Sovereignty

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There are three primary types of space in New Eden: high security, low security and null security. The first two together are also referred to as "empire space", because every high and low security system is claimed by one of the four empires: Amarr, Caldari, Gallente or Minmatar.

Null security (or nullsec) space is not claimed by the empires, and can be split into three distinct types:

• Wormhole space (a.k.a. w-space, j-space, Anoikis) cannot be claimed by anyone and is only accessible through wormholes. Except in Thera, there are no stations in w-space.
• NPC nullsec regions (Curse, Great Wildlands, Outer Ring, Stain, Syndicate and Venal) are claimed by a number of different NPC factions, either pirate or corporation. These factions allow capsuleers to dock at their stations in the same way as low or highsec stations.
• Sovereign Nullsec - the subject of this article - comprises the rest of the nullsec regions, which can be claimed by any capsuleer (player) alliance. Stations in these areas will be owned by a player alliance, and will usually only allow the owning alliance (and perhaps their allies) to dock.

All nullsec areas are essentially lawless: neither CONCORD nor the empire navies respond to aggression, there are no gate or station guns, and aggression will not result in the loss of security status.

Sovereignty Structures

Each system in Sov Null has 3 structures associated with it.

• Territorial Claim Unit (TCU)
• Infrastructure Hub (I-Hub)
• Station

Each of these structures provide benefits to the owner.

Territorial Claim Unit

Main article: Territorial Claim Unit

Territorial Claim Units or TCUs are essentially flags put up by an alliance. Whoever owns the TCU in a system will be listed on the starmap as the owner of the system.

TCUs do have one tangible benefit, though, by way of a 25% reduction in fuel consumption to any Player-Owned Starbase owned by the same alliance in that system.

Infrastructure Hub

Main article: Infrastructure Hub

Infrastructure Hubs or I-Hubs are used to upgrade the system, allowing it to spawn more Combat Anomalies, Ore Sites, or Signatures, or allowing the owner to set up more advanced POS structures such as Jump Bridges or system-wide Cynosural Field Jammers. Maintaining an I-Hub costs an upkeep bill which is charged to the alliance wallet.

Each upgrade, which is a physical item that must be produced and delivered to the I-Hub for installation, is unlocked by achieving a new System Index level.

Station

Main article: Station (Player-Owned)

Stations are very similar to the ones found in high-sec, but with a few exceptions. The owner of the station can choose who is allowed to dock at the station. Maintaining a station costs an upkeep bill which is charged to the alliance wallet.

Claiming Sovereignty

The mechanics of capturing and defending structures is based around the use of an Entosis Link.

To capture or disable a structure, attackers must first use an Entosis Link on the structure during its Vulnerability Window. Once the link has completed its first cycle, the capture process begins and the alliance owning the structure is notified of the attack. Once the entosis link has been active and uncontested for a certain amount of time, the structure enters reinforce mode and a reinforce timer begins. There is no speed benefit to having more than one entosis link active on a structure, the time to capture a structure is the same whether the attacker has 1 or 100 links active. If both the defender and attacker have an entosis link active on the structure, all capture progress is paused. If only the defender has an entosis link active, the timer counts up towards its starting value.

The reinforce timer length will be approximately 48 hours. Once the timer expires, command nodes will begin to spawn in the same constellation as the captured structure.

Command nodes are objects that appear in space. They are shown on the overview and it is possible to warp to them directly. These nodes can spawn in any system within the constellation, regardless of the owner of that system. Their name in the overview identifies the system they are connected to as well as the structure in that system. They also have a unique ID to help identify which node in a system players are referring to. For example, a command node for the TCU in O1Y-ED may spawn in X36Y-G with the name "O1Y-ED Territorial Claim Unit Command Node N17".

Command Node control

• Once the reinforce timer for a structure hits 0, command nodes spawn randomly within the constellation. Initially X of these spawn, with a further X spawning later.
• As the command nodes spawn, a progress bar for the structure appears. It starts at 60%. If it reaches 100%, the defenders have won. If it reaches 0%, the attackers have won.
• Capturing a command node moves the progress bar by 5%. This means that attackers need to capture at least 12 command nodes. The defenders need to capture 8.
• If an attacking force does not attempt to capture the command nodes, they will automatically regen for the defending team. An unattended capture node event will self-complete in < 196 minutes.

After the event

If the defender wins the command node event, the structure being fought for becomes invulnerable and will remain that way until the next vulnerability window occurs. If the attacker wins, the next steps depend on the type of structure being attacked. For I-Hubs and TCUs, the existing structure explodes. This allows anyone to anchor their own structure in space to replace the old one. If a station is attacked, it enters Freeport mode. This allows any player to dock at the station. It remains in this state for 48 hours, at which point a new command node control event begins. The winner of this event gains control of the station.

Old explanation

The main process for claiming the sovereignty of a region is the deployment of a sov-claiming structure, followed by the activation of an Entosis Link module on the deployed structure.

In exchange, the Entosis Link imposes some penalties on the user. A ship using an Entosis Link cannot cloak, warp, dock, jump, receive any form of remote assistance, or exceed a velocity of 4,000 m/s. The Entosis Link also takes one cycle to "warm up" before it actually begins the capture process.

Additionally, Entosis Links do not stack with each other at all. One Entosis Link being used to attack or defend a structure is just as time-efficient as 100, and as long as just one defender has an active Entosis Link on their structure, all 100 attacking Links will be negated.

The chief disadvantage for the defender is that their allies cannot use Entosis Links of their own to help defend the structure directly. All Entosis Links used by players not belonging to the owning alliance of the target structure are considered attackers from the structure's perspective.

System Indices

• Strategic Index: Automatically increases as you hold control of the I-Hub over a continuous period.
• Military Index: Increases in proportion to the number of NPC ships killed in the system.
• Industrial Index: Increases in proportion to the volume of ore mined in the system.

As the Indices increase, they also contribute to the Activity Defense Multiplier in the system, which affects how long attackers must use an Entosis Link to capture a structure in the system. With no Multiplier, reinforcing a structure will take 10 minutes, and capturing a Command Node or enabling/disabling a Station Service will take 4 minutes. The Multiplier does not affect defenders, who will always take the base time for capturing a Command Node or securing a structure.

The multiplier values for each index are added together with the base value of 1 and capped at 6. Below is a partial list of possible total multipliers based on different combinations of system indices (note that the times are out-of-date as of Galatea, see the above paragraph for the correct base times):

Station

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