How long does a Sim live in The Sims 4?

On the normal setting, a Sim lives about 132 Sim days at the least. On the short setting, about 66 days. On the long setting, about 528 days. These totals are our sums of the table below. They include the minimum length of the Elder stage.

The table comes from one source, TheGamer, updated on December 26, 2024. We opened it on October 9, 2026. We found no EA page with the same numbers, so check the timer in your own game. You read this on the LifeSim blog. We make a browser life sim, and we say where our game does not fit.

The lengths are in Sim days. The “+” on the Elder row means “at least”.

TheGamer says that the short setting halves each stage, and that the long setting more than triples it. In the table, the long setting is four times the normal setting in every row. The short setting is half of the normal setting in every row.

Other guides give different numbers. A search for this topic returns several guides, and their tables do not match. We did not open them, so we do not list their numbers. If your game shows a different length, believe your game.

The setting changes the length of every life stage by the same ratio. A short life is a fast life. A long life gives your Sims time to learn skills, to raise a family, and to finish a career.

Short

A short life suits a legacy challenge, where you play many generations. Each generation takes fewer Sim days. Your Sims do not have time to reach the top of a skill, so plan your days.

Normal

The normal setting is the middle choice. A Young Adult has 28 days, and an Adult has 42 days, in the table above.

Long

A long life suits a player who wants one family for a long time. For the skills that fill the days, read Sims 4 skills.

We could not confirm the exact menu path of the setting in a source that we opened. TheGamer says only that you change the life stage “in the game’s settings”. Look for the lifespan option in the game options of your own game.

TheGamer names four things.

• The traits Active and Long-Lived make the Elder stage longer.
• Aging pauses while a Sim is pregnant.
• A Potion of Youth resets the current life stage.
• You can turn aging off. You then age a Sim by hand with a birthday cake.

The pause during pregnancy matters for a family plan. For the steps of a pregnancy, read how to have a baby in The Sims 4.

TheGamer says: “An Elder Sim will die of natural causes within a few days of the minimum being hit.” The “+” values in the table are minimums. The Elder stage varies from Sim to Sim.

Hard physical activity can cause a death sooner. TheGamer includes woohoo in that group. If you want to keep a Sim for a long time, do not push an Elder Sim hard.

A Sim who dies can come back as a ghost in some cases. Read how to become a ghost in The Sims 4 and how to bring a Sim back to life.

Pick the setting by the way that you want to play. This is our advice. It is not an EA rule.

• You play for a full family tree: pick short.
• You play a normal life with a balance: pick normal.
• You want one Sim to do everything: pick long, or turn aging off.

We did not find a source on what happens when you change the setting in a save that already has Sims. Make a copy of your save first. See the Sims 4 save file location.

In The Sims 4, a whole life takes from about 66 to about 528 Sim days, by our sums. The game fixes the length of each stage.

LifeSim makes a different choice. The clock in LifeSim runs on its own, a day at a time, and you live one life in one real city. We do not publish a life length as a number of days in this post, because we did not verify one for it. If you want a life that you can finish in a short time, with fixed stages, The Sims 4 gives you that. LifeSim is slower.

For the difference between the two games, read LifeSim vs The Sims. For a life that ends in minutes, read games like BitLife.

How many days is an Adult in The Sims 4?

On the normal setting, 42 Sim days, per TheGamer. On short, 21. On long, 168.

How do you stop Sims from aging?

Turn aging off in the settings. You then age a Sim with a birthday cake.

Does a Potion of Youth add years?

TheGamer says that it resets the current life stage.

Do Sims age when you are not playing them?

We found no source that we could open on this point. Check your game settings for the aging options.

Use the table to plan. These sums are our arithmetic on the numbers of TheGamer. They are not EA numbers.

A Sim who becomes a parent as a Young Adult has the Adult stage to raise a child. On the normal setting, that is up to 70 days for the Young Adult and Adult stages together. Aging pauses during pregnancy, so the pregnancy does not use these days.

We opened one page with the table: the TheGamer guide. We did not match it with a second source or with a game that we ran. That is the weak point of this post.

We did not check these points.

• The numbers in a running game, on each lifespan setting.
• Whether a pack or a patch changed the lengths after December 26, 2024.
• The menu path of the setting.
• What the settings for automatic aging do for households that you do not play.

To check a length yourself, start a new Sim and count the Sim days until the Sim ages up. Compare the count with the table. If the numbers differ, trust your game and tell us.

• TheGamer: The Sims 4, every life stage and how long they last