🏙️ Settlements 🏙️

What are Settlements?

Settlements are a system designed to let players build, manage, and work in their own constructed towns. Settlements have player-ran governments, city employees (such as guards and politicians), and benefits to workplaces within the settlement limits.

You may only officially join one player-run settlement and one NPC settlement (such as the Hub) at a time. You may live or work in another settlement without joining it, though this may have downsides such as a higher tax rate when working at their workplaces.

As with any player-driven community effort, there are certain expectations and guidelines set in place by staff for keeping performance impacts and other issues at manageable levels. Additionally, settlements are subject to staff-led audits in order to keep item counts low.

Settlements give you bonuses of all sorts, make it easier to find RP and live in relative safety from normal PZ survival mechanics. As a result, settlements are not exempted from storyteller events, map-wide events, or random event spawns (In Season 7, rifts) - in fact, it’s the opposite. Settlements will often be targeted for events as they represent a naturally high concentration of players. Staff will coordinate internally to make sure that each settlement is not receiving an overly high number of events of any kind.

What is expected of a Settlement?

Players who live in settlements are expected to request Basements or Attics for their living spaces, where the majority of their items are expected to be stored. The same is expected of workplaces, or other pursuits that generate high item counts. You can read more about those in the Basements & Attics section.

As part of the application for the Settlement zone, the Founders/Leadership of the prospective settlement are also expected to select a location for a Parking Lot, which you can read about later in this page. This zone must be located a good distance away from the settlement proper, and cars are expected to be parked there. However, a shuttle service (teleports!) will be provided by staff free of charge, with stops located throughout the settlement to allow easier transit.

The leadership of Player settlements may also request the construction of Apartment buildings, and are in fact encouraged to do so when they are of an appropriate size, as of the launch of Season 7. Apartments are a new custom feature which is detailed later in this page. Apartments, as they are an off-map area similar to Basements and Attics, are generally not considered in audits, as they have negligible performance impact on the overworld map.

How do they work?

Settlements can have different Government Types and Settlement Specialties, based on the selection of the founder/leadership of the settlement, and these are detailed below. Each of the options has certain requirements and offers certain bonuses.

The Settlement Specialty offers bonuses to certain workplace types in exchange for “theming” your town around it to some degree. Choosing a specialty is required, and the requirements for most specialties are easily satisfied. The specialty types are:

• 🌽Farming Hamlet: Should be built around farmland or player made farms, and must not be in an urban area. Requires a Farm workplace.
• 🌲Woodland Outpost: Must be built in a forested area. Must have a logging camp workplace.
• 🚙Motorworks: Must be built in or nearby an urban area. Must have a scrapyard workplace.

Each of these settlement types give a 50% discount on both the work points and materials needed to make their specialized trade goods.

For example, if you work at a scrapyard workplace in a Motorworks town, you can make twice as many Metal Salvage pallets as someone working outside of it. The price of Metal Salvage pallets will also be lower, so you won’t make double the profits - the pallets will have to be exported to another town.

🏛️Government

Once you have a settlement, you can select a Government Type. Each one has a bonus to all workplace income shown after the name.

• Anarchy (0%): The town is in a state of chaos as no leader or government has formed. Tax rates are locked at 0%.
• Aristocracy (+15%): Your town is ruled by a small group of wealthy and powerful individuals who hold all the political power. Ordinary citizens must curry favor with the nobility to get anything done. Must have at least two estates for the leaders, but these are often gaudy and decayed reminders of the past.
• Council(+15%): Your town is governed by a tight-knit council of representatives who make decisions collectively. They can all be from the same faction if you wish. You must have a council meeting hall.
• Autocracy(+18%): You have a single leader who holds ultimate power. Requires a secure building for your despot to live/work from.
• Military Junta(+18%): Your town is controlled by a military junta that has taken control by force. Martial law is in permanent effect. You need a barracks building with bunks for a dozen soldiers and an armory.
• Monarchy(+18%): Autocracy but with a fancy crown. Requires at least a civil building (town hall, king's court, etc.). You should be focused on creating a dynasty to outlive your leader and have a line of succession.
• Technocracy(+18%): Your town is governed by engineers and experts in old world technology and science, prioritizing technical solutions to problems. All leadership members must have a strong education background or skills. You must have one civil building of some kind.
• Communism(+18%): Your town is run by a communist party that controls all aspects of life. You should roleplay an authoritarian state that tries to ensure all your citizens have jobs and basic housing. You need a party headquarters building.
• Theocracy(+18%): Your town is ruled by a supreme religious leader or council, with laws and policies based on religious doctrine. You must have a temple or church building that can hold everyone in the town.
• Oligarchy(+21%): Several faction leaders working together to run a town, meeting regularly to make decisions. Requires at least two civil buildings, one of which is a meeting chamber for the oligarchs.
• Republic(+21%): Your town is ruled by an elected president who represents the interests of the citizens. You must have a civil government building and hold in character elections each month (IRL Time) that any citizen can vote in. You must transfer town leadership to the winning candidate.

Lastly, you can set the Tax Rate in your town. Taxes will be necessary to pay city employees like guards and politicians. There are three different types of tax that your town can gain money from:

• Income Tax takes money from workplace salaries (every time your workplace energy ticks down, there's a chance some of your earned currency might vanish to taxes).
• Sales Tax, which applies only to player-created, NPC-run shops set up in the town. Regular RP trade is not taxed, only the vending machine-style NPCs that you have created to sell things for you.
• Export Duty applies to trade goods (pallets) created in the town and sold elsewhere. You town takes this percentage as a cut of when they are sold elsewhere. Tax confusion: With each workplace paying a base rate of 10 currency, bonuses and taxes on the workplace will sometimes look a little odd. For example, a 20% income bonus from a settlement means that you have a 20% chance to gain extra currency. A 25% tax means you have a 25% chance to lose currency to tax.

⚒️Infrastructure

Infrastructure is an optional bonus you may purchase for your settlement at a recurring cost. The cost is drawn from the settlement’s coffers. You can choose to pay for these bonuses, but you will have to make sure that the settlement’s income is higher than the expenses. These expenses are charged once per ingame month, or around once every 7 OOC days.

The currently available infrastructure options are:

• Wood-Fired Generator: Provides constant power to one public building by burning lumber. Must be placed by staff via ticket. Can explode if overloaded.
• Biofuel Generator: Provides constant power to one public building using farm produce as fuel. Must be placed by staff via ticket. Can explode if overloaded.
• Town link: Shuttle connection to another player town, generating income from increased travel and commerce. Requires a bus stop and staff setup.
• Tunnel link: Shuttle connection to the nearest tunnel entrance, generating income from increased travel and trade. Requires a bus stop and staff setup.
• Lumber Export Deal: High-income contract that exports lumber for fixed profit. Requires negotiating with a faction. Woodland towns only.
• Food Export Deal: High-income contract that exports farm produce for fixed profit. Requires negotiating with a faction. Farming towns only.
• Metal Export Deal: High-income contract that exports metal salvage for fixed profit. Requires negotiating with a faction. Motor/industrial towns only.

🏙️Founding a Settlement🏙️

In order to be eligible to request a settlement, you must submit a ticket to discuss the matter with our moderation team. This should be done first, before any construction has been done, to ensure that your site placement and selections do not conflict with the requirements for what you’d like to do.

General requirements --

1. As the settlement founder or leadership - be prepared to assume responsibility for the settlement. You are the point of contact for staff when it comes to audits or other matters that need to be addressed.
2. At least 10 residents, including the founder(s). A government must be formed and selected at this time, if one does not exist already.
3. The space must be clear of infected.
4. The settlement must be located away from map-baked towns (Ex: West Point, Louiseville, Riverside). There are no exceptions.
5. The area of the settlement must be completely accessible to all players. You are permitted to build walls around (and within) the settlement, within the restrictions laid out further below. While gates are permitted in most circumstances, they must be left unlocked and unsealed - do not mechanically lock the entry points to your settlement.
6. The area must be a good distance from other existing player towns, including the hub town. Do not build settlements close together.
7. The area must not be inhabited with other groups of players if they do not intend to join your settlement or group.

• This rule is intended to keep competing groups of players in a small area (such as a popular map-baked town) from rushing to be the first to create a settlement in the area, thus preventing the other group from doing the same. You will have to resolve your issues or move if you want a settlement.

I want to found a Settlement. What do I need to do?

You should…

1. Open a General ticket to discuss your plan with staff.
2. Prepare the list of 10 (or more) people that will be joining.
3. Select a Government type and form the player government.
4. Select a location, and Settlement type.
5. Select a location for your Parking Lot, which will be discussed in your opened ticket.
6. Decide on a name for the Settlement.

Once your plan is reviewed and approved by staff, you will clear the area of infected, construct any required buildings, including any structures for the government type you have selected. And once that is done, staff will take a look at everything, address any issues, and then create your Settlement.

🔨Building guidelines for settlements🔨

This section outlines the majority of guidelines and restrictions when it comes to the construction of your player settlement.

• All construction, with exceptions granted via direct build tickets, must comply with the building guidelines located here
• As stated before, you are permitted to build walls around the settlement, but gates, doors, or other means of access to the settlement cannot be mechanically locked or restricted.
• Private buildings (personal residences, faction bases, workplaces) may have locked gates or doors.
• Gates, doors, or other means of restricting access may not be built on pre-existing roads. Do not build your town overlapping a pre-existing road if you want to fully enclose it in walls and gates -- there are no exceptions.
• Basements, or attics, are required for any building within the settlement.
• It is encouraged to avoid on-map shared living spaces (such as player constructed apartments) due to concerns with lag and the difficulty of accurately auditing them.
• It is encouraged to pre-plan the construction of the town. Designate roads, zone areas for workplaces or living spaces, and so on.

🚙Parking Lots and your vehicles🛣️

This section outlines the parking lots that each settlement will have.

• Parking lots are designated storage for your vehicles. While it is permissible to drive into, through, and park in a settlement for short durations of time, such as to drop off loot, pick up a friend, or have work done on the vehicle (such as in a mechanics shop) -- if you are staying in the settlement for any length of time, your vehicle should be parked in the parking lot.
• Staff will assist you in selecting a site for and constructing your parking lot. This will be located some distance away from the settlement proper due to rendering ranges - the idea is to remove the performance impact (and item counts!) associated with vehicles from the settlement itself.

Benefits

• Staff will provide a local fast travel/teleport network to connect points of your settlement together, free of charge and upkeep. In character, this is a cart service. The parking lot will be one stop, and you may select up to three additional stop locations for a total of four.
• The vehicles stored in a Parking Lot are safe - In character, guards are posted at the location to prevent unauthorized access, defacement, or damage to the vehicles. Raid tickets against vehicles located in a settlement parking lot may not be carried out, and any deliberate damage or defacement will result in action being taken.

We hope that these benefits help make up for the inconvenience of not having immediate access to your vehicle.

🏗️Settlement Apartments🏗️

Settlements of sufficient size may request a player-owned apartment building. There will be a tax associated with the construction of the building, or conversion of an existing building into the apartments structure. There will be some level of customization available for the apartments that are put in, in consultation with the building team.

This feature is planned, but not fully fleshed out or implemented. There will be an announcement at a later date to cover the specifics.