System security

It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Classifications of Space . ( Discuss )

A star system's Security Level is a rough measure of how hazardous is that particular system. Players also commonly use the terms Sec Level, System Sec, Security Rating, and Sec Rating. It is displayed in-game as a positive number with a single decimal place in the range [0.0, 1.0]. Security level should not be confused with Security Status, which is an attribute attached to a player character.

The security level of a player's current system is always displayed in the System Information display on the upper left of the screen, both in space and while docked.

Known Space

There are three general classifications of systems based upon system security: High Security, Low Security, and Null Security.

High Security

High Security systems are those with a security level of 0.5 to 1.0. CONCORD will react to hostile actions between pilots, with the response time ranging from almost instant in 1.0 space to up to 10 seconds in 0.5 space. Players also commonly use the terms High-sec, Highsec, Hi-sec, and Hisec.

In these systems, stargates may have a CONCORD, customs, and/or faction navy presence; stargates and stations will have sentry guns; and aggression (i.e. committing a Criminal-level offense) will provoke a response from CONCORD and any nearby sentry guns. Aggression resulting in the destruction of another player's ship and/or pod will result in a loss of security status.

Regions which are primarily HiSec:

• The Citadel
• Derelik
• Devoid
• Domain
• Essence
• Everyshore
• The Forge
• Heimatar
• Kador
• Kor-Azor
• Lonetrek
• Metropolis
• Sinq Laison
• Tash-Murkon
• Verge Vendor

Low Security

Low Security systems are those with a security level of 0.1 to 0.4. Players also commonly use the terms Low-sec, Lo-sec, Lowsec, and Losec.

Regions which are primarily LoSec:

• Aridia
• Black Rise
• The Bleak Lands
• Genesis
• Khanid
• Molden Heath
• Placid
• Solitude (with a HiSec island, that includes Project Solitude)

In these systems, stargates and stations will have sentry guns (although fewer than in Highsec), but CONCORD will not react to hostile actions between pilots, although any nearby sentry guns will still open fire on the aggressive party and unprovoked attacks will cause losses of security status.

Null Security

Null Security systems are those with a security level 0f 0.0. Players also commonly use the terms Null-sec, Nullsec, and 0.0 (pronounced "zero zero", "zero dot zero", or "oh dot oh").

These systems are essentially lawless and no NPC organizations will respond to aggression, nor will actions of any kind result in a loss of security status.

CONCORD doesn't care what happens in nullsec and there are no gate or station guns and no security status losses for unprovoked attacks. In nullsec the gloves are off: stealth bombers can use bombs and players can deploy bubbles; players frequently fly under not-blue-shoot-it ('NBSI') rules of engagement, and so does the University (with the exception of industrial assets).

NPC NullSec

NPC NullSec is null-security space where the sovereignty is claimed by NPC factions, similar to normal 'Empire' space, therefore cannot be claimed by capsuleer alliances.

Regions classified as NPC NullSec:

• Curse, claimed by Angel Cartel
• Great Wildlands, claimed by Thukker Tribe
• Outer Ring, claimed by Outer Ring Excavations
• Stain, claimed by Sansha's Nation
• Syndicate, claimed by Intaki Syndicate
• Venal, claimed by Guristas

University pilots are allowed to enter all of these, for purposes including PvP and PvE.

Claimable NullSec

In the rest of nullsec sovereignty is claimed (or contested!) by capsuleer alliances. Any stations in claimable nullsec will be player-owned and will usually only allow their owners' allies to dock.

University policy, until March 2014, was that University pilots were not allowed to enter claimable nullsec, unless in a fleet lead by an ILN Officer. That changed in March 2014, after a successful 1-month experiment, and Azmodeus Valar mailed out "[O]ur month long test of increased Sov Null access has been a success. We will be continuing it indefinitely. This means that anyone can lead a fleet into sovereign null security space for PvP purposes. Do not engage in PvE activities in Sov Null space, and do not participate in structure or sovereignty battles." See this forum thread for more details.

A regularly-updated map of player-owned territory is available here.

University pilots might want to add claimable nullsec regions to their avoidance list to avoid accidentally straying into these systems, as a reminder to not PvE there. PvE is typically defined as ISK-making activities such as ratting, mining, and exploration sites.

Regions classified as Claimable NullSec:

• Branch
• Cache
• Catch
• Cloud Ring
• Cobalt Edge (also: Drone Region)
• Deklein
• Delve (some systems: The Blood Raider Covenant )
• Detorid
• Esoteria
• Etherium Reach (also: Drone Region)
• Fade
• Feythabolis
• Fountain (some systems: Serpentis)
• Geminate (some systems: The Society)
• Immensea
• Impass
• Insmother
• Malpais (also: Drone Region)
• Oasa
• Omist
• Outer Passage (also: Drone Region)
• Paragon Soul
• Period Basis
• Perrigen Falls (also: Drone Region)
• Providence
• Pure Blind (some systems: Mordu's Legion Command, The Servant Sisters of Eve)
• Querious
• Scalding Pass
• Tenal
• Tenerifis
• The Kalevala Expanse (also: Drone Region)
• The Spire (also: Drone Region)
• Tribute
• Vale of the Silent
• Wicked Creek

Wormhole Space

Main article: Wormhole Space

Wormhole Space, also known as the Anoikis Galaxy, is a collection of semi-charted systems full of opportunity and danger. The discovery of Sleepers, an ancient Artificial Intelligence that dwells within Wormhole Space, led to groundbreaking new technology which in turn enabled the creation of Strategic Cruisers. Wormhole Space (W-Space, or J-Space because all wormhole system names consist of a J followed by 6 numbers) is lawless and has no CONCORD presence, Empire oversight, or Sovereign Alliances.

In terms of security mechanics, w-space is similar to nullsec: Concord does not monitor what happens in wormhole pockets, and players can use bombs and bubbles at will.

W-space also functions differently from known space (k-space) in that players do not appear in the Local chat channel until they speak in it. This means there could be 1 player or 100 players in a wormhole system and you would not be able to tell the difference just by looking at the local window.

University pilots are welcome to enter Wormhole space, but should be aware of its dangerous nature. We even have a Wormhole Campus.

System Security-Limited Game Mechanics

Various game mechanics are affected or limited by system security. These include:

• Asteroid types found in asteroid belts. More lucrative asteroids are generally found in lower-security systems.
• General difficulty of rat spawns, including belt and gate rats. More difficult rats are generally found in lower-security systems.
• General difficulty of cosmic anomalies and cosmic signatures. More difficult sites are generally found in lower-security systems.
• Reward level of missions. Greater rewards for the same mission are given by agents in lower-security systems.
• True capital ships (i.e. ships that specifically require the Capital Ships skill) may not enter highsec systems.

Anchoring

The security level of a system may limit what may be anchored in that system.

• 0.9 - 1.0: Containers may NOT be anchored. Starbases and starbase structures may be anchored except for moon mining structures.
• 0.5 - 0.8: Containers, starbases and starbase structures may be anchored (above restrictions still apply)
• 0.0 - 0.4: All containers and starbase structures may be anchored.

Security Status

Players with a sufficiently low security status may invoke a faction navy response depending upon the security level of the system.

• 1.0: -2.0 and lower will be engaged by the faction navy
• 0.9: -2.5 and lower will be engaged by the faction navy
• 0.8: -3.0 and lower will be engaged by the faction navy
• 0.7: -3.5 and lower will be engaged by the faction navy
• 0.6: -4.0 and lower will be engaged by the faction navy
• 0.5: -4.5 and lower will be engaged by the faction navy

True Security

A given system's security level is a real number in the range [-1.0, 1.0]. This is known as the system's True Security Level, True-Sec, or Truesec. It is modified to the value displayed in-game by the following range and rounding rules:

• [-1.0, 0.0] = nullsec
• (0.0, 0.05) = rounded up to lowsec (0.1 security level)
• [0.05, 0.45) = rounded half up (lowsec)
• [0.45, 1.0] = rounded half up (highsec)

A system's true security may be desirable to know because nullsec systems may have a truesec range from -1.0 up to 0.0 which continues to affect various game mechanics, such as asteroid belt and rat quality. A system's rounded truesec value is available via the in-game map, and the unrounded value can be found through the official datadump or any third-party utilities that use the datadump or the data extracted from it.

Legacy Rounding Glitch

In the past, truesec values in the range (0.0, 0.5) were rounded half up, i.e. rounded down to 0.0 because all numbers in that range are below 0.5. This was a bug, because EVE considers all systems above a trusec rating of 0.0 to be lowsec but the game displayed their security level as "0.0". This bug not only caused some confusion (there were sentry guns within apparently nullsec systems) but also some problems in the form of inadvertent security status loss in what seemed like nullsec.

This bug has been fixed , and the game now uses the rules above. This ensures that any system displayed as "0.0" is truly nullsec. Some third-party utilities may not know of the above rules, and so may incorrectly identify some lowsec systems as nullsec.