Appointments and sector identity

Section titled “Appointments and sector identity”

Civilian administrators, colony governors and sector commands follow separate rules. Appointment eligibility, membership of a sector, geographic command range and the outputs that actually read a bonus are separate conditions. The administration rating is an absolute skill level. It is not an economic percentage and not a general effectiveness multiplier. The shared commander rules for recruitment, health, retirement, history and bonus definitions are described under scientific personnel. The military hierarchy and naval command effectiveness belong to naval administration and command.

A colony governor is the commander assigned to a population. The population records its governor, the commander records the colony, and the commander’s command type is Colony. A sector governor is the commander assigned to a sector command. The sector records its governor, the commander records the sector, and the command type is Sector. Both are ordinary commanders. A colony governor is located at the colony, and a sector governor at the sector’s headquarters population. A normal assignment clears whatever post the incoming commander held before. The clearing is described under manual appointments.

A sector command stores its race, its headquarters population, its commander, a colour, an ID, a name, a cached required administration level, whether its node is expanded in the sector tree, and the set of systems currently in its geographic range. Actual membership is held on the race’s survey record of each system (FCT_RaceSysSurvey), which records the sector the system belongs to. That record also keeps the sector ID (SectorID in FCT_RaceSysSurvey) used when a game is loaded. A sector has no parent sector, so there is no chain of sector levels. Every colony in a member system shares that system’s sector. A headquarters population does not enrol its own system automatically. The sector tree of the Sector Management window lists under each sector exactly the systems assigned to that sector.

An administrator’s civilian rank title is separate from the Colony Administration bonus. Manual and automatic eligibility compare that bonus with the required administration level of the post. They do not compare naval rank priority. The naval required rank and effective command rules do not gate civilian bonuses.

Installation creation and command removal

Section titled “Installation creation and command removal”

Adding installations to a population registers a sector command there when the Sector Command installation entry reaches an amount of at least 1. This happens both for an entry that already existed and for a newly created one. Registration first looks for a sector hosted by this exact population. When there is none, it allocates a new ID, copies the population and the race, names the sector after the race’s name for the system followed by “ Sector”, colours it red and adds it to the race’s sector list. Registration appoints no commander, assigns no systems and does not refresh the range or the required administration level. Registration on its own does not check that the installation exists.

Range capacity is the sum over all of the population’s installations of SectorCommandValue x amount, using the DIM_PlanetaryInstallation values, with the fraction dropped when the range is worked out. In the game database as shipped only the Sector Command installation (row 20) has a value, 1 per installation. The survival check is narrower. It tests the Sector Command installation itself and its amount. An installation that has a sector command value does not stand in for the Sector Command installation in that check.

Removal path Membership and personnel consequences
Strategic check for sectors without an active installation When the host lacks the Sector Command installation, or its amount is below 1, clears the sector from every member system, sets their SectorID to 0, then removes the command.
Direct sector removal Relieves an assigned commander with a history entry, then removes the sector from the race’s sector list. It does not detach member systems or clear their SectorID.
Removal of the host population, or a control transfer Runs direct removal for every sector hosted there. These removals do not perform the extra membership cleanup of the strategic check.
Installation damage Runs direct removal for every sector hosted there when an attack destroys all the Sector Command installations at the colony, with the same narrower cleanup. A partial loss does not remove the sector.

Direct removal can leave member systems still assigned to a removed sector. The strategic check walks the race’s current sector list, so it never revisits a command that was already removed from that list. Direct removal clears the commander’s appointment, which stops that person’s bonuses. The outputs that read bonuses do not check whether the sector is still in the race’s list.

Dragging and dropping in the Sector Management window moves a system’s membership. It never moves the headquarters colony. Registering a sector at another colony creates a second sector, unless that colony already hosts one.

Membership range and cached geography

Section titled “Membership range and cached geography”

Refreshing a sector’s systems in range empties the set when the sector has no headquarters population. Otherwise the set becomes every system within the sector’s command range, counted in jumps from the headquarters system. The count is explored jump connectivity. It is not a distance in kilometres, and it does not require stabilised jump points. The search includes the headquarters system at distance 0. It follows the race’s explored jump connections, unstabilised jump points included, and stops at the requested number of jumps or when no new systems remain. It also overwrites the jump distance from the origin stored with each system on the race’s survey record, a value other features share.

For a whole capacity C of 0 or more, the radius is 0 for C = 0 and otherwise floor(log2(C)) + 1. Capacity 1 gives 1 jump, 2 to 3 give 2 jumps, 4 to 7 give 3 jumps, and 8 to 15 give 4 jumps. The game halves the capacity repeatedly, keeping fractions, until it falls below 1 and adds one radius step for each halving that leaves 1 or more. The radius starts at 1 for any positive capacity. For a sector, the fraction of the weighted capacity is dropped first. A radius of 0 still includes the host system. A sector with no headquarters population has range 0.

Interface Selection or change rule
Available systems list in the Sector Management window Refreshes the range and offers the in-range systems not already assigned to this sector. This includes systems that belong to another sector, whose sector name is appended in brackets.
Double-clicking an available system Takes the selection from that list, assigns the system to the sector, sets its SectorID and rebuilds the tree. It makes no second range test of its own.
Dragging a system onto a sector Refreshes the target’s range and requires that exact system to be in it, otherwise shows “Systems may only be assigned to a sector, if the system is within the target sector’s command radius”. On success it assigns the system and moves its node, but it does not update SectorID here.
Double-clicking a member system Clears the system’s sector and its SectorID, rebuilds that sector’s branch of the tree, and refreshes the available list and the sector details.
Sector list for a system on the galactic map Refreshes every sector and offers those whose range contains this system, plus an extra entry named “No Sector”.

Refreshing the range does not erase membership. The sector details show “Systems in Sector” (the systems assigned to this sector) and “Systems in Range” separately, alongside “Sector Headquarters”, “Command Range” and “Admin Rank Required”. Neither count is a count of governed populations. The outputs that read sector bonuses use membership directly and do not recheck geographic range. A member system that is out of range therefore keeps receiving bonuses.

Required administration and eligibility

Section titled “Required administration and eligibility”

A colony recalculates its thermal signature before it works out its required level:

P = total population in millions
P for an NPR = the larger of 0 and (total population - 0.01)
W = sum of shipyard workers of the colony's yards that are not ships
I = sum of installation ThermalSignature x amount
thermal signature = (P + 20 x W + I) x signature multiplier
required administration level = the smaller of 5 and (thermal signature / 5000, rounded up)

The signature multiplier starts at 5. A naval yard contributes slipways x capacity x 0.00025 workers. Every other yard contributes slipways x capacity x 0.000025 workers. A yard that belongs to a ship is left out. The installation term is ThermalSignature x amount, with ThermalSignature from DIM_PlanetaryInstallation and no efficiency factor. In the game database as shipped the Sector Command installation has a thermal signature of 5. The requirement is not a threshold on population size alone, because industry and shipyards raise it. No minimum of 1 applies, so a colony with zero signature requires level 0.

A sector’s requirement starts from a running maximum of 1. The game scans every population in the game whose system belongs to this sector, refreshes each colony’s requirement and keeps the highest. It stores that maximum plus 1. The scan does not filter by range and does not separately filter by race. An empty sector, or one holding only level 0 colonies, requires level 2. A colony at the maximum level 5 makes its sector require level 6. The headquarters colony counts only when its own system is a member.

Requirements gate candidate lists and new appointments. A rising requirement does not dismiss an incumbent, scale the incumbent’s skill or suppress bonuses. Manual assignment compares against the cached requirement without refreshing it. The normal refresh of the assignment list recalculates the requirement first. Unticking Eligible Only in the Commanders window shows posts the commander is not rated for, but assignment still rejects them. None of the output formulas listed under bonus propagation contains an administration or rank effectiveness factor.

Manual appointments and assignment preferences

Section titled “Manual appointments and assignment preferences”

The assignment list in the Commanders window offers the race’s sectors, or its colonies whose assignment mode is not No Assignment. Each post shows its required level as A followed by the number, for example A3. Eligible Only keeps the posts whose required level is at or below the commander’s Colony Administration rating. Available Only keeps the posts with no incumbent. Both lists sort by required level, highest first, then by name. Showing occupied posts allows an incumbent to be replaced. Leaving out No Assignment colonies is a rule of this list only. Direct assignment does not check the mode.

Manual assignment rejects a rating below the requirement (“The Admin Rating of” the commander’s name “is too low for this assignment”). It rejects assigning the commander who already holds the post (the name followed by “is already assigned to this role”). It then clears the incoming commander’s previous assignment without an unassignment history entry and relieves the incumbent with one. It links commander and post both ways, sets the command type, sets the location to the colony or the sector headquarters, stamps the assignment time and adds an “Assigned to” history entry naming the post. Clearing an assignment also clears the commander’s transport ship. Manual assignment imposes no travel time and refreshes no range. It trusts the post selected in the list and does not separately check the commander’s profession or race.

New colonies start with Required Bonus Population Growth, Secondary Bonus Wealth Creation, Tertiary Bonus Mining (bonus IDs 8, 20 and 6 in DIM_CommanderBonusType), Importance 5 and Manual Assignment. The three assignment modes on the Governor / Misc tab of the Economics window are Manual Assignment, Automated Assignment and No Assignment, stored in FCT_Population.AutoAssign as 0, 1 and 2. The tab’s controls store the mode, the three preferences and a whole-number importance. The Colony Importance (1 = High) box raises any value below 1 to 1. Switching to No Assignment does not relieve an incumbent, and changing preferences does not replace one at once. The preferences decide which person is chosen. They grant that person no extra bonus.

Vacancies priority and automatic reassignment

Section titled “Vacancies priority and automatic reassignment”

Automatic assignment for one colony refreshes the colony’s requirement, then picks from the race’s active Administrators who hold no colony, no sector and no academy command. A candidate needs a Colony Administration rating at least equal to the requirement and an actual entry for the Required Bonus. The Secondary and Tertiary Bonus entries are optional, and a missing one reads as 1. Candidates are sorted by the Required Bonus value, highest first, then by the Secondary, then by the Tertiary. This is a strict order on the three values, not a weighted sum, and the administration rating is not a tie-breaker. This selection does not exclude prisoners, commanders in lifepods, commanders aboard a transport ship or elsewhere, or recently assigned commanders.

When a candidate exists, the game clears that person’s previous assignment and relieves the incumbent. It links the new governor, sets the command type, the location and the assignment time, logs the event “assigned as governor of” the colony and adds a history entry. When there is no candidate, any incumbent stays in post. This single-colony step does not check the colony’s assignment mode. The Assign Colony Governor button on the Governor / Misc tab runs it for the selected colony even under Manual Assignment or No Assignment. A sitting governor is never part of the free candidate pool, because that person already holds a colony.

Race operation Posts selected and existing appointments
Fill vacancies (Assign Governor Vacancies) Takes the race’s Automated Assignment colonies, lowest Importance first. It leaves out every colony that an active Administrator of the race already governs and fills the remaining vacancies.
Force reassignment (“Reassign All Colony Govenors”, spelled so in the game) Builds the same list of Automated Assignment colonies, but first clears every active Administrator of the race who governs a colony, including governors of Manual Assignment and No Assignment colonies. It then fills only the Automated Assignment colonies.
Sector appointments Neither operation fills sectors or clears sector governors. Sector governors stay out of the colony pool.

Lower Importance numbers get first pick of a limited pool. Force reassignment can leave Manual Assignment and No Assignment colonies vacant. Editing preferences or Importance alone has no such effect. Colonies with equal Importance have no defined secondary order.

For player races, the broader automatic assignment pass of the strategic update runs the vacancy-only governor fill. The strategic update runs that pass for races whose Automated Assignments box in the Commanders window is ticked (FCT_Race.chkAutoAssign = 1), for standard NPRs . The check for sectors without an active installation then runs for every race. This race-level setting is separate from a colony’s Automated Assignment mode. NPR governor selection uses its own weighted rules with its own checks on prisoners and assignment time. It then ends the pass without the common vacancy fill. The strict order described above belongs to the ordinary single-colony selection.

Bonus propagation and operational consumers

Section titled “Bonus propagation and operational consumers”

For a percentage bonus B, a governor applies the full value B. A sector governor applies the quarter multiplier 1 + (bonus - 1) / 4. A missing percentage bonus counts as 1, and the quarter multiplier is also 1 when the bonus is missing. A 20% sector skill therefore contributes 1.05, not 1.20 / 4. The governor and sector factors multiply. This rule does not turn the absolute administration level into a general percentage.

Let Gx be the governor’s full multiplier for bonus x and Sx the sector governor’s quarter multiplier, each 1 when that governor is absent. The sector factor applies when the colony’s system belongs to a sector and that sector has an assigned commander. None of these outputs rechecks geographic range, the administration rating, whether the sector is still in the race’s sector list, political loyalty or whether the governor is physically present.

Consumer Factors
General production G Production x S Production x species production rate x race economic production modifier x efficiency x radiation production modifier x stability x political status production modifier. The species production rate is FCT_Species.ProductionRateModifier, the race economic production modifier FCT_Race.EconomicProdModifier, efficiency FCT_Population.Efficiency, and the political status production modifier DIM_PopPoliticalStatus.ProductionMod.
Shipbuilding G Shipbuilding x S Shipbuilding x non-personnel factors x FCT_Race.ShipBuilding, with the same non-personnel factors as general production.
Ground formation construction capacity FCT_Race.GroundFormationConstructionRate x number of Ground Force Construction Complexes x G Ground Construction x S Ground Construction x species production rate x race economic production modifier x radiation production modifier x efficiency x stability x political status production modifier.
Manned mining G Mining x S Mining x efficiency x radiation production modifier x stability x political status production modifier.
Automated mining G Mining x S Mining x radiation production modifier. No efficiency, stability or political status production term.
Installation terraforming G Terraforming x S Terraforming x efficiency x radiation production modifier x stability x political status production modifier. No species production rate and no race economic production modifier.
Wealth G Wealth Creation x S Wealth Creation x political status WealthMod x FCT_Race.WealthCreationRate x radiation production modifier, times stability only when UnrestPoints is above 0. The financial base and the taxable worker base are each multiplied by efficiency separately.
Supported surface growth min(10, 20 / cube root(population)) x G Population Growth x S Population Growth, in percent, with the population in millions. The species growth modifier (FCT_Species.PopulationGrowthModifier), the radiation growth penalty and the body capacity adjustments follow.

Growth bonuses do not multiply the deaths from an infrastructure shortfall, which use a rate of -25 x infrastructure shortfall colony cost. They also do not touch the fixed -100% rate of a colony on a body its species cannot inhabit (colony cost -1). The game divides the final percentage by 100 to get the stored rate. The supported base is capped at 10% before the bonuses apply, so the bonused rate can exceed 10% before the later reductions. Orbital growth and support are separate. See growth, mortality and conversion.

The automated mining multiplier also applies to civilian mining capacity in the mining totals. Manned production is FCT_Race.MineProduction x manned multiplier x whole-number(manned capacity). Automated and civilian production is FCT_Race.MineProduction x automated multiplier x (whole-number(automated capacity) + whole-number(civilian capacity)). Orbital mining is added through the orbiting fleets’ modules and their naval admin command bonus, so the governor and sector Mining factors are not applied to that orbital part.

General production carries its personnel factors into the annual capacities and into genetic modification, not into every output. The genetic modification rate is FCT_Race.GeneticConversionRate x whole-number(genetic modification capacity) x general production multiplier. Research per facility is species research rate x race research rate x race economic production modifier x efficiency x radiation production modifier x stability x political status production modifier x ResearchSpeed / 100. The species research rate is FCT_Species.ResearchRateModifier, and ResearchSpeed is the Research Speed (100 = Normal) option in the Game Information window. It has no governor or sector Production factor, and the project scientist’s skill applies separately. Full recipes and spending belong to production capacity and modifiers, population taxes, financial centres and debt and laboratories, output and wealth.

Installation terraforming capacity is FCT_Race.TerraformingRate x whole-number(weighted terraforming capacity) x terraforming multiplier, with the terraforming multiplier above. Orbital terraforming modules are added separately with their naval admin command bonus. The total is then multiplied by TerraformingSpeed / 100, where TerraformingSpeed is the Terraforming Speed (100 = Normal) option. The orbital part does not receive the governor and sector Terraforming factors a second time. See terraforming capacity.

Cargo shuttle transfer with a colony multiplies the ship’s shuttle capacity by the naval admin command Logistics bonus, the ship commander’s Logistics bonus, the colony governor’s Logistics bonus, the sector governor’s quarter Logistics bonus and FCT_Race.CargoShuttleLoadModifier. The shuttle capacity is the cargo shuttle bay capacity, or a base of 1 for a class of size 10 or less. A colony with cargo shuttle capacity of at least 1 then adds the race modifier once. When maintenance support is requested instead, a colony with maintenance facilities, or with an assigned fleet carrying an undamaged maintenance module, adds the race modifier once. This addition is not multiplied by governor or sector skill. A transfer with no colony has neither the civilian factors nor the support addition. Ship-to-ship shuttle transfer uses only the cargo shuttle bay capacity, the admin command and ship commander Logistics bonuses and the race modifier. Other transfer formulas for fuel, ordnance and loading are separate, see movement and logistics.

The Mining tab of the Economics window prints the sector governor’s full Mining bonus in its Sector column, although the calculation uses the quarter value. The Sector Governor label on the Summary tab shows the first active commander whose sector is the colony’s sector, while output reads the commander assigned to the sector. When those two records disagree, the displays and the outputs can disagree.

Recruitment and administrator experience

Section titled “Recruitment and administrator experience”

Commander creation, the bonus catalogue and the shared experience and health rules are on the commander lifecycle page. This section keeps the rolls and gains specific to administrators.

Military academies accumulate fractional graduates and create one commander for each whole graduate. Administrator is one profession outcome. An academy commandant who is an administrator gives a d100 of 8 or less to inherit the profession. Otherwise the shared profession roll applies, where a d100 of 93 to 96 gives an Administrator. Under Limited Research Administration (LimitedLabs) the roll gets +1, which moves the raw band to 92 to 95 but keeps four outcomes. The administration level is rolled separately. Species, education, age, health, traits, service and retirement are shared and covered under scientific personnel.

The initial Colony Administration level is a d100. A roll of 1 to 20 gives 1, 21 to 40 gives 2, 41 to 60 gives 3, 61 to 80 gives 4, 81 to 90 gives 5 and 91 to 100 gives 6. Limited Research Administration does not change this roll.

Each percentage bonus is rolled on a d100. A roll at or below the qualification threshold creates no bonus entry. Each higher band gives 1.05, 1.10, 1.15, 1.20 and 1.25 in turn, and a roll above the final threshold gives 1.30. A commandant with 1.20 or more in that bonus makes the roll the higher of two d100 rolls. Missing entries matter for automatic assignment even though a missing percentage bonus counts as 1.

Administrator bonus Qualification threshold Upper thresholds for 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 percent
Shipbuilding, Wealth Creation, Production, Mining 60 70, 80, 90, 95, 98
Ground Construction 70 80, 90, 94, 96, 98
Population Growth, Logistics 70 80, 90, 95, 98, 99
Terraforming 80 85, 90, 95, 98, 99

Experience uses the shared check on elapsed time. A d10000 must be at most elapsed years x 500 for an unassigned commander, or at most elapsed years x 2500 in a colony, sector or academy post. A successful gain is +0.10 on a d3 of 1, otherwise +0.05. Gains add percentage points and stop at the bonus type’s maximum (MaximumBonus in DIM_CommanderBonusType, 1.5 for every percentage bonus and 10 for Colony Administration). A bonus already at its maximum does not rise. Colony size, actual output and the required administration level play no part in the check.

d24 Administrator gain
1 to 3 Shipbuilding
4 to 6 Production
7 to 9 Mining
10 to 11 Population Growth
12 to 13 Terraforming
14 Ground Construction
15 to 17 Wealth Creation
18 Logistics
19 to 24 Colony Administration +1 instead of a percentage gain

Administrators in a colony or sector post roll on this table directly. Unassigned administrators and administrators serving as academy commandants roll on it too. On a Colony Administration result, a governor of an Automated Assignment colony is relieved. The game logs “As a result of promotion,” the commander’s name “was relieved from command of” the colony and adds a history entry. The relief follows the bonus increase every time, so even a rating already at its maximum can cause it. Governors of Manual Assignment colonies and sector governors are not relieved here. A later vacancy fill can reappoint or replace the relieved governor. This is separate from naval promotion.

Administrators use the shared career retirement baseline of 39 service years for non-military commanders. After the shared health checks, the career roll succeeds when a d10000 is strictly less than (service years - 39) x 20 x elapsed years x 100. The chance doubles when the commander holds no post. Retirement clears the appointment with a history entry and removes the person from the active commanders. Later assignment passes supply replacements. The shared health and career rules are not separate administrator rejuvenation or tenure mechanics.

Refresh persistence and control changes

Section titled “Refresh persistence and control changes”

The population production cycle recalculates the production, shipbuilding, mining and terraforming multipliers and the annual capacities before any work. It uses the surface growth rate already calculated when it changes the population. The colony summaries on the Summary tab of the Economics window recalculate these cached values when shown. The sector details refresh the range and the required administration level. Assignment does not immediately refresh every dependent output. See game time and state refresh and the colony and population lifecycle.

Saved data What the game restores and what it leaves out
FCT_SectorCommand SectorCommandID, RaceID, PopulationID, SectorName, Colour, GameID. A sector loads only when its race and its population exist. Range, required level, tree expansion and the governor are not stored here.
FCT_RaceSysSurvey The save writes SectorID from the system’s live sector membership, not from the cached ID. On load an ID above 0 is linked only when that sector exists in the race’s sector list.
FCT_Commander CommandID holds the population ID for a colony governor and the sector ID for a sector governor, according to CommandType. Loading relinks both sides. When the post no longer exists, the command type resets to none. The game does not reroll or recheck the appointee’s skill.
FCT_Population Saves and restores BonusOne, BonusTwo, BonusThree, AutoAssign and Importance. The required administration level is recalculated, not stored.

A drag and drop that did not update the cached SectorID does not lose membership on a normal save, because the save reads the live membership. A system still assigned to a directly removed sector can instead save an ID that no longer exists, and it has no sector after reload. The range is rebuilt when needed. It is not loaded as proof that membership is valid.

Political status affects production and wealth on its own terms. Normal political integration makes no administration or loyalty roll, appoints no governor and does not change sector geography. A control transfer removes the sectors hosted at the colony through direct removal. Granting independence creates a new race with an empty sector list, transfers control and assets, and makes the population that race’s capital. It is not an automatic result of unrest or administration. Capital status plays no part in the administration requirement or in the conditions on bonuses. The full political rules are under political integration and control changes.

Worked examples

Section titled “Worked examples”
  1. Industrial threshold. Population 600 million, attached yard workers 5 million, installation thermal sum 300 and signature multiplier 5 give (600 + 20 x 5 + 300) x 5 = 5000, which is level 1. One more signature unit before the multiplier gives 5005 and level 2. Efficiency does not reduce it. A level 2 member makes its sector require at least 3.
  2. Range shrink. Capacity 4 gives radius 3. Capacity 3 gives radius 2. A member three jumps away stays assigned when the range shrinks and still gets the sector governor’s quarter bonus. Dragging that system into the two-jump sector would fail the fresh range test.
  3. Compounded production. Governor and sector Production of 1.20 give 1.20 x 1.05 = 1.26. Efficiency 0.8 with every other factor at 1 gives 1.008. An A1 incumbent whose colony grows to A3 keeps that contribution until another action changes the appointment.
  4. Strict order. With the default preferences, a free, eligible candidate with Population Growth, Wealth Creation and Mining of 1.10, 1.05 and 1.00 beats one with 1.05, 1.30 and 1.30. A candidate with no Population Growth entry is rejected. A colony with Importance 1 picks before one with Importance 5.
  5. Reassignment. A vacancy fill keeps a Manual Assignment governor in post. Force reassignment clears that governor but does not refill the Manual Assignment colony. A governor of an Automated Assignment colony who gains administration is relieved, while a sector governor with the same gain stays appointed.
  6. Additive shuttle support. A large ship with capacity 2, ship and naval factors of 1, colony Logistics 1.20, sector Logistics 1.20 and race modifier 1 gives 2 x 1.20 x 1.05 = 2.52. Colony shuttle support adds 1 for 3.52, not 3 x 1.26.

Concept map

Section titled “Concept map”

Resources

Section titled “Resources”

Related community documentation and developer posts. These may describe a different game version.