Why Decay and Thrall Settings Matter
In Conan Exiles, player buildings and thrall entities are the primary determinants of server health, database size, and tick performance. Left unmanaged:
- Inactive player structures accumulate across the map, blocking resource nodes and creating thousands of physics colliders.
- Thousands of placed thralls run continuous line-of-sight and pathfinding checks, driving single-core CPU usage to 100%.
Configuring decay rules and thrall caps properly ensures a stable, performant world for your active community.
1. Building Decay Mechanics
Building decay causes structures belonging to inactive clans to deteriorate and eventually collapse. In DustBowl Warden, navigate to the File Manager and open:
ConanSandbox/Saved/Config/WindowsServer/ServerSettings.ini
[ServerSettings]
BuildingDecayEnabled=true
How Decay Timers Work
- Building Score: The game engine calculates a structure's decay timer based on the number and tier of connected building pieces. Isolated single foundations decay rapidly (often within 1 to 2 hours), preventing single-foundation griefing.
- Maximum Decay Timer: Large completed bases reach the maximum decay threshold (typically 168 hours / 7 days on standard servers).
- Timer Refresh: Whenever an owner or clan member walks within proximity of the base, the decay timer resets back to maximum.
- Demolition Phase: Once the timer hits zero, the base enters the Demolish Allowed phase for 24 hours. Any player can dismantle the structure with an interact key press.
- Decay Collapse: If not demolished, the engine automatically deletes the structure.
2. Thrall Conversion Speed
The Wheel of Pain breaking process is governed by ThrallConversionMultiplier:
[ServerSettings]
ThrallConversionMultiplier=0.5
ItemConvertionMultiplier=0.5
1.0(Default): Base Funcom rates. A Tier 4 named thrall takes approximately 25.8 hours to break.0.5(2x Speed): Halves breaking time. A Tier 4 named thrall breaks in ~12.9 hours.0.25(4x Speed): Breaks a Tier 4 named thrall in ~6.4 hours (popular for PvP and casual PvE servers).
Calculate exact times across crafter and fighter tiers with our Conan Exiles Thrall Taming Timer.
3. Thrall Population Caps
To prevent clans from placing hundreds of thralls that degrade combat tick rates:
[ServerSettings]
MaxThralls=100
On servers where thrall caps are enabled, players have an individual baseline limit (e.g. 50 thralls) that scales with additional clan members up to the configured MaxThralls ceiling. Once capped, players cannot place new thrall guards or pets until existing thralls are dismissed or killed.
Compare top-tier thrall combat statistics and growth rates with our Conan Exiles Thrall Comparator.
4. Purge Frequency and Thresholds
The Purge is Conan Exiles' automated PvE invasion system that attacks player bases. Key purge settings in ServerSettings.ini:
[ServerSettings]
PurgeLevel=6
PurgePeriodicity=1
ClanPurgeTrigger=42000
PurgeDelay=15
PurgeDuration=30
PurgeLevel(1 - 6): Dictates the difficulty and enemy types in the purge waves. Level 6 purges spawn elite bosses and high-tier human thralls.ClanPurgeTrigger: The purge meter score required to trigger an attack. Clan actions (building, killing NPCs, crafting) fill the meter.PurgePeriodicity: Minimum time (in hours) between consecutive purges for the same clan.
Tune your purge configuration for your community size using our Conan Exiles Purge Calculator and schedule raid/purge windows with our Conan Exiles Raid Window & Purge Scheduler.