Wars are the central conflict mechanic in Iron to Empire. Kingdoms fight over territory, tribute, and prestige — with every victory and defeat feeding into the Season leaderboard. Winning wars is one of two paths to claiming the Season throne.
Wars are split across four phases: Declaration, Countdown, Active Combat, and Resolution. Understanding what happens in each phase is the difference between a decisive conquest and an embarrassing loss.
+1
War Score per victory
−1
War Score per defeat
0
War Score on draw
20%
Treasury taken from loser
War starts when the attacking kingdom places their banner on enemy land. This single act locks in the war declaration and kicks off everything that follows. There is no command to declare — it's entirely banner-driven.
What Happens at Declaration
The moment a banner lands on claimed enemy territory:
10% treasury cost
The attacking kingdom immediately loses 10% of their treasury as a declaration fee — make sure your war chest is funded before you strike.
Treasury drain starts
The defender's treasury begins draining $100 per day until they accept or surrender. This creates pressure to respond quickly.
Tribute is set
At declaration, the attacker sets a tribute demand — a percentage of the defender's treasury. Setting it to 0 means "Total War": the defender cannot surrender and must fight.
Kingdom + Ally chat notified
The war is announced in private kingdom and ally chat channels. It is not server-broadcast at this stage — only the parties involved know.
⚠ Total War
Setting tribute to
0 locks the defender out of surrendering. They must fight the war to its conclusion. Use this when you want territory, not gold — and be ready to commit fully.
The War Banner
Once placed, the banner is invincible to everyone — including the attacking kingdom — until the war actually begins. The only way to remove it before the war starts is for the attacker to use /cancelwar. This prevents accidentally destroying it and stopping a war mid-declaration.
💡 Admin Override
Server admins can cancel any war at any time with
/war cancel [attacker] [defender].
Viewing Active Wars
/f war list
Shows all active wars on the server, formatted as: Attacker Kingdom & Allies vs Defender Kingdom & Allies.
Allied kingdoms can choose to enter a war during the declaration phase, before fighting begins. To join, an allied kingdom places their own banner at the defending kingdom's location.
When placing the banner, you'll be prompted to choose which side to fight on: "Do you want to be enemies of Kingdom A or Kingdom B?" Enter the kingdom name to declare your allegiance. Betrayal of an existing ally is possible here — choose wisely.
Lives contribution
Each allied kingdom's member count adds to the shared lives pool for their side. More allies = more lives in the fight.
Friendly fire disabled
Allies cannot damage each other during the war, even if their banners are nearby.
ℹ Ally Strategy
Recruiting allies before a war significantly boosts your lives pool. A 5-member kingdom fighting alongside a 10-member ally starts with 15 lives — versus an enemy with only 8. Numbers matter.
After declaration, the defender must make a decision. They can accept the fight, surrender and pay tribute, or try to delay — each carrying very different consequences.
Defender Options
/f war accept [Kingdom]
Accept the war declaration. The 24-hour countdown to active combat begins. Only the War starts 24 hours after this command.
/f surrender
Pay the tribute set by the attacker and immediately end the war. Counts as a loss on the leaderboard (−1 War Score for the defender, +1 for the attacker). The land stays with the defender. Cannot be used if tribute was set to 0.
Who can accept or surrender? By default, the kingdom King or two Nobles must authorize acceptance or surrender (configurable by the server).
⚠ Surrender Broadcast
Surrenders are server-broadcast in the format:
Main Kingdom + Allies HAVE DECIDED TO PAY $[AMOUNT] to Main Kingdom + Allies
Everyone will know. There's no quiet defeat.
The 24-Hour Countdown
After the defender accepts, war begins exactly 24 hours later. Only the kingdoms involved are notified via private kingdom chat — the server at large won't know until the fight starts (or a surrender is broadcast).
If either kingdom fails to show up with enough players when war begins, the system activates the Cowardice Clause. A kingdom is considered absent if 25% or fewer of their members are online at war start time.
The King can override this by using /f foolhardy accept to force the war to begin regardless of attendance — though this risks fighting heavily outnumbered.
1
First Offense — Branded as Cowards
The war is delayed 24 hours. The offending kingdom is server-broadcast as cowards and receive a glowing effect for 12 real-life hours. Any coward player who logs in gets struck by lightning and receives Weakness I for 30 seconds.
2
Second Offense — Automatic Loss
No second chances. The kingdom that dodged twice is declared the loser outright, with all the normal defeat penalties applied.
Once the countdown expires, the war goes live. Everything changes.
Land Protection Drops
Both kingdoms lose all land protection for the duration of the war. TNT, raiding, and mining on claimed territory is fully enabled. Neutral third-party players can enter the fight (and be attacked by either side).
The Lives System
Each side starts the war with a number of lives equal to their total kingdom member count — including allies — at the time war starts. This number is fixed; it doesn't change if people log off. When a kingdom's lives hit zero, they lose.
Example: 9 starting lives — 3 lost in combat. When all ♥ are gone, the kingdom falls.
Banner Mechanics
Banner Capture
Destroying the enemy's kingdom banner costs them 3 lives immediately. Banners are high-value targets — defend yours and hunt theirs.
Banner Aura
Players within 5 blocks of their own banner receive Strength I. Use this to create defensible chokepoints around your banner.
💡 Banner Tactics
Placing your banner in a well-defended position while sending a raid party to capture the enemy banner can swing a war in minutes. A single banner capture removes 3 lives — often more than several individual kills.
Draw Condition
If both kingdoms reach zero lives within 30 seconds of each other, the war ends in a draw. No territory changes, no treasury penalties, and no War Score changes for either side.
⚔ Victory
- +1 War Score on the Season leaderboard
- Claim the enemy land or settlement where the war banner was placed
- Gain 20% of the loser's treasury (Spoils of War)
- Server-wide broadcast announces the victors
💀 Defeat
- −1 War Score on the Season leaderboard
- Lose 20% of your treasury to the winner
- The land where the war banner was placed is claimed by the attacker
- Participants with ≥1 kill receive a Consolation Prize (1 Diamond Block)
⚖ Draw
- 0 War Score change for either side
- All land remains unchanged
- No treasury penalties
- Server broadcast announces the stalemate
ℹ Consolation Prize
Even in defeat, any player who scored at least one kill during the war receives a reward. Fighting hard still earns something, even when the war is lost.
Every war result updates your kingdom's War Score, which is a running total of wins and losses. The top 10 kingdoms by War Score at the end of the Season earn points toward the overall Season Score.
/f leaderboard
View the overall Season Score leaderboard — top 10 kingdoms ranked by combined War + Economy points.
/f leaderboard war
View kingdoms ranked by War Score alone.
/f leaderboard eco
View kingdoms ranked by Economy Score (Crown deposits).
War Score → Season Points
The Season Score converts War Score rank into points:
10 pts1st place
9 pts2nd place
8 pts3rd place
7 pts4th place
6 pts5th place
1–5 pts6th–10th
💡 Ties
If multiple kingdoms are tied for the same War Score rank, they all receive the same point value. Three kingdoms tied for 3rd each receive 8 pts — no tiebreaker required.
War Score points are then added to Economy Score points to determine the Season Score — the true measure of a kingdom's dominance. A kingdom that is militarily dominant but economically weak can still be beaten by one that balances both.
War Commands (Players)
/f war accept [Kingdom]Accept a war declaration (requires Noble rank or above).
/f surrenderPay the attacker's tribute and end the war as a loss (cannot be used if tribute is 0).
/f foolhardy acceptKing-only override to start a war even if attendance is below the cowardice threshold.
/cancelwarAttacker only — removes the war banner and cancels the declaration before fighting starts.
/f war listLists all currently active or pending wars on the server.
/f leaderboardView the Season Score leaderboard (top 10).
/f leaderboard warView the War Score leaderboard (top 10).
Admin Commands
/war cancel [attacker] [defender]Cancel any active or pending war immediately.
/f score set [kingdom] war [value]Manually set a kingdom's War Score.
/f score add [kingdom] war [delta]Add or subtract from a kingdom's War Score.
/f score reset warReset all War Scores for a new Season.
/f score reset allReset all War and Economy scores for a full Season rollover.
💡 Fund Your Treasury First
Declaring war costs 10% of your treasury immediately. If your treasury is empty, you can't afford a declaration — and if it's low, a 10% cut can cripple your daily chunk taxes and leave you losing claims mid-war.
💡 Secure Allies Before Striking
A war with 3 allies supporting you can mean 30+ lives versus an enemy's 8. Rally your alliances before declaring — especially against large kingdoms.
💡 Banner Placement Is Everything
As the attacker, your war banner placement determines which land you claim on victory. Place it on valuable territory — a contested settlement, a resource-rich outpost — not just the nearest claimed chunk.
⚠ Never Miss Two Wars
A second cowardice offense means automatic loss with full defeat penalties — treasury drain, War Score penalty, and land loss — without ever fighting. Show up or don't declare.
ℹ Total War vs. Tribute
If you want the defender's land and are confident you can win the fight, set tribute to 0. If you want fast income with lower risk, set a tribute percentage — a scared defender may surrender immediately and you earn the reward without bloodshed.