Vacation Mode
Vacation mode in Old Light pauses your empire while you are away. Nobody can send new attacks or probes at your systems, and production and upkeep stop until you return.
Turn it on from Settings. It applies to one galaxy at a time and needs a verified email.
When you can turn it on
Vacation mode is not available:
while your empire is under Beginner Protection
while any of your fleets is heading to another player's or an NPC's system, or flying out to colonise. Moves between your own systems and trade transports are fine.
within 8 weeks after your last vacation ended
The 6-hour wait
Vacation mode starts 6 hours after you confirm. Until then you play normally and can still be attacked. Other players can't see that it is coming.
Sending a fleet anywhere other than your own systems during those 6 hours cancels it. A vacation cancelled this way does not start the 8-week wait.
While you are away
No player or NPC can send new attacks or probes at your systems. Fleets that were already on their way when vacation mode started still arrive and fight.
Your empire is on hold:
Production, credit income and upkeep stop.
Loyalty does not regenerate.
Build and shipyard queues pause.
Your open market offers are hidden.
Nobody can send you trade shipments or offer you deals. Shipments already on their way still arrive. Peace treaties keep running.
If every empire on your account is on vacation, your premium time pauses too. The paused time is added back once one of them is back in play. While any of your empires is still active, premium keeps running.
You can't play during vacation mode. Logging in shows a screen where you can turn it off or log out.
Other players see that you are on vacation and for how long, in the same places they see beginner protection.
Coming back
Vacation mode ends when you turn it off, or automatically after 3 weeks. Everything continues where it stopped, and queues resume with the time they had left.
Emails
You get an email when vacation mode starts and a reminder each week. A warning arrives 3 days before it ends, and a last email once it has ended.
I'll be back.