| name | structs-building |
| description | Builds and manages structures in Structs. Handles construction, activation, deactivation, movement, defense positioning, stealth, and generator infusion. Use when building a struct, activating or deactivating structs, moving structs between slots, setting defense assignments, enabling stealth, or infusing generators. Build times range from ~17 min (Command Ship) to ~6.4 hours (World Engine). |
Structs Building
Important: Entity IDs containing dashes (like 1-42, 5-10) are misinterpreted as flags by the CLI parser. All transaction commands in this skill use -- before positional arguments to prevent this.
Procedure
- Check requirements — Player online, sufficient Alpha Matter, valid slot (0-3 per ambit), Command Ship online, fleet on station (for planet builds). Query player, planet, fleet.
- Initiate build —
structsd tx structs struct-build-initiate --from [key-name] --gas auto --gas-adjustment 1.5 -y -- [player-id] [struct-type-id] [operating-ambit] [slot]. The [operating-ambit] argument must be a lowercase string: "space", "air", "land", or "water" (not a bitmask number).
- Proof-of-work —
structsd tx structs struct-build-compute -D 3 --from [key-name] --gas auto --gas-adjustment 1.5 -y -- [struct-id]. This calculates the hash, auto-submits complete, and the struct auto-activates. No separate activation step needed.
- Optional — Move, set defense, or activate stealth as needed.
Auto-activation: Structs automatically activate after build-complete. Use struct-activate only to re-activate a struct that was previously deactivated with struct-deactivate.
Compute vs Complete
struct-build-compute is a helper that performs proof-of-work and automatically submits struct-build-complete with the hash results. The struct then auto-activates. You only need struct-build-complete if you computed the hash through external tools and want to submit it manually.
The -D Flag
The -D flag (range 1-64) tells compute to wait until difficulty drops to the specified level before starting the hash. Difficulty decreases logarithmically as the struct ages. Use -D 3 — at D=3, the hash is trivially instant and zero CPU is wasted. Lower values wait longer but burn no compute on hard hashes.
Charge Costs
Every action consumes charge. Charge accumulates passively at 1 per block (~6 sec/block).
| Action | Charge Cost | Wait Time |
|---|
| Build complete | 8 | ~48 seconds |
| Move | 8 | ~48 seconds |
| Activate (re-activation only) | 1 | ~6 seconds |
| Defend change | 1 | ~6 seconds |
| Primary weapon | 1-20 | Varies by struct |
If you get a "required charge X but player had Y" error, wait for charge to accumulate. See knowledge/mechanics/building for the complete charge table.
Expected Build Times
Time from initiation until compute completes (assuming 6 sec/block, D=3):
| Struct | Type ID | Build Difficulty | Wait to D=3 |
|---|
| Command Ship | 1 | 200 | ~17 min |
| Starfighter | 3 | 250 | ~20 min |
| Ore Extractor | 14 | 700 | ~57 min |
| Ore Refinery | 15 | 700 | ~57 min |
| PDC | 19 | 2,880 | ~3.7 hr |
| Ore Bunker | 18 | 3,600 | ~4.6 hr |
| World Engine | 22 | 5,000 | ~6.4 hr |
Initiate early, compute later. The age clock starts at initiation. Batch-initiate all planned builds, then launch compute in background terminals. Do other things while waiting. See awareness/async-operations.
One key, one compute at a time. Never run two concurrent *-compute jobs with the same signing key. Both jobs may reach the target difficulty simultaneously and submit transactions with conflicting sequence numbers — one fails silently, leaving the struct stuck in build status. Use separate signing keys for separate players, and sequence compute jobs for the same player.
Commands Reference
| Action | CLI Command |
|---|
| Initiate build | structsd tx structs struct-build-initiate --from [key-name] --gas auto --gas-adjustment 1.5 -y -- [player-id] [struct-type-id] [operating-ambit] [slot] (operating-ambit = space/air/land/water, lowercase string) |
| Build compute (PoW + auto-complete + auto-activate) | structsd tx structs struct-build-compute -D 3 --from [key-name] --gas auto --gas-adjustment 1.5 -y -- [struct-id] |
| Build complete (manual, rarely needed) | structsd tx structs struct-build-complete --from [key-name] --gas auto --gas-adjustment 1.5 -y -- [struct-id] |
| Build cancel | structsd tx structs struct-build-cancel --from [key-name] --gas auto --gas-adjustment 1.5 -y -- [struct-id] |
| Re-activate (only after deactivation) | structsd tx structs struct-activate --from [key-name] --gas auto --gas-adjustment 1.5 -y -- [struct-id] |
| Deactivate | structsd tx structs struct-deactivate --from [key-name] --gas auto --gas-adjustment 1.5 -y -- [struct-id] |
| Move | structsd tx structs struct-move --from [key-name] --gas auto --gas-adjustment 1.5 -y -- [struct-id] [new-ambit] [new-slot] [new-location] |
| Set defense | structsd tx structs struct-defense-set --from [key-name] --gas auto --gas-adjustment 1.5 -y -- [defender-struct-id] [protected-struct-id] |
| Clear defense | structsd tx structs struct-defense-clear --from [key-name] --gas auto --gas-adjustment 1.5 -y -- [defender-struct-id] |
| Stealth on | structsd tx structs struct-stealth-activate --from [key-name] --gas auto --gas-adjustment 1.5 -y -- [struct-id] |
| Stealth off | structsd tx structs struct-stealth-deactivate --from [key-name] --gas auto --gas-adjustment 1.5 -y -- [struct-id] |
| Generator infuse | structsd tx structs struct-generator-infuse --from [key-name] --gas auto --gas-adjustment 1.5 -y -- [struct-id] [amount] |
Limits: 1 PDC per player, 1 Command Ship per player. Command Ship must be in fleet. Generator infusion is IRREVERSIBLE. Common tx flags: --from [key-name] --gas auto --gas-adjustment 1.5 -y.
Verification
structsd query structs struct [id] — status = Online (or Built/Offline if not activated)- Struct appears in planet/fleet struct list
Error Handling
| Error | Cause | Fix |
|---|
| "required charge X but player had Y" | Not enough charge accumulated | Wait ~48s (8 blocks) between build actions |
| "insufficient resources" | Not enough Alpha Matter | Mine and refine ore first; check balance with structsd query structs player [id] |
| "power overload" | Capacity too low for struct to go online | Deactivate non-essential structs or increase capacity (see structs-energy skill) |
| "fleet not on station" | Fleet is away from planet | Wait for fleet return or fleet-move back |
| "Command Ship required" | Command Ship offline or not built | Build or re-activate Command Ship first |
| "invalid slot" | Slot already occupied | Check existing structs on planet; slots are 0-3 per ambit |
| "invalid ambit" | Struct type doesn't support chosen ambit | Check possibleAmbit bit-flags for the struct type |
| Connection refused on port 26657 | No local node; remote node not configured | Set node in ~/.structs/config/client.toml or use --node flag (see TOOLS.md) |
See Also
