Feature Specification

PvP, Raiding & Trading

Player-vs-player interaction is core to the PvPvE experience. Players can fight, raid each other's bases fully, and trade only by dropping items.

Status: draftOwner: UnassignedUpdated: 2026-08-27

Production context

Canonical sourceGDD/04-Multiplayer/04-PvP-Raiding-and-Trading.md
Decision markers2 confirmed · 1 recommendations · 6 TBD
Browser document roleRead-only production view; edit the GDD source or this generated system through the project workflow.

Verified implementation evidence

  • Not verified for this documentation pass.

Relationships

Document contract coverage

Use these required Feature Specification areas during review. The imported GDD below is canonical; items not stated explicitly remain unresolved.

  • ReviewPurpose & Player Value
  • ReviewScope
  • ReviewOut of Scope
  • ReviewTerminology
  • ReviewFunctional Behavior
  • ReviewStates & Flows
  • ReviewRules & Edge Cases
  • ReviewDependencies
  • ReviewAcceptance Criteria
  • ReviewOpen Questions

Canonical GDD content

Player-vs-player interaction is core to the PvPvE experience. Players can fight, raid each other's bases fully, and trade only by dropping items.

PvP

  • Open PvP in the world (no global safe-zones by default; safe-zone areas are [TBD]).
  • Full-loot applies to PvP kills: a killed player drops all carried loot (see ../01-Gameplay/06-Inventory-and-Items.md).
  • PvPvE flashpoints: POIs, loot hotspots, and especially boss arenas where players may third-party a boss fight (see ../03-Enemies/02-Boss-Zombies.md).
  • [TBD]: friendly fire rules within squad/clan (see 03-Clans-and-Squads.md); any reputation/karma system (default: none — pure sandbox).

Raiding — [CONFIRMED] full raiding

Other players can breach and loot bases.

  • Breaching: structural pieces have HP and material tiers; raid tools (explosives, cutting tools, melee on weak sides) deal damage to break in. Tool/cost balance is [TBD] but is the central raid-economy lever.
  • Loot: once inside, storage contents are lootable. This is the high-stakes payoff/threat of persistence.
  • Defense: wall tiers, layered bases, doors/locks, traps, turrets [TBD], and active defense by the owners/clan.
  • Weak-side mechanics — [RECOMMENDATION]: walls cheaper to break from one side to reward smart base design.

Offline raiding — [TBD] (important)

Because bases persist and are raidable while owners are offline (a defining tension of Rust-likes), decide the policy deliberately: - Option A: pure hardcore — always raidable, online or offline (most tension, most frustration). - Option B: offline-raid protection / decay windows / raid windows (more accessible, less brutal).

This single decision strongly shapes the audience and retention. Flagged as a key owner decision; do not assume.

Trading — [CONFIRMED] drop-trade only

  • No trade window, no player shops, no currency. Players exchange items by dropping them on the ground for the other to pick up.
  • This is intentional: it keeps the economy raw and risky (drop-trades can be robbed — more tension), and it is the simplest to build (no trade UI, no escrow, no economy backend). A good fit for indie scope.
  • World item drops are server-authoritative with a despawn timer.

Server-authority & anti-cheat

  • All PvP damage, raid damage, and item transfers are server-authoritative (see 01-Network-Architecture.md).
  • Full-loot + raiding makes cheating extremely damaging to the community — anti-cheat ([TBD] solution) is required before launch.

Implementation guidance

  • Raid damage uses the same server-authoritative damage system as combat, with structure-piece-specific resistances by tier (data-driven).
  • Drop-trade reuses the world-drop / lootable-bag system from death drops — no separate trading code path.