You're standing in the Sunlit Plateau, staring at a patch of dirt where a glowing rock should be. It’s frustrating. You’ve unlocked Mother Gothel, you’ve reached friendship level 10, and you’re ready to wrap up the "The Sunstone Fragments" quest, but the game isn't cooperating. Honestly, restoring the sunstone Dreamlight Valley is one of the most notoriously finicky tasks in the entire game because it relies on real-world clock synchronization. If your internal timing is off, or if you're the type of player who dabbles in "time traveling" to speed up your crop growth, you're going to hit a wall.
It’s not just a simple fetch quest. This is a multi-stage ordeal that requires patience, a bit of geological hunting, and a weirdly specific understanding of how Gameloft defines "morning," "midday," and "night." Most players get stuck because they expect the fragments to appear just because the quest is active. That's not how it works. You have to be in the right place at the exact right hour.
Finding the Fragments Without Losing Your Mind
Mother Gothel is demanding. We know this. To kick off the process of restoring the sunstone Dreamlight Valley, she sends you after three specific shards scattered across the map. The catch? They only exist during specific windows of time based on your local console or PC clock.
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The Morning Fragment is located in the Sunlit Plateau. You’ll usually find it near the river, specifically along the winding path on the eastern side. "Morning" in Dreamlight Valley generally spans from 5:00 AM to 11:00 AM. If you show up at 11:05 AM, it’s gone. It’s literally buried in the code to despawn.
Next is the Midday Fragment. Head over to the Glade of Trust. Look near the base of the massive willow tree (Gothel’s house). This one is available between 11:00 AM and 5:00 PM. It’s probably the easiest one to snag because most people are playing during these hours anyway. It glows with a bright, yellowish hue that’s hard to miss against the murky purple of the swamp.
Then there’s the Night Fragment. This is the one that ruins sleep schedules. You need to go to the Forest of Valor. Check the area near Anna and Kristoff’s library or the icy heights entrance. This fragment spawns after 8:00 PM and stays until 5:00 AM. If you're a morning person, this is your biggest hurdle.
The Time Travel Warning
Let’s be real for a second. If you have ever changed the time on your Nintendo Switch or PC to skip ahead in a game like Animal Crossing, you might have effectively "bricked" this quest. Dreamlight Valley’s servers track your claimable items. If the game thinks it’s 2026 but your console says 2024, the sunstone fragments often simply refuse to spawn. The only real fix is to set your time to "Automatic" and wait for the real world to catch up to the furthest date you ever skipped to. It's a pain.
The Cooking Phase: Gleaming and Grinding
Once you’ve actually gathered these three shards, you don't just hand them over. Mother Gothel wants them restored to their former glory. This is where the quest shifts from a scavenger hunt to a resource grind. You’re going to need to cook these fragments, but not in a pot. You’re using the "Heat of the Sun."
You'll need:
- The three fragments you just found.
- 10 pieces of Coal Ore (easily mined from any rock spot).
- 1 piece of Citrine (found in the Sunlit Plateau or Glade of Trust).
- 1 piece of Iron Ingot (crafted from 5 Iron Ore and 1 Coal).
The Citrine is the bottleneck for most people. If you’ve been selling all your gems to Goofy to pay for house upgrades, you might find yourself mining for an hour just to get one orange sparkler. Pro tip: Bring a mining companion. It doubles your chances of a gem drop, and you’ll need the extra iron anyway for future quests with Olaf or Scar.
Restoring the Sunstone Dreamlight Valley: The Final Ritual
After you’ve "cooked" the fragments at a crafting station, Gothel gives you the Gleaming Sunstone. But wait, it’s still not over. The sunstone is "cold." To finish restoring the sunstone Dreamlight Valley, you have to plant it. Yes, plant a stone.
Head back to the Sunlit Plateau. There’s a specific spot near the bridge that overlooks the waterfall. Dig a hole, drop the Gleaming Sunstone in, and water it.
Now, we wait.
This isn't like growing a carrot. The stone takes approximately 24 hours to "ripen" under the sun of the Plateau. Some players report it taking up to 48 hours if they forget to water it a second time. If the ground looks dry, hit it with your watering can. If you have the "Miracle Growth Elixir" applied to your can, it doesn't actually speed this up as much as you’d hope, so just be prepared for a real-time wait.
When it’s ready, the icon on your map will change, or you’ll see a bright golden glow emanating from the dirt. Harvest it, bring it back to the giant willow, and you’ve finally finished the quest line.
Why This Quest Matters for the Late Game
Completing this isn't just about satisfying Gothel’s ego. It’s a prerequisite for high-level friendship rewards and moves the overarching "Forgetting" plot forward. Without the Sunstone, the balance of the Plateau remains skewed, which affects the spawning rates of certain rare fish like the Walleye.
Troubleshooting Common Glitches
Sometimes, you do everything right and the game still bugs out. Here is what actually works when the fragments aren't appearing:
- The "Refresh" Method: If it's 9:00 AM and the Morning Fragment isn't in the Plateau, enter a house (like Mickey's or your own) and come back out. This forces the map to reload assets.
- The Quest Tracking Tweak: Make sure the quest is "tracked" in your menu. Occasionally, the game’s logic for spawning quest-specific items doesn't trigger unless the quest is active in your HUD.
- The Graphics Check: The Night Fragment in the Forest of Valor is notoriously dim. Turn your brightness up. It often hides behind the thick clusters of birch trees near the cavern entrance.
Honestly, the most common "glitch" is just a misunderstanding of the time windows. Gameloft uses a 24-hour clock. If you’re playing at 4:30 PM, you are in the "Midday" window, but you’re dangerously close to the cutoff. If you start the quest at 4:55 PM, you might find the fragment disappears right in front of you.
Moving Forward in the Valley
Now that you’ve handled the Sunstone, you’ve cleared a major hurdle in Mother Gothel’s story. Your next steps should be focusing on the Forgotten Lands. The Sunstone quest acts as a soft gate; once it's done, you'll find that interacting with the darker magic in the Valley becomes significantly easier.
Keep your Iron Ingots stockpiled. You’re going to need dozens of them for the upcoming quests involving the clock tower and various furniture repairs for the other villagers. If you haven't already, start a chest specifically for "Quest Materials" like Hardwood, Gold Nuggets, and Dream Shards. It’ll save you hours of grinding when the next update hits.
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Check your map for the golden harvest icon every morning. Once that Sunstone is pulled from the ground, the quest is officially in the bag.