OpenFront Diplomacy Guide
Alliance timers, betrayal costs, embargoes, and nuclear strike boundaries.
In v0.33.7, diplomacy is a timer and exit-cost problem. A request lasts 20 seconds, the same player can be asked again after 30 seconds, and the default alliance lasts 300 seconds.
Extensions need both players. Natural expiry is not betrayal. Manual breaking can create a 30-second traitor state, while embargoes and nuclear blast checks can alter trade or end an alliance before your planned attack begins.
The Four-Question Diplomacy Check
Before requesting, extending, embargoing, or breaking, answer four questions:
- Time: How long remains on the request, alliance, extension window, temporary embargo, or traitor state?
- Exit cost: Can you wait for natural expiry, or does an immediate break justify the traitor exposure?
- Network: Which Port or Train relationships stop working if either side applies an embargo?
- Fire: Will an in-flight or planned nuke violate the alliance before the ground operation starts?
Alliance Requests: 20 Seconds Inside a 30-Second Cycle
An alliance request remains active for 20 seconds. The cooldown for asking the same player again is 30 seconds from the original request creation time.
The cooldown does not begin when the request expires. If a request starts at t = 0, it disappears at about t = 20s, and the same target becomes requestable at about t = 30s.
That leaves roughly ten seconds between expiry and a legal retry.
If another player already sent you an incoming request, sending a counter-request accepts that pending alliance. The engine does not keep two independent requests between the same pair.
Acceptance Changes the Board Immediately
An active alliance makes both players friendly for ordinary land attacks. A current attack between the new allies is recalled without the normal retreat malus.
Acceptance also clears temporary embargoes between the two players. It does not erase manual embargoes.
The game checks relevant in-flight nukes when the alliance is accepted. Nukes between the new allies that would break the alliance are removed.
Extension Needs Two Decisions
Alliance extension requires both players to agree. One player cannot unilaterally turn a temporary agreement into a longer one.
The client exposes the extension window during the final 30 seconds. Completing the mutual extension resets a full alliance duration from the current tick.
It does not add a small 30-second patch to the old end time. Under the default setting, a successful extension creates another 300-second duration from renewal.
Natural Expiry Is Not Betrayal
When the alliance duration ends normally, the relation ceases to be an alliance. Natural expiry does not apply the traitor status.
This gives you a low-penalty exit when immediate hostile action is unnecessary. You can let the timer finish, preserve defensive readiness, and reconsider the border after the state changes.
Embargoes Are Separate from Alliances
Trade permission is blocked if either player embargoes the other. An alliance is not required for trade, and an alliance does not override an active manual embargo.
A normal attack causes the target to create a temporary embargo against the attacker. That temporary state expires after roughly five minutes.
A manual embargo is persistent. It does not use the same automatic expiry path.
When two players accept an alliance, temporary embargoes between them are cleared. Manual embargoes remain.
Manual Breaking and the Traitor Window
Manual breaking follows a different path from expiry. If the betrayed player is connected and not already a traitor, the breaker receives traitor status for 30 seconds.
The betrayed recipient records a -100 relation change toward the breaker. Nearby players who are not on the recipient’s team record -40.
The visible tactical risk comes from combat modifiers. When the defender is a traitor, the attacker’s loss multiplier is 0.5. Tile processing cost is multiplied by 0.8 against that defender.
Nuclear Strikes Can Break an Alliance First
Nuclear alliance breaking uses two independent triggers. A strike can cross a weighted allied-territory threshold, or it can threaten an allied structure.
The configured threshold is 100. Allied tiles inside the inner blast radius count as 1; allied tiles in the outer ring count as 0.5.
The weighted total must be strictly greater than 100. A total equal to 100 does not trigger the tile-count branch.
The structure branch is separate. If an allied structure would be destroyed inside the outer blast radius, the alliance breaks regardless of the weighted tile total.
Choosing Between Expiry, Extension, and Break
Choose natural expiry when you do not need immediate hostility and want to avoid the manual traitor path.
Choose extension when both sides still gain from the buffer, trade access, recovery time, or a shared threat. Confirm both approvals before relying on the new end time.
Consider manual break only when acting now is worth the 30-second traitor exposure, relation changes, and loss of a friendly border.
Consider embargo when denying trade has value by itself. It need not be paired with an attack, and a manual embargo can outlast later diplomatic changes.
FAQ
How long does an alliance request last?
Twenty seconds. The cooldown for requesting the same player again is 30 seconds from the original request creation time.
How long is a normal alliance?
The default is 300 seconds, or five minutes. Custom lobbies can use one to 15 minutes, and zero disables alliances.
Does an alliance extend automatically?
No. Both players must approve. The extension window appears during the final 30 seconds, and success resets a full duration from the renewal tick.
Is natural expiry a betrayal?
No. Natural expiry ends the alliance without creating the manual-break traitor state.
How long does traitor last?
Thirty seconds when the manual-break eligibility conditions are met. During that state, attackers receive 0.5 loss and 0.8 tile-processing-cost multipliers against the traitor defender.
Does an alliance clear every embargo?
No. Acceptance clears temporary embargoes between the pair. Manual embargoes persist and can still block trade.
Do exactly 100 weighted allied tiles break an alliance?
No. The tile condition is strictly greater than 100. An allied structure in the outer blast radius can still trigger the separate structure condition.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers to the most common OpenFront questions.
How long does an alliance request last?
Twenty seconds. The cooldown for requesting the same player again is 30 seconds from the original request creation time.
How long is a normal alliance?
The default is 300 seconds, or five minutes. Custom lobbies can use one to 15 minutes, and zero disables alliances.
Does an alliance extend automatically?
No. Both players must approve. The extension window appears during the final 30 seconds, and success resets a full duration from the renewal tick.
Is natural expiry a betrayal?
No. Natural expiry ends the alliance without creating the manual-break traitor state.
How long does traitor last?
Thirty seconds when the manual-break eligibility conditions are met. During that state, attackers receive 0.5 loss and 0.8 tile-processing-cost multipliers against the traitor defender.