CAPTAIN'S MANUAL

Welcome to Sectorum

Sectorum is a persistent browser-based space trading, exploration, combat, and colonization game. You join a galaxy (a shared game world), command a ship, trade at ports, colonize planets, fight pirates and aliens, form corporations, and build wealth and reputation over days and weeks of play.

Each galaxy runs on a daily cycle called the Exturn (typically once per day around midnight Eastern Time). Between Exturns your turns regenerate, trade routes run, planets produce goods, and the universe evolves whether you are online or not.

Getting Started

Quick Start#

1. Create an account and log in#

From the home screen, choose Sign in with Google for the quickest start. Sectorum signs you into the account already associated with that verified Google email, or creates a new account automatically on first use. You can still create and use a traditional Sectorum account with a unique Login ID, password, and email verification.

If you forget a traditional-account password, request a reset email from the sign-in screen. The link is valid for 30 minutes and can be used only once. Completing a reset signs that account out everywhere, so sign in again on each device with the new password. For privacy, the request screen gives the same confirmation whether or not an account matches the entered address.

2. Choose a galaxy#

The galaxy list shows active galaxies with badges:

Galaxies may also be public or private (password required), and may use different elimination modes (see Death and Recovery).

The home screen's Recent Activity panel shows public galaxy events with local date and time. Select its refresh icon to request the current activity feed. If an individual activity record is malformed, the panel marks that entry unavailable while the rest of the home screen remains usable.

3. Join the galaxy#

When joining, you provide:

• Captain name — your identity in that galaxy
• Ship name — your starting vessel's name
• Galaxy password — if the galaxy is private
• Origin story — your starting ship and conditions (see below)

4. Complete First Flight#

Dockmaster Jax greets new captains at Stardock with the First Flight tutorial. Follow his five-part quest line to learn navigation, trading, scanning, combat, and ship upgrades. Tutorial rewards include credits, a Gravity Scanner, a Bloom Missile, and more. In Part 5, a successful purchase of holds, shields, fighters, or ship equipment at Stardock completes the objective immediately so its 2,500-credit reward can be claimed.

5. Seven habits of successful captains#

1. Master the Nav Computer and Starmap — they are your primary navigation tools.
2. Trade — buy low, sell high at ports.
3. Upgrade your ship — holds, fighters, shields, and equipment at Stardock.
4. Claim a planet — colonists and citadels build long-term wealth.
5. Watch your alignment — your actions shape how the galaxy treats you.
6. Carry an Escape Pod — it preserves experience when your ship is destroyed (in most modes).
7. Bank excess credits — ship credits are vulnerable; bank balances survive ship loss.

Core Concepts#

Galaxies & Your Player

Galaxies#

Galaxy types#

• PvP galaxies — full player-vs-player competition: attacks, raids, planet conquest, deployed fighters and mines, bounties, and alignment consequences all apply between real players.
• PvE galaxies — real players cannot harm other real players or their defenses. Pirates, aliens, NPCs, nav hazards, and PvE objectives still threaten you. PvE is not a safe mode.

Public and private galaxies#

• Public — anyone with an account can join (subject to player cap).
• Private — requires the galaxy password set by the creator.

Galaxy badges and settings#

When selecting a galaxy, look for:

• PvP / PvE badge
• Elimination mode — Standard, Easy, or Hardcore (affects death consequences)
• Player count and whether the galaxy is ready for join

Starting choices: Origin stories#

When joining, choose one of three origin stories:

All origins receive an Escape Pod in inventory. Smuggler and Mercenary origins activate Lenny's Repo Challenge — a 50,000 credit debt with a 3-day window (see Banking and Recovery).

Imperial Space (Sectors 1–10)#

The galactic core — also called Federation Space in older references — is heavily policed:

• Attacking most players here is blocked (defenders with alignment above −100 are protected).
• Port attacks, mine/fighter deployment, colonist bombing, and Red Matter are blocked.
• Navigation hazards are cleared each Exturn.
• Idle ships may be towed out after 60 minutes without owner activity (galaxy default).
• Attacks on players in this space can trigger police retaliation and bounties.

Good-aligned captains (alignment ≥ 100) may use a Worm Drive into Imperial Space without requiring a fighter beacon in the destination.

Your Player#

Captain name and ship name#

Set when joining a galaxy. Your captain name appears in logs, mail, and combat reports. Ship names identify your vessels in sector view. At Stardock, open Services & Drydock to rename the active ship. Its first rename is free; later renames charge the displayed registration fee. Tavern Wall announcements are included in galaxy news as Someone posted without identifying the author.

Player level and experience#

Experience is earned from combat, successful port robberies/steals, adventures, quests, trades (+1 XP per trade), and PvE objective kills. Experience is lost on failed rob/steal attempts.

23 levels exist on good/neutral and evil tracks, each with a rank title. Examples:

Higher levels require exponentially more experience.

Alignment#

Alignment ranges from −1000 (evil) to +1000 (good):

• Good — alignment ≥ 100
• Evil — alignment ≤ −100
• Neutral — between −100 and +100

Alignment affects: alien reactions, Void Market access, rob/steal eligibility (must be ≤ −100), bank tax (good players with >1,000,000 bank credits pay 5% daily), Police HQ access, and kill/raid consequences.

Commissioned players#

At Stardock → Imperial Police HQ (requires alignment ≥ 100 to enter), captains with alignment ≥ 500 may apply for an Imperial Commission:

• Grants commissioned status
• Raises alignment to at least 1,000 if lower
• Unlocks purchase of the Imperial Sovereign battleship

Federation Flight Permit (Rookie Protection)#

New captains receive temporary protection while all of these are true:

• Account age under 48 hours
• Level under 5
• Alignment magnitude under 100

Protection effects:

• Cannot be attacked by other players
• Offensive, defensive, and toll fighters ignore you
• You cannot initiate attacks on players, ports, colonists, or deploy Red Matter

To engage in full combat, wait for the permit to expire or exceed level/alignment thresholds.

Turns & Exturn

Turns and Time#

Turn regeneration#

Turns are your most important resource. Most actions — warping, attacking, deploying fighters, port upgrades — cost turns.

Turn costs (common actions)#

Towing increases effective warp cost: turnsPerWarp + towed ship's turnsPerWarp (Chief Engineer reduction applies to your base only).

Login streak bonus#

Awarded at Exturn based on consecutive login days:

Exturn#

The Exturn runs once per day (configurable: full, half, or quarter day fractions). During Exturn:

• Planets produce goods and fighters; colonists grow or die
• Ports produce and upgrade; trade agreements execute
• Trade routes and colony routes run
• Bank tax, casino loan interest, and citadel treasury interest apply
• NPCs (aliens, pirates, police) move and act
• Protected Space clears deployed fighters and sentry mines
• Imperial Space tows idle ships

Online players receive warnings before and messages after Exturn.

Daily bonuses (experimental galaxies only)#

In galaxies with experimental features enabled:

• Union Voucher — On Day 1, if your remaining turns drop below 20% of your daily limit, you receive a Union Voucher. Redeem it on Day 2+ for 500 turns, 25,000 credits, and a random premium crew member.
• Holo-Prediction Forecast — Same 20% trigger on Day 1; shows estimated overnight earnings from trade routes, colony routes, and citadel fighter production.

Daily Systems and Exturns#

See Turns and Time for regeneration and Exturn phases.

Key overnight outcomes:

• Trade route profits or aborts
• Colony colonist deliveries
• Planet production and fighter manufacturing
• Port stock changes and price variance
• Loan interest and bank tax
• Citadel construction progress
• Protected Space fighter/mine clearing

Navigation & Exploration

Movement and Navigation#

Standard warp#

Move to an adjacent sector via the Nav Computer or Starmap. Costs turns and fuel based on your ship's efficiency and cargo weight.

Worm Drive#

Jump to any previously visited sector along a calculated path:

• Fuel: 3 units per hop (default); Navigator crew halves fuel cost
• Turns: normal warp turn cost per hop
• Fighter beacon recommended in destination for safety warnings (not required for good-aligned Imperial Space entry)
• Good alignment (≥ 100) may worm into Imperial Space without a marker beacon

Towing#

Attach a tractor beam to an unmanned ship, including disabled ships and parked vessels. Manned ships cannot be towed. The towed ship follows you when you warp, including while a mine or fighter encounter is waiting for your stay-or-retreat decision, and follows you back if you retreat. Towing increases turn cost. If you disable a ship, ownership transfers to you immediately; towing is only required to transport the captured hull. Towing an unrelated disabled salvage hull can still transfer its ownership to the towing player.

Docking and landing#

• Dock at port: 0 turns; while eligible and undocked, click anywhere in the visible port window to dock
• Leave port: 1 turn
• Land on planet: 1 turn
• Launch from planet: 0 turns

Quantum Tunneler vs Worm Drive#

• Quantum Tunneler — enter wormhole warps (blue links on the starmap); can bypass mines and blockades
• Worm Drive — jump to visited sectors without following warp paths

The Starmap#

Finding your way#

Open the Starmap from the Nav Computer or cockpit. The map shows:

• Green warps — lead to sectors you have visited
• Red warps — unexplored destinations
• Blue warps — wormholes (can lead anywhere)

Visited sectors and fog of war#

You only see full detail in sectors you have entered. Subspace probes reveal distant sectors in yellow on the map until you visit them.

Starmap colors and asset indicators#

When zoomed in, sector boxes show shape-coded asset markers (black-bordered for contrast):

Map notes (safety indicators)#

Click the safety indicator on a sector to cycle: Green (Safe), Yellow (Warning), Red (Danger), or Off. Notes are private to you and persist in the database. At detailed zoom levels, note text appears beneath the sector card and its planet class letters. Autopilot routes around red sectors, and every manual warp or jump into a red sector requires confirmation.

Promoted special-port labels#

Artifact Exchange, Void Market, Lenny's Repo Depot, and certain spaceports show neon promoted tags on the starmap — visible even in unexplored sectors (the sector itself remains hidden until visited).

Autopilot#

Constraints:

• Autopilot only routes through visited sectors
• There is no "Resume autopilot" — if stopped, set your destination again
• Arriving at the final destination switches to sector view

Nav Sentinel#

Pre-warp scan of the target sector (requires Gravity or Spectrographic Scanner):

• Gravity Scanner: vague "anomaly detected" warning
• Spectrographic Scanner: specific threat counts (fighters, mines, nav hazard %)

Works on manual warps and Standard autopilot. Does not run during Express warps.

Sectors and Space Types#

Tap the territory info icon in sector view for details about your current space type. When the sector contains more objects than fit below its status messages, use the visible sector scrollbar to view the remaining rows.

Navigation hazards (Navhaz)#

Sectors with navhaz can damage your ship on entry. In the sector view, the NavHaz entity displays the current hazard percentage. A Helmsman crew member auto-avoids hazards. Gravity scanning helps identify dangerous sectors. Gravity scans calculate a cumulative mass density for adjacent sectors using the following signatures:

Navhaz decreases each Exturn.

Sector exploration#

Entering a sector marks it visited and updates your personal map data. Unexplored warps appear red until you traverse them.

Scanners and Equipment#

Gravity scans are always free in both PvP and PvE galaxies. Scanner bundling: Spectrographic Scanner includes a free Gravity Scanner if you lack one.

Non-removable equipment counts at 50% value on trade-in. Max 1 of each scanner/drive/tunneler per ship.

Skilled crew#

Hire at specialty ports (e.g. The Rebel Android), find on adventures, or earn from quests.

Crew appear on Ship Inventory (MFD page 3) as Role (LastName).

Commanding Your Fleet

Ship class roles#

Each ship class has distinct stats. Key fields:

Purchasable ship classes (Stardock)#

Non-purchasable classes (hidden from shipyard): Training Drone, Escape Pod, Imperial Cruiser (NPC).

Buying, trade-in, and selling#

• Docking: Dock at Stardock before opening shipyard or service facilities.
• Buy price: Full shipBaseCost
• Trade-in credit: 50% of old ship base cost + 50% of non-removable equipment value (scanners, escape pod, quantum tunneler, etc.). The client asks for confirmation because a trade-in permanently surrenders the current ship.
• Sell unmanned ship at Stardock: Same 50% formula. Operational and disabled unpiloted ships are eligible, and sale requires confirmation.
• Repair disabled ship: 20% of base cost (10% with Stellar Forge artifact aboard)
• Transfer items option: When buying a new ship, you are asked whether to transfer cargo and inventory. Choose "NO" to keep items on your old ship (or receive a 50% refund for moveable items when trading in).
• Fighter & shield transfer on trade-in: Fighters and shields from your old ship transfer to the new ship up to its class capacity. Only excess beyond the new ship's limits is refunded at 50%.

Escape pods#

The Escape Pod item is the most important piece of equipment. When your current ship is destroyed:

• If you have an escape pod (or the galaxy uses Easy elimination mode), you spawn in a new Escape Pod ship at your last sector with half your ship credits (full credits if disabled instead of destroyed).
• The pod includes a Gravity Scanner by default.
• Kill rewards to your attacker are reduced to 33% of normal (XP and alignment).

Without an escape pod in Standard elimination mode: you receive a new starter ship at Sector 1 and are marked dead until next Exturn. In Hardcore mode: permanent elimination from the galaxy.

Ship passwords and boarding#

Set a password on unmanned ships to prevent theft. Other players must board with the correct password before transferring inventory. Your personally owned ships and ships owned by your corporation do not require password entry. Their consolidated boarding prompt shows the effective owner and lets you board, cancel, or switch between personal and corporate ownership when available. Boarding without changing ownership preserves the password; changing or taking ownership always clears it and displays a warning to set a new password. Corporate ownership is shown instead of simultaneously labeling the vessel as both personal and corporate. Corporate and captured ships: The captain who disables a ship becomes its owner immediately, and members of that captain's corporation can view and transfer all contents—including credits—without towing first. Operational captured NPC ships can be boarded normally; disabled hulls must be repaired first. Passwords still apply for players outside the corporation.

Mass transfer#

The ALL CONTENTS button on the ship-to-ship transfer screen moves all eligible cargo, crew, trade goods, artifacts, transferrable equipment, and credits to the other ship. Use the direction toggle arrow to select which ship is the source. Contents move sequentially with credits last; if interrupted, the status message reports partial completion so you can reopen Ship Contact and review what remains.

Cargo jettison#

Click a cargo tile in the ship-status panel to open its details. Enter how many units to release, or choose Use Maximum, then confirm Jettison. The cargo is discarded into the current sector with no credit refund. Jettisoning is unavailable in Imperial/Federation Space (Sectors 1–10) and Safe Zones. Releasing colonists lowers alignment by 1 for every colonist released.

Commanded vessel profile#

Click the COMMANDED VESSEL card in the ship-status panel to view the ship artwork and profile. The modal shows current shields, fighters, cargo, and credits, then compares those values with the ship class's maximum holds, fighter and shield limits, combat odds, warp and transport limits, mines, beacons, missiles, and red matter capacity. Its systems section identifies class capabilities such as Planet Scanner, Worm Drive, Long Range Scan, Photon Missiles, Escape Pod Support, Stealth, and towing; equipment-backed capabilities include an EQUIPPED tag when that item is installed on the current ship.

Towing and disabled ships#

See Death, Escape Pods, Disabled Ships, and Recovery and Disabled Ships.

The Merchant Life

Ports#

Port types#

Special ports block: rob, steal, upgrade, buy/sell ownership, rename. No fighter or mine deployment in special-port and spaceport hub sectors.

Port classifications (standard ports)#

Each standard port buys (B) or sells (S) fuel, organics, and equipment:

Find ports that sell what you want to buy and buy what you want to sell. Before docking, UNIT PRICE shows the current rate that will be used for any quantity in your next trade. An EMPTY badge shows that a selling commodity has no stock, while a FULL badge shows that a buying commodity has reached port capacity and cannot accept more.

When docked at a standard or Class-0 port, the port screen is arranged as a goods table and metrics panel. The metrics show trade liquidity, robbable or port credits, upgrade status, security, and defense; owner-only views also show owner profit and productivity. Port Info reloads current server balances when opened. Owners can withdraw available profit to their bank through Ship Ops → Withdraw Profit while docked. Use the navigation controls to disembark when you are ready to leave; a rejected request reports the reason and leaves the control ready to retry. Specialized ports keep their existing menus, with long menus scrolling within the port window. Docked Stardock screens omit the general port-status footer so the location menu can use the available space.

Hold, shield, and fighter prices at Class-0 ports and Stardock are shown from the current server quote. A Cargo Specialist discount is included in the displayed hold price when applicable; the confirmation quote remains authoritative.

Port trading#

Price formula (per unit):

p0 = roundHalfUp(basePrice × (1 + dailyVariance / 100))
sellToPlayerMultiplier = 1.20 - 0.50 × stockRatio
buyFromPlayerMultiplier = 1.30 - 0.50 × stockRatio
unitPrice = clamp(roundHalfUp(p0 × multiplier), 1, 4 × basePrice)
tradeTotal = unitPrice × quantity

Base prices (defaults): Fuel 24, Organics 91, Equipment 50. Daily variance is deterministic per galaxy, port, and UTC date and ranges from −5% to +5%. The current stock level determines the advertised unit price. That rate stays fixed while you adjust the quantity for the pending trade; a completed trade can change the unit price shown for the next transaction.

The trade screen shows how many units are available, lets you select a quantity of at least one, and calculates the exact You Pay or You Receive total before you trade. The displayed unit rate and total come from authoritative port and ship records and already include supply, artifacts, crew benefits, cargo or port capacity, and available credits. The price is read-only: the server recalculates it under lock and commits only the total you reviewed. A genuine concurrent change refreshes the displayed total for review without requiring you to undock. Select a quantity and click once to trade; only a reduced available quantity or genuinely refreshed price requires another choice.

Buying from or selling to a port: choose the quantity and submit the trade once. A dialog appears only if the port cannot fulfill the requested quantity and offers a reduced trade. If another transaction or market-date change alters the market before settlement, no cargo or credits move and you can retry.

• Standard ports accept qualifying player sales up to commodity capacity without a port-credit limit; inventory and market direction still apply
• A single direct trade is limited to 10,000 units by default; a larger request receives a reduced quote
• Purchases by other players add 5% of the purchase value to the capped robbable pool (default maximum: 100,000 credits); owner self-trades do not fund it
• Merchant's Amulet artifact: 10% off the commodity unit price
• Successful trades grant +1 XP
• Trades by other players generate the configured port-owner commission; self-trades do not. Commission accumulates separately as owner profit and may be withdrawn to the owner's bank through Ship Ops while docked at the owned port
• Port owners can review pending commission records when an owner account was temporarily unavailable

Port ownership#

Buy unowned standard ports (not in Imperial Space or safe zones):

• Control security and defense upgrades (owner-only, max level 50 each)
• Receive external-trade commissions in the separate OwnerProfitCredits balance; this is not the port's operating trade liquidity
• Port sale returns 97.5% of computed value

Port upgrades#

Port construction#

Build new standard ports in eligible sectors. Requires turns and multi-day build time. Fun port names are assigned; you may rename on creation.

Port defense in combat#

Port fighters and shields scale with defense level:

portFighters = 10,000 + 10,000 × (defenseLevel / 50)
portShields  = 5,000 + 5,000 × (defenseLevel / 50)
portOdds     = 1 + 2 × (defenseLevel / 50)

Robbing and stealing (evil only)#

Requires alignment ≤ −100. Costs 5 turns each.

Safe rob amount: approximately experience ÷ 16.7 (at default settings)

Safe steal amount: approximately experience ÷ 15

Exceeding safe amounts increases bust chance (base 2%, modified by port security). Failure costs XP and goods. Repeat steal from same port = automatic bust.

Failed robberies that leave unpaid credit penalties may trigger an auto-bounty (2× unpaid remainder, 7-day expiration).

Trading#

Basics#

1. Find a port that sells a commodity cheaply
2. Buy with ship credits and hold space
3. Travel to a port that buys that commodity
4. Sell for profit

Prices change daily. Watch port stock levels — low stock raises buy prices; high stock lowers sell prices. Planetary trade agreements use separate sale percentages and purchase weights; unused proceeds are always deposited into the planet treasury, even when the planet has no citadel.

Trade routes (automation)#

Unmanned ships run trade routes once per Exturn:

Setup:

1. Starmap → Trade Route button
2. New → select unmanned ship in highlighted sector
3. Click adjacent sectors to build path
4. Save → name route, set fuel/organics/equipment allocation %
5. Startup cost: holds × 50 credits

Operation:

• Runs at Exturn from route start sector
• Aborts on mines, aliens, or enemies (Captain crew prevents abort)
• Importer/Exporter crew: +30% profit; crew takes 10% commission
• Check Operations screen for results

Colony routes#

Deliver colonists from Terra (Sector 1) to your planets:

1. Starmap → Colony Route button
2. Ship must be unmanned and in Sector 1
3. Build path to planet's sector
4. Select target planet; startup cost: holds × 50 credits
5. 1 colonist per hold carried; colonists are free from Terra

No crew commission on colony routes. Overpopulation (>50% capacity) increases death rates — plan deliveries carefully.

Economy & Law

Banking, Loans, and Credits#

Galactic Bank#

Access at any port via bank transactions:

• Deposit/withdraw between ship credits and bank balance
• No interest on deposits
• Safety: Ship destruction loses 50% of ship credits; bank credits are safe
• Tax: Good-aligned players with bank balance > 1,000,000 pay 5% daily tax (+1 alignment per 1,500 credits taxed)

Stardock casino loans#

Taking a loan adds upfront interest to balance (30% of principal for good/neutral; 7.5% for evil).

Repo Man (day 5+): Lenny confiscates credits (leaving 500), fuel, organics, equipment, holds, fighters, and shields at 25% of base commodity prices.

Mafia flag: Debt 8+ days past max may mark you wanted; extreme debt can destroy your ship.

Casino loans use net worth (ship value + bank) rather than standard credit checks.

Lenny's Repo Depot#

Located in Ring 1. Buy repossessed equipment at 75% of market value. Stock changes as Lenny seizes items from delinquent captains. Auto-docks on arrival.

Lenny's origin-story debt#

Smuggler/Mercenary origins: 50,000 credit debt, 3-day window.

• Repay via Stardock loans or earned credits
• After 3 days: if you have debt + 20% inconvenience fee in ship credits, Lenny takes the money and leaves your ship
• Otherwise: ship repossessed, replaced with a starter junker

Stardock and Special Ports#

Stardock#

Your home base. Services include:

• Shipyard — buy, sell, repair ships
• Circuit Emporium — scanners, worm drives, missiles, equipment
• Fighters and shields — combat supplies
• Casino — games and loans (minimum wager $100)
• Imperial Police HQ — bounties and commission (alignment ≥ 100 to enter)
• Crew hiring — e.g. at "The Rebel Android"
• Bank — deposits and withdrawals

Artifact Exchange#

1–2 per galaxy in Ring 2 or deeper. Look for THE RELIQUARY or ARCHON'S VAULT on the starmap. Sell artifacts for fixed prices (see Artifacts). Auto-docks on arrival.

The Exchange also holds crew and artifacts recovered from destroyed player ships. Each eligible item has an independent 50% preservation chance and remains available only to its owner for seven real-world days. Artifacts cost their normal Exchange value; recovered crew cost 75,000 credits.

Void Market (Smuggler's Den)#

• Access: alignment ≤ −100 (good-aligned captains are turned away)
• Player marketplace: list inventory items for 500–250,000 credits (15% sale fee)
• Tips board: post messages for 1,000 credits
• Names like THE VOID MARKET, NEMO'S EXCHANGE, BLACKDOCK 9

Galactic Hub#

Sector 1 (Terra) serves as the colonist source for colony routes and the heart of Imperial Space.

Corporations#

Forming and joining#

• Form: 100 credits, unique name; founder becomes CEO
• Max members: 5
• Invites and CEO election supported

Corporation Directory#

The View Corporations directory displays corporations as tiles with their logo, corporation name, CEO, and a CEO mail shortcut. Select a tile to open a larger detail view with the full member list. Use the refresh control to retrieve current corporation and membership information.

Custom Corporation Logos

Subscribers with an active Private Galaxy entitlement can upload a custom logo for their corporation. The logo is displayed to all players anywhere your corporation appears in the game.

Uploading a Logo

• Open your Corporation screen and use the Upload Logo option.
• Accepted formats: PNG, JPG, and WebP. Maximum file size: 2 MB. Maximum source dimensions: 4096 × 4096.
• The server automatically resizes and crops your image to 128 × 128 pixels and converts it to PNG.
• After uploading, your logo enters a Pending state and must be approved by a moderator before it becomes visible.

Replacing a Logo

• You can upload a new logo at any time. The new logo enters Pending review while your current approved logo continues to display.
• If the new logo is approved, it replaces your current logo immediately and the old files are deleted.
• If the new logo is rejected, your current logo remains unchanged.

Applying and Removing

• As the CEO, open your corporation and use the Apply Logo control beside Corporation Main Menu in the lower operations panel. The logo is not applied automatically after approval.
• Use Remove Logo to return a corporation to the default logo.
• One approved logo applies to all your corporations across all galaxies.

Subscription and Grace Period

• Your custom logo is only visible while your Private Galaxy subscription is active.
• If your subscription expires or lapses, your logo immediately stops displaying and all corporations fall back to the default logo.
• Your logo and data are kept for a 30-day grace period. If you renew within 30 days, your logo is restored automatically.
• After 30 days without renewal, your logo files are permanently deleted.

Deleting Your Logo

• Use the Delete Logo option to permanently remove your uploaded logo. This clears the logo from all corporations in all galaxies immediately.
• This action requires explicit confirmation and cannot be undone.

Limits

• Maximum 5 uploads per day.
• A 1-hour cooldown applies after a logo is rejected before you can upload again.
• Images flagged by moderators as abusive are permanently blocked from re-upload.

Corporate assets#

Corporate ownership uses blue starmap indicators. CEO required for Executive Leviathan purchase.

Casinos#

Located at Stardock. Minimum wager: $100.

Currently available in the React client: Korva's Vault, Zygon's Gambit, Drift Racer, Blork Flork Scimitars, Zetrona Wheel, and Procyon. Procyon is a server-authoritative head-to-head card game: the player selects a card, chooses any offered capture target (or uses PLAY CARD when no target is available), and may forfeit for a zero payout. Wins pay twice the wager; ties and losses pay zero. The game can safely resume after a refresh, and stale commands refresh the authoritative game state. Procyon also has a PRACTICE GAME option on its wager screen; practice uses a local sample board and never wagers or changes credits.

Gambler's Advantage: Casino loans based on net worth, bypassing standard credit checks. Repay at Stardock or face Lenny's Repo Man.

Bounties#

Post and claim at Imperial Police HQ (Stardock, alignment ≥ 100):

• Police bounties — on evil players
• Underground bounties — from criminal contacts

Destroying a wanted player's ship lets you claim the bounty. Bounty Hunter crew: +50% payout.

Auto-bounties: Failed port robberies with unpaid penalties spawn bounties at 2× remainder, announced in galaxy news.

Logs, Mail, Rumors, and News#

Filter the galaxy log to find your port upgrades or track rival activity. Brief database-contention collisions during player loading are retried automatically; persistent failures remain available to administrators in the server error log.

Planetary Management

Planets#

Planet classes#

Claiming planets#

Land on an unowned planet and claim it. Corporation members may choose personal or corporate ownership. In PvE galaxies, other players cannot claim your planets.

Landing warnings#

Landing on Terra, a planet you personally own, or one that belongs to your current corporation proceeds without a confirmation prompt. Other-owned and hostile alien homeworlds always warn that continuing will activate any planetary shields, ion cannons, and fighters. Unowned planets warn captains below level 5 and ships making their first landing. Any other non-owned landing also warns when the ship lacks a Planet Scanner, because surface ships and defenses cannot be inspected first.

Colonist assignment#

Assign colonists to fuel, organics, or equipment production. Production per Exturn:

units = floor((assignedColonists / colonistsNeeded) × exturnPct)
capped at maxProduction × exturnPct
+10% if Production Bonus active

Population: Birth rate ~18/1000, death rate ~8/1000. Overpopulation (>50% capacity) increases deaths. Medical Officer bonus halves death rates.

Terra adds 2,000 free colonists per day (× exturn fraction).

Excess colonists or goods above class caps are lost at Exturn — rebalance before the tick.

Fighter production#

With citadel level 2+ and toggle enabled, planets produce fighters from assigned colonists (TW-style fig factors). Toggle pauses fighter creation without stopping commodity accumulation.

Planetary bonuses (permanent)#

Land once with specialized crew on a planet you personally own, or one owned by your corporation, to unlock permanent planet flags. The ship's registration does not affect eligibility.

Bonuses persist through takeoff, sector travel, port activity, crew changes, and ship destruction.

Citadels (levels 1–6)#

Construction takes multiple days (varies by planet class and level).

Rush production — once per Exturn day, pay to subtract 1 construction day:

Planetary defenses#

1 planetary shield ≈ 10 ship shields in combat. Ion cannons fire on sector entry and during landing. Combat computers intercept attackers. Tractor beams (level 6) can prevent hostile ships from leaving; hostile planetary ion cannons may damage a trapped ship on every attempted move, and the resulting fighter and shield losses appear immediately in ship stats.

Trade agreements#

Your planet auto-trades with a port in the same sector during Exturn:

• Personal and corporate planets are both supported
• Existing active agreements continue automatically after game updates; they do not need to be canceled and recreated
• You need not own the port
• Set separate production sale percentages and purchase weights; each selling tile shows its current formatted production beneath the percentage
• Agreements sell the configured share of goods produced during that Exturn
• Each commodity sale is limited to 10,000 units per agreement Exturn by default
• When several planets request more than the port can hold, sale capacity is divided proportionally with a stable planet-ID tie-break
• Unused proceeds always go to the planet treasury, even without a citadel
• Owner commission is applied separately to each external agreement sale and purchase leg
• Blocked if hostile NPCs or enemy aliens are present, or while the port is under construction; other real players do not block agreements in PvE galaxies

Planetary worm drive (citadel level 4+)#

Warp the planet (and docked ships) to a visited sector:

• 40 turns and 400 fuel per hop (defaults)
• Destination must contain your fighter beacon

Red Matter#

Obliterates a planet after a deployment delay. The destroyed planet and its landed ships disappear immediately from the sector view. Blocked in Imperial Space, safe zones, PvE player planets, and under rookie protection.

Homeworlds#

Alien homeworld planets spawn with citadel 6, massive resources, and fighter pools. Alien communications refresh homeworld metadata when you enter a galaxy and query the alien class's database-linked planet directly, including legacy homeworlds without newer classification markers; an exact homeworld-name lookup can restore a cleared link. If the planet is genuinely missing, aliens describe it as lost, but its historic homeworld sector remains discoverable and entering that sector still counts toward Homeworlds Reached. Landing displays a danger confirmation when that alien species is hostile to you. Friendly and neutral homeworlds follow the standard ownership, new-captain, and scanner warning rules. Conquering clears the homeworld flag and is a major achievement.

Colonists and Production#

See Planets above for assignment, growth, caps, and bonuses.

Colony route workflow: Unmanned ship in Sector 1 → path to planet → delivers 1 colonist per hold per Exturn cycle → returns to Terra.

Medical Officer is the most valuable crew member for long-term colony health.

Combat & Survival

Combat#

Space combat is fast and lethal. Understand each combat type before engaging.

Core combat formula#

attackerStrength = ceil(fightersUsed × (offensiveOdds + tacticalBonus))
defenderStrength = ceil(defenders × (offensiveOdds + tacticalBonus))

Tactical Officer: +0.5 offensive odds.

Unpiloted ships: defend at 50% offensive odds; destroying them grants no kill XP or alignment to the attacker.

Disable vs destroy: If damage exceeds (maxFighters + maxShields) × 5% threshold → destroyed; otherwise → disabled.

Kill rewards: ~16% of victim XP, ~33% of victim alignment (×33% if victim escapes in pod).

Starting a fight: +10 XP, −10 alignment for attacker (before resolution).

Ship-to-ship combat#

Movement is blocked while an attack is actively resolving and becomes available immediately after the combat result is complete.

Where: Same sector (space); both ships on planet surface (neither in citadel); attacker in space vs defender docked at port.

Cost: 5 turns. Cannot attack: cloaked ships, ships being towed, your own ships, rookie-protected players, PvE allies.

Raid (5 turns): Steals credits, goods, fighters, shields, and inventory up to a cap based on experience and raid type. Successful loot appears on your ship as soon as the raid report arrives; leaving and re-entering the galaxy is not required. Nebula Cloak doubles raid odds; Security Chief halves them. After a successful raid, there is a 5-minute cooldown before you can raid the same target again. If the raid fails, the defending ship executes an emergency evasion maneuver, leaving any planet or port and immediately warping away into open space instead of attacking you.

Surrender: Only available vs defensive or toll fighters on sector entry — not in ship-to-ship combat.

Sector entry combat (phase order)#

When you warp into a sector:

1. Nav hazard damage (if triggered)
2. Tracking mine attaches (hidden; one at a time)
3. Sentry mines detonate (50% of mines, rounded down; Mimic Crystal halves detonations)
4. Ion cannons from hostile planets (citadel 3+)
5. Offensive fighters auto-attack
6. Defensive fighters — ATTACK / RETREAT / SURRENDER
7. Toll fighters — PAY (5 credits/fighter) / ATTACK / RETREAT / SURRENDER
8. Stay or go — if threats remain

Retreat returns you to your previous sector at warp turn cost.

Surrender to fighters: entire ship transfers to fighter owner; you get an escape pod with 0 credits.

Direct fighter attack: Use sector display to attack offensive/defensive/toll fighters without re-warping.

Port combat#

Where: Wild space (not Imperial Space or safe zones). Attacker in space.

• Attack port itself: 5 turns; port fights back with defense-level fighters/shields
• Destroy port: +100 XP, −100 alignment; navhaz +5 debris
• Attack docked ship from space: allowed
• Docked ship cannot attack outward — launch first

Planet landing combat#

Landing on a hostile planet triggers automatic defense:

1. Air ion cannon salvo
2. Planetary shields (citadel 5+)
3. Ground ion cannon
4. Offensive fighters (ground odds 2.0×)
5. Defensive fighters (ground odds 3.0×)
6. Successful landing

Planet surface combat#

Ships landed on the same planet may attack/raid each other if neither is inside the citadel. Citadel grants immunity.

Colonist bombing#

attackcolonists from planet surface: kills 700–1,000 colonists per fighter used. Alignment penalty. Blocked in protected spaces, PvE player planets, and rookie protection.

Planet conquest#

Clear planetary defenses and claim ownership. Ships inside the citadel do not block claiming, but are evicted to orbit upon successful claim.

PvE hostile objectives#

Pirate Nests and Alien Outposts appear in PvE galaxies (red threat frame). Attacking requires fighters, the normal ship-combat turn cost, and fuel. Fortified bases return fire against shields first and then fighters; defenses scale with remaining integrity, PvE threat level, and base type, with Alien Outposts hitting harder. Guards may also spawn. Clearing grants credits and XP (scaled by threat level), and an objective remains cleared during its cooldown—even if players leave and return to the sector—before respawning.

PvE Contract Board#

In PvE galaxies, dock at a space port and open its Contract Board to accept bounties. Each eligible port offers up to 3 contracts, and a player may hold up to 5 accepted contracts. Only one active contract for the same objective type and target may be held at a time. Contracts can cover general Pirate or Alien hunts, a specific hostile target, or clearing Hostile Objectives. Newly generated multi-kill contracts add a 15% completion premium for every required target beyond the first. Targeted Pirate Captain and Alien Commander contracts identify the hostile by name and show its currently reported sector. Every contract card shows the port and sector that issued it. Progress is tracked automatically. Return to the issuing port to claim a completed contract; attempting to claim or cancel it elsewhere explains where to return. Use the close icon in the board header to return to port operations.

PvE Regional Escalation#

Player actions in PvE galaxies—including Pirate and Alien kills, nest damage, and objective clears—cause Regional Escalation to accumulate within local box sectors. Escalation naturally decays during exturns. Areas with high escalation feature increased NPC activity and spawning pressure. Escalation levels for visited or active-contract target sectors and active discovered objectives are displayed dynamically on the Starmap (where escalated sectors feature highlighted borders and known objectives show custom icons) and under the sector title in the Sector HUD.

PvE Corporation Objectives#

Corporations in PvE galaxies can collaborate on shared Corporation Objectives (accessible via the Corporation screen's "Objectives" button). The system maintains 3 active corporation-wide goals and replaces completed goals automatically. Contributions from qualifying members are tracked dynamically. To prevent camping, members can contribute to an objective at most 3 times from any single sector. Completed objectives remain claimable for 48 hours; contributors receive a bounded share of the credits and XP based on their credited contribution, while zero-contribution members receive no reward.

Battle reports#

Combat results appear in Battle Report dialogs (sector entry report, landing report, ship contact). Read them for exact losses, pod/disable outcomes, and remaining threats.

Fighters, Mines, and Sector Defenses#

Fighter deployment modes#

Ship and colonist attacks require at least 1 fighter. Attack quantity controls start at 1; use Cancel to abandon the attack. A one-fighter attack is useful when trying to disable and capture a ship without applying unnecessary damage.

The deployment dialog explains the selected mode. For Toll mode it previews the resulting demand using the active galaxy's configured rate multiplied by the projected total toll fighters after deployment.

Entry decision dialogs show the required choice first. Select View full entry report only when you want the complete tactical transcript.

One owner's fighter stack per sector. Personal fighters hostile to other players; corporate fighters hostile to other corporations.

Recovering deployed fighters is limited by the current ship's fighter capacity. If the ship is already full, the game reports that no fighters can be recovered instead of opening a quantity panel.

Deployment blocked: Imperial Space, safe zones, all special ports and spaceport hubs.

NPC deterrence: Hostile NPC ships (pirates and enemy aliens) will not spawn in sectors containing deployed fighters, sentry mines, or tracking mines. NPCs that are relocated into a defended sector during the daily Exturn face the full sector-entry defense pipeline — mines detonate, ion cannons fire, and fighters engage — potentially destroying or damaging them before they can threaten you.

Mines#

The sector cap is configured by the galaxy (default 99 total sentry/tracking mines per sector, with Ring 1 limited to 10%). The deployment screen shows the current cap and remaining slots, and will not accept more than the ship carries or the sector can hold. For sentry mines, it also previews how many mines in the resulting stack will detonate, their raw damage before target-specific defenses, and how many will remain. A lone mine uses a percentage chance, which the preview identifies. Oversized requests are rejected instead of being silently reduced. Cannot mix another player's sentry stack in the same sector.

Marker beacons#

Leave one message beacon per sector. Required as warp target for planetary worm drive. Good-aligned captains use marker beacons for safe Imperial Space worm jumps.

Photon missiles#

Disable sentry mines, fighters, and ion cannons for ~60 seconds without destroying them.

Mine disruptors#

Destroy all mines in an adjacent sector. In PvE, cannot clear other real players' mines.

Bloom missiles#

Create a random planet type in your current sector and consume up to 5 percentage points of navigation-hazard debris there, when present. The success notice reports how much NavHaz was cleared. Heavy crowding in a sector skews results toward gaseous/glacial planets (junk drift). The tutorial Bloom Missile is guaranteed to generate an Earth-like planet. Blocked in Imperial Space, safe zones, and Protected Space.

Red Matter#

Obliterates any planet after deployment delay. Use with extreme caution. Each ship class has a maximum number of Red Matter Devices it can carry — smaller ships carry fewer (or none), while capital ships can carry more. Check the ship class stats when purchasing to see the limit.

Galaxy Administration

Administrators can select Configure beside a galaxy on the Active Galaxies screen to manage its settings. Settings are grouped into named tabs. The configuration screen displays a loading indicator while retrieving the full property list. Use Big Bang to generate the configured galaxy, Run Exturn to process a daily tick, or Close to return to the galaxy list. In the privileged in-game debug menu, Create Planet asks for a configured planet type before creating the planet in the current sector.

Private Hosted Galaxies

Sectorum supports player-hosted private galaxies for a monthly subscription fee. This allows you to run your own persistent retro space-trading galaxy for your friends, corporation, or small community.

Features & Limits#

• 1 Active Galaxy: Each subscription allows you to host 1 active private galaxy at a time.
• Password Protection: Secure your galaxy with an encrypted password so only invited players can join.
• Preset Setup: You choose a safe configuration preset when the galaxy is created.
• Simple Dashboard: After creation, the private galaxy dashboard lets you delete the hosted galaxy or close the dashboard.
• No Pay-to-Win: Subscribing to host a galaxy grants no advantages in public galaxies.
• Custom Corporation Logos: Your subscription also unlocks the ability to upload a custom logo for your corporations. See Custom Corporation Logos in the Corporations section for full details.

Galaxy Presets#

When creating a private galaxy, you can choose from safe configuration presets:

Billing & Lapses#

If you cancel your subscription, your galaxy remains active and playable until the end of the current billing period. Once the period expires, or if your subscription lapses due to payment failure, your hosted galaxy will be locked and unavailable for play, but it will not be immediately deleted. You can restore access by updating your billing information via the Manage Billing portal.

PvE Galaxies

PvP galaxies (classic)#

PvE galaxies (cooperative)#

Private property still matters — PvE prevents harm, not access to others' assets.

Roaming pirates: When encountered in eligible open space, pirates may warp away or remain and attack. An attack countdown warns you without blocking navigation, so you can warp away before it expires. A departure message means the server has persistently moved that NPC; returning to the sector will not restore it. Hostile roaming pirates and aliens also trigger deployed mines, fighters, and planetary defenses when entering a defended sector. Defense owners receive relevant alerts; the NPC's internal sector-entry transcript is not shown in Recent Activity.

PvE threat levels#

Direct PvE kill rewards are capped (e.g. up to 60 XP / 12,000 credits at high threat).

Quests & Artifacts

Quests and Tutorials#

First Flight (Dockmaster Jax)#

Standard on all galaxies.

Tutorial objects spawn automatically when quests are active. If a step seems missing, re-open the quest dialog or revisit the target sector — the game can repair missing tutorial objects.

Training Drone: Tutorial-only target in Sector 12. Completing Part 4 prevents respawn. Attack works in protected space.

Caprica quest#

• Find map fragments through sector adventures
• Accept quest to receive encrypted starmap clues
• Discover and enter the safe-zone sector containing planet Caprica
• Receive Caprica's welcome story upon arrival; landing is not required
• Reward: 100,000 credits (+ Fortune's Beacon bonus if equipped)

Spoiler-safe: follow fragment clues on the starmap; the quest tracks progress in your quest log.

Quest UI#

Active and completed quests appear on the Operations screen. Dialog NPCs offer accept/complete flows with reward popups.

Aliens and NPCs#

Alien species#

Ten alien factions (Gorgon, Veloix, Craw, Nyx, Krell, Yykkllyyxx, Eebeeb, Vortron, Zephyr, Zorax) with alignment tendencies (good, evil, neutral) and unique trade goods. In PvP galaxies, entering an alien homeworld sector for the first time displays a welcome story and records the visit; landing is optional, and the sector still counts if its original homeworld planet was conquered or destroyed.

Alien relationships#

Friendly (heart icon) if any:

• Trade allies (completed a trade)
• Crew member of that species aboard
• Cosmic Resonator artifact
• Carrying their desired trade good
• Reputation match (good aliens: alignment ≥ 1,000; evil: ≤ −1,000; neutral: XP ≥ 1,000)

Hostile (red !) if:

• On their enemy list (hostile actions add hostility debt; debt decays naturally at 1 point per day, and selling their trade goods speeds forgiveness)
• Alignment clash (with XP ≥ 100)
• Rookie status (neutral aliens dislike XP < 100)

The Profile screen shows each species' persistent Standing separately from its Current Behavior toward your active ship. If crew, cargo, a Diplomat, or a Cosmic Resonator makes a hostile species act friendly, the hostile standing remains visible and the temporary modifier is named. Your planets and deployed defenses use persistent standing, not protections carried aboard your active ship. Enemy status is temporary — hostility debt decays over time or through trade.

Hostile alien behavior#

~2.5 second delay after sector entry, then:

• ~50% attack (25% with Captain crew)
• ~25% warp away
• ~20% hostile hail

Blocked by Diplomat crew, Imperial/safe space, or Cosmic Resonator. One action roll per visit.

Alien communication#

• Suggested prompts such as HELLO, TELL ME MORE, and WARN ME send real hails to alien captains and named NPCs such as Scraps
• Use TYPE A CUSTOM HAIL to write your own message of up to 100 characters
• The transcript scrolls and keeps replies in the same communication window
• Alien messages start 60% scrambled, improving 15% per turn; a Communications Officer, Mind Melder, or matching alien passenger provides instant translation. NPC messages are not scrambled.

Ship-to-ship conversation: When AI hail conversations are enabled for the server, suggested prompts, custom alien-window messages, and RESPOND on an incoming NPC or alien hail all use the same generated conversation. Named NPCs and every alien race retain their own personality, remember the recent exchange, and reply after a brief subspace delay of at least five seconds. They know their identity, culture, and the visible conversation—not private player information, hidden locations, quest solutions, or administrative data. Generated conversation adds personality only: it cannot award items, alter relationships, move ships, change combat, or override normal game rules. The channel reports when AI hails are unavailable, sent too quickly, or temporarily at capacity. An accepted hail that receives no reply reopens after 25 seconds without inventing an NPC response, and ordinary gameplay continues.

Pirates and police#

Pirates roam, attack, and respawn. Their non-blocking attack countdown leaves navigation available so you can attempt to flee. If the attack occurs, its battle report remains open across cockpit views until you dismiss it; if detailed telemetry cannot be interpreted, the original combat result remains available in a fallback report. An enemy escape-pod result means the pirate captain escaped the destroyed vessel; your own movement and survival are reported separately. When pirates are relocated or respawned during the daily Exturn, they face any sector defenses (fighters, mines, ion cannons) at their destination — well-fortified sectors may destroy them on arrival. Police enforce order in Federation space. Both are NPC threats unaffected by PvE player-protection rules.

Other NPCs#

Karen, Scraps, Tinfoil Tom, and Blorp are recurring NPC characters with unique behaviors. Tinfoil Tom flees rather than fighting.

Artifacts#

Finding artifacts#

Sector adventures (navhaz searches), quests, and exploration rewards. Adventure investigations must be started from open space; launch from a planet or port first.

Artifact effects (examples)#

Selling at Artifact Exchange#

Consider keeping artifacts with strong passive effects rather than selling.

Death & Recovery

Elimination modes#

When your ship is destroyed (with escape pod)#

• Escape to last sector in a new Escape Pod
• Half ship credits retained
• XP and alignment preserved (attacker gets reduced kill rewards)

When a ship is destroyed, each crew member and artifact aboard has a 50% chance to be secured by the Artifact Exchange for seven days. This recovery does not apply to disabled ships because their inventory remains with the salvageable hull.

When your ship is disabled

• Ship stays in sector; fighters/shields → 0; unboardable
• The captain credited with disabling it becomes the owner immediately
• Ship credits halved; escape pod item removed from hull
• You are ejected (usually into escape pod)
• Hull keeps fuel, holds, and equipment
• The new owner can transfer contents immediately; towing is needed only to move the hull
• Anyone can tow it and potentially claim the salvage — act fast

Recovery checklist

1. TRANSFER valuables off disabled ship via Ship Contact
2. Get a tow-capable ship (escape pods cannot tow)
3. TOW to Stardock
4. Repair (20% base cost) or sell (50% payout) at Ship Ops
5. Restock fighters, shields, and new escape pod

Salvaging others' disabled ships#

If you deliver the disabling blow, ownership transfers immediately so you can secure the contents before towing. Tow the hull to Stardock to repair it for your fleet or sell it for profit. Unrelated disabled salvage can still change ownership when another captain begins towing it.

Lenny and casino recovery#

Pay debts before repo deadlines. Lenny's Repo Depot may have your seized equipment at discount.

UI & Workflow

Key screens#

Cockpit navigation order: Sector, Starmap, Ship Ops, Port, Planet, Corp, Quests, Comms, and Profile.

Status MFD pages: Page 1 ship status, Page 2 navigation, Page 3 ship inventory (crew and equipment).

Ship password: Use the lock icon in Quick Info to set or clear the password protecting an unmanned ship from unauthorized boarding or towing.

Profile: Shows commander statistics and every alien relationship. It separates persistent standing from current ship-modified behavior and explains active crew, cargo, Diplomat, or Cosmic Resonator protection.

Web clients: The React client is the default at game.sectorum.net/. The classic Flutter client remains available at /old/; its Launch New action returns to the default React client.

Stretch UI: The interface adapts to landscape and portrait; tooltips on ship portraits explain piloted/friendly/hostile status. NPC ships (Police, Karen, Scraps, Tinfoil Tom, Blorp) are never labeled hostile.

News and Roadmap: These main-menu controls are currently unavailable.

Common workflows#

Find a port: Starmap search, spectrographic scan adjacent sectors, or explore outward from Sector 1.

Trade goods: Dock (0 turns) → buy/sell commodities → check hold space and port credits.

Buy a ship: Stardock → Shipyard → select class → trade-in applied automatically.

Buy fighters and shields: Stardock commodity menu or any port selling them.

Explore safely: Gravity scan (free) → Standard autopilot → Nav Sentinel → avoid red warps until ready.

Claim a planet: Land → claim dialog → assign colonists → start citadel.

Trade route: Starmap → Trade Route mode → unmanned ship → path → save with allocation %.

Colony route: Starmap → Colony Route → ship in Sector 1 → path to planet → select target.

Join/form corporation: Operations or corporation menu → form (100 credits) or accept invite.

Recover fighters/mines: Operations → FIGHTERS or MINES tab → select sector → recover.

Read combat reports: After sector entry or battle, review Battle Report dialog before choosing RETREAT/STAY.

Recover after death: Escape pod → warp to Stardock → buy ship → reinstall escape pod.

Recover disabled ship: Transfer valuables → tow → Stardock → Repair in Ship Ops.

Tips from the Universe

Tips for New Captains#

• Complete First Flight before exploring deep space
• Keep an escape pod installed at all times
• Bank credits above what you need for trading
• Gravity scan before entering unknown adjacent sectors (free)
• Password unmanned ships
• Use Standard autopilot, not Express, until you know the route
• Trade with aliens — cross-species trade goods are highly profitable
• Attacking aliens creates hostility debt — they'll be enemies until it decays naturally or you earn forgiveness through trade
• Cloak if you have the device — prevents 2.5s visibility on sector entry
• Red warps are unexplored; green are safe paths you've charted
• Check Operations for quests, routes, planets, and deployed assets

Advanced Strategy#

• Pair trade routes with Importer/Exporter crew on short complementary port loops
• Citadel treasury for tax-free wealth at 4% interest
• Corporate fortress planets in strategic sectors with toll fighters
• Spectro scan before worm-driving into unknown space
• Port ownership on busy trade lanes for commission income
• Planetary trade agreements to automate planet-port arbitrage
• PvE objective farming in Aggressive/Extreme galaxies for capped but steady rewards
• Commission + Imperial Sovereign for endgame PvP power projection
• Artifact economy — adventure for relics, sell duplicates at Exchange

Glossary

Frequently Asked Questions

Why can't I attack this player?#

Possible reasons: PvE galaxy protection, rookie protection (Federation Flight Permit), target in Imperial Space with good alignment, target is cloaked, you are towing/been towed, or target is an ally/NPC type blocked by rules.

Why can't I dock here?#

Void Market requires alignment ≤ −100. Some ports are restricted by game state. Cleanhands cannot dock at Void Market.

Why can't I claim this planet?#

Planet may be NPC-owned, already owned, protected in PvE, or you lack landing rights. Homeworlds require defeating defenses first.

Why did autopilot stop?#

Standard mode stops at points of interest, Nav Sentinel warnings, mines, fighters, or hazards. The halt dialog shows how many ships are in the sector and labels genuinely hostile ones (pirates, enemy aliens, opposing players). Friendly NPCs like Police, Karen, Scraps, and Tinfoil Tom are not counted as hostile. Path is cleared — set destination again. No resume button.

Why did my trade route fail?#

Ship aborted due to mines, aliens, enemies, or insufficient turns/fuel. Assign a Captain crew to the route ship to reduce aborts.

Why did my colony route fail?#

Ship not in Sector 1 at Exturn start, path blocked, or insufficient turns. Verify route configuration in Operations.

Why did I lose my ship?#

Destroyed in combat, nav hazard, mine detonation, casino repo, Lenny repo, or hardcore elimination. Check battle report or galaxy log.

Why am I in an escape pod?#

Your ship was destroyed or disabled and you had an escape pod (or Easy mode). Pod spawns at last sector with minimal armament.

Why is my ship disabled?#

Damage exceeded disable threshold but not destruction. Fighters/shields zeroed; repair at Stardock.

Why are some sectors unsafe?#

Nav hazards, deployed mines/fighters, hostile aliens, pirates, or PvE objectives. Scan before entering.

Why can't I deploy fighters or mines here?#

Imperial Space, safe zones, special ports, and spaceport hubs block deployment. Protected Space also clears fighters/sentry mines each Exturn.

Why does a port have negative credits?#

NPC ports can accumulate debt when buying from players. Future sales repay it. Player-owned ports cannot go negative.

Why did my casino loan get repossessed?#

Loan unpaid for 5+ days. Lenny seizes goods. Repay at Stardock before day 5 to avoid repo.

What is the difference between PvE and PvP?#

PvP allows full player combat and conquest. PvE blocks real-player harm but NPC threats remain significant.

What does alignment affect?#

Alien reactions, rob/steal access, bank tax, Police HQ, Void Market, commission eligibility, and kill penalties.

What does experience affect?#

Level, rank title, safe rob/steal amounts, and some alien reactions.

What should I do first?#

Log in → join galaxy → talk to Dockmaster Jax → complete First Flight → trade at ports → install escape pod → explore outward from Sector 1.

Does upgrading a port only increase security?#

No. Upgrade Port increases capacity and productivity. Security and Defense are separate owner-only upgrades.

Can I resume autopilot?#

No. Re-engage from the starmap after stops.

Where do I see my crew?#

Ship Inventory (Status MFD page 3), transfer screens, and hire menus at ports.

Is there any point to cloaking when landed on a planet?#

Yes. If you land on a planet and do not cloak, you are visible on the planet surface to other players scanning the sector, who can then land and attack or raid your ship (unless you are inside a Citadel). Cloaking completely prevents other players from attacking or raiding you while you are offline, and hides your ship from standard scans and sector/planet displays. Note that cloaking requires fuel and has a daily failure chance overnight.

© 2026 Sectorum Galactic Command. This manual reflects current game behavior; mechanics may vary slightly per galaxy configuration.