NATIONS

Players found towns and nations, fight wars and forge alliances by writing books and placing them on lecterns. The guide below walks through every step, with a full book reference at the bottom.

How does it work?

Nations are player-made political groups with structure and tools for governance, war, and diplomacy. Everything is created and managed by writing signed books and placing them into custom lecterns. No commands, no menus.

Nations

A nation is a collection of towns under a single political leader.

Citizens of any town in a nation are automatically citizens of the nation. You cannot be a citizen of more than one nation.

Towns

Towns hold the citizens and land claims. Players join towns individually, not nations. Becoming a citizen of any town in a nation automatically makes you a citizen of that nation, but it does not enroll you in any of its other towns.

Any nation member can found a town. A player can lead one town but be a citizen of several towns within the same nation.

Leadership

The nation leader is a political figurehead. They have no automatic authority over towns they do not lead, and can be kicked from any town by that town's leader.

Diplomacy (war, peace, alliances) is the leader's sole responsibility.

To form a Nation

1Obtain a Dragon Egg from the End, or by trading with another player.
2Bring the egg to Burri at spawn.
3Follow the dialogue and receive a Crown and 3 Nation Help Books.
4Craft and place a Nation Lectern. Anyone can make one.
5Wearing the Crown, sign a book titled form nation and place it on the lectern.

NOTE: Crowns can also be traded between players. If you have a Crown but missed the quest, place a help book into each of the three lectern types to receive the help books.

VIDEO · Forming a nation at the nation lectern

VIDEO · Forming a town with a town lectern and emerald chest

To form a Town

▸Be part of a nation (or form one first).
▸You must not already lead another town.
▸Place the Town Lectern far enough away from foreign towns.
▸Non-capital towns must additionally be within the nation's admin range. The capital town is exempt, since admin range extends outward from it.
▸Sign a book titled form town and place it into the town lectern.
▸Requires a chest adjacent to the town lectern, with emeralds inside.
▸Capital towns (the first town in a nation) additionally need a Nation Lectern and Diplomacy Lectern within 1 chunk of the town lectern.

Towns start with a 16-block-radius founding disk around the town lectern.

To join a Town

▸You must be part of the town's nation, or be nationless.
▸Sign a book titled join.
▸Place the book into a town lectern within the town borders.
▸The town reviews your application via the requests book in any town lectern, then accepts or denies.

VIDEO · Submitting a join book to a town lectern

Lectern Types

There are three custom lecterns, each handling a different scope of action. Place the right book in the right lectern.

Nation Lectern

NATION

Nation-wide actions: forming, renaming, and managing nation leadership.

VIDEO · Nation lectern

Town Lectern

TOWN

Town actions: forming, joining, tax, expansion, and kicks.

VIDEO · Town lectern

Diplomacy Lectern

DIPLOMACY

Inter-nation relations: war, peace, and alliances.

VIDEO · Diplomacy lectern

Book Types

Every book in the nation system falls into one of three categories. The category determines what happens when you place it on a lectern.

Information

Update automatically when placed on, or read from, a lectern. The same book stays in the lectern.

e.g. requests · info · who am i · help

EXAMPLE

1.Sign a book titled who am i and place it on any lectern.
2.The lectern returns a personal ID book listing your nation and town membership.
3.Opening this book automatically refreshes the data.

Command

Instantly execute a nation command if your requirements are met.

e.g. rename nation · form town · join · pay tax

EXAMPLE

1.Place emeralds in the chest beside your town lectern.
2.Sign a book titled pay tax and place it on the town lectern.
3.Tax is paid and the deadline extends.
4.You typically get back a receipt book confirming the action, useful for archiving history.

Delivery

Place on a lectern to receive a sealed delivery book; carry that book to the target nation or town and place it there.

e.g. declare war · request alliance · move capital

EXAMPLE

1.Write declare war with the target nation's name in the body.
2.Place it in your diplomacy lectern; take the sealed delivery book.
3.Place the delivery book in the target nation's diplomacy lectern.

Dynamic Power Transfer

The system is dynamic and persistent. It handles unexpected situations automatically:

▸Disbanding the only town in a nation (via dormancy or command book) disbands the entire nation.
▸If the nation leader is removed from all towns, leadership passes to the leader of the largest remaining town.
▸Nation and town members are automatically exiled from all towns if they become a bandit.
▸If the capital town is disbanded, capital status transfers to the largest remaining town.

Town Tax

▸Every town has its own tax system.
▸Tax is consumed and has a deadline, viewable in the info book in any town lectern.
▸Tax can be paid in advance, securing the town for weeks or even months ahead.
▸If the deadline is reached the town becomes dormant, loses protections, and is disbanded after 4 weeks of being continuously dormant.

VIDEO · Paying tax with a pay tax book

VIDEO · Town expanding block-by-block on the map

Town Claims

▸Each town starts as a small founding disk around its capital lectern.
▸Use an expand book on a town lectern (with emeralds in an adjacent chest) to start a 5-minute expansion session. Borders creep outward block-by-block.
▸Growth speed depends on the terrain.
▸Expansion cost scales with town size.
▸Town claims show on in-game maps along with the town's name. Capital towns use a mansion icon, regular towns a village icon.
▸The nation leader can change map claim colours by using a colour book in a nation lectern.

War

War is the formal way nations resolve conflict on Blothera. Diplomacy, and so war, is the responsibility of the nation leader.

A war is a best-of-three series of battles fought in arenas chosen by the system, near the defender's capital. Each battle is a 15-minute PvP fight; most kills wins. The first nation to win two battles wins the war.

Wars and battles are managed entirely through books and diplomacy lecterns.

Declare War

1You must be the leader of your nation.
2Get a book and quill, write the target nation's name on the first line.
3Sign the book with title declare war or war.
4Place it in your diplomacy lectern, take the resulting delivery book, and place it in the target nation's diplomacy lectern.
5The declaration broadcasts to the server, and the first battle is queued.

Scheduling Battles

▸Once war is declared, the system finds an arena chunk near the defender's capital and waits for the defender to schedule a time.
▸The defender's nation leader picks a slot using the diplomacy info book at their diplomacy lectern.
▸If they don't schedule within 48 hours, the system auto-schedules.
▸Once scheduled, every member of both nations and their allies is notified, with countdown updates leading to the start.

VIDEO · Delivering a war declaration

Battle Compass

▸Once a battle is scheduled, nation leaders on both sides can claim a Battle Compass.
▸Sign a book titled compass and place it in the diplomacy lectern.
▸The compass points to the arena so your nation and allies can rally.
▸Only attacker and defender leaders can get one. Allies cannot. One per battle per nation. Don't lose it.

The Battle

▸Battles last 15 minutes.
▸The arena is a fixed chunk radius. A boss bar tracks kills for each side, and particles mark the borders.
▸Most kills wins. Tied kills means a draw, with no point awarded.
▸If only one side shows up, they win by default.

VIDEO · Battle compass pointing to arena

Arena Rules

▸Combatants who leave the arena mid-battle count as a kill for the enemy. Hold the line.
▸Bystanders may freely enter and leave, but PvP has no penalties inside, so they can kill or be killed.
▸Players in the arena are temporarily flagged as aggressors (see Bandit rules) for the duration of the battle.

Allies

▸Additional nations can join an existing war on either side.
▸Sign a book titled request join war and follow the standard delivery flow to the relevant diplomacy lectern.
▸Allies fight alongside their chosen side but cannot get a battle compass or schedule battles.
▸You must already be allied with the nation to request to join their war.

Peace

▸Either nation can sign a request peace book and deliver it to the other nation's diplomacy lectern.
▸Like all diplomacy requests, this can be reviewed in the requests book in a diplomacy lectern.
▸If accepted, the war ends immediately with no winner declared.
▸If rejected or ignored, the war continues until a side wins the best-of-three.

Ending a War

▸After the third battle, the war resolves automatically.
▸The nation with the most battle wins is declared victorious. Equal wins means a draw.
▸The result is broadcast to the server.
▸If a nation in the war is disbanded mid-war, the war is cleanly cancelled and allies are notified.

Currently there are no rewards for war other than dropped items. This will change when Phase 2 of war is released.

More Information

The canonical guide for nations and war lives in the in-game help books. Sign a book titled help and place it in any custom lectern. The type of help book you receive depends on the lectern.

This works in any area, claimed or unclaimed, in any lectern, by any player.

Insert a who am i or me book into any lectern to receive a personal identification book displaying your nation and town membership.

BOOK REFERENCE

Every book the plugin recognises. Searchable and filterable by lectern.

COMMAND

Battle Compass

DIPLOMACY LECTERN

also: War Compass / Compass

Gives the nation leader a compass pointing to the next scheduled battle arena.

FIRST LINE—

REQUIREMENTSMust be nation leader; nation must be at war; battle must be scheduled

Disband Town

TOWN LECTERN

also: Dissolve Town

Permanently dissolves the town and releases its claims.

FIRST LINE—

REQUIREMENTSMust be town leader; town must not be dormant

Exile Town

TOWN LECTERN

also: Kick Town

Removes a player from the town.

FIRST LINEExiled player's name

REQUIREMENTSMust be town leader; target must be a town member; town must not be dormant

Expand Town

TOWN LECTERN

also: Expand

Starts a 5-minute expansion session that grows the town's borders organically.

FIRST LINE—

REQUIREMENTSMust be town leader; chest of emeralds adjacent to lectern; town not at max size; town not dormant

Form Nation

NATION LECTERN

also: Found Nation / Make Nation / Create Nation

Establishes a new nation with the player as its leader.

FIRST LINENew nation's name

REQUIREMENTSMust be wearing an unused Crown; player not already in a nation; name must be unique and 3–24 chars

Form Town

TOWN LECTERN

also: Found Town / Make Town / Create Town

Founds a new town with a small disk of claimed land around the lectern.

FIRST LINENew town's name

REQUIREMENTSMust be in a nation; chest of emeralds adjacent; player must not already lead a town; capital town also needs a Nation Lectern and Diplomacy Lectern nearby

Join

TOWN LECTERN

also: Join Town

Requests membership in the town (the leader must accept).

FIRST LINE—

REQUIREMENTSMust not already be a member; must not have a pending request to this town; if not in a nation you may only request one town per nation

Leave Nation

ANY LECTERN

Renounces citizenship of your nation.

FIRST LINE—

REQUIREMENTSMust be in a nation; must not be the nation leader; must not lead any town

Leave Town

TOWN LECTERN

Renounces citizenship of the town.

FIRST LINE—

REQUIREMENTSMust be a town member; must not be the town leader

Pay Tax

TOWN LECTERN

also: Tax

Pays 5 emeralds to extend the town's tax deadline by 7 days and prevent dormancy.

FIRST LINE—

REQUIREMENTSMust be a town member; chest with at least 5 emeralds adjacent; lectern must be in town territory

Rename Nation

NATION LECTERN

also: Rename

Renames your nation.

FIRST LINENew nation name

REQUIREMENTSMust be the nation leader; lectern must be in your own nation's territory; new name unique and 3–24 chars

Rename Town

TOWN LECTERN

also: Rename

Renames the town.

FIRST LINENew town name

REQUIREMENTSMust be the town leader; new name unique and 3–24 chars; town must not be dormant

Colour

NATION LECTERN

also: Color

Sets the banner colour shown for the nation on the map.

FIRST LINEColour name

REQUIREMENTSMust be the nation leader; lectern must be in your own nation's territory; colour must be valid

Town Leader

TOWN LECTERN

Transfers town leadership to another player.

FIRST LINENew leader's username

REQUIREMENTSMust be the current town leader; target must be a member of the town; target must not already lead another town

Nation Leader

NATION LECTERN

Transfers nation leadership to another player.

FIRST LINENew leader's username

REQUIREMENTSMust be the current nation leader; target must be a nation member; lectern must be in your own nation's territory

Withdraw Join

TOWN LECTERN

also: Stop Join / Cancel Join

Cancels a pending join request.

FIRST LINETown name to cancel

REQUIREMENTSMust have a pending join request to that town

DELIVERY (CREATE)

Break Ally

DIPLOMACY LECTERN

Creates a sealed letter; placing it in the target's Diplomacy Lectern dissolves the alliance.

FIRST LINEAllied nation's name

REQUIREMENTSMust be the nation leader; lectern must be in your own nation's territory; alliance with target must exist

Declare War

DIPLOMACY LECTERN

also: War

Creates a sealed letter; placing it in the target's Diplomacy Lectern declares war.

FIRST LINETarget nation's name

REQUIREMENTSMust be the nation leader; target must exist and be a different nation; nations cannot already be at war or allied

Request Ally

DIPLOMACY LECTERN

also: Alliance / Ally / Offer Ally

Creates a sealed letter; placing it in the target's Diplomacy Lectern proposes an alliance.

FIRST LINETarget nation's name

REQUIREMENTSMust be the nation leader; cannot already be allied with target; cannot be at war with target

Request Peace

DIPLOMACY LECTERN

also: Peace / Offer Peace

Creates a sealed letter; placing it in the target's Diplomacy Lectern proposes peace.

FIRST LINETarget nation's name

REQUIREMENTSMust be the nation leader; must currently be at war with target

Join War

DIPLOMACY LECTERN

Creates a sealed letter; placing it in the ally's Diplomacy Lectern asks to join their active war.

FIRST LINEAllied nation's name

REQUIREMENTSMust be the nation leader; must be allied with target; target must be at war; you must not be allied with the enemy

Relocate Capital

TOWN LECTERN

also: Move Capital / Change Capital

Creates a sealed letter; placing it in the target town's Town Lectern makes that town the new capital.

FIRST LINETarget town's name

REQUIREMENTSMust be the nation leader; lectern used to write the letter must be in the current capital; target must be a non-capital town in the same nation

INFO

Diplomacy Help

DIPLOMACY LECTERN

also: Help Diplomacy / Help

Prints a guide to alliances, war, peace, and battle scheduling.

FIRST LINE—

REQUIREMENTSNone

Diplomacy Information

DIPLOMACY LECTERN

also: Info

Shows current relations, war status, scheduled battles, and (for defenders) the battle-time picker.

FIRST LINE—

REQUIREMENTSLectern must be inside a town claim of your nation

Diplomacy Requests

DIPLOMACY LECTERN

also: Requests

Lists pending diplomacy requests (alliance / peace / join-war) with clickable Accept and Deny buttons.

FIRST LINE—

REQUIREMENTSMust be the nation leader; lectern must be inside a town claim of your nation

Identity Book

ANY LECTERN

also: Who Am I / Whoami / Me

Shows your name, nation, and towns (with leadership status).

FIRST LINE—

REQUIREMENTSNone

Join Requests

TOWN LECTERN

also: Requests

Lists pending join requests for the town with clickable Accept and Deny buttons.

FIRST LINE—

REQUIREMENTSMust be the town leader; lectern must be in the town's territory

Nation Help

NATION LECTERN

also: Help Nation / Help

Prints a guide to founding, leading, and renaming a nation.

FIRST LINE—

REQUIREMENTSNone

Nation Information

NATION LECTERN

also: Info

Shows nation name, founding date, capital range, towns, and members.

FIRST LINE—

REQUIREMENTSLectern must be inside a town claim of your nation

Town Help

TOWN LECTERN

also: Help Town / Help

Prints a guide to founding towns, membership, expansion, and tax.

FIRST LINE—

REQUIREMENTSNone

Town Information

TOWN LECTERN

also: Info

Shows town name, nation, founding date, tax deadline, dormancy status, block count, and members.

FIRST LINE—

REQUIREMENTSLectern must be inside the town's territory