Knightspire:War Rules

This document defines the complete ruleset for warfare on Knightspire, the Minecraft medieval geopolitical server. Its purpose is to ensure that all conflicts are conducted in a structured, fair, and enforceable manner whilst preserving strategic depth and enjoyable events.

All wars thereby involve:

• A turn-based strategic system;
• Scheduled battles via ModernWar;
• Restrictions for fair conduct;

All conflicts on the server are formed and played out through roleplay, and all players involved in the conflict are to remain in-character for the duration of the conflict unless the rules specify otherwise.

Any behaviour not explicitly permitted within this document should be assumed to be disallowed.

Section 1. War Maps and Nodes

The territory where war occurs is mapped and divided into nodes. These represent all relevant locations within the war system, each node denoting a population center, outpost, or anything of note depending on the scale of the war in question.

Each node must:

• Have a name;
• Have an owner;
• Have a connection to at least one other node;

Combat may occur outside of nodes and outside of periods of battles. It may also occur before and after a battle.

• Combat rules still apply for combat outside of war and battles;
• Players in combat must comply with roleplay rules as much as outside of combat;

Each battle is classified by the development of the node where the battle occurs. The classifications are as follows, from most to least developed: urban, suburban, and rural. Development of the node decides the progress level of the battle’s progress bar and its garrison capacity.

Urban Nodes

Urban nodes are heavily developed population centers and centers of activity, fortified or not.

When war occurs, all un-garrisoned fighters must start in an army stationed at an urban node.

Suburban Nodes

Suburban nodes are developed locations with medium and low development, such as smaller towns, villages, and outposts.

Rural Nodes

Rural nodes are undeveloped or spacious places, such as farmlands.

If two armies move directly at each other from adjacent nodes, the battle will occur at a rural node in between the two aforementioned nodes.

Progress Bar Sizes

Each node, depending on its development level, has a set progress bar size.

Development Level	Progress Bar Size	Starting Value
Urban	760	380
Suburban	600	300
Rural	360	180

Garrison Limits

Each node, depending on its development level, has a set limit on garrisoned players.

Development Level	Garrison Limit
Urban	3
Suburban	2
Rural	None

Section 2. Organizing War

A war begins when one nation or nation-like entity possessing at least one urban node declares war on another, whether publicly via the server’s news channel or privately to both staff and the defending nation.

Conditions for War

• Wars are directly tied to territory;
• No entity without territory can declare a proper war against another;
• A state of war may still exist in roleplay, but it does not carry mechanical meaning outside of roleplay;
• Players involved in such conflicts would not be fighting to gain territory;

A war declaration must be reasonably justified in-roleplay before it is made.

Wars that have no justification in roleplay will not be considered actual wars and go against the server’s roleplay rules.

Before declaring war, the attacking side must have a reasonable expectation of:

• Where their armies will be stationed;
• Where their first attack would occur;

War Representatives

War organization happens with no more than two representatives for each involved nation.

In special cases, more than two representatives may be permitted.

War Masters

When war is declared, at least one War Master must be appointed either by:

• Unanimous decision of the attacker and defender sides; or
• Staff decision;

The purpose of the War Master is to spectate the battles of the war and punish rulebreaking when it occurs.

War Masters:

• Help decide the time at which battles occur;
• Prioritize an appropriate number of fighters per battle;
• Are granted permission to use spectator mode to overlook battles and verify player conduct;
• May make minor rulings and interpret the rules in specific issues;

Any major ruling must be approved either by staff or unanimous agreement of war party representatives.

War Maps

When war is declared, each party at war must present a map of its nodes to be verified by the War Masters or staff.

This must occur within 48 hours of the war being declared.

If a war party is unable to present a map of its nodes, either staff members or the War Master(s) of said war must produce one instead.

War maps do not denote the claims of a nation or war party, but rather their direct military control.

Only points of interest are marked on the map, rather than internal and external borders.

Once approved by the War Master(s), war maps cannot be altered.

Armies and Rosters

Each war party must provide a roster of its fighters before the first battle occurs.

This roster cannot change during war unless approved by the War Master(s).

These rosters are referred to as armies.

Armies must:

• Begin at urban nodes at Turn 0 of the war;
• Move one node at a time each subsequent turn;

By default, each war party can field only one army whilst at war.

This can be changed in special cases if appropriate for the war.

The decision to increase the amount of armies is delegated to the War Master(s).

Fighter rosters and locations of armies are told privately to the War Master(s) and are revealed only when two armies meet for battle.

Section 3. Turn-Based Warfare

Warfare on Knightspire is turn-based in the sense that, besides the real-time battles and player-versus-player combat in-game, war parties move their armies across a map simultaneously per turn.

Example

At Turn 0, two armies set which urban nodes they start at.

At Turn 1, they both move towards one another.

Turns continue until a battle occurs either:

• When a war party chooses to fight a battle over an urban or suburban node with its garrison; or
• When two armies meet in a node or between two nodes;

Turns continue after the battles conclude.

Turn Structure

Wars progress through a sequence of turns.

At Turn 0, war parties field their armies at urban nodes of their choice.

Every subsequent turn, armies either:

• Remain at the node they are at; or
• Move to an adjacent node;

If no battles occur during a turn, the war immediately progresses to the next turn.

After a battle concludes, the next turn must be submitted in under 24 hours.

Defensive Battles

If an army enters a hostile node of either suburban or urban development level, its defender can choose to start a defensive battle using a garrison of either two or three fighters respectively.

During this time, the rest of the army may move from their node to reinforce the defending force.

If the battle ends before the reinforcements arrive, said reinforcements must remain at the last node they reached.

Armies Meeting

In the event that two armies march into one another from adjacent nodes, they must fight a battle in an area between the two nodes.

This must occur whether the battle site is on developed land or not.

The winner of this battle will move into the node that the losing side was occupying last turn.

The loser of this battle will be able to choose which node to retreat to, if such choice exists.

If the losing side must retreat and there is no place for a retreat, such as losing a battle over a dead-end:

• The army is moved to the nearest available urban node;
• The winner is granted one free turn;

Fortified Urban Nodes

If an army is attacking an urban node that is fortified, meaning it has walls all around it and no way of entering it other than a redstone gate, it must wait two full turns at that node before it can begin a battle at an unlocked castle.

During these two full turns:

• The opposing army is free to act as it would like;
• Garrisons are still active during the siege period;

The defender of the fortified node is permitted to use its garrisoned forces to sally out and counterattack the sieging army, but it must open the fort to do so.

Section 4. Battles and Combat

Battles on Knightspire are done via a custom plugin called ModernWar.

Each battle site has predetermined boundaries set by the War Master(s) and a capture point within said battle site.

Each war party involved in the battle is vying for control over this capture point.

Full control over the capture point ends the battle.

Capture Points

Control over a capture point is displayed by the game’s UI for all combatants.

The battle system itself is a tug-of-war based on presence within the capture point.

To gain progress in capturing a point during a battle, combatants must either:

• Push all hostiles out of the boundaries of the capture point and remain on it uncontested; or
• Score kills against enemy players;

Battle Conduct

During battles and combat, the war rules apply, and all participants are expected to strictly follow battle conduct rules.

If said rules are not followed by a participant, they are to be disqualified for a period of time decided on by the War Master(s).

This period depends on the severity of the rulebreak.

Forbidden Actions

• Spawncamping enemies is strictly forbidden;
• Using plugins such as GSit during battles or combat is forbidden;

Restricted and Banned Items

To maintain balance during combat, certain items were either removed from the game entirely or are banned in combat specifically.

The following cannot be acquired or crafted in the game and are therefore banned:

• Maces;
• Chorus fruits;
• Wind charges;
• End crystals;
• Potions and arrows of slow falling;
• Riptide tridents;

The following are banned from combat and battles:

• Ender pearls;
• Turtle master potions;
• Respawn anchors;

Ender pearls cannot be used to circumvent defenses.

Players cannot purposefully utilize mobs, with the exception of ridable mobs, for battle or combat purposes.

Block Placement and Destruction

Players may not place or break blocks during battle.

Exceptions and special cases exist.

Permitted actions include:

• Placing and destroying beds for respawning and denying respawns;
• Placing and destroying shulker boxes and other containers;
• Taking items out of containers during battle;
• Breaking wooden, iron, and copper doors;

Using containers to bypass defenses or gain an unfair advantage is not permitted.

Combat Outside Battles

Outside of battles, players may engage in combat and engagements.

At least one participant of this combat must have Replay Mod enabled.

The final decision over specificity of the war rules for battle and combat lies with the War Master(s) of said war.

Section 5. Glossary of Terms

This section defines all key terms used within the Knightspire War Rules.

If a term is not defined here, it should be interpreted in accordance with its plain meaning within the context of the rules and the principles of fairness and clarity.

If a term needs disambiguation or special interpretation, it must be provided by the War Master(s).

Term	Definition
Army	A group of fighters operating as a unit on the war maps.
Battle	An organized event taking place in a node or between two nodes when two or more armies meet.
Battle Site	The boundaries of a node where a battle takes place. A battle site is much broader than a capture point.
Capture Point	A territory in the center of the battle site that combatants must take control of to win the battle. The central objective of all battles. Capture point boundaries are 32 by 32 blocks.
Garrison	A group of players permitted to start a defensive battle on the node being attacked despite the lack of an army stationed there.
Siege Period	A period of time amounting to two full war turns when an army is besieging a fortified urban node.