OpenFront Wiki
The reference layer: definitions and verified mechanics. When you need a decision instead of a definition, follow the links into the strategy guides.
OpenFront runs on a small number of systems that interact constantly: territory determines your maximum army, gold determines what you can build, buildings determine your income and defence, and terrain decides how expensive each border is to cross. This hub links every verified page.
Core systems
- Troop growth — army regeneration, the maximum-army formula and why growth slows as you fill up. Troop growth guide
- Gold economy — the two income engines (trade ships and trains) and how cities scale your ceiling. Economy guide
- Buildings — costs, build times and what each structure unlocks. Buildings reference
- Terrain — plains, highlands and mountains change attack cost and speed. Terrain reference
- Trade — ports, factories, trade ships, trains and why trade stops. Trade guide
- Naval warfare — warships, coastal defence and sea invasions. Naval strategy
- Controls and hotkeys — mouse, keyboard and touch input. Controls · Hotkeys
Numbers you can rely on
| Constant | Value in the live build | Where it shows up |
|---|---|---|
| Server tick | 100 ms per tick | All build times, cooldowns and shell lifetimes are multiples of a tick |
| Spawn immunity | 5 s (50 ticks) by default | How long a fresh spawn cannot be attacked |
| Starting troops (human) | 25,000 | Your army before the first border attack |
| Attack stack (human) | troops ÷ 5 per attack order | How many troops a ground attack commits |
| Boat attack stack | troops ÷ 5 | Sea invasion size |
| Win condition constant | 80% of tiles owned | Configured in the game's match settings |
The decision layer
Mechanics alone do not win matches. These pages turn the reference numbers into decisions:
How to Win
The decision path from spawn to endgame.
Read guideGuideLand Combat
When to push, when to stop, and why a bigger army still loses.
Read guideGuideBuilding Timing
What to build first, and what the map tells you to build next.
Read guideGuideBest Spawn
How to evaluate a starting position instead of memorising a tier list.
Read guideGuideMap Strategy
Reading terrain, chokepoints and neighbour quality.
Read guideGuideTeam Strategy
Roles, spawns and coordination in shared-outcome games.
Read guidePatch-sensitive topics
Nuclear weapons, ranked modes and timers change more often than the core economy. They are documented with an explicit version note, and re-checked whenever the official release notes touch them. The v0.33 line alone introduced ranked 2v2, new maps, impassable terrain, warship veterancy and MIRV behaviour changes.
FAQ
Common questions about this topic.
Where do these numbers come from?
From the official open-source game build (game configuration constants), re-verified on the date shown at the top of each page.
Why is there no page for every single building?
City, port, factory and defence post are documented as sections of the buildings reference until search evidence shows each needs its own page.
Do private lobbies change the numbers?
Yes. Bots, difficulty, instant build, infinite gold or troops and optional timers all change the value of a building or a unit.
How current is this wiki?
Each mechanics page carries a Last verified line naming the build generation it was checked against.