Provinces

Land on Alinea is split into three types: provinces, which are run by players; crown land, which is run by staff; and territories, which belong to no one. Most of the action happens in provinces.

Why provinces?

By splitting the server into provinces, we get two main benefits:

• Not everyone wants to play the same way. One group might want strict building standards and organised streets, while another prefers a more relaxed approach. Provinces let each group set its own rules, culture, and style of governance.
• Space on the server is limited. Players earn landscrips through activity, and provinces spend landscrips to hold land. Active communities can afford to grow, while abandoned land eventually gets reclaimed.

This creates a competitive dynamic: provinces are always working to be well-run enough to attract players and afford their territory.

Governance

Every province is led by a ruler, but how they choose to govern is entirely up to them. A ruler might run things alone, appoint a council, or hold elections. The only constant is that the ruler represents the province to the server administration.

If you're joining a province, it's worth understanding how it's run and what rules it has. Rulers are encouraged to publish these clearly so there are no surprises.

Any player can request to start a province, but some level of seniority is expected. The server administration needs to be confident in your ability to run one.

Taxes

Provinces pay a weekly tax to the Crown in cc/gc or landscrips to keep their land. They also pay for any villager rights or spawner rights they hold. Details on villager rights are on the villager rights page. For spawner rights, contact the server administration. Tax rates can change without warning, so rulers are advised to keep a financial buffer.

To fund these costs, provinces can tax their players. How taxes work varies: a province might charge for residency, farm access, or other benefits. The one thing that's universal is that you can always walk away, and once you do, no unpaid taxes follow you.

Evictions

Provinces can evict players from the land they occupy. Every province has an eviction notice period, which defaults to 7 days if the province hasn't set one. Provinces are free to shorten this, all the way down to immediate eviction. An eviction only takes effect once the notice period has passed. Regardless of the notice period, you are entitled to at least 48 hours from when the eviction notice is issued to recover your items.

If a province shortens its notice period, the change doesn't apply to already occupied land right away. The notice period for that land decreases by one day for each day that passes after the change is announced, until it reaches the new period. Land occupied after the announcement is immediately subject to the new period.

It's worth checking a province's eviction terms before you move in. By choosing to live there, you're agreeing to them.