Zone Wars contest a specific capturable city zone. An attacking family pays a stake and must reach the required points within 24 hours to take control.
The stake uses money from the family bank plus 100,000 spendable Notoriety. Money depends on the district: current tiers range from $5 million to $50 million. Claiming uncontrolled territory also uses the tiered money cost and flat Notoriety cost.
Landmarks are not capturable. The Capitol additionally requires the attacking family to hold at least 15 zones. Zone cooldowns and other declaration checks still apply; paying enough is not the only requirement.
| Qualifying action | Effect on attacker tally |
|---|---|
| Attacking-family member wins an attack | +10 |
| Attacking-family member loses an attack | -2 |
| Defending-family member wins a counter-attack | -5 |
Territory scoring requires the combatants to be in the same city. Ordinary fights outside the relevant conflict do not automatically contribute.
The initial defended-zone threshold is 50 points per defender active within the last seven days, using at least one defender and a ceiling of 5,000. The live threshold can also change through the absence system, so use the war panel's current target.
Reaching the threshold transfers control to the attacker. A successful attacker spends its stake in full; where there was a defending family, that family receives compensation worth 80% of the recorded stake.
If the war expires without a capture, the attacker receives an 80% refund of its stake. Refunds restore spendable balances rather than creating new earned prestige. Resolved zones have a 72-hour post-conflict cooldown.
Budget both cash and Notoriety, choose an achievable threshold and plan for defender counter-attacks. Family War brackets do not replace the Zone War threshold or give an automatic territory claim.
Mechanics checked against the game code on 17 September 2026.