---
title: "Settlement survival: API"
package: "@phaser-ae/settlement"
tier: Pro
version: 3.0.0-3
released: 2026-10-14
updated: 2026-10-19
description: "Village survival rules on a work yard, where villagers eat, keep warm and rest through the seasons, houses draw newcomers, and the village must last the year."
url: https://phaser.io/packs/settlement/api
site: Phaser - https://phaser.io
---

# Settlement survival: API

`@phaser-ae/settlement` — Village survival on a work yard: villagers eat, keep warm and rest through seasons, build houses, draw newcomers and must last the year.

## The pack

### `settlement`

```ts
function settlement(): Pack<{ settlement: SettlementApi }>
```

Village life on a work yard: hunger, cold and rest through the seasons, houses, newcomers and a year's goal.

## Helpers

### `createSettlement`

```ts
function createSettlement(def: SettlementDef): Settlement
```

Found a settlement. Throws, with every fault, on one `validateSettlement` or the yard refuses.

### `createSteward`

```ts
function createSteward(town: Settlement, options: { every?: number } = {}): Steward
```

A steward for a settlement, setting priorities every `every` seconds (default 1).

### `defaultSeasons`

```ts
const defaultSeasons: Season[]
```

The default year.

### `planVillage`

```ts
function planVillage(options: VillageOptions = {}): SettlementDef
```

Plan a village: its map, stores, jobs, villagers and the rules of its year.

### `validateSettlement`

```ts
function validateSettlement(def: SettlementDef): string[]
```

Check a settlement. Every fault, or empty when it can be run.

### `villagePresets`

```ts
const villagePresets: Record<'hearthguard' | 'frostmere' | 'meadowend', VillageOptions>
```

Three villages: Hearthguard by its river, Frostmere with one bridge and a long hard winter, and Meadowend with no
river and a mild year but more mouths to feed.

## Types

### `Season`

```ts
interface Season
```

A season.

- `name: string` — Season name, shown to the player and carried by the `season` event.
- `length: number` — Seconds.
- `cold: number` — How fast, a second, a villager without a warm home grows cold. 0 is a mild season: no fuel is burnt.
- `closed?: string[]` — Jobs that cannot be worked this season.

### `Settlement`

```ts
interface Settlement
```

A settlement.

- `readonly def: SettlementDef` — The definition the settlement was built from.
- `readonly state: SettlementState` — Where the settlement stands now.
- `readonly yard: Yard` — The yard its villagers work in. Change roles there; set priorities here.
- `priority(job: string, priority: number): string | null` — Ask for a job's priority. A job closed this season stays at 0 until it opens.
- `season(): Season` — The season now.
- `left(): number` — Seconds left in the year.
- `beds(): number` — Beds in standing houses.
- `food(): number` — Food in the storehouse, of every kind.
- `step(dt: number): void` — Advance by `dt` seconds of play in fixed yard ticks (at most 0.25 s counts per call); does nothing once the year is won or lost. Throws for a negative or non-numeric `dt`.
- `drain(): SettlementEvent[]` — Settlement events since the last drain (the latest 512). The yard's are `yard.drain()`.
- `snapshot(): SettlementSave` — A copy of the whole settlement, yard included, as plain data.
- `restore(save: SettlementSave): void` — Restore a `snapshot`; pending events are discarded.

### `SettlementApi`

```ts
interface SettlementApi
```

What the pack adds to the game as `game.settlement`.

- `create(def: SettlementDef): Settlement` — Found a settlement.
- `validate(def: SettlementDef): string[]` — Check a settlement: every fault, or empty.
- `plan(options?: VillageOptions): SettlementDef` — Plan a village from options.
- `steward(town: Settlement, options?: { every?: number }): Steward` — A steward who runs a settlement through its priorities.
- `presets: typeof villagePresets` — Three villages' options.
- `seasons: typeof defaultSeasons` — The default year.

### `SettlementDef`

```ts
interface SettlementDef
```

A settlement: its yard and the rules of village life.

- `yard: YardDef` — The work yard the villagers work in: its map, stores, jobs and workers (one villager per worker).
- `storehouse: string` — The store villagers eat from and houses burn fuel from.
- `food: string[]` — What can be eaten, in the order it is eaten.
- `fuel: string` — What houses burn.
- `houses: { store: string; beds: number }[]` — The houses: a house stands once its store holds `built`; it sleeps `beds`.
- `built?: string` — The item that marks a house standing. Default `'house'`.
- `seasons: Season[]` — The year, in order; its length is the sum of the seasons' lengths. At least one.
- `hunger: { rate: number; eat: number; meal: number }` — Hunger rises `rate` a second; at `eat` a villager eats one food, which takes `meal` off.
- `warmth: { heal: number; fuel: number; every: number }` — Cold falls `heal` a second in a warm home or a mild season; in a cold season each occupied house burns `fuel` every `every` seconds, and is cold until the next burn if there is none.
- `fatigue: { work: number; rest: number; stop: number; resume: number }` — Fatigue rises `work` a second on a task and falls `rest` a second off one; at `stop` a villager stops work until it falls to `resume`.
- `leave: number` — Seconds a villager stays at the limit (100) of hunger or cold before leaving.
- `arrivals?: { every: number; spare: number; at: [number, number]; names?: string[]; skills?: Stock; speed?: number; carry?: number }` — Newcomers: one after `every` seconds while a bed is free and the storehouse holds `spare` food a villager (counting them). They start at `at`, with these skills, speed and carry, named from `names`.
- `goal: { population: number; stock?: Stock }` — At the end of the last season: at least this many villagers, and this stock in the storehouse.

### `SettlementEvent`

```ts
type SettlementEvent = | { kind: 'season'; name: string } | { kind: 'ate'; villager: string; item: string } | { kind: 'hungry'; villager: string } | { kind: 'cold-house'; house: string } | { kind: 'built'; house: string } | { kind: 'tired'; villager: string } | { kind: 'rested'; villager: string } | { kind: 'arrive'; villager: string } | { kind: 'leave'; villager: string; why: 'hunger' | 'cold' } | { kind: 'won' } | { kind: 'lost'; why: string }
```

Something that happened.

### `SettlementSave`

```ts
interface SettlementSave
```

A settlement saved as plain JSON.

- `state: SettlementState` — The settlement state.
- `carry: number` — Seconds of play stepped but not yet consumed by a fixed tick.
- `yard: YardSave` — The yard's own save.

### `SettlementState`

```ts
interface SettlementState
```

Where the settlement stands. Plain JSON.

- `time: number` — Seconds elapsed in the year.
- `season: number` — The season, by index.
- `villagers: Villager[]` — The villagers now in the settlement.
- `standing: string[]` — The houses that stand.
- `warm: Record<string, boolean>` — Whether each standing house is warm.
- `heatIn: number` — Seconds to the next burn.
- `waited: number` — Seconds of free bed and spare food so far, towards the next newcomer.
- `arrived: number` — Newcomers who have arrived so far.
- `left: number` — Villagers who have left so far.
- `priorities: Record<string, number>` — The priority asked for each job (a closed job runs at 0 whatever is asked).
- `phase: 'play' | 'won' | 'lost'` — `play` while the year runs, `won` or `lost` once it has ended.
- `message: string` — What happened at the end, or `''`.

### `Steward`

```ts
interface Steward
```

A steward.

- `act(dt: number): void` — Run on by `dt` seconds; every `every` seconds the priorities are set again.
- `readonly focus: string` — What the steward is seeing to most, in a few words.

### `VillageOptions`

```ts
interface VillageOptions
```

What a village is made of.

- `seed?: number` — Seed for the layout and placement; the same seed and options make the same village. Default 1.
- `width?: number` — Cells. Default 28 by 16. At least 18 by 12.
- `height?: number` — Rows of cells. Default 16. At least 12.
- `villagers?: number` — Villagers at the start; the longhouse sleeps them all. Default 5.
- `plots?: number` — House plots, 1 to 9. Default 3.
- `beds?: number` — Beds a house sleeps. Default 2.
- `river?: boolean` — Whether a river divides the village from the woods and quarry. Default true.
- `bridges?: number` — Bridges over the river, 1 or more. Default 2.
- `seasons?: Season[]` — The year. Default spring, summer and autumn of 60 seconds and a 90-second winter that closes the fields.
- `goal?: number` — Villagers needed at the year's end. Default the starting villagers and 4 more.
- `stock?: Record<string, number>` — What the storehouse starts with.
- `arrivals?: number` — Newcomers every this many seconds while a bed is free and food is spare; 0 for none. Default 25.

### `Villager`

```ts
interface Villager
```

A villager's needs, each from 0 (fine) to 100 (the limit).

- `id: string` — Villager id: the id of the yard worker they are.
- `hunger: number` — Hunger, 0 (fed) to 100 (the limit); rises with time and falls when they eat.
- `cold: number` — Cold, 0 (warm) to 100 (the limit); rises in a cold season without a warm home.
- `fatigue: number` — Fatigue, 0 (fresh) to 100; rises while working and falls at rest.
- `tired: boolean` — Worn out: not working until rested.
- `suffering: number` — Seconds at the limit of hunger or cold.
- `home: string | null` — The house store they sleep in, or null.

---

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