Resource Protection & Looting

Successful raids can steal resources from a defender's colony — but not everything. Resource Protection and Warehouse capacity work together to shield part of your stockpile, while a global loot rate limits how much of the exposed portion attackers can actually take. Fleet cargo capacity is the final gate: raiders must bring enough haulers to carry the loot home.

This system applies to player-vs-player (PvP) attacks on active colonies. Pirates, inactive colonies, and other special targets follow different rules (see Special cases).

How it works

Every stored resource on a colony (steel, quartz, gas, iridium, silicium, elerium) falls into one of two categories:

Protected resources

Resources stored within your Warehouse capacity can be partially shielded.
The protected share is determined by your Resource Protection rate (see below).
Protection is calculated per resource type — each material is evaluated against the same Warehouse capacity independently.

Lootable resources (exposed)

Any portion of a resource not covered by protection is exposed to looting.
Resources above Warehouse capacity are always fully exposed (protection does not apply to the overflow).
Attackers do not automatically take all exposed resources — a global loot rate and cargo capacity further limit the haul.

Protection rate

Your total Resource Protection rate is the share of in-warehouse resources that cannot be stolen. It is built from several sources:

Source	Effect
Base protection	10% of in-warehouse resources are always protected.
Resource Protection research	+1% per level (research id: `resourceProtection`).
Monuments	Bonus safe-storage percentage from active monument effects.
Combat cap	Total protection cannot exceed the global loot rate (see below).

You can view the full breakdown on any colony's Warehouse panel in the game.

Note: Protection only applies to resources stored up to Warehouse capacity. Anything above that amount is 100% exposed regardless of your protection rate.

Warehouse capacity

The Warehouse building defines how much of each resource type can benefit from protection. Capacity scales with building level:

Warehouse Capacity = 15,000 × 1.9 ^ Warehouse Level

(At level 0, capacity is 15,000 per resource type. Each level multiplies capacity by approximately ×1.9, or roughly +90% per level.)

Upgrading your Warehouse increases the amount of each resource that can be partially shielded — not just total storage, but the portion eligible for protection.

Loot rate & cargo limits

Global loot rate

The share of exposed resources that can be stolen is set by a global combat setting (combat.lootPercentage). The current default is 50%.

There is no attacker research that increases loot efficiency. All raiders use the same loot rate against active PvP targets.

This loot rate also serves as the maximum protection cap — your total protection rate cannot exceed it. With the default 50% loot rate, the highest achievable protection is 50%, even if your research and monuments would add up to more.

Fleet cargo capacity

After calculating available loot, the game checks whether the attacking fleet has enough cargo space to carry it:

Each cargo ship contributes its base cargo capacity.
Galactic Commerce research (Realm 4+) increases cargo capacity by +1.5% per level per attacker.
In joint / FCS attacks, each participant's Galactic Commerce bonus applies to their own ships.

If total cargo capacity is less than available loot, attackers take a proportional share. If cargo capacity is greater, they take everything available.

Formulas

For a single resource type:

In Warehouse     = min(Stored Amount, Warehouse Capacity)
Overflow         = max(0, Stored Amount − Warehouse Capacity)
Exposed          = Overflow + In Warehouse × (1 − Protection Rate)
Available Loot   = floor(Exposed × Loot Rate)
Actual Loot      = min(Available Loot, limited by fleet cargo capacity)
Defender Keeps   = Stored Amount − Actual Loot

Where:

Protection Rate = min(Base + Research + Monuments, Loot Rate cap)
Loot Rate = global combat.lootPercentage (default 0.50)

All final amounts are rounded down to whole numbers.

Worked examples

The examples below use the default 50% loot rate and assume the attacker has enough cargo capacity to carry all available loot. Protection values are the effective rate after the combat cap.

Example 1 — Small Warehouse, stockpile overflow


Stored	50,000,000 Steel
Warehouse capacity	10,000,000
Protection rate	50% (capped maximum at default settings)

In Warehouse  = min(50M, 10M) = 10M
Overflow        = 40M            → fully exposed
Protected share = 10M × 50%     = 5M protected inside warehouse
Exposed         = 40M + (10M × 50%) = 45M
Available Loot  = floor(45M × 50%)    = 22,500,000

Result: Defender keeps 27,500,000 Steel · Attacker steals 22,500,000 Steel.

The large overflow (40M above warehouse capacity) dominates the loss — upgrading Warehouse is critical when stockpiles grow.

Example 2 — Large Warehouse, full coverage


Stored	50,000,000 Steel
Warehouse capacity	50,000,000
Protection rate	50%

In Warehouse  = 50M
Overflow      = 0
Exposed       = 50M × 50% = 25M
Available Loot = floor(25M × 50%) = 12,500,000

Result: Defender keeps 37,500,000 Steel · Attacker steals 12,500,000 Steel.

When all resources fit inside the Warehouse, protection applies to the entire stockpile.

Example 3 — Mid-level protection (below cap)


Stored	50,000,000 Steel
Warehouse capacity	50,000,000
Protection rate	30% (10% base + 20 levels of Resource Protection research)

Exposed        = 50M × 70% = 35M
Available Loot = floor(35M × 50%) = 17,500,000

Result: Defender keeps 32,500,000 Steel · Attacker steals 17,500,000 Steel.

Example 4 — Cargo-limited raid


Stored	50,000,000 Steel
Warehouse capacity	50,000,000
Protection rate	50%
Available loot	12,500,000 (from Example 2)
Fleet cargo capacity	5,000,000

Take ratio = 5M / 12.5M = 0.4
Actual Loot = floor(12.5M × 0.4) = 5,000,000

Result: Defender keeps 45,000,000 Steel · Attacker steals 5,000,000 Steel.

Even after a successful attack, insufficient cargo ships leave loot on the table.

Strategic impact

For defenders

Upgrade the Warehouse to raise the capacity threshold — protection only applies to resources within this limit.
Research Resource Protection for +1% safe storage per level (stacks with the 10% base rate).
Activate monument bonuses that grant safe-storage percentage.
Keep stockpiles near or below Warehouse capacity when possible; overflow is fully exposed.
Stay active — inactive colonies lose warehouse protection entirely (see Special cases).

For raiders

Bring enough cargo ships — available loot means nothing if your fleet cannot carry it.
Research Galactic Commerce (Realm 4+) for +1.5% cargo capacity per level on haulers.
Target colonies with low Warehouse levels or large unprotected stockpiles (resources above warehouse capacity).
Scout defender resource levels and warehouse infrastructure before committing a fleet.

Design goal

The system creates an ongoing economic arms race:

Defenders invest in Warehouse capacity, Resource Protection research, and monuments.
Raiders invest in cargo ships and Galactic Commerce.

Raids remain profitable, but a single attack cannot wipe out an entire economy — especially when Warehouse and protection are maintained.

In-game references

What	Where to find it
Protection rate breakdown	Warehouse building panel → Resource Protection (expand details)
Exposed / raidable amount	Resource popup → Unprotected (Raidable)
Warehouse capacity	Resource popup → Capacity; Warehouse building stats
Research	Resource Protection (Security, Realm 1)
Cargo bonus	Galactic Commerce (Economy, Realm 4)

Special cases

These targets do not use the Warehouse protection formulas above:

Target	Loot behavior
Pirates (PvE)	100% of stored resources can be looted (subject to cargo capacity).
Inactive colonies (`inactive_week`, `inactive_month`)	80% of all stored resources can be looted. Warehouse protection is bypassed.
Active PvP colonies	Full protection system described in this article.

Values reflect the current live configuration: 10% base protection, 50% default loot rate, 1% protection per Resource Protection research level, and 1.5% cargo capacity per Galactic Commerce level. Global combat settings may be adjusted per realm or season — check the in-game Warehouse panel for your current protection cap.