War

Last updated 25 August 2026. Report a discrepancy through the GeoNations Discord.

War is the system used to contest claimed territory. Unclaimed builds do not require a war declaration. See Claiming and regions.

During war, block destruction, TNT, fire, Region bank robbery, and territorial capture are enabled under the settings below.

Declaration and preparation

• You need $5,000 in the attacking Region's bank. Not in your wallet, in the bank. It is a minimum balance, not a fee: nothing is taken when you declare, the game just refuses declarations from broke Regions.
• You declare from /lands: open your Region's relations, set the target as Enemy, and confirm the war declaration. (/wars shows recipes, timers and shields. You do not declare from it.)
• The defender must accept it. The request lands in their chat with a clickable Accept command; they can also deny it from the same prompt, and nothing happens.
• A declaration nobody answers expires after 5 days.
• If they accept, there is 1 day of preparation, then the fighting starts.

Declarations require mutual consent. This prevents a stronger group from forcing a war on a Region that cannot participate and makes the public declaration part of the diplomatic negotiation. Acceptances and denials are visible to the server.

One thing that has not changed: there is no peace mode. No Region can make itself permanently unattackable. If you own land, someone can try to take it.

War shields

Victory points

Nobody has to be wiped out. A war is scored in points, and the first side to reach the target wins. The target is 10 points per player on the smaller side, and never less than 30. A 2v2 is first to 30. A 4v4 is first to 40. A 3v8 is still first to 30, because the smaller side sets the number. Bringing more players does not raise the target.

A capture is worth five times as many points as a player kill. The scoring therefore rewards holding or destroying capture flags, while player combat primarily supports those objectives.

If nobody hits the target, the war times out after 36 hours and whoever is ahead wins. A tie pays nobody. No robbery, no land, and both sides lose the gear they used.

Capture flags

Capture flags are the only thing in the game that moves a border. The recipe is shown in your /wars menu: a red stained glass pane over a beacon over a bottom row of three iron blocks.

• Plant it on the outskirts of the enemy Region — the border chunks. It cannot go deep inside their claim, in wilderness, or where its capture area would overlap another flag's.
• Hold it for 10 minutes to capture it.
• At least one defender must be online before attackers can act inside the Region — capture flags included. An empty Region cannot be raided.
• A flag is consumed when it is removed or broken — the beacon does not come back, and the shop does not sell beacons. Craft one per attempt.
• Each flag takes one chunk, which is unclaimed from the loser and claimed by the winner. If you win the chunk, you keep it permanently.
• Your side can have 3 planted at once, and can plant a new one only every 10 minutes.
• Flags can be placed only between Y30 and Y127. A structure below or above that range prevents placement inside the structure but does not stop the war timer or other capture attempts.

Because each successful flag captures one chunk and each side may place three at once with a ten minute placement cooldown, a completed war normally changes a limited section of the border rather than removing an entire Region.

War combat settings

• TNT griefing is enabled in the war zone. Siege damage is real damage and it does not get rolled back.
• You do not keep your inventory when you die in a war. Deaths cost gear, same as always (see Dying).
• Friendly fire is on. Watch your arrows and watch your TNT.

Bank robbery

When a war ends with a winner, the loser pays 75% of their region or nation bank to the winner. Not 75% of their stuff, not 75% of their chunks. 75% of the bank. Personal wallets, the money in /bal, are never touched.

The Region bank also pays upkeep and satisfies Region level and war requirements. It has no interest or balance cap. Personal balances cannot be robbed, so a Region can keep only what its bank actually needs.

Surrender and tribute

Surrender ends the war through a tribute payment and changes the resulting shield duration.

• Before a war can be surrendered, the attacker has to set a tribute, up to 50% of the defender's balance.
• If the defender surrenders and pays it, the war ends on the spot. 50% is less than the 75% robbery, no more chunks are captured, and the surrendering side gets a 4 day shield.
• An attacker who surrenders pays a flat $5,000 to the defender, whatever the tribute was set to.
• Surrendering before the war starts, during the preparation day, buys a 1 day shield, but only if the tribute paid is at least $1,000.

A defending side may therefore pay at most 50% of its balance through surrender instead of risking the 75% final war robbery and additional captured chunks. This provides an exit before the 36-hour timeout when continuing the war would cost more than the tribute.

Example progression

Temporary camp and permanent claims

A new player begins with $500 and can place one Camp block for nine protected chunks lasting two days. A random teleport costs $50. If the location is suitable, the player can create a permanent Region before the camp expires.

The first permanent chunk costs $250. The second costs $267.50 and the third costs approximately $286.23. Three chunks therefore cost approximately $803.73. Their base upkeep is $39 per week, collected Friday at 23:00. Depositing $156 in the Region bank covers four base upkeep collections if the Region does not level up or expand.

Town and nation requirements

A Region reaches Town at four trusted members and $7,500 in its Region bank. A Town may found a nation for $20,000. A member Region then pays the nation tax instead of the ordinary $13 base upkeep, while the nation pays $10 per chunk to the War Office.

For example, a nation may set its member tax to $13 per chunk. Each member Region then pays the same as ordinary upkeep, and the nation keeps $3 per chunk after paying the War Office $10. That difference funds the nation bank, but that bank can also be taken in a war.

Declaration and preparation

An attacker with at least $5,000 in its Region bank sends a declaration. If the defender denies it, the war does not begin. If the defender accepts, both sides receive one day to prepare.

During preparation, each side can move equipment away from the border, craft capture flags, arrange allies, and decide how much money to retain in the Region or nation bank. Moving money to personal balances reduces the amount subject to robbery, but it may also prevent the Region from meeting level, upkeep, or declaration requirements.

Scoring and outcomes

In a war with a 30 point target, four player kills provide only 4 points. Capturing four flags provides 20 points and transfers four chunks. Breaking two enemy flags provides another 6 points. The scoring values make capture flags the primary objective and player kills a way to control those objectives.

If one side reaches the target, the losing side transfers 75% of its Region or nation bank. Captured chunks remain with the winner. Both sides then receive a seven day shield.

If the defender surrenders during the war, it pays the tribute set by the attacker, up to 50% of its balance. The war ends, no additional chunks are captured, and the defender receives a four day shield. An attacker that surrenders pays a flat $5,000 to the defender.

If 36 hours pass without either side reaching the target, the side with more points wins. If the scores are equal, neither side receives the robbery reward or additional territory beyond chunks already captured during the fighting.