Settlement Tiers

Settlement tiers measure a community's civic development. A new settlement begins at Tier 1 and can advance through four tiers by growing both its population and its emerald wealth.

Live Villages is still in active development. The advancement thresholds below are implemented. Many listed benefits describe the intended design and are marked when they are planned or only partially implemented.

Advancement requirements

Both requirements must be met at the same time.

Tier	Population required	Emerald wealth required	General identity
Tier 1	None	None	Founding settlement
Tier 2	16 villagers	500 emeralds	Established village
Tier 3	32 villagers	5,000 emeralds	Developed civic center
Tier 4	48 villagers	20,000 emeralds	Prestige settlement

Emerald wealth means emeralds recorded in the settlement's own wealth ledger, not emeralds carried in a player's inventory. The Tier 4 threshold is implemented but remains provisional and may be rebalanced during development.

Advancement and regression

The game evaluates total settlement population and recorded emerald wealth. Reaching both thresholds unlocks the corresponding tier immediately.

If population or wealth later falls below the current threshold, the settlement can regress. A staffed Scribe prevents that regression by preserving the settlement's civic knowledge and its highest attained tier. This makes a Scribe especially valuable once a settlement begins advancing.

Tier changes are intended to affect more than a number on the Trade Board: they guide roads, construction materials, buildings, lighting, uniforms, defenses, knowledge, food production, and the settlement's overall visual character.

Tier 1 — Founding settlement

Tier 1 is the default for every new settlement. Its priorities are survival, food, housing, essential workshops, and basic security.

Current and intended character:

• rough Dirt Path roads
• cobblestone and ordinary-log construction
• starter housing and simple profession workshops
• torches and campfires as the normal civic lighting
• a wooden log palisade or rough fenced boundary, generally around 80% of the settlement radius
• visibly patched, worn, and work-stained profession clothing
• staple bakery foods such as bread and baked potatoes
• a small nave-only chapel when a church is built
• a compact harbor light when a lighthouse is built

Tier 1 is the most complete tier in the current development build.

Tier 2 — Established village

Requirement: 16 villagers and 500 emeralds.

Planned and partially implemented changes:

• Cobblestone road and stair upgrades
• stone and stripped-log structure finishes
• larger storage and more established workshops
• stronger cobblestone or rough-stone defenses extending toward the full settlement radius
• candles and lanterns replacing some interior torches; agricultural jack-o'-lantern lighting
• richer bakery foods such as cookies and pumpkin pie
• redstone and diamond becoming recognized settlement goods
• a larger parish church with a vestry and cleric lodging
• a wider lighthouse design
• cleaner, more established profession uniforms and interface colors
• housing sites advancing one step during the upward tier transition

Tier 3 — Developed civic center

Requirement: 32 villagers and 5,000 emeralds.

Planned and partially implemented changes:

• Smooth Stone roads and more substantial civic works
• Stone Bricks and stripped-log structure finishes
• smooth or polished-stone fortifications
• larger or upgraded profession buildings
• specialized and imported lighting such as glow berries, sea lanterns, and glowstone when known or traded
• cake production at bakeries
• selective demand for imported prestige materials and foreign building styles
• a civic church with stained glass, a front bell tower, and a waxed-copper roof
• a larger, rounder lighthouse with optional ground-floor harbor lodging
• dressed civic uniforms and a blue/cyan interface theme with gold accents
• longer bridge spans and more ambitious infrastructure

Tier 4 — Prestige settlement

Requirement: 48 villagers and 20,000 emeralds. This threshold may be tuned later.

Planned changes:

• the best civic and prestige upgrades
• major building expansions and polished-material variants
• Stone Brick and Brick roads near important civic destinations
• reinforced fortifications with stronger gatehouses or towers
• engineered and luxury lighting such as copper bulbs, redstone lamps, end rods, shroomlights, and rare froglight accents when the settlement knows the required resources
• premium bakery output such as golden apples
• a cathedral with stone outer walls and a rear spire
• the largest and roundest prestige lighthouse, while remaining shorter than the cathedral
• formal prestige uniforms and an indigo or royal-blue interface theme with gold accents
• the longest supported bridges and the most ambitious civic construction

What advancement does not do

A tier increase is not meant to replace the settlement overnight. Villagers should upgrade existing roads and structures gradually, consuming real settlement materials and visibly performing the work. Authored tier-specific building expansions should reuse the existing site where practical instead of creating duplicate buildings nearby.

Likewise, access to an advanced lighting block, recipe, or material can still depend on settlement knowledge and trade. Reaching a tier permits an upgrade; it does not necessarily provide every ingredient automatically.

At-a-glance progression

System	Tier 1	Tier 2	Tier 3	Tier 4
Roads	Dirt Path	Cobblestone	Smooth Stone	Stone Bricks and Bricks
Structure finish	Cobblestone + logs	Stone + stripped logs	Stone Bricks + stripped logs	Prestige variants
Defenses	Log palisade	Rough-stone wall	Smooth/polished-stone works	Reinforced prestige works
Lighting	Torches, campfires	Candles, lanterns	Imported/specialized lights	Engineered/luxury lights
Church	Chapel	Parish church + vestry	Civic church + front tower	Cathedral + rear spire
Lighthouse	Harbor light	Wider light	Staffed light + lodging	Prestige harbor light
Uniforms	Patched workwear	Established workwear	Dressed civic wear	Prestige civic wear

Design sources

The authoritative development details live in the repository specifications, especially docs/SPECS.md, docs/IMPLEMENTATION-PLAN.md, docs/CLERIC-CHURCH-GUIDE.md, and docs/LIGHTHOUSE-DESIGN.md. The wiki is the player-facing summary and should be updated when those rules change.