In order to obtain the Eye Bone early on one must find a cobblestone road; and follow it to a Grasslandsbiome surrounded by Beehives and Ponds. Note: there are cases where it is not found in the Grasslands biome. In this case it will spawn randomly near the player in a Marsh biome.
Once spawned, Chester will continue to follow the player as long as the Eye Bone is in their inventory. The Eye Bone can be dropped on the ground or placed inside Chester to make him stop following the player.
At night or in the Ruins, Chester will sleep until enough distance separates him and the Eye Bone. If Chester is killed, he will drop all stored items, and the Eye Bone will no longer open its eye (it remains closed). The eyelid will reopen after Chester respawns in one day.
Splumonkeys will not steal the Eye Bone and Eyeplants will not eat it. Krampus can only steal the Eye Bone if it's in a Backpack. The Eye Bone cannot be teleported with the player via Wooden Thing (it will turn to Ashes upon arrival to the next world).
As long as Webber is the one carrying the Eye Bone, spiders will not attack Chester. This does not apply to the Spider Queen, or the spiders spawned by her.
Narwalrus Eye Bone Eye Bone bound with Narwalrus Chester
(associated with: )
Woolly Eye Bone Eye Bone bound with Woolly Chester
(associated with: )
Twisted Eye Bone It looks like it has a bone to pick with you.
(associated with: )
Trivia
Chester and the Eye Bone were added in the Spoiled Rotten update.
The eye on the bone might belong to Chester. This could explain why it closes when Chester dies and the reason for him to follow the player.
An Eye Bone spawned via Console will only spawn Chester one time.
It is possible to get multiple functioning Chesters with the console, first by spawning a Chester without the Eye Bone (he will run away instead of following if the player gets close), then using the console to get another Eye Bone. This will cause the skittish Chester to connect to that particular Eye Bone and begin following it as normal.
In DST, Eye Bone will sink in the water, however, it will return to the coast.