Neutrality Marker
A Neutrality Marker is an item that, when activated, will protect your account from new attacks and espionage (but not Oracle scans) for a period of time. The basic marker is for 24 hours, but most universes have additional markers for 1 hour, 8 hours, 7 days, or 30 days. Multiple markers can be activated at once, which extends the neutrality period to the sum of the markers’ values. Like many other items, neutrality markers are available for purchase from the store and can be won in Lucky Draw.
Neutrality mode is also known as p-mode, as the player’s status is shown as “p” in the Galaxy Screen.
A neutrality marker cannot be activated while you have attacks out (either on the way or returning). While in neutrality protection, you cannot harvest any debris fields, launch an attack, launch an espionage mission, or send or receive a group defense. In universes with Moons, you cannot use your Oracles while in p-mode. However, you can be scanned by others’ Oracles while in neutrality protection. Harvest missions that are on their way to a debris field when neutrality mode is activated will complete in the expected amount of time, but they will not actually acquire any resources.
You cannot activate a neutrality marker while any fleets are out from your Hephaestus Class Attack Platform, that is, while it is locked in place. Once neutrality mode is active, however, deployments, transports, and colonizations can be dispatched from the Hephaestus as usual.
In Conquest, territories are held by a group defense, which excludes neutrality mode. Likewise, the rules of Hired Guns make neutrality mode and holding of territories mutually exclusive (although this was not the case initially).
In most universes, neutrality mode can be canceled early by taking an aggressive action (you will be prompted for confirmation). Any unused time is forfeited.
A player in p-mode will not be purged from the game, and will remain unattackable, even if inactive, until the protection expires.
Note: Like other protection modes, neutrality mode only prevents new attacks from being launched.
Incoming attacks already in progress when neutrality mode is activated will still do battle with whatever ships and defenses are present at the target when the attacking fleet arrives.
