Eco Government Quick-Start Guide

Eco's civics and government system is the most complex — and most confusing — part of new server setup. This reference covers setup order, settlement tiers, law syntax, tax types, and admin shortcuts so you can get your server's government running without guesswork.

Government Setup Order

Follow these steps in order — skipping ahead causes formation requirements to fail.

1
Enable Civics Admin UI

In Configs/Civics.eco, enable admin civics management:
```
"EnableAdminUI": true
```
When true, server administrators gain access to the civics admin UI inside the settlement roster tab of a Town or Federation Foundation.
2
Ignore Settlement Requirements for Testing (optional)

To test settlement progression or spawn higher-tier settlements on low-population servers without meeting child-settlement or citizen quotas, disable requirement checks for the session:
```
/settlement ignorerequirements true
```
Short alias: /nosetreqs true. To restore normal checks, run with false.
3
Place Foundation — Form Settlement — Establish Constitution

Craft and place a Town Foundation object. Interact with it to start the formation flow: name your settlement, define its founding document (Constitution), and establish initial civic powers. The Constitution unlocks law proposals and formal elections.
4
Set Up Elections at the Ballot Box

Place a Ballot Box near your Town Hall or Foundation. Configure election schedules, eligible voters, and elected titles. Elections trigger based on in-game calendar time, not real time — factor in your server's day length setting.

Admin & Testing Notes

Use /settlement ignorerequirements true (alias /nosetreqs true) to bypass settlement formation requirements during testing. Run /settlement rebuildcivicpowers after any structural changes to recalculate power assignments across all settlements and citizens.

Warning on /fe: /fe true (alias for /objects forceenablenearestobject true) forces the nearest world object to ignore operational checks (room, power, fuel). It operates on physical objects, not settlement civic rules. Use caution near complex crafting stations.